Motor racing is dangerous. This is printed on the back of every motorsport venue entrance ticket and emphasised whenever possible to all involved. The risks of colliding with either track scenery or other competitors on the track is of course well known and accepted, but the next greatest risk to life and limb is surely that of fire. The biggest hazard on board the vehicle is therefore the fuel and its method of storage. And if you realise that the flashpoint (the lowest temperature at...
As a lifelong student of automotive technology I never fail to be amazed by the inventiveness of the human mind, and one of the best places to demonstrate that is to look at patent applications down the years. Many inventions of course never come to anything, for various reasons. In some cases the principle has been patented just in case there is a need for it in the future, and to prevent others from adopting the same idea and patenting it themselves. An example I came across recently was...
The design of oil-air coolers in motorsport has not changed drastically in the past 60 years, with the basic design harking back to World War II. As with so many technological developments, the generally available ‘modular’ style of plate and bar oil cooler owes its existence to aero engine development, in particular the legendary Merlin V12. There are many similarities between race engine and aero engine development, with designers of both striving to find the most efficient and...
Pistons rings are items that we are perhaps not accustomed to having to worry too much about, especially if our race engine is not of bespoke design. Once ‘bedded-in’, they normally form a reliable seal between the piston and bore. However, there is a particular case where piston rings can cause a problem owing to a vibration condition which is due to a combination of factors centred around the fundamental geometry of the engine, the mass of the piston rings, engine speed and the...
There are a number of valid reasons for wanting to improve the surface finish of race engine components. Aesthetics, friction reduction and durability can all be enhanced by reducing surface roughness, although the aesthetic aspect will always be subject to the opinion of the beholder. Controlled surface roughness though is very important on some components – unless you are very sure about what you are doing, mirror-finishing a piston skirt or cylinder liner for example can lead to...