To keep tight control over the use of engines, manufacturers assign staff engineers to each Indy team. In essence, the visiting engineer is part of the engine package. When the engine arrives, the engineer comes with it.
"We're not even allowed to run the engines in our race shop without one of the Chevy engineers being present," Johnson said.
Similarly, GM assigns an engineer to Ilmor Engineering in England, which develops its Chevy racing engine. And Ilmor sends an engineering team to GM's facility in Plymouth, Mich., where the engines are built.
Chevy's 2.2-liter Indy engine employs twin turbochargers, enabling it to produce as much as 700 HP. (Source: General Motors)
The extraordinary attention to detail on all sides is a result of decades of costly lessons, engineers say. Without tight controls, team members and manufacturers alike worry that costs will quickly veer out of control. Most recall the development efforts of the 1990s, when some engine manufacturers in pursuit of victory let costs roll up over a $1 billion over a period of several years.
"It's not like back in the days when there were few rules for engine development," Johnson said. "Back then, the costs were spiraling and everyone was wondering how we were going to bring it back under control."
Today, it's a different story. This year's Indy engines use four-valve, overhead cam, direct injection designs that are readily available in production cars. Component materials are also standard: steel crankshafts and rods, aluminum blocks and heads. For race team members, the bottom line is that victories come, not from technology per se, but from attention to detail.
"Back in the day, we were running 40 inches of boost and making over 1,000HP with V-8 engines," Johnson said. "But those days are gone. Now, we're using a V-6 and getting 700HP out of the engine. That's still a pretty good amount of power."
If you've always dreamed of hanging with the pit crew at Indy, your opportunity has arrived. Littelfuse Inc., a KV Racing sponsor, is sponsoring the Speed2Design contest. Winners will attend the races, visit the pits, and talk engineer-to-engineer with crew members.
The Speed2Design promotion is connected to four Indy Racing League series races in Indianapolis (May 27); Fort Worth, Texas (June 9); Sonoma, Calif. (August 26); and Fontana, Calif. (September 15). Littelfuse will randomly select four participants to attend each Speed2Design event. (The deadline to enter to win a trip to Indianapolis has passed, but the other spots are still up for grabs.)
Learn more about the Indy 500 and Littelfuse's Speed2Design site.]
In truth, bobjengr, I believe most experienced engineers would have preferred a more hands-on approach than Dr. Stare provided. The tendency for such courses to become too theoretical is a subject for long and lively discussions.
It seems that more horsepower out of a small engine means better fuel efficiency as well. It would be interesting to know how fuel managment in race cars translates to fuel efficiency for everyday passenger vehicles. I know lighter weight and aerodaynamics play a part, but what about the engines themselves. Anyone have an insight into this?
Charles, what a great article.Very informative.I thought I knew a thing or two about engines and Formula 1 racing.As it turns out, this old dog learned several new tricks from the write-up AND the very informative comments.While a student, I enrolled in a course called "Internal Combustion Engines", taught by Dr. W.K. Stare.Like a rookie, I thought we would learn how to tear down engines, replace valves, machine cam shafts,etc etc.It was during those ancient days when universities had at least one semester of machine shop (manufacturing processes).(You get the picture.) Instead, it was about dissociation equations, engine indicators, combustion processes and the chemistry of combustion.I got out of there with a "B" only because Dr. Stare believed in grading on the "curve" and that year was his last before retirement. He, in my case, definitely felt generous.Fascinating course but one I probably could not pass today.
That's very helpful, Dan. So when it comes right down to it, what wins, the driver or the car? From your description, it sounds like the biggest factor is probably driver behavior.
We'll have a post answering that question tomorrow, Rob. The driver plays a big role, but engineers can still tweak the dampers, geabox lubricants and coatings. Sounds minor, but Indy teams spend thousands of man-hours working on those variables.
Rob, the differences between the cars are miniscule, and for the previous 11 years it was more like sharpening a pencil over and over, trying to get the very sharpest point. This is reflected in the diminishing returns the two red teams got for their cubic dollars, spending it in aero and (especially) suspension improvements.
This year, we have an all-new engine package and two new body kits from Dallara (basically low downforce for Indy & Fontana, higher downforce elsewhere (including Texas, to hold the speeds down below gray-out levels). The teams are busy with their aero & suspension tweaks; but this year, with the disruption from the new rules, you'll see the chance for the smaller experienced teams, like Panther, to do well.
Although the cars are loaded with instrumentation feeding back via telemetry to the pit wall, some of it still goes back to the driver & how well s/he can set up the car. What's more, although one would think that two (or even three or four) cars in a team should be set up identically; but in fact each driver has their differences & their preferences, as some may brake with their left foot & others brake with their right. Also, they may like slightly different setups, with a common difference the angle of front wheel caster.
Interesting, Dan. Given that the Indy cars can go full out through the entire loop, what constitutes advantage,? Is it the car? The driver? The star driver who can attract a good car?
There is not enough down-force for the IndyCar drivers to be pedal-to-the-metal around the turns at Indianapolis -- FALSE
In fact, the cars are trimmed out to just the point where they can indeed go flat out all the way around the 2½ mile track, with in-cockpit adjustments made to the roll bar at different parts of the track to compensate for wind & track grip. In fact, in qualifying trim they run with a negative rear wing angle to take it right to the knife edge.
The drivers haven't been lifting in the turns since the early 1980's when ground effect cars were introduced by Jim Hall. (I've been going to the Indy 500 almost every year since 1967).
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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