This year, when the Indy cars line up in the grid at the "greatest spectacle in racing," they'll be using engines with less displacement than that in a Volkswagen Golf or a Toyota Camry.
Don't worry, though. Participants in this year's race won't be circling the track at 55mph. The 2.2-liter V-6 engine limitation set forth by the IndyCar rules committee won't stop the vehicles from generating more than 550HP and reaching speeds in excess of 200mph.
[Learn more about the Indy 500 and Littelfuse's Speed2Design site.]
"We have virtually zero latitude with the engines," Mark Johnson, general manager of KV Racing Technology, told Design News. "We take the engines that the suppliers provide, put them in the car, and remove them when it's time." Still, they're able to squeeze every imaginable ounce of performance out of those little race engines, enabling them to produce more horsepower than a Corvette production car engine with three times the displacement.
KV Racing Technology will use a Chevy engine in its Indy vehicle driven by Tony Kanaan. (Source: Littelfuse)
Indy teams do that by turbocharging their engines and spinning the crankshafts at speeds up to 12,000rpm. The turbocharger boosts the performance by using an exhaust gas turbine to draw more air into the induction system, which, in turn, enables the engine to burn more gasoline.
This year, the IndyCar rules committee will allow three turbocharger sizes, depending on the Indy race course: large oval tracks will be permitted to boost the air induction pressure to 1.3 Bar; smaller ovals will top out 1.4; and road courses will reach 1.55. The 1.3-Bar turbocharger boosts the engine's horsepower to about 550HP, while the 1.55-version stretches the horsepower to about 700HP.
"For every Bar of boost over atmospheric, you're functionally doubling the displacement of the engine," said Russ O'Blenes, manager for racing powertrains at General Motors (GM). "So a 2.2-liter normally aspirated engine with an extra Bar of boost will think it's a 4.4-liter engine."
By boosting engines that already have a relatively short piston stroke, manufacturers can turn the engine's crankshaft faster, which produces more horsepower. This year's engines will operate in a range between 1,000rpm and 12,000rpm.
GM, which produces the Chevy engine employed by KV Racing, is opting this year for twin turbochargers to provide the boost for its engines. The issue of twin- or single-turbocharger design is one of the few areas where engine manufacturers -- including GM, Honda, and Lotus -- are allowed some leeway.
"Each engine manufacturer weighs the pros and cons of twin or single, and then they make their decisions," O'Blenes said.
"The twin weighs a little more and gets packaged on either side of the engine. The single gets packaged behind the engine. Either way, there are packaging and temperature issues that need to be considered. There's also inertia. People will sometimes run twin over single because they're smaller and spool up faster, which reduces turbo lag."
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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