Present Method 1 engines generate as much as 1,000 hp from simply 1.6 liters of displacement, and now Engineering Defined has a video breaking down the main points that make that doable.
Technically, Method 1 automobiles have “energy items,” not “engines,” because the 1.6-liter turbocharged V-6 is only one a part of a hybrid powertrain. Since 2014, F1 has mandated a setup that features the tiny 90-degree V-6 and two motor-generator items, the MGU-Ok (Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic) and MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit-Warmth).
Each motor-generator items harvest power, however in numerous methods. The MGU-H is spun by extra exhaust movement from the turbo that will usually be bled off by a wastegate, harvesting power that may be saved in a battery pack, used to spin the turbo when off throttle, or despatched on to the MGU-Ok. Connected to the crankshaft, the MGU-Ok can present as much as 160 hp to assist propel the automotive or regenerative braking to get well extra power.
With simply 160 hp supplied by the MGU-Ok, and solely briefly bursts when the battery pack is totally charged, the gasoline engine remains to be doing many of the work. It additionally has to do this with a restricted quantity of gasoline (as a result of F1 doesn’t enable in-race refueling any extra) pumped from the gasoline cell at a movement fee dictated by the principles. That fee—a most 100 kg/h—additionally signifies that whereas F1 permits engines to rev to 15,000 rpm, energy successfully peaks at 10,500 rpm, as a result of that’s when engines hit that most fee.
Groups declare the gasoline utilized in F1 is much like pump gasoline, so that they aren’t getting a bonus there. F1 engines are identified to run rather more effectively than typical road-car engines, nonetheless. Mercedes-AMG has claimed its engines have achieved greater than 50% thermal effectivity, which means at the least half the potential power within the gasoline they burn is definitely used to maneuver the automotive. That’s the important thing to these large energy numbers.
Contemplating that almost all road-car internal-combustion engines wrestle to attain 35% thermal effectivity, F1 engineers should make use of loads of tips. One is pre-chamber ignition—using a smaller combustion chamber above the primary chamber—which permits for a leaner air-fuel combination that’s ideally suited to F1’s fuel-flow limits. This characteristic isn’t racing-specific; it was one of many options that made the unique Honda Civic’s CVCC engine so fuel-efficient, and it’s at the moment utilized in Maserati’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6.
One other effectivity enhance is a rule that permits compression ratios of as much as 18:1. That’s a lot larger than road-car engines, and whereas it’s unknown whether or not groups are literally hitting that restrict, it leaves room for effectivity beneficial properties. Larger compression ratios are extra environment friendly, and even with out operating all the best way to an 18:1 ratio, F1 automobiles are doubtless operating larger compression ratios than highway automobiles and reaping that profit.
The ultimate issue is turbo enhance. In highway automobiles, excessive ranges of enhance assist small engines produce large energy, but it surely will not be that easy in F1. F1 engines might run kind of enhance than some highway automobiles (groups don’t launch precise figures) relying on the air-fuel ratio, and that might additionally change primarily based on circuits, with extra enhance used at higher-altitude Mexico Metropolis, for instance.
In the end, it’s the effectivity of the full package deal that permits F1 energy items to get a lot energy from so little displacement. As famous within the video, additionally they do it with out some options which can be widespread on highway automobiles, similar to variable valve timing. That’s what makes fashionable F1 energy items true technological marvels.
Try the video above for a deeper dive on what makes F1 engines tick.
This text was initially revealed by Motor Authority, an editorial accomplice of ClassicCars.com