INDUSTRY NEWS UPDATE
More than just a badge A
s far as Chevrolet Director of Racing Mark Kent is
concerned, the 2012 IndyCar engine bearing his company’s name will be more than just badge engineering. It will reunite Chevrolet with Ilmor, which first supplied the company with engines in 1986. In 1994, Ilmor turned its
attention to the infamous 1024hp 3.4-litre Mercedes-Benz push rod, which took advantage of a loophole in the rules to win the 500. Illien first approached Chevrolet with this idea but the vehicle manufacturer pointed out that it was already had its Buick pushrod engine programme for Indianapolis. Design work at Ilmor was carried out in such secrecy that drawings were sent to suppliers carrying false name, such as ‘Pontiac’. It was only in the month before the 500 that Mercedes-Benz agreed to give its name to the unit. At the end of the year the
pushrod engine was banned but the Mercedes-Benz name continued on the Ilmor 2.56-litre unit, which, of course, had started off as a Chevrolet. Such is the world of badge engineering. Kent says that all has now
All Chevrolet is [at present] prepared to show is this basic illustration
whatever the engine. All the twin turbos will be to the same design, likewise the singles. ‘In this way, the IndyCar Series will maintain a closer performance level, contain costs and protect us from ourselves,’ quips Kent. As yet, the IndyCar Series has not announced who will supply the turbo. The use of small displacement,
changed, and Chevrolet has been highly involved in the design and development of the new IndyCar engine from the outset, with technology transfer a key element of the work. ‘Unlike other programmes where people buy the valve cover and put their name on it, we really wanted to play a role on the development of this engine. The technologies that are in the rule set for the IndyCar engine are exactly the same as those who want to apply to production cars – to improve fuel efficiency and improve emissions.’
The engine is a 2.2-litre,
aluminium block, aluminium, direct injection V6 with twin turbochargers. Kent admits that the use of twin turbo may not be consistent with what other manufacturers will offer. However, he believes that the enhanced responsiveness of two, smaller turbos will offer an advantage on road courses where the driver is on and off the throttle. On ovals it will make no difference. The turbochargers will
come from a common supplier P&O offer
P&O Ferries offers the widest choice of routes and the most frequent service to the Continent via its Dover to Calais, Hull to Rotterdam and Hull to Zeebrugge routes. The company introduced
new ship the Spirit of Britain on its Dover to Calais service in January at a cost of £150 million and a second ship, the Spirit of France, will join her in September. The pair are the largest and most revolutionary
84
www.racecarengineering.com • August 2011
ships ever to be seen on the Dover Strait, offering unparalleled levels of comfort and convenience with the capacity to carry up to 2,000 passengers and a dedicated car deck for passengers. Fares on the Dover to Calais
service start from £35 each way for a car and up to nine passengers. Upgrades to include Club Lounge cost £12 per person each way when pre-booked, and Priorite is £12 per car each way,
turbocharged, direct injection V6 engines fuelled by E85 is mirrored by Chevrolet’s production car development. Cars from either end of the spectrum such as the Cruze and the V6 Camaro use direct injection. ‘One area we initially discussed with Ilmor was how we could help them. They recognised they did not have a great deal of experience in these two fields but that we did.’ In addition to providing its
resources and expertise in direct injection and E85, Chevrolet has seconded a young engineer from its powertrain group, Matt Wiles, to Ilmor’s Northamptonshire base, where he has become fully integrated. Kent reports that Wiles, who has written SAE papers on E85 and direct injection, ‘has contributed greatly in the development of this new engine. It is one area where we
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100