Non contact measurement & inspection
Bringing science to the racing track
Warming up an engine in a race vehicle is essential as it helps prevent engine wear and poor performance. A company that makes pre-heating engines relies on technology from FLIR Systems to show the value of its products
A thermal image of a pre-heater heating a 600cc racing engine
E
ngine pre-heating systems are becoming an ever more valuable asset and even a
competitive advantage on today’s car racing tracks. Many racing professionals acknowledge the value
of this technology, because it helps them prevent engine wear, poor performance on the track and even the loss of hard dollars. Hot Products Engineering, a US manufacturer of pre- heating engines, puts a lot of effort into spreading the gospel about engine pre-heating. The company now also uses thermal images taken by a FLIR camera to show the value of its engine pre-heating products. Warming up the engine is one of the
essential rituals every motor racer performs before getting on the track. Until recently, for many racing disciplines (kart, drag racing, etc.) this ritual just meant starting the engine cold and revving it. However, even without the issues of racket, risk, and stink, starting a racing engine cold is always a poor choice if there is an alternative, because it involves metal-
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to-metal friction, incomplete combustion, and expensive race fuel to warm it up.
PRe-heAtIng engIneS A universally accepted solution to this problem elsewhere in auto racing is to use an engine pre-heating system. This method quietly builds and maintains exact temperatures using inexpensive unleaded gas from a small, quiet generator. Ten years ago, after thirty- odd years of precision engineering work at a National Laboratory in Livermore, CA, USA, Pete Davis founded Hot Products Engineering and began designing and supplying preheating products for motor racing. Today, his Hot Head engine heaters are used by racing teams all over the world. Davis has now combined his engineering background and his own
March 2019 Instrumentation Monthly
PHOTOMDP /
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