Horsepower

[Wheels]

I’m wondering how much more HP we can get out of these engines. I remember years ago someone said that the Sierra’s were getting more than 500 HP. From a 2Lt that’s pretty impressive.
What I’d like to know is about the HP build up from about 1995/6 to the present and what the teams have done to achieve this.
My background is in Gas Turbine Engines, and since I started working on them in 1988, I have seen these behemoths get more power using less fuel every year. I’ve gone from working on forged Ti blades to blades that are grown from crystallised Ti, with honeycomb inserts. The amount of money that is spent on these things is unbelievable. But the money is poured back into making a better, more fuel efficient, GTE.

What I’m trying to get at is, with all the motor racing that goes on in the world, what advances can we see in the short term future IRT the V8’s? Is there anything we should be seeing? Besides ABS and traction control and Russell’s new starting technique, what have our Premier Aussie Touring Car teams (or any category) got up their sleeve?


Are we looking at a HP ceiling of about 650@7500rpm?

Are there any tricks to tuning a 5.0ltr engine that should be known? (For the street).

And where the hell do you get more HP out of these donks when limited to 7500rpm?


Where indeed.

[xrystl]

Now that all the (supercar) engines are restricted to common reciprocating component weight , probably find that there will be very little increase in HP and torque (don't know if camshaft specs are free)as they all use a common Motec engine management system , probably find that in the future the only adjustability will be in the power delivery rather than power increase .

[mmciau]

"Socialist" racing has finally arrived!

I'm waiting for Operation Blue Print to ban white paint because it suffers less drag than coloured paints!

Mike

[Falcon GT]

I see where you are coming from Wheel's.
Dick's Sierra's made more HP when they had no limit on the engine rev's.When they limited it to 7500rpm it took about a season and half to get the same HP, the upside was that the torque and driveablity of the engine was greatly enhanced

[The Pressure !!]

Isnt it also true that Dicks mighty Sierra's made more like 650HP....in qualifying trim of course !!

[single keel]

You won't ever stop getting horsepower out of an engine... I vaguely recall hearing a figure of about a ~20hp increase each season with the V8's. It was only a very approximate figure, but it did come from one of the GRM engine builders, who did a talk at a meeting I went to. This same question came up, and his response was that they keep wondering the same thing [where they would get more power from], but every season they get more and more horsepower from them.

It was one of the all time great engine builders, Keith Duckworth, who said that you wont ever get more than 300kw (?)from a DFV... He turned out to be wrong about his own engine..

Fact is, that there is always more, even if it is incremental. Look at some of the horsepower figures that are being obtained by the guys in ther Historic Touring cars in comparison to what was being run in the days when they weren't historic. Frightening.

[00 XR8]

In 1993 when the current 5 litre formula started the approximate HP figure was around the 550 mark. Now the top teams are punching out almost 640HP!

[pigsy]

According to John Russell (chief engineer at FPR) horsepower isn't an issue but drivability is. He said you can stick a whopping great CAM in a V8 Supercar motor and get as much horsepower as you want but it won't drive out of corners. Tractablility is the key ingredient. If you can't get out of corners at a high enough speed doesn't matter how much horsepower you've got you'll still be lacking at the end of the straight.