Engines: The Power Behind Auto Racing (Part 1)
Throughout the many years of auto racing, engineers have strived to find bigger, better, and lighter engines than ever before. The engine in a car is the heart of the machine. It makes the vehicle go, stop, turn, and do everything else that normal drivers
take for granted. Auto racing engineers see it as a whole different piece of machinery. An everyday driver never thinks about the engine until a problem occurs. But engineers have to make sure that problems
don’t occur. They have to try and make the engine more powerful while keeping it light.
There are many different types of fuels that engines consume. Everyday cars use a variety of fuels to power their engines. Diesel, petrol (gasoline), Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), hydrogen, ethanol, and electricity are the most common and affordable, although
many other forms of fuel have been developed. Some engines use a combination of two different types of fuel, such as hybrid vehicles. A hybrid vehicle uses both petrol and electricity to power the vehicle, using petrol to accelerate while electricity is used
during low speed driving and coasting. This type of engine also shuts off automatically when not needed and starts again in an instant to decrease fuel consumption.
Apart from fuels, there are actually many different types of engines. Most people have heard terminology associated with different types of engines, such as “HEMI,” “Electronic Fuel Injection,” “dual-overhead cams,” “RENESIS,” and “6.0 L 24-Valve DOHC V6.”
Although most people know that these terms have something to do with engines, few know what they actually mean. There are too many different parts and types of engines for one person to explain. One who is specialized in the Dodge Charger’s HEMI may know nothing
about the Mazda Rx-8’s RENESIS engine.
However, there is the same general idea behind each end every engine. An engine produces power through combustion. A typical engine has pistons placed within the chambers of the engine. A car can have anywhere from 3 to 16 cylinders. Basically, when fuel
enters the chamber above the piston, a spark plug ignites the fuel, causing an explosion. The explosion pushes the piston down, and when each piston fires in sequence, it creates rotational energy, rotating the camshaft which is connected to the transmission.
The transmission’s gears rotate to move the wheels which, in turn, move the car.
Aside from powering the motion of the car, an engine has many more purposes. Engines power the electrical components while running and charging the vehicle’s battery. They also power the air conditioning, brakes, steering, and many other things as more and
more expensive, luxurious, and fast cars are introduced.
Although everyday cars use different types of fuel, race cars only use the most expensive and best types of fuel. NASCAR engines burn 110-octane unleaded gasoline. 110-octane has a bigger explosion than normal gasoline because it can withstand higher compression,
resulting in more power in the engine. Indy cars use pure methanol, CH3OH, also known as wood alcohol. Methanol also burns better than normal gasoline and is safer as well. Those who have ever tried putting out a gasoline fire known how difficult
it is. Methanol can be extinguished easily with water. Top Fuel dragsters burn Nitromethane, CH3NO2. Nitromethane is basically a liquid explosive which explodes with twice as much force as gasoline which makes it highly dangerous.
Engines are powerful and dangerous machines. The jet engine of the ThrustSSC is what made it the fastest land vehicle to date, achieving 1,228 km/h (763 mph) after only one mile (1.6 km). The fastest vehicle in the world that uses a piston engine, and is
wheel driven, is the Burkland 411 Streamliner. It recorded a world-record speed of 670 km/h (416 mph). The fastest production vehicle in the world is the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 Super Sport with a top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph) and an even more shocking price
tag of $2.4 million in the United States and €1,950,000. These records of humans exceeding Mach 1, which is the speed of sound, are all thanks to bigger and better engines.
Tags: