Present Formulation 1 engines generate as much as 1,000 hp from simply 1.6 liters of displacement, and now Engineering Defined has video breaking down the small print that make that potential.
Technically, Formulation 1 vehicles have “energy models,” 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 models, the MGU-Ok (Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic) and MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit-Warmth).
Each motor-generator models harvest power, however in several methods. The MGU-H is spun by extra exhaust stream from the turbo that may 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 automobile or regenerative braking to get well extra power.
2023 Formulation 1 Bahrain Grand Prix
With simply 160 hp supplied by the MGU-Ok, and solely in brief bursts when the battery pack is absolutely charged, the gasoline engine remains to be doing a lot of the work. It additionally has to try this with a restricted quantity of gasoline (as a result of F1 would not permit in-race refueling any extra) pumped from the gasoline cell at a stream fee dictated by the foundations. That fee—a most 100 kg/h—additionally signifies that whereas F1 permits engines to rev to fifteen,000 rpm, energy successfully peaks at 10,500 rpm, as a result of that is when engines hit that most fee.
Groups declare the gasoline utilized in F1 is just like pump gasoline, so they don’t seem to be getting a bonus there. F1 engines are identified to run way more effectively than typical road-car engines, nevertheless. Mercedes-AMG has claimed its engines have achieved greater than 50% thermal effectivity, that means at the very least half the potential power within the gasoline they burn is definitely used to maneuver the automobile. That is the important thing to these large energy numbers.
Contemplating that almost all road-car internal-combustion engines wrestle to realize 35% thermal effectivity, F1 engineers should make use of loads of methods. One is pre-chamber ignition—the usage of a smaller combustion chamber above the principle chamber—which permits for a leaner air-fuel combination that is ideally suited to F1’s fuel-flow limits. This function is not racing-specific; it was one of many options that made the unique Honda Civic’s CVCC engine so fuel-efficient, and it is at present utilized in Maserati’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6.
One other effectivity increase is a rule that permits compression ratios of as much as 18:1. That is a lot larger than road-car engines, and whereas it is unknown whether or not groups are literally hitting that restrict, it leaves room for effectivity good points. Greater compression ratios are extra environment friendly, and even with out working all the best way to an 18:1 ratio, F1 vehicles are possible working larger compression ratios than street vehicles and reaping that profit.
The ultimate issue is turbo increase. In street vehicles, excessive ranges of increase assist small engines produce large energy, but it surely is probably not that easy in F1. F1 engines could run roughly increase than some street vehicles (groups do not launch precise figures) relying on the air-fuel ratio, and that would additionally change based mostly on circuits, with extra increase used at higher-altitude Mexico Metropolis, for instance.
Finally, it is the effectivity of the whole bundle that permits F1 energy models to get a lot energy from so little displacement. As famous within the video, in addition they do it with out some options which are widespread on street vehicles, resembling variable valve timing. That is what makes trendy F1 energy models true technological marvels.
Try the video above for a deeper dive on what makes F1 engines tick.
