Formula 1 switches to 4 cylinders

[husky510]

Formula 1 will be switching to 1.6L turbocharged engines in 2013. This is great news for the small/performance car industry as they will receive the advanced technology and developments from the BIG guys in F1.

http://planetf1.com/news/18227/6553857/F1-set-to-swap-to-green-engines-in-2013

[ELEGNT]

like the good old days! this is going to be good

[ColtVerR]

I can see light at the end of this very long, dark tunnel finally...
WRC has already seen 1.6L TC cars...so its a welcoming change!

[alba]

is it april 1?

[trevski]

like the good old days! this is going to be good

Sadly the good old days of the 1400HP turbo F1 cars are long gone... the 2013 rules are all about making the sport "green". Most of the real innovation in the sport will be round energy recovery. I'm guessing the new engines will have less power than the current 2.4 V8's

Happy to see ground effect is making a comeback. Ground effect aero and redesigned wings have the potential to reduce turbulent air behind the current cars that make it difficult for a chasing car to stay close. Should create some more passing opportunities and more interesting racing.

[runuts]

Will be interesting to see what measures they employ to restrict hp. I dare say it will be a restrictor in from of the turbocharger, as per wrc. Would luv to see them push it though, as with today's technology, they'd easily manage 2000hp if the rules allowed. I expect them to be 750-800hp limited combined with a KERS system, as they are already fast enough.

[husky510]

Yeah the Sierra Cosworth's at Bathurst were 2.0T and I think Dick Johnson's Sierra had 650HP which was 22 years ago. Can you imagine with todays tech what they can do!

[trevski]

Will be interesting to see what measures they employ to restrict hp. I dare say it will be a restrictor in from of the turbocharger, as per wrc. Would luv to see them push it though, as with today's technology, they'd easily manage 2000hp if the rules allowed. I expect them to be 750-800hp limited combined with a KERS system, as they are already fast enough.

I would also say they would look at things like limiting fuel and fuel flow to restrict horsepower. They have already started doing that by moving to a common ECU and removing fuel pit stops and I think they'll do this further by further reducing the gas you can carry forcing the teams to be more efficient. Think the FIA might be less likely to use restrictors and the like and more likely to provide engine manufacturers with guidelines (max boost, max A/R, trim etc).

Some old school F1 Engine Porn http://www.gurneyflap.com/bmwturbof1engine.html

[markimak]

about to buy my melbourne tickets for the aust gp in march :)

[Rockstar]

Look back through Ferrari history and you'll see in the 40's it was a 4cyl industry. Allbeit a 3.2L 4cyl with massive torque.