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Formula 1 Engines - L9
• In the 1980s, Lotus built a 1.5 litre Compound Charged
V6 Formula 1 racing engine - the ‘L9’
• Concept was to eliminate
turbolag for street circuits
• Monoblock construction
with through-bolts
• Magnesium crankcase
• Gasoline Direct Injection
• Power: in excess of
1000bhp at 12000rpm (at
approximately 4.5bar boost)
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L9 - Charging System
• The L9 Charging System consisted of two
Turbochargers (Fixed or Variable Geometry)
connected in series after an Axial Flow Compressor
Anti-Surge Piezo-Electric
Throttles GDI
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WSC Championship
• The W55 engine was designed in the late 1980s for the
World Sports Car championship, for a manufacturer
then competing in it
• At that time the engine regulations shared some
commonality with F1
• W55 was a 3.5 litre Naturally Aspirated V10, decided
upon after extensive analysis
• The bank angle was 110° for low C of G
– First of the wide-angle V10s
• It had a centre Power Take-Off, split cooling and a full-
width shear panel to maintain bending and torsional
stiffness
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W55 Heads
Full Width
Shear Panel
Secondary “Shower
Form” Injectors
Split
Cooling
Cam Gear Drive
from Centre
Power Take-Off
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W55 Conclusions
• W55 was never fully built, though castings were
procured
• Target power was 690bhp at 12500rpm
• Much rig work was carried out on the lubrication and
cooling systems
• However, the regulations for Group C changed, allowing
the manufacturer to continue to race his loosely
production-based engine successfully (this eventually
won Le Mans), and so the W55 project was cancelled
• The extensive analysis and rig work was of value for the
F1 engine design that followed it
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Formula 1 Engines - FX
• The next F1 engine was the ‘FX’, a 120° 3.5 litre V12 with
centre-exit 12-into-3 exhaust system (early 1990s)
• This was intended to
maintain a V8
engine’s BMEP level
over a V12 engine’s
speed range
– By means of 4
cylinder exhaust
tuning
Twisted Crank
for Even Firing
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Formula 1 Engines - FX
Crossover
Centre Power Exhaust
Take-Off System
(12-into-3)
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FX Architecture
Monobloc
Construction
2 Main Castings
Cross-over
Through-bolts
as per L9
Low Mounted
Intakes
2 Auxiliary
Drive Shafts
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Formula 1 Engines - FX
• This engine was to have raced in a Lotus F1 car
• Design and initial performance prediction work was
undertaken, but the project was not progressed to the
prototype stage
• Extensive data was gathered from a Cosworth DFR and
performance prediction of its performance correlated
very well; this suggested that FX would have had in the
region of 750bhp for 1992, its first racing season
• The project was stopped when the FIA changed the car
regulations to mandate faired-in rollover hoops; this
made the use of a high mounted airbox almost
impossible to avoid
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T-Project
• Recently, we were involved in an extremely detailed
study for a modern F1 engine, including machining and
manufacturing facilities
• It was to have had a wide Vee angle of 110-120°
• The first race season was to have been 2003
• The outline design was to have been done with another
consultancy, whose cars were to have used it; Lotus
was to have been responsible for its detail design,
development and manufacture
• Although the current regulations stifle innovation in the
architecture of an engine, Lotus had some radical ideas
to pursue
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