Ferrari unveiled its V6 Turbo
The Scuderia Ferrari unveiled its V6 Turbo engine this Thursday, but without actually showing it. Indeed, the presentation held in Maranello focused on a 3D video animation revealed by the Italian team. This new power unit was the result of intense work among all of Ferrari's F1 engineers.
Scuderia Ferrari presented its V6 Turbo engine on Thursday, which will be used starting from the 2014 season in its Formula 1 cars. The engine has been named 059/3 by the Maranello team. The power unit of the Reds was unveiled through a 3D animation, which you can find below.
With different challenges from the V8 era, the design of this new block was not easy as Luca Marmorini, the head of engines and electronics at Scuderia, explained: Due to the 2014 regulations, we no longer talk about engines, but power units. It’s a very complex project, and we have been working on it for the last two years. It is a turbocharged 1600 cm3 internal combustion engine, and only 100 liters of fuel can be used in the race, which means that the more efficient the engine, the more power it can use.
As with the current KERS, the new power unit has elements that allow for energy recovery, but they have been increased: With the turbo, there is an electric motor that will also act as a generator, allowing for the recovery of energy from exhaust gases. As was already the case, a second electric motor will recover energy from braking, even though it will be able to offer almost twice the power of the current one. All the energy generated by the electric motors will be stored in larger and more powerful batteries than at present, but they will still be located under the fuel tank. The electrical control system will be much more sophisticated to coordinate and manage all these new electro-mechanical elements.
With this new engine block, different from the V8s, James Allison – Ferrari’s technical director – believes that the team could benefit from designing the engine and the chassis as it will allow for greater compatibility between these two elements.
« Being able to build the engine and the chassis together is an interesting advantage for Ferrari. Other teams cannot do the same and this year, more than ever before, installing the new power unit in the car’s chassis will be a complex operation. I have direct experience of this from my time at Lotus: it is true that engine manufacturers try to meet your requests, but it is never the same as here, where there is a historical culture related to the common task of defining and developing the design of the new car, » the Briton shared.
Remarks supported by Marmorini: « We have worked alongside our chassis colleagues for years. Precisely because we know there is no reason for us, engine engineers, to emphasize our unique project too much if it can’t be adapted into a car capable of winning. »
The engine engineers also worked with one of Scuderia’s main partners, Shell – which supplies fuel and lubricants to Ferrari. Andrew Foulds, vice president of Shell Fuels Technology, expressed enthusiasm about the advent of the V6 in Formula 1: « The regulations regarding fuel and lubricants have remained unchanged, but the demands of the new power unit are radically different from those of its predecessor, which has given us the opportunity to explore new areas and bring innovations. »
He also stated that these innovations will help develop technologies used in personal vehicles: « The formula of Shell Helix Ultra lubricants that we develop with Scuderia allows us to continue pushing the limits: in this way, we can collect valuable data that allows us to continue our development, not only in the world of motorsport but also for applications in everyday cars. »
