F1 back to turbo's in 2013

[sammyg2]

Hopefully they won't restrict the heck out of them and make them all wimpy. Could this be an opening for a company that is experienced with turbos and has already made small displacement turbo race engines? (hint hint):

Formula One will switch to 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo engines in 2013 after the powers-that-be reached an agreement.

At present, F1 cars are powered by 2.4-litre V8s but in a bid to go "green", the sport will swap to smaller engines with energy recovery systems and fuel restrictions.

According to the BBC, both Ferrari and Mercedes were not in favour of the proposal.

However, a Ferrari spokesman did reveal that the teams had agreed and that he would be "surprised" if the World Motor Sport Council did not ratify the rule when they meet on December 10th.

He also stated that Ferrari had been against the idea on the grounds that it would cost a great deal to swap engines but added that "an agreement is there, and when there is an agreement you work accordingly."

[Zeke]

Toyota was running a 1000 HP (never verified) turbo 4 in the IMSA series in '92 .
800 HP was what it needed to kill the Nissan and the Toyota won 21 of 26 races, so I guess it killed it.

I know it killed the series by essentially '93.

[Joeaksa]

Would like to see the V-12's back as well!

Fuel restrictions are pure BS. Its a race car, lets race and let the tree huggers stay home.

[racer]

back in the late 70s/early 80s F1 turbo 4 cylinders were known to put out over 1100hp (BMW)in "qualifying" trim. It should be noted that they didn't last too long in that state of tune. But this was also back when fuels were specially formualted and motors needn't last 4 races

[onewhippedpuppy]

F1 gone green, how very PC. Every competitor already spends billions, why not just totally de-restrict them and let it go nuts? Can you imagine the cars we'd see?

[legion]

I'm just excited they are opening up the engine specs again. You don't get to see too many engines melt down on the track anymore. You also don't see a team dominate a season much anymore either. (Even Red Bull didn't dominate like some teams have in the past.)

You know we'll see some pretty cool new technologies too.

[enzo1]

can't wait. Now Houston, build that track!

[Noah930]

Uh, I think you mean Austin.

[BRPORSCHE]

Yes, Austin. And I am definitely going to be there.

[porsche4life]

I'll be in Austin fer sure!

[enzo1]

just build the damn thing, LOL, a new track with turbo's.... oh, man YES!

[jpachard]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

F1 gone green, how very PC. Every competitor already spends billions, why not just totally de-restrict them and let it go nuts? Can you imagine the cars we'd see?

+1. Restricting these guys is just foolish in some ways. It's called Formula ONE for a reason but recently with all the technology emasculation put in by the rule makers it's been a big detractor, IMO.

[legion]

I have no problem with them restricting fuel, but if they do, they should make the engine rules extremely lenient.

[sammyg2]

What I don't get is this:
They keep saying they are trying to keep the team's costs down, yet they completely change the engine/chassis rules nearly every year making all the teams basically start from scratch. No way can that be saving anyone money.

My guess is that they don't care about the costs, they just keep changing the rules to keep ferrari from completely running away with the R&D and dominating every year like they did for most of the last decade.

[jpachard]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

What I don't get is this:
They keep saying they are trying to keep the team's costs down, yet they completely change the engine/chassis rules nearly every year making all the teams basically start from scratch. No way can that be saving anyone money.

My guess is that they don't care about the costs, they just keep changing the rules to keep ferrari from completely running away with the R&D and dominating every year like they did for most of the last decade.

+1, On a much smaller scale, this is why I like PCA Club Racing, the rules are super stable and makes it much easier for everyone to manage their racing "budget".

James

[GG Allin]

Didn't BMW used to build big power 4 cylinder turbo motors for F1 back in the day?

[dewolf]

I wonder if they'll be able to get them to rev to around 25-30k rpm. That would sound amazing!

[jyl]

Bring back the Wankel!

[javadog]

I think you'll find that these won't be the turbo monsters from the 80's. Think "green." Or, think "MICKEY MOUSE," it will end up being the same thing. A preview of things to come, announced today. I've highlighted the parts that piss me off:

"F1's governing body on Friday will confirm key rule changes for 2011 and beyond.

For next season, following a meeting of the F1 Commission, the FIA's World Motor Sport Council is rubber-stamping the introduction of adjustable rear wings for overtaking and the return of energy-recovery KERS systems.

The rear wings will be 'switched on' when a car is within one second of his adversary and then triggered by the driver.

Also being agreed upon on Friday is the radical new 1.6 liter, four-cylinder engine formula for 2013, featuring fuel restrictions and the doubling of KERS power."

The end is near...

JR

[javadog]

More bad news:

"The new power units will be four cylinder 1.6-litre direct-injection engines. Although there will be a 12,000rpm limit and it is hoped fuel consumption will be cut by around 35%, the use of energy recovery systems should keep power at its current level.

For 2013, drivers will also be limited to just five engines per season - but that limit will be reduced to four for the following year."

I wonder if they will also mandate that they sound as shi**y as an IRL engine. That would make their spec "green" engine complete.

JR