2.0L Road Race Engine on the engine dyno
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2.0L Road Race Engine on the engine dyno
Since it has been sort of stagnant in here, I figured I'd take a few minutes and share a little different kind of project. Not everything is a big displacement max effort drag racing engine...a good portion of what we work on are rally and road race engines that have to stay within a class specification for size and fuel. This is a program that we have invested in significantly, so I'm not here to post up a recipe to build this...but more to give an inside look at what goes on behind the scenes.
The coolest part about this race car is that a manufacturer can take an engine based from a factory Honda Civic, drop it into a really well developed carbon fiber racing chassis, and it becomes a more than a quarter of a million dollar world class racing car. What other 4 cyl OEM engine manufacturer could fill those shoes besides Honda?
This particular application requires 2.0L displacement and Sunoco gasoline. The cars are beautiful and are supplied with a 255hp Mugen K20 package. It is a reliable engine setup, and the car performs great with that package. To describe the Mugen engine where you can relate to it...imagine a factory gem of a K20R with an already great flowing RSP head, open racing header and aggressive mapping through a very expensive engine management system. Its a pretty stout little 2.0L. However...what man can leave something be? The chassis handles more power with ease. The first things people try are more aggressive cams, ported intake manifolds, etc etc. These are all things that increase the peak output, but often due to a lack of development can simply shift the power curve right and lose some of the low end responsiveness. This particular project has been through many phases of trying to produce power and reliability...multiple engine suppliers and built engines. Even with a max compression effort, big cams, and ported head...the initial effort was limited to 280hp. Big changes had minimal results, partly due to the confines of working with the induction and exhaust manifold that was designed to fit the chassis, and partly due to things being put together that didn't really go together. That leads us to the development of this engine....
Class regulations dictate a 2.0L 86mm stroke x 86mm bore
A sleeved block is used despite the small bore size to provide a rigid platform for consistent ring seal over the life of the engine at high rpm.
It is important to have a lightweight assembly, but surprisingly one of the first things we did was to build a heavier duty connecting rod that weighed a little more and had a stronger design. The lightweight A beam that was previously used sounded good on paper, but simply wasn't durable enough for continued use at this power and rpm level. To offset this, we used our lightweight strutted box forging that comes in under 250 grams.
It is also a raised compression height and long rod setup. The shorter rod engines actually have more grunt and can produce more power depending on your target rpm. This long rod was chosen because of the operating rpm of this engine...shifts are made electronically and the engine does not drop below 8000 rpm. Peak rpm for this engine is proprietary. We also dropped the compression almost a full point from the previous effort to get a better shape on the piston, and also to open the tuning window for reliability and allow for some inconsistencies that were seen in the fuel at one time. The pistons have no coatings, but the rings and pins do receive some special treatment.
Josh preparing the pistons and rods for installation into the block
The cylinder head for this little engine has received significant attention. RSP heads are really good on 2.0L engines...honda did a great job on that head. The engine operates at 8000 rpm and up, so our original intention was to move a lot of air with a big cam, and lose the VTC and VTEC in favor of lighter components. High rpm behavior was definitely improved, but there is an aspect of engine building that comes into play that will not always show up on a dyno chart. Driver emotion and driver perception. The driver has to enjoy driving the engine and feel confident. In the event that the driver was in error and the engine DID fall out of its powerband...the engine was not as responsive as desired...and guess who signs the checks?
This meant back to the drawing board, and months of development down the tube. This time around we worked on a different camshaft that did utilize VTC and VTEC function in the event that the car fell out of the powerband. Maintaining the high rpm power meant back to the flow bench for the cylinder head. We are using an RBB casting and an updated higher flowing version of our Pro TSX CNC head. The TSX is sized appropriately for most 2.0 engines to make respectable power and yet retain the bottom numbers. We needed more air...so we reworked the head beyond our original Pro TSX for more cfm and concentrated on balancing air speed within the port. If you thing the airflow is crazy on the flow bench...you should see the ape **** crazy air and fuel at peak rpm on these engines. The end result was plenty of low end with the little TSX head, and an engine that screams WAY beyond 10,000 on its way to peak power.
For our engine development on the dyno, we use an adjustable cam gear and try different camshaft centerlines. Once the engine is in the end user's hands its important to make sure communication is clear on where these cams can go before contact is made with other valves and pistons. Having the cams move can ruin an expensive weekend of racing to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. To prevent this, we install mechanically limited VTC and a fixed gear so that in the event of a VTC failure or tuner error...there is no way to mechanically damage the engine. Engine testing gear shown here.
Fixed gear shown here as we deliver them to customers who like to take matters into their own hands LOL The valve spring is the 4P PSI spring and the camshaft is the 4P RR3.
A low profile billet pan and dry sump oiling system is used on this engine for fitment into the chassis. It has an integrated transmission mount on the oil pan that doesn't allow us to mount it on the engine dyno, so we use our own dry sump system for dyno testing.
Mounted up to the Superflow engine dyno. Yesterday's dyno testing was not for power development, but is a requirement by the customer for break-in and durability. We make several full power hits, but much of the run time is loaded up and various RPM ranges.
Josh going over data after a successful session. After the engine is run on the dyno, we have to check the condition of the engine, remount their oiling system, and package it for shipment.
I wish I could share more, but as you can imagine there is a little that has to remain sacred for a competitive race program. Here is a covered up graph that I'm allowed to share without showing the peak rpm of the engine. At 9500 is it still full swing and climbing to its beyond 10,000 rpm peak. If you see this come down later, you will know why LOL.
Matt is another one of our engine builders who has a big hand in this project from assembly all the way to the dyno room.
We tune these engines with a Motec M130 ECU.
The end result by adding power and extending the power curve far beyond the supplied K20 is 100 more hp of smiles and right pedal medicine. After a short airplane ride, its off to make some noise on the race track!
I hope you all enjoyed this....
The coolest part about this race car is that a manufacturer can take an engine based from a factory Honda Civic, drop it into a really well developed carbon fiber racing chassis, and it becomes a more than a quarter of a million dollar world class racing car. What other 4 cyl OEM engine manufacturer could fill those shoes besides Honda?
This particular application requires 2.0L displacement and Sunoco gasoline. The cars are beautiful and are supplied with a 255hp Mugen K20 package. It is a reliable engine setup, and the car performs great with that package. To describe the Mugen engine where you can relate to it...imagine a factory gem of a K20R with an already great flowing RSP head, open racing header and aggressive mapping through a very expensive engine management system. Its a pretty stout little 2.0L. However...what man can leave something be? The chassis handles more power with ease. The first things people try are more aggressive cams, ported intake manifolds, etc etc. These are all things that increase the peak output, but often due to a lack of development can simply shift the power curve right and lose some of the low end responsiveness. This particular project has been through many phases of trying to produce power and reliability...multiple engine suppliers and built engines. Even with a max compression effort, big cams, and ported head...the initial effort was limited to 280hp. Big changes had minimal results, partly due to the confines of working with the induction and exhaust manifold that was designed to fit the chassis, and partly due to things being put together that didn't really go together. That leads us to the development of this engine....
Class regulations dictate a 2.0L 86mm stroke x 86mm bore
A sleeved block is used despite the small bore size to provide a rigid platform for consistent ring seal over the life of the engine at high rpm.
It is important to have a lightweight assembly, but surprisingly one of the first things we did was to build a heavier duty connecting rod that weighed a little more and had a stronger design. The lightweight A beam that was previously used sounded good on paper, but simply wasn't durable enough for continued use at this power and rpm level. To offset this, we used our lightweight strutted box forging that comes in under 250 grams.
It is also a raised compression height and long rod setup. The shorter rod engines actually have more grunt and can produce more power depending on your target rpm. This long rod was chosen because of the operating rpm of this engine...shifts are made electronically and the engine does not drop below 8000 rpm. Peak rpm for this engine is proprietary. We also dropped the compression almost a full point from the previous effort to get a better shape on the piston, and also to open the tuning window for reliability and allow for some inconsistencies that were seen in the fuel at one time. The pistons have no coatings, but the rings and pins do receive some special treatment.
Josh preparing the pistons and rods for installation into the block
The cylinder head for this little engine has received significant attention. RSP heads are really good on 2.0L engines...honda did a great job on that head. The engine operates at 8000 rpm and up, so our original intention was to move a lot of air with a big cam, and lose the VTC and VTEC in favor of lighter components. High rpm behavior was definitely improved, but there is an aspect of engine building that comes into play that will not always show up on a dyno chart. Driver emotion and driver perception. The driver has to enjoy driving the engine and feel confident. In the event that the driver was in error and the engine DID fall out of its powerband...the engine was not as responsive as desired...and guess who signs the checks?
This meant back to the drawing board, and months of development down the tube. This time around we worked on a different camshaft that did utilize VTC and VTEC function in the event that the car fell out of the powerband. Maintaining the high rpm power meant back to the flow bench for the cylinder head. We are using an RBB casting and an updated higher flowing version of our Pro TSX CNC head. The TSX is sized appropriately for most 2.0 engines to make respectable power and yet retain the bottom numbers. We needed more air...so we reworked the head beyond our original Pro TSX for more cfm and concentrated on balancing air speed within the port. If you thing the airflow is crazy on the flow bench...you should see the ape **** crazy air and fuel at peak rpm on these engines. The end result was plenty of low end with the little TSX head, and an engine that screams WAY beyond 10,000 on its way to peak power.
For our engine development on the dyno, we use an adjustable cam gear and try different camshaft centerlines. Once the engine is in the end user's hands its important to make sure communication is clear on where these cams can go before contact is made with other valves and pistons. Having the cams move can ruin an expensive weekend of racing to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. To prevent this, we install mechanically limited VTC and a fixed gear so that in the event of a VTC failure or tuner error...there is no way to mechanically damage the engine. Engine testing gear shown here.
Fixed gear shown here as we deliver them to customers who like to take matters into their own hands
LOL The valve spring is the 4P PSI spring and the camshaft is the 4P RR3.
A low profile billet pan and dry sump oiling system is used on this engine for fitment into the chassis. It has an integrated transmission mount on the oil pan that doesn't allow us to mount it on the engine dyno, so we use our own dry sump system for dyno testing.
Mounted up to the Superflow engine dyno. Yesterday's dyno testing was not for power development, but is a requirement by the customer for break-in and durability. We make several full power hits, but much of the run time is loaded up and various RPM ranges.
Josh going over data after a successful session. After the engine is run on the dyno, we have to check the condition of the engine, remount their oiling system, and package it for shipment.
I wish I could share more, but as you can imagine there is a little that has to remain sacred for a competitive race program. Here is a covered up graph that I'm allowed to share without showing the peak rpm of the engine. At 9500 is it still full swing and climbing to its beyond 10,000 rpm peak. If you see this come down later, you will know why LOL.
Matt is another one of our engine builders who has a big hand in this project from assembly all the way to the dyno room.
We tune these engines with a Motec M130 ECU.
The end result by adding power and extending the power curve far beyond the supplied K20 is 100 more hp of smiles and right pedal medicine. After a short airplane ride, its off to make some noise on the race track!
I hope you all enjoyed this....
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