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Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 engine
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Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 engine
The Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 engine is a series of mechanically similar, turbocharged, 2.65-liter V-8 engines, designed and developed by Ford in partnership with Cosworth for use in American open-wheel racing. It was produced for over 30 years and was used in the United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Car series, CART, and Champ Car World Series between 1976 and 2007. The DFX engine was the Indy car version of the highly successful 3-liter Ford-Cosworth DFV Formula One engine developed by former Lotus engineer Keith Duckworth and Colin Chapman backing from Ford for the Lotus 49 to campaign the 1967 season. This engine had 155 wins between 1967 and 1985 in F1. The DFX variant was initially developed for Indy car use by Parnelli Jones in 1976, with Cosworth soon taking over. This engine won the Indianapolis 500 ten consecutive years from 1978 to 1987, as well as winning all USAC and CART championships between 1977 and 1987. It powered 81 consecutive Indy car victories from 1981 to 1986, with 153 Indy car victories total.
One of the most successful and longest-lived projects of Cosworth has been its Indy car engine program. In 1975; Cosworth developed the DFX, by destroking the engine to 2.65 L and adding a turbocharger, the DFX became the standard engine to run in IndyCar racing, ending the reign of the Offenhauser, and maintaining that position until the late 1980s.
A 2.65-L turbocharged version of the DFV was developed privately by the Vels Parnelli Jones team for the 1976 USAC season, in the face of opposition from Duckworth. The Parnelli-Cosworth car took its first victory at the 1976 Pocono 500, the fifth race of the season, driven by Al Unser. Unser and his Cosworth-powered Parnelli took two further victories before the end of the year, in Wisconsin and Phoenix, and finished the championship in fourth position.
Duckworth had been a guest of the Vels Parnelli team during the Pocono victory, as Parnelli Jones and Vel Miletich wanted to establish the team as the North American distributor for the turbocharged, Indycar-specification engine. However, shortly after the maiden race victory Cosworth poached two key engineers from the Parnelli team and set up facilities in Torrance, California, to develop and market the engine themselves. Henceforth it became known as the DFX. It went on to dominate Indy car racing in much the same way the DFV had dominated Formula One. The engine won the Indianapolis 500 ten consecutive years from 1978 until 1987, as well as winning all USAC and CART championships between 1977 and 1987 except for one. For a brief time in the early 1980s, some of the DFX engines were badged as Fords. The DFX powered 81 consecutive Indy car victories from 1981 to 1986, and 153 victories total. By the time it was replaced, the DFX was developing over 840 bhp (630 kW).
In 1986 GM financed British firm Ilmor to build a competitor to the DFX in Indy car racing. Mario Illien's Ilmor Indy V-8 quickly took over dominance of the sport.
Ford responded by commissioning Cosworth to redesign the DFX to include a number of DFR improvements. In 1989, they introduced an updated "short stroke" version of the Indy car engine which would be referred to as the "DFS" ("S" for short stroke)., and the Nikasil Aluminium liners, adopted on DFY in 1983.
The engine was fielded by two teams in its first season: Kraco Racing (Bobby Rahal) and Dick Simon Racing (Arie Luyendyk), and its development was an effort to regain dominance of the sport. At the 1989 Indianapolis 500, neither car qualified in the front two rows, but both started in the top ten. On race day, both drivers dropped out with engine failures. Rahal won one race in 1989 at the Meadowlands Grand Prix. However, the Kraco team merged with Galles at season's end, dropped the program, and switched to Chevrolets.
In 1990, the factory development was continued by Scott Brayton and Dominic Dobson, but neither won any races. The engine was utilized by other CART teams in 1991–1992, and was retired after the introduction of the Ford Cosworth XB with only one victory, that being Rahal's in 1989.
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Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 engine
The Ford-Cosworth Indy V8 engine is a series of mechanically similar, turbocharged, 2.65-liter V-8 engines, designed and developed by Ford in partnership with Cosworth for use in American open-wheel racing. It was produced for over 30 years and was used in the United States Auto Club (USAC) Championship Car series, CART, and Champ Car World Series between 1976 and 2007. The DFX engine was the Indy car version of the highly successful 3-liter Ford-Cosworth DFV Formula One engine developed by former Lotus engineer Keith Duckworth and Colin Chapman backing from Ford for the Lotus 49 to campaign the 1967 season. This engine had 155 wins between 1967 and 1985 in F1. The DFX variant was initially developed for Indy car use by Parnelli Jones in 1976, with Cosworth soon taking over. This engine won the Indianapolis 500 ten consecutive years from 1978 to 1987, as well as winning all USAC and CART championships between 1977 and 1987. It powered 81 consecutive Indy car victories from 1981 to 1986, with 153 Indy car victories total.
One of the most successful and longest-lived projects of Cosworth has been its Indy car engine program. In 1975; Cosworth developed the DFX, by destroking the engine to 2.65 L and adding a turbocharger, the DFX became the standard engine to run in IndyCar racing, ending the reign of the Offenhauser, and maintaining that position until the late 1980s.
A 2.65-L turbocharged version of the DFV was developed privately by the Vels Parnelli Jones team for the 1976 USAC season, in the face of opposition from Duckworth. The Parnelli-Cosworth car took its first victory at the 1976 Pocono 500, the fifth race of the season, driven by Al Unser. Unser and his Cosworth-powered Parnelli took two further victories before the end of the year, in Wisconsin and Phoenix, and finished the championship in fourth position.
Duckworth had been a guest of the Vels Parnelli team during the Pocono victory, as Parnelli Jones and Vel Miletich wanted to establish the team as the North American distributor for the turbocharged, Indycar-specification engine. However, shortly after the maiden race victory Cosworth poached two key engineers from the Parnelli team and set up facilities in Torrance, California, to develop and market the engine themselves. Henceforth it became known as the DFX. It went on to dominate Indy car racing in much the same way the DFV had dominated Formula One. The engine won the Indianapolis 500 ten consecutive years from 1978 until 1987, as well as winning all USAC and CART championships between 1977 and 1987 except for one. For a brief time in the early 1980s, some of the DFX engines were badged as Fords. The DFX powered 81 consecutive Indy car victories from 1981 to 1986, and 153 victories total. By the time it was replaced, the DFX was developing over 840 bhp (630 kW).
In 1986 GM financed British firm Ilmor to build a competitor to the DFX in Indy car racing. Mario Illien's Ilmor Indy V-8 quickly took over dominance of the sport.
Ford responded by commissioning Cosworth to redesign the DFX to include a number of DFR improvements. In 1989, they introduced an updated "short stroke" version of the Indy car engine which would be referred to as the "DFS" ("S" for short stroke)., and the Nikasil Aluminium liners, adopted on DFY in 1983.
The engine was fielded by two teams in its first season: Kraco Racing (Bobby Rahal) and Dick Simon Racing (Arie Luyendyk), and its development was an effort to regain dominance of the sport. At the 1989 Indianapolis 500, neither car qualified in the front two rows, but both started in the top ten. On race day, both drivers dropped out with engine failures. Rahal won one race in 1989 at the Meadowlands Grand Prix. However, the Kraco team merged with Galles at season's end, dropped the program, and switched to Chevrolets.
In 1990, the factory development was continued by Scott Brayton and Dominic Dobson, but neither won any races. The engine was utilized by other CART teams in 1991–1992, and was retired after the introduction of the Ford Cosworth XB with only one victory, that being Rahal's in 1989.
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