Present Components 1 engines generate as much as 1,000 hp from simply 1.6 liters of displacement, and now Engineering Defined has a video breaking down the small print that make that doable.

Technically, Components 1 vehicles have “energy items,” not “engines,” because the 1.6-liter turbocharged V-6 is only one a part of a hybrid powertrain. Since 2014, F1 has mandated a setup that features the tiny 90-degree V-6 and two motor-generator items, the MGU-Ok (Motor Generator Unit-Kinetic) and MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit-Warmth).

Each motor-generator items harvest power, however in numerous methods. The MGU-H is spun by extra exhaust move from the turbo that may usually be bled off by a wastegate, harvesting power that may be saved in a battery pack, used to spin the turbo when off throttle, or despatched on to the MGU-Ok. Connected to the crankshaft, the MGU-Ok can present as much as 160 hp to assist propel the automobile or regenerative braking to recuperate extra power.

With simply 160 hp supplied by the MGU-Ok, and solely briefly bursts when the battery pack is totally charged, the gasoline engine continues to be doing a lot of the work. It additionally has to try this with a restricted quantity of gas (as a result of F1 doesn’t enable in-race refueling any extra) pumped from the gas cell at a move charge dictated by the foundations. That charge—a most 100 kg/h—additionally implies that whereas F1 permits engines to rev to fifteen,000 rpm, energy successfully peaks at 10,500 rpm, as a result of that’s when engines hit that most charge.

Groups declare the gas utilized in F1 is just like pump gasoline, so that they aren’t getting a bonus there. F1 engines are identified to run far more effectively than typical road-car engines, nevertheless. Mercedes-AMG has claimed its engines have achieved greater than 50% thermal effectivity, that means a minimum of half the potential power within the gas they burn is definitely used to maneuver the automobile. That’s the important thing to these large energy numbers.

Contemplating that the majority road-car internal-combustion engines wrestle to realize 35% thermal effectivity, F1 engineers must make use of loads of tips. One is pre-chamber ignition—the usage of a smaller combustion chamber above the primary chamber—which permits for a leaner air-fuel combination that’s ideally suited to F1’s fuel-flow limits. This function isn’t racing-specific; it was one of many options that made the unique Honda Civic’s CVCC engine so fuel-efficient, and it’s at the moment utilized in Maserati’s 3.0-liter twin-turbo V-6. 

One other effectivity increase is a rule that enables compression ratios of as much as 18:1. That’s a lot greater than road-car engines, and whereas it’s unknown whether or not groups are literally hitting that restrict, it leaves room for effectivity beneficial properties. Increased compression ratios are extra environment friendly, and even with out working all the way in which to an 18:1 ratio, F1 vehicles are possible working greater compression ratios than street vehicles and reaping that profit.

The ultimate issue is turbo increase. In street vehicles, excessive ranges of increase assist small engines produce large energy, but it surely will not be that straightforward in F1. F1 engines could run roughly increase than some street vehicles (groups don’t launch precise figures) relying on the air-fuel ratio, and that might additionally change based mostly on circuits, with extra increase used at higher-altitude Mexico Metropolis, for instance.

In the end, it’s the effectivity of the whole package deal that enables F1 energy items to get a lot energy from so little displacement. As famous within the video, additionally they do it with out some options which can be widespread on street vehicles, similar to variable valve timing. That’s what makes trendy F1 energy items true technological marvels.

Try the video above for a deeper dive on what makes F1 engines tick.

This text was initially printed by Motor Authority, an editorial accomplice of ClassicCars.com