Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1958, specialising in high-performance

internal combustion engine An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal c ...

powertrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the drivetrain is the components o ...

, and

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

for

automobile racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organi ...

(motorsport) and mainstream automotive industries. Cosworth is based in Northampton, England, with American facilities in Indianapolis and

Mooresville, North Carolina Mooresville is a large town located in the southwestern section of Iredell County, North Carolina, United States, and is a part of the fast-growing Charlotte metropolitan area. The population was 50,193 at the 2020 United States Census making it ...

. Cosworth has collected 176 wins in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

(F1) as engine supplier, ranking third with most wins, behind Ferrari and Mercedes.

Corporate history

The company was founded as a British racing

maker in 1958 by

Mike Costin Michael Charles Costin (born 10 July 1929, in Hendon) was, together with Keith Duckworth, the co-founder of Cosworth Engineering, a producer of Ford-funded and sponsored engines. Drivers including Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Jochen Rindt, E ...

and

Keith Duckworth David Keith Duckworth (10 August 1933 – 18 December 2005) was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One. Early life a ...

. Its company name, "Cosworth", was derived as a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsLotus Engineering Ltd., and Cosworth initially maintained a strong relationship with

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

; and initial revenues of the company came almost exclusively from Lotus. When the company was founded in 1958, Duckworth left Lotus, leaving Costin (who had signed a term- employment contract with Chapman) at the company. Until 1962, Costin worked on Cosworth projects in his private time, while being active as a key Lotus engineer on the development of

Lotus 15 The Lotus 15 is a front-engine sports racing car designed by Colin Chapman of Lotus, built from 1958 until 1960. Series 1 The 15 is a two-seater, front-engine, rear wheel drive sports racer with an aluminium body over a space frame configuratio ...

through 26 (Elan), as well as leading the Team Lotus contingent at foreign races, as evidenced by the 1962 Le Mans Lotus scandal. Lotus 20 engine detail

Initial series production engines ( Mk.II, Mk.V, Mk.VIII, and Mk.XIV) were sold to Lotus exclusively, and many of the other racing engines up to Mk.XII were delivered to Team Lotus. The success of

Formula Junior Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...

engines ( Mk.III, IV, XI, and

XVII 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers. In mathematics 17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as ...

) started bringing in non-Lotus revenues, and the establishment of

Formula B Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) allowed the financial foundation of Cosworth to be secured by the increased sales of Mk.XIII, a pure racing engine based on

Lotus TwinCam The Lotus-Ford Twin Cam is an inline-four petrol engine developed by Lotus for the 1962 Lotus Elan. A few early examples displaced 1.5 litres, but the majority were 1.55-litre (1557ml) engines. It used a Ford 116E iron cylinder block and a ne ...

, through its domination of the class. This newly found security enabled the company to distance itself from the Lotus Mk.VII and Elan optional road engine assembly business, and allowed its resources to be concentrated on racing engine development. The first Cosworth-designed

cylinder head In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head (often abbreviated to simply "head") sits above the cylinders and forms the roof of the combustion chamber. In sidevalve engines, the head is a simple sheet of metal; whereas in more modern ...

was for SCA series; with a

single overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

(SOHC) reverse-flow configuration, similar to the Coventry Climax FWE engine. A real success was achieved with the next gear-driven

double overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

(DOHC) four-valve FVA in 1966, when Cosworth, with a help from Chapman, convinced

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

to purchase the rights to the design, and sign a development contract – including an eight-cylinder version. This resulted in the DFV, which dominated

for many years. From this time on, Cosworth was supported by Ford for many years, and many of the Cosworth designs were owned by Ford and named as Ford engines under similar contracts. Another success by the BD series in the 1970s put Cosworth on a growing track. Cosworth then went through a number of ownership changes. After Duckworth decided he did not want to be involved with the day-to-day business of running a growing company, he sold out the ownership to United Engineering Industries (UEI) in 1980, retaining his life presidency and day-to-day technical involvement with Cosworth, and becoming a UEI board director; UEI was a group of small- to medium-sized technology companies, which was taken over by Carlton Communications in 1988 – Carlton was primarily interested in some of the audio-visual companies in the UEI portfolio, and Cosworth was a poor fit with these; a new buyer for the company in the engineering/automotive sector was sought, and the traditional engineering company

Vickers plc Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers-Armstrongs after the nationalisation of three of its four operating groups: aviation (as a 50% share since 1960 of British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) in 1977), shipbuilding ( Vickers Limited Shipbuilding ...

bought Cosworth in 1990. In September 1998, Vickers sold Cosworth to

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

. Audi kept the engineering, manufacturing and casting unit which it called Cosworth Technology and sold the race engine division, Cosworth Racing, and its electronics division, Pi Research, to Ford. In December 2004, Audi announced that it sold Cosworth Technology to

Mahle GmbH MAHLE GmbH is a German automotive parts manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide. As a manufacturer of components and systems for the combustion engine and its periphery, the company is one ...

. Cosworth Technology was then renamed as

MAHLE Powertrain MAHLE Powertrain Ltd is the wholly owned engineering services division of MAHLE GmbH. With its headquarters in Northampton, UK and sister company in Plymouth, Michigan, United States the company specialises in the design, development and tes ...

on 1 July 2005. On 15 November 2004 Ford sold Cosworth Racing to

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...

World Series owners Gerald Forsythe and Kevin Kalkhoven. In December 2004, Ford also sold Pi Research to Kalkhoven and Forsythe, creating the current Cosworth Group. Since 2006, Cosworth has diversified to provide engineering consultancy, high performance electronics, and component manufacture services outside of its classic motorsport customer base. On 25 February 2008, Cosworth was awarded a $5.4 million contract by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

to develop a heavy fuel engine for their RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Staying true to the company roots, Cosworth established an engineering partnership with Aston Martin on one of the world's most powerful

hybrid electric A hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is a type of hybrid vehicle that combines a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) system with an electric propulsion system (hybrid vehicle drivetrain). The presence of the electric powertrain is intended ...

road car engines for the

Aston Martin Valkyrie The Aston Martin Valkyrie (also known by its code-names as AM-RB 001 and Nebula) is a limited production hybrid sports car collaboratively built by British automobile manufacturers Aston Martin, Red Bull Racing Advanced Technologies and sever ...

. Their naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The f ...

develops at 10,500 rpm, and 740 N⋅m (546 lbf⋅ft) of torque at 7,000 rpm, setting a new standard for maximum rpm and weight Cosworth supplied its last premier class racing engines to one F1 team in 2013, the Marussia F1 Team.

Internal combustion engines

Early types

The following is the list of initial products, with

s modified, but not originally designed by Cosworth, on

Ford Kent engine The Ford Kent is an internal combustion engine from Ford of Europe. Originally developed in 1959 for the Ford Anglia, it is an in-line four-cylinder pushrod engine with a cast-iron cylinder head and block. The Kent family can be divided into th ...

cylinder blocks. The exceptions were Mk.XVII and MAE (modified Anglia engine), which had intake port sleeves for downdraft carburettors brazed into the stock cast iron cylinder head, in place of the normal side draft ports, thus could be considered Cosworth designs. In addition to the above, Cosworth designed and provided the assembly work for

Lotus Elan Lotus Elan is the name of two separate ranges of automobiles produced by Lotus Cars. The first series of cars was produced between 1962 and 1975 as a rear-wheel drive vehicle. The second series was produced between 1989 and 1995 as a front-wheel ...

Special Equipment optional road engines with special camshafts and high compression pistons. The final model of the above initial series was the ''MAE'' in 1965, when new rules were introduced in Formula 3 allowing up to engines with 36 mm intake restrictor plates. MAE used one barrel of a two barrel Weber IDA downdraft carburettor with the other barrel blanked off. The domination of this engine was absolute as long as these regulations lasted until 1968. As Cosworth had a serious difficulty meeting the demand, the MAE was mainly sold as a kit. This experience led to the later FVA/DFV contract to be drawn where the responsibility of development rested with Cosworth, and the manufacturing right and responsibility rested with Ford. There also were some specially cast iron heads with similar dimensions to these brazed heads with titanium alloy valve spring retainers called the "screamer head" for MAE in later years.

The SCA series

A year before the introduction of the MAE, the single overhead cam two valve SCA was introduced. It was a 997 cc engine based on

Ford Cortina The Ford Cortina is a medium-sized family car that was built initially by Ford of Britain, and then Ford of Europe in various guises from 1962 to 1982, and was the United Kingdom's best-selling car of the 1970s. The Cortina was produced in fiv ...

116E block that was designed for

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...

, and featured the first totally Cosworth-designed head, Laystall forged crankshaft, steel main bearing caps and pistons with only one compression ring and one oil scraper ring each. Cylinder head to block sealing was by a head gasket incorporating Cooper Rings. The basic configuration was quite similar to Coventry Climax FWE on

Lotus Elite The Lotus Elite name has been used for two production vehicles and one concept vehicle developed and manufactured by British automobile manufacturer Lotus Cars. The first generation Elite Type 14 was produced from 1957 until 1963 and the second ...

including its SOHC reverse-flow design, except for a series of seven spur gears (one on the crank, two intermediary gears on two fixed shafts mounted on the front cover back plate, one on the 116E camshaft used as a jackshaft, two on a common fixed shaft in the head, and one on the camshaft) driving a five-bearing camshaft and the Ford five main bearing iron block. The intake ports and the oil scavenge pickup for dry sump lubrication were canted 25 degrees, so they faced straight up and down, respectively, when the engine was mounted 25 degrees from vertical to the right for a lower centre of gravity. The SCA initially had two 40DCM2 Weber twin-choke downdraft sand-cast carburettors mounted on top to produce 115 hp, which was replaced by Lucas fuel injection in 1966, eventually reaching 140 hp. The longer stroke SCB was built to compare against the 1,498 cc Mk.XVI, and upon proving its superior power against the

Mundy Edmond Enright (born 19 May 1975), known professionally as Mundy, is an Irish singer-songwriter and founder of the independent record label Camcor Records. Biography He released his debut album ''Jelly Legs'' in 1996 on the Epic Records label ...

-designed two-valve crossflow DOHC head, it acted as the benchmark for the development of FVA to measure the benefits and shortcomings of a four valve crossflow DOHC design. It was the results of this four valve development work that formed the basis for many of the Cosworth engines that followed. A larger 85 mm bore SCC with the same short-stroke five-bearing crankshaft as the SCA was built and sold for

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

1.1 litre sports car class.

The FVA series

The Cortina Crossflow block was also the basis for the FVA (four valve Type A), an F2 engine introduced in 1966, and developed under the same contract as the DFV, for the new 1.6-litre engine rules. This engine featured 16 valves operated by twin overhead camshafts driven by a train of 9 gears. The metering unit for the Lucas mechanical fuel injection was rotated by a toothed belt from the gear-driven inlet cam, while the exhaust cam directly drove an alternator on the rear of the head. It produced at 9000 rpm. This engine dominated the category until 1971, and was also used in sports car racing in 1.8 Litre form as the "FVC". The cylinder head on the FVA pioneered many of Duckworth's ideas that would be used on the DFV and a mule for the eight-cylinder engine development, FVB, was built. However, the distance between the two camshafts and the valve inclination angle were larger than on DFV for the series. The larger displacement FVD was designed and released for endurance racing in 1975, that displaced on the aluminium block developed for BDG. The FVD produced only , down from the that other twin-cam four cylinders such as the Hart 420S produced but was more reliable. One was campaigned in the CanAm series in 1978 in the Osprey SR-1, built and driven by Dan Hartill.

The DFV (Double Four Valve)

In 1966,

( Lotus Cars founder and principal of

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Mor ...

) persuaded Ford to bankroll Keith Duckworth's design for a new lightweight

engine. Cosworth received the order along with the £100,000 that Ford felt it adequate to spend on such an objective. The contract stipulated that a four-cylinder Ford-based F2 engine would be developed as proof of concept (see the FVA above) and that a pure Cosworth V8 would be built based on this. The DFV design used a similar

to the one Duckworth had prototyped on the four-cylinder FVB unit on a custom Cosworth cylinder block and crankcase, forming a single 90°

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...

, thus creating a legend in its own right, the DFV – meaning " Double Four Valve". This engine and its derivatives were used for a quarter of a century, and it was the most successful in the history of

/ Grand Prix motor racing. Winning 167 races in a career lasting over 20 years, it was the product that put Cosworth Engineering on the map. Although originally designed for Formula One, the engine has been modified to be used in a range of categories. The DFV won on its first outing, at the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix in the hands of Jim Clark, fitted to a Lotus 49, and from 1968 was available for purchase to any F1 team that wished it. During the 1970s, it was common for almost the entire field (with the notable exception of Ferrari) to use one of these engines – this at a time when independent wealthy individuals could buy exactly the same engine off the shelf that was also being used by McLaren et al. Most teams just built a tub around a Cosworth DFV and a

Hewland Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...

gearbox Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...

. It won a record 155 World Championship races, the last being Detroit in 1983, powering a Tyrrell driven by

Michele Alboreto Michele Alboreto (; 23 December 1956 – 25 April 2001) was an Italian racing driver. He was runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring spo ...

. Although the DFV (bore: , stroke: , displacement: ) with at 9,000 rpm did not produce as much power as some of its rival 12-cylinder engines, it was lighter, resulting in a better power to weight ratio. In addition to being lighter, it was also made a structural part of the car itself, by placing load bearing arms to stress the block. These design aspects appealed tremendously to the genius of Colin Chapman who used them to the fullest extent. The DFY, introduced in 1982 was a further evolution of the DFV for Formula One, with a shorter stroke and a DFL bore (bore: , stroke: , displacement ) with at 11,000 rpm, thereby producing more power, but still unable to fight against the turbocharged cars of the day. It was the advent of turbocharged engines in Formula One which sounded the death knell for the venerable DFV, and in 1986 Cosworth returned to the lower formulae preparing the DFV for the newly created

Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...

, with the installation of a compulsory 9,000 rpm rev limiter, which scaled power back from 500 to ; the DFV remained in this class until 1992 and the DFY until 1995. By this time the Cosworth AC V8 replaced the DFV/Y in F3000 and was the dominant engine in the class until it became a spec-series in 1996 using a Zytek-Judd V8. The final F3000 engines gave , almost equalling the 1983 DFV which gave at 11,200 rpm. In Formula One, a new DFV-based design was introduced for the new normally aspirated rules in 1987. The DFZ was produced as an interim model, but in 1988 Cosworth created the DFV's final evolution, the DFR, which soldiered on in F1 with smaller teams until 1991, scoring its last points – including a pair of second places by

Jean Alesi Jean Alesi (born Giovanni Alesi, 11 June 1964) is a French professional racing driver of Italian origin. After successes in minor categories, notably winning the 1989 Formula 3000 Championship, his Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell ...

– with Tyrrell in 1990. The DFV has recently been given a new lease of life as a result of interest in Classic F1 racing, which was given a World Championship status by the FIA in 2004.

DFV variants

The DFV spawned a number of derivations. In 1968; Cosworth created the DFV's first derivation, a version for the

Tasman Series The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...

, the DFW. DFV to DFW conversion simply involved substitution of a short-stroke crank and longer connecting rods. Cosworth DFX engine

One of the most successful and longest-lived projects of Cosworth has been its CART /

engine programme. In 1975; Cosworth developed the DFX, by destroking the engine to and adding a

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

, 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. Ford backed Cosworth with creating a new interim design for IndyCar racing in the late 1980s, the DFS, which merged DFR technology into the ageing DFX design, but it was eventually rendered obsolete by advancing technology. While designed as an F1 engine, the DFV was also used as in endurance racing, although its flat-plane crank design led to destructive vibrations putting stress on devices surrounding the engine, especially the exhaust system. The first sports car to use a DFV, the Ford P68, failed to finish a single race because of repeated mechanical and electrical failures. Despite this handicap the DFV won the

24 hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose ...

twice in its original 3.0 Litre form for Mirage and Rondeau, who were able to attain sufficient reliability by de-tuning the motor. The DFL for endurance racing was developed for the 1982 season to replace the DFV. It came in two versions: one with and the other with . While neither competed well in the

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

(C1 Class) the former was adapted to the C2 Class (700 kg minimum weight, 55 Litres fuel, 5 refuelings/1000 km) starting in 1984. During the latter half of the 1980s it was the most popular motor for that class, with successful championship campaigns and five class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The latter version's severe lack of reliability caused it to fall out of use by 1985.

The BDA series

Cosworth solidified its association with Ford in 1969, by developing a

(DOHC) 16-valve inline four-cylinder engine for road use in the Ford Escort. As Keith Duckworth was busy designing and developing the DFV, the project was assigned to Mike Hall, who created the 1601 cc BDA on the

block for homologation purposes. The camshafts were driven by a

toothed belt A toothed belt; timing belt; cogged belt; cog belt; or synchronous belt is a flexible belt with teeth moulded onto its inner surface. Toothed belts are usually designed to run over matching toothed pulleys or sprockets. Toothed belts are used in ...

developed for Fiat 124, hence the name BDA, literally meaning "Belt Drive, A type". It was designed for FIA Group 2 and Group 4 on either rallying or

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mov ...

purpose. The nominal homologation at 1601 cc capacity meant that BDA-engined cars competed in what was usually the top class (1600 cc and up) so were eligible for overall victories rather than class wins. In 1970, the 1701 cc BDB was created for the Escort RS1600, and this engine received fuel injection for the first time in the series as 1701 cc BDC. Two years later, the BDA series was adopted for

; first came the 1790 cc BDE, then the 1927 cc BDF eventually reaching a maximum of 1975 cc BDG in 1973. As the bore size reached ever closer to the bore centre distance, leaving little space in between cylinders, all three types had brazed-in cylinder liners to the block. As a departure from the Ford iron block, the BDG received a new aluminium block (originally designed by

Brian Hart Brian Roger Hart (7 September 1936 – 5 January 2014) was a British racing driver and engineer with a background in the aviation industry. He is best known as the founder of Brian Hart Limited, a company that developed and built engines for mot ...

in 1971 and re-engineered by Cosworth) soon after, and this cylinder block was used as a replacement part in rebuilding many other BD series engines as well as some Mk.XIII engines. The iron block was also used for smaller displacements; starting with the very successful 1599 cc

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

BDD in 1970, followed by the 1098 cc BDJ and 1300 cc BDH variants for

Formula C and sports car racing, respectively. There was even a one-off 785 cc version built by Cosworth employees Paul Squires and Phil Kidsley; fitted with a Lysholm supercharger it was installed in a Brabham BT28 Formula 3 chassis and competed in the

British Hill Climb Championship The British Hill Climb Championship (BHCC) is the most prestigious Hillclimbing championship in Great Britain. Hillclimbing in the British Isles has a rich history, for example, the hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is t ...

as the Brabham-Lysholm. In 1970, Ford asked Weslake and Co of

Rye, East Sussex is a small town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederati ...

to build the BDD for them, and by the end of 1970, the production line was installed at Rye and production was under way. These engines were often called the 'BDA', but were 1599 cc BDDs eligible for under 1.6 Litre class. The 1599 cc BDD engine won a number of championships around the world in Formula Atlantic and Formula Pacific during the 1980s. In 1975, 1599 cc big valve BDM (225 bhp) was developed with fuel injection for Formula Atlantic, and a 'sealed engine' version BDN (1599 cc, 210 bhp) followed in 1977 for Canadian Formula Atlantic series. Largely known as 'Cosworth BDA', BDD and BDM were also very successful in

Formula Pacific Formula Pacific was a motor racing category which was used in the Pacific Basin area from 1977 to 1982. It specified a single-seat, open-wheeler chassis powered by a production-based four-cylinder engine of under 1600cc capacity. The formula was bas ...

and

Formula Mondial Formula Mondial was an international motor racing category which was introduced to replace both Formula Atlantic and the similar Formula Pacific''The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring'', 1986, page 171 in 1983.''Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1982 ...

racing in Australia and New Zealand. In open wheel racing, Cosworth powered cars (

Ralt RT4 The Ralt RT4 is an open-wheel formula racing car, designed, developed and built by Ralt, for Formula Atlantic (and was also occasionally raced in Formula Two categories), in 1980. It was later converted into a closed-wheel prototype, and used in th ...

and Tiga's) won

Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing championship contested annually from 1957 to 2014 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor ...

in 1982–1986 as well as winning the Australian Grand Prix in 1981–1984 (including wins by

Alain Prost Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...

and

Roberto Moreno Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship p ...

) before the race became part of the Formula One World Championship in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and won the

New Zealand Grand Prix The New Zealand Grand Prix, sometimes known as the New Zealand International Grand Prix, is an annual motor racing event held in New Zealand. First held in 1950, it is best known for hosting rounds of the Tasman Series in the 1960s and 1970s. It ...

each year from 1982 to 1988. BDD and BDM engines were also prominent in the

Australian Sports Car Championship The Australian Sports Car Championship was the national title for sports car racing drivers sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport from 1969 to 1988. Each championship was contested over a series of races with the exception of ...

during the 1980s, winning the 1987 championship. Ford RS200 engine

The turbo charged 1778 cc BDT was created in 1981, which powered the never-raced RWD Escort RS1700T. In 1984, 4WD

Ford RS200 The Ford RS200 is a mid-engined, four-wheel drive sports car that was produced by Ford Motorsport in Boreham, UK, from 1984 to 1986. The road-going RS200 was the basis for Ford's Group B rally car and was designed to comply with FIA homologati ...

debuted with a 1803 cc version of BDT, which was created for

Group B Group B was a set of regulations for grand touring (GT) vehicles used in sports car racing and rallying introduced in 1982 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Although permitted to enter a GT class of the World Sportscar ...

rallying. Between 1984 and 1986 the BDT engine was used in Group C endurance racing by Roy Baker, in class C2 using the Tiga GC284, GC285 and GC286. Later in 1986, a 2137 cc version was created by

using a bespoke aluminium block and a large intercooler for RS200 Evolution, just as Group B was cancelled by the FIA. This BDT-E ('E' for Evolution) produced over in Group B ' rallycross' boost level, normally producing on a lower but sustainable boost. In 1983, the BD series saw its second road engine incarnation (the first being the original BDA and BDB), the BDR, which was a BDA or BDB sold in kit form for the

Caterham Super Seven The Lotus Seven is a small, simple, lightweight, two-seater, open-top, open-wheel, sports car produced by the British manufacturer Lotus Cars (initially called Lotus Engineering) between 1957 and 1972. It was designed by Lotus founder Colin Chap ...

in 1601 cc (120 bhp) and in 1701 cc (130 bhp) formats. The

Hart Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores * Hart's Reptile Wo ...

420R and the

Zakspeed Zakspeed () is a motor racing team from Germany, founded in 1968 by Erich Zakowski and after that run by his son Peter Zakowski. It is based in Niederzissen, Rhineland-Palatinate, around from the Nürburgring circuit. 1973 to 1981: Saloon and s ...

F1 engines owe much to the BDA series, being essentially an aluminium-block derivative using similar heads.

The GA/GAA V6

A fuel-injected belt-driven DOHC GA (also called the GAA) was based on the 60 degree V6 block of Ford Essex, and was used for the Ford Capris raced in

Group 2 The term Group 2 may refer to: * Alkaline earth metal, a chemical element classification * Astronaut Group 2, also known as The New Nine, the second group of astronauts selected by NASA in 1962 * Group 2 (racing), an FIA classification for cars in ...

in the early 1970s. This had a capacity of , and was highly competitive against the BMW straight-sixes. The GA was also used in the later years of

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

in Europe. The GA or GAA was commissioned by Ford in May 1972, when Ford realised that the Cologne V6 based Weslake OHV V6 engines used in their Capris which competed in the European Touring Car Championship had been modified to the point that no more performance could be extracted from them. Mike Hall, who had already designed the highly successful Cosworth DFV and BDA engines, took on the task of developing a whole new engine based on the 3-Litre Essex V6 block. The new engine was radically different from the previously-used Weslake unit in that it featured twin overhead camshaft aluminium alloy cylinder heads, 4 valves per cylinder, a Lucas mechanical fuel injection system, dry sump oiling system, a steel crankshaft, and enlarged displacement of 3412cc, compared with the 2.9 litres of the previously used Cologne V6 based Weslake V6. Ford expected a minimum of 400 Hp from the new Cosworth engine; that figure was exceeded, with the engine producing 420 Hp in the first test run. In race tune they finally produced around 462 bhp (345 kW; 468 PS) at 9000 rpm and 300 ft-lb of torque (407 Nm). This meant that the new engine proved highly successful at competing against BMW in the 1973 Season of the European Touring Car Championship where the engine was installed in Ford's newly homologated Capri RS 3100. Ford Motorsport also sold 100 Cosworth GA V6 engines, most of them ending up in Formula 5000 cars. The GA/GAA V6 is a very rare, and extremely expensive engine, with rebuilt units priced at £50,000.

The FBA and FBC V6

The FBA and FBC engines were found in the Ford Granada and

Ford Scorpio The Ford Scorpio is an executive car that was produced by Ford Europe from 1985 to 1998. It was the replacement for the European Ford Granada line (although in the UK and Ireland the Scorpio was marketed under the Granada name until 1994). Li ...

. The FBA came first in 1991 and was also known as the 'BOA'; it was based on the

Ford Cologne V6 The original Ford Cologne V6 is a series of 60° cast iron block V6 engines produced continuously by the Ford Motor Company in Cologne, Germany, since 1965. Along with the British Ford Essex V6 engine and the U.S. Buick V6 and GMC Truck V6, t ...

used in the

Ford Sierra The Ford Sierra is a mid-size car or large family car manufactured and marketed by Ford Europe from 1982-1993, designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément — and noted for its aerodynamic styling producing a drag coeffi ...

and Ford Capri and other models and was a twin overhead camshaft 24valve conversion for more power, producing and better idle quality. Cosworth V6 24v

In 1995, with a new version of the Scorpio, it was upgraded with a wider torque spread and higher power – to , from a variable intake system and reprofiled cams. The NVH was improved with a change from a single chain to drive all four camshafts – to one chain to drive one bank of cams and a second for the other bank; this engine was known as the 'BOB'. A racing version was also available for a short time – FBE – with an individual throttle butterfly for each cylinder. FBB and FBD engines existed as development engines but these were never released. The two production engines were always mated to an automatic gearbox but have become popular in the custom car scene where they have been mated to the 4x4 manual transmission and the rear-wheel-drive manual transmission from the Ford Sierra XR4 and XR4x4. There are also companies that offer twin and single turbo conversions, and other modifications to increase power to usually around . These engines can be bought relatively cheaply and, providing they are well serviced, engines have been known to cover over 200,000 miles without major work being required.

The YB series

The YB series of engines are based on the older

inline-4 A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the e ...

Ford T88 engine block, and were introduced in the road-going

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in ...

in 1986 with . With 5,000 units built for homologation purposes in

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...

, both for rallies and touring cars. Racing versions of the RS Cosworth were developing around , but with the small Garrett T3 turbo on the cars reliability was a problem. A limited edition evolution model was introduced in mid-1987, the Sierra RS500 which included a bigger T4 turbo, with power initially at around the mark in 1987, but in later years climbing to close to some in full racing trim. The RS500 came to dominate

in its heyday from 1987 to 1992, winning multiple championships and major races in Europe including the ETCC,

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

and DTM (German), as well as Japan, Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. This included wins in the five major races, the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their ...

held at

Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has he ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

at Mount Panorama in Australia, the

RAC Tourist Trophy The RAC Tourist Trophy (sometimes called the International Tourist Trophy) is a motor racing award presented by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) to the overall victor of a motor race in the United Kingdom. Established in 1905, it is the world's ol ...

at Silverstone in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, the

Wellington 500 The Wellington 500 was a street race for touring cars which took place at Wellington City in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1987 event was a round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship. The final running of the race wa ...

street race in

, and the InterTEC 500 at

Fuji Fuji may refer to: Places China * Fuji, Xiangcheng City (付集镇), town in Xiangcheng City, Henan Japan * Mount Fuji, the tallest mountain in Japan * Fuji River * Fuji, Saga, town in Saga Prefecture * Fuji, Shizuoka, city in Shizuoka Prefec ...

in Japan. The only car to truly challenge the Sierra's dominance towards the end of the Group A era in 1990–1992 was the ,

4WD Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

twin turbo Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R. At the end of its life in Group A in 1992, the Australian Sierra teams were reportedly getting around from the 2.0L turbocharged YB engines. For his pole position lap at the 1992 Bathurst 1000, Australian driver Dick Johnson (whose

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

since 1988 had a reputation for having the fastest Sierras in Group A racing anywhere in the world) was reportedly running a special qualifying engine that was producing close to in his RS500. The various colour cam covers that distinguished each version were as follows: Red: YBB (Sierra Cosworth 2wd, both 3-door and Sapphire), YBD (Sierra RS500), YBJ (Sierra Sapphire 4wd, non cat); Green: YBG (catalyst equipped 4x4 Sierra Sapphire Cosworth); Blue: YBT (large-turbo Escort Cosworth); Silver: YBP (small-turbo Escort Cosworth). Further evolutions of the YB included a reduced-emissions road version, as well as the block used in the

Escort RS Cosworth The Ford Escort RS Cosworth is a rally version Homologation (motorsport), homologation special of the fifth generation European Ford Escort (Europe), Ford Escort. It was designed to qualify as a Group A car for the World Rally Championship, in w ...

(which used the Sierra floorpan). The engine stopped being used on new cars in 1997, with the Focus WRC and road-going Focus RS instead relying on

Zetec Ford Motor Company used the Zetec name on a variety of inline 4-cylinder automobile engines. It was coined to replace "Zeta" on a range of 1.6 L to 2.0 L multi-valve engines introduced in 1991 because Ford was threatened with legal acti ...

designs.

The GBA V6

Cosworth experimented with turbocharged BD derivatives, before settling on an all-new turbocharged

V6 engine A V6 engine is a six-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V6 engines were designed and produced independently by Marmon Motor Car Company, Deutz Gasmotoren Fabr ...

to be badged as the Ford TEC (internally it was known as the GB-series). This had a long development history dating back to the 1984 British Grand Prix at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

where Cosworth and

's competition department agreed to build a new turbo engine to replace the outdated DFV / DFY series. The TEC raced only briefly, in , with the

Haas Lola Team Haas (USA) Ltd., sometimes called Beatrice Haas after its major sponsor, was an American Formula One team founded by Carl Haas in 1984 after an agreement with Beatrice Foods, a US consumer products conglomerate, which competed in the Worl ...

team and in with the Benetton team. The development of the GBA engine at Cosworth became the subject of a British TV documentary in Channel Four's ''

Equinox A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...

'' series, broadcast in 1986. Haynes International Motor Museum - IMG 1494 - Flickr - Adam Woodford

The GBA was designed by Keith Duckworth and Geoff Goddard, though many in Formula One doubted Duckworth's ability to design another truly competitive engine due to his known distaste for turbocharging in general. Rather than design an entirely new engine, Duckworth instead chose to originally try and develop an old, modified

4 cylinder The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

BDA sports car engine as he believed 4 cylinder engines were more compact and economical than a V6 (Cosworth's chief race engine designer Geoff Goddard was against the idea of the straight 4, but reluctantly let Duckworth go down that path). However, after numerous failures of the test engines on the

dynamometer A dynamometer or "dyno" for short, is a device for simultaneously measuring the torque and rotational speed ( RPM) of an engine, motor or other rotating prime mover so that its instantaneous power may be calculated, and usually displayed by ...

which were eventually traced to an incurable vibration at the crankshaft, Duckworth and Goddard designed an all new 120° V6 engine instead, the same configuration as the Ferrari V6 turbo engine used from 1981 to 1986. The BDA engine was originally limited to 10,000 RPM in sports car racing, but with a turbo its failures generally happened at around 11,000 RPM. The first 4-cylinder test engine was so badly damaged that it actually changed the shape of the engine block to the point where the crankshaft would not move- the engine was simply not designed to be turbocharged. As around 4 months had been lost in trying to get the 4 cylinder engine to work, Ford and Cosworth's plan for the engine to debut with Haas Lola in was pushed back to the 1986 season. The GBA engine was first road tested by Haas Lola's lead driver, World Champion Alan Jones in the new Lola THL2 at the

Boreham Circuit Boreham Circuit is a disused motor racing circuit and airfield in Boreham, United Kingdom. Originally RAF Boreham, with the facility released from military control, in 1946, the West Essex Car Club developed the 4.76 kilometre perimeter track for ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

just north-east of London on 21 February 1986. In freezing, snowy conditions (−6° Celsius) at approximately 10 AM, the V6 turbo, running a conservative 2.5 BAR boost setting, ran cleanly although the engine management electronics developed by

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorol ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and Cosworth had not yet been finalised and the engine ran with the same electronics that were used on the dynamometer. Also present at the test were Duckworth, Goddard, the THL2's designer Neil Oatley, the teams #2 driver Patrick Tambay and other staff from both Haas Lola, Ford and Cosworth. The engine made its Formula One debut with Jones driving the Lola THL2 at the

1986 San Marino Grand Prix The 1986 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on 27 April 1986. The race was the third round of the year's World Championship. As with the previous year's event, fuel consumption was a big issue, changing the points f ...

, the third round of the 1986 season (for the opening two races in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, the team used their 1985 car, the Hart 415-T turbo powered Lola THL1, while Tambay also drove the THL1 at Imola). Jones qualified in 21st place and retired after 28 of the races 60 laps due to overheating. Jones also recorded the engine's first finish when he placed 11th in the

Belgian Grand Prix The Belgian Grand Prix (French: ''Grand Prix de Belgique''; Dutch: ''Grote Prijs van België''; German: ''Großer Preis von Belgien'') is a motor racing event which forms part of the Formula One World Championship. The first national race of ...

. Jones and teammate Patrick Tambay captured the Ford V6 turbo's first ever points when they finished 4th and 5th respectively in the Austrian Grand Prix, with Jones backing up in the next race in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

with a 6th-placed finish, the final points the engine would gain in 1986. Producing approximately , the turbocharged V6 is the most powerful Formula One engine designed and built by Cosworth. With Haas Lola not competing in 1987, Benetton, having lost the use of the 4 cylinder BMW engines when the German giant pulled out of Formula One, signed with Ford to race their V6 for the season. While in 1986 turbo boost had been unrestricted by the rules, 1987 saw the FIA introduce the pop-off valve to the turbocharged engines in a two-year plan to outlaw the turbos and make all Formula One engines 3.5 litres and naturally aspirated by the start of the season. While Cosworth adapted the TEC to 1987's 4.0 Bar turbo limit and the new 195 litre fuel limit, development of the V6 turbo engine which would be obsolete in less than two years virtually stopped. Cosworth instead worked on the DFR V8 that was introduced with Benetton in . With the reduction in turbo boost limit not affecting the Ford V6 as much as others such as

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

, BMW and Ferrari which had more horsepower to lose, the turbo engine would be more competitive with Benetton in 1987, with

Teo Fabi Teodorico Fabi (born 9 March 1955) is an Italian former racing driver. He competed in Formula One and sports car racing, and claimed pole position in his rookie year at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Teo is the older brother of former Formula One dri ...

taking the engine's first podium with third in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, followed by its last podium when

Thierry Boutsen Thierry Marc Boutsen (born 13 July 1957) is a Belgian former racing driver who raced for the Arrows, Benetton, Williams, Ligier and Jordan teams in Formula One. He competed in 164 World Championship Grands Prix (163 starts), winning three rac ...

also scored third in the last race of the season in Australia.

The HB V8

The HB DFV/DFZ/DFR replacement was designed by Geoff Goddard as a (96 mm x 60.4 mm) V8, introduced with the Benetton team midway through 1989, making its debut at the

French Grand Prix The French Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de France), formerly known as the Grand Prix de l'ACF (Automobile Club de France), is an auto race held as part of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One World Championsh ...

. It won the Japanese Grand Prix that year (Benetton used both the original HBA1 and the development HBA4 in 1989). As Ford's de facto works team, Benetton maintained exclusivity with this model through the rest of 1989 and . saw the introduction of customer units, two specifications behind their works equivalents. In 1991, these were supplied to the fledgling

Jordan Grand Prix Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team was named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan. The team was based at Silverstone, UK but raced with an Irish licence. In early 2005, the t ...

outfit, and for 1992, Lotus. saw the customer deal extended to McLaren who had lost the use of their

s after 1992. Using the customer HBA7 (and later a customer HBA8), McLaren won five Grands Prix with triple World Champion

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...

that year. The HBA1 V8 was introduced in 1989. It exploited a narrower 75° vee-angle rather than the 90° used in the DFV series, and was originally rated at approximately . By 1993, the factory HBA8 V8 engine used by Benetton was producing approximately at 13,000 rpm. Although the HB V8 was less powerful than the V10s and V12s used by rivals

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

, Honda, and Ferrari, its advantage was that it was lighter and gave better fuel economy. A Jaguar-badged version of the HB was developed by

Tom Walkinshaw Racing Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) was a motor racing team and engineering firm founded in 1976, in Kidlington, near Oxford, England, by touring car racer Tom Walkinshaw. The company initially handled privateer work before entering works touring ca ...

to the tune of 650 bhp at 11,500 rpm for sports car racing, fitted to the extremely successful

Jaguar XJR-14 The Jaguar XJR-14 is a sports-prototype racing car introduced for the 1991 World Sportscar Championship season. It was designed by Ross Brawn and John Piper, and was built and run by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), on behalf of Jaguar Cars. Design ...

The EC, ECA, ED, EDM and ED 2/4 V8

The HB was developed into the (100 mm x 55.7 mm) EC V8 for the 1994 season. This engine, producing about 740 bhp @ 14,500rpm, was badged as Ford Zetec-R, and

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

won the Drivers' World Championship with Benetton (his first of a record 7 championships), in . This was the last Ford-powered F1 title. For the 1995 season, the F1 engine regulation changed to 3 litres, and the EC's bore and stroke were changed to 94mm x 53.9mm, resulting in ECA, which was introduced at about 600 bhp, and developed to 610 to 630 bhp at 14,000rpm. It was exclusively used by the

Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in . After operating it un ...

team, whose biggest success of the year was

Heinz-Harald Frentzen Heinz-Harald Frentzen (born 18 May 1967) is a German former racing driver. He competed in multiple disciplines including Sportscars, Formula One and DTM. He had his most success in Formula One, entering over 150 Grands Prix and winning three. ...

's third place at Monza. Customer unit Cosworth ED (not badged as Ford Zetec-R) for non-works teams was also made for 1995 with about 580 bhp for

Simtek Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The Formula One (F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth. It originally was involved ...

(called the EDB), Pacific Racing (EDC) and

Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief and unsuccessful involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades ...

(EDD) teams.

Minard Minard may refer to: Places: * Minard, Argyll, Scotland, United Kingdom ** Minard Castle a castle in Argyll * Minard Castle (County Kerry) a castle in County Kerry, Ireland People with the surname: * Charles Joseph Minard (1781–1870), ...

continued with Magneti Marelli engine management as per their HB in 1994, this version having the Cosworth designation EDM. At the first test with the EDM, Luca Badoer reported that this engine felt less powerful then the 3 litre 9000rpm rev limited engine he had used to win the F3000 championship in 1992. Cosworth later updated the ED to ED 2/4 for Tyrrell and

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola ...

with (94mm x 53.95mm) displacement for 600 bhp, which was used until the end of season.

The JD, VJ and VJM V10

In order to produce a higher power at higher rpm, a completely new (89mm x 48.1mm) JD 72° V10 was designed for 1996, which produced about 670 bhp at 15,800 rpm, and used by

team. This engine was further developed into VJ and VJM with the same V-angle, bore and stroke, reaching 720 bhp for racing, and 730 bhp for qualifying, at 16,500 rpm. All three of these engines were badged as Ford Zetec-R as well, and used by several teams. In its debut season, the best result was another third place, this time taken by

Johnny Herbert John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in ...

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. This was surpassed one year later by Rubens Barichello's sensational second place, again at

, which was the first points finish for the newly formed Stewart Grand Prix team.

Further Formula One engines

The Stewart Grand Prix team effectively became the Ford works team, and used Cosworth CR-1 engines from its first season in 1997, which was a much lighter version of VJM, ultimately reaching 770 bhp at 16,500 rpm by 2001. Over the next few years Ford had increased its involvement with the Stewart team, and finally bought the team, renaming it Jaguar Racing for 2000. Ford pulled out of F1 at the end of 2004, but the team (bought by and renamed

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned ...

) continued to use Cosworth V10 engines until switching to a Ferrari V8 for 2006. Minardi also used re-badged Cosworth engines until 2005. Williams began testing the new CA2006 2.4-litre V8 in November 2005, which produced about 755 bhp @ 19,250 rpm (314.7 hp/L), and began using Cosworth

s for the 2006 season. In the same year,

Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Re ...

used detuned V10 engines based on the 2005 units. In 2007, however, the company was left without a partner when Williams chose to switch to

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

power, and Scuderia Toro Rosso made the switch to Ferrari engines (as used in 2006 by their mother team

). In Max Mosley's letter following the withdrawal of Honda from Formula One in December 2008, it was announced that Cosworth had won the tender to provide a standard engine to any interested participants. The new engine would become the standard design and manufacturers could opt to use whole units, construct their own from designs provided by Cosworth, or produce their own engine with the caveat that it be limited to the same power as the new "standard" engine. In 2010 Cosworth returned as the engine supplier for Williams and three new teams;

Hispania Racing HRT Formula 1 Team, formerly known as Campos Meta 1 and Hispania Racing, was a Spanish Formula One team founded by former driver Adrián Campos. It was sold to José Ramón Carabante before its debut in 2010, and then to investment group ...

, Lotus Racing and

Virgin Racing Virgin Racing (subsequently Marussia Virgin Racing) was a Formula One racing team which was under management of Manor Motorsport, Wirth Research and Richard Branson's Virgin Group and competed in with a British licence and in with a Russian ...

. The CA2010 is the same 2.4-litre V8 base of the CA2006 used by Williams, but has been re-tuned for the then-mandated 18,000 rpm limit required on all engines, down from its original 20,000 rpm implementation. First units were ready and shipped to teams in mid-January for fitting 2 weeks prior to first track testing for the year.

Other IndyCar and Champ Car engines

Cosworth designed a series of replacements for the DFS to be used in IndyCar and

racing: the X-series, beginning in 1992 with the XB. The XF was developed for the 2000 season to replace the XD, and was chosen as the spec engine for the

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ( ...

in 2003. The most recent derivative of the XF, the XFE quad-cam 90° V8 overhead camshaft, continued in that role through the 2007 season. The Champ Car World Series imposed a rev limit of 12,000 rpm down from the over 15,000 rpm of 2002. The 2004 model of the XFE had a rated power of nominal at 1,054 mmHg (intake boost pressure), and a maximum power of at 1130 mmHg (during Push-to-Pass). The 2004 XFE maximum speed was 12,000 rpm (rev limited) and torque of . The aluminium and iron turbo housing ran a boost of 5.9

psi Psi, PSI or Ψ may refer to: Alphabetic letters * Psi (Greek) (Ψ, ψ), the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet * Psi (Cyrillic) (Ѱ, ѱ), letter of the early Cyrillic alphabet, adopted from Greek Arts and entertainment * "Psi" as an abbreviatio ...

at sea level (= boost of 12

inches of mercury Inch of mercury (inHg and ″Hg) is a non- SI unit of measurement for pressure. It is used for barometric pressure in weather reports, refrigeration and aviation in the United States. It is the pressure exerted by a column of mercury in heigh ...

which is 41.5

absolute). The Methanol-fuelled engine used a steel crankshaft and aluminium alloy pistons. Weight was and length was . In 2007, the Ford name was removed from the engine pieces as the manufacturer elected not to continue sponsorship of the series. Several other engine changes were made, notably the removal of the calibrated "pop off valve" designed to limit turbo boost pressure, replaced by engine electronics. The rated life of the engine was between rebuilds. Engines were sent by the race teams to Cosworth for the rebuild. In 2007, Champ Car switched to the new

Panoz DP01 The Panoz DP01 is an open-wheel car that was produced by Élan Motorsport Technologies at Braselton, Georgia, United States. It was developed for use in the 2007 Champ Car World Series season, replacing the aging de facto-spec Lola chassis. The ...

chassis, which was said to provide better ducting of airflow into the engine. The Champ Car World Series merged into the

Indy Racing League The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...

prior to the 2008 season, and Cosworth does not currently provide engines to any American open wheel racing series. There is evidence that Cosworth was working on a push-rod V8 along the lines of the Ilmor/Mercedes 500I to exploit the peculiar loophole in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

rules on the definition of the word "pushrod engine", permitting such engines with extremely short pushrods higher

boost – this was assigned a project code CD but seemingly never completed. In mid-2003, Cosworth provided the 3.5 L V8 XG badged as a Chevrolet Gen 4 engine to IRL IndyCar Series teams after the proprietary Chevrolet Gen 3 engine proved inadequate against rival Hondas and Toyotas during the 2003 season. While many teams left Chevrolet after the 2003 season, those that stayed saw a significant improvement in performance with the new "Chevworth" engine compared to their previous units. The XG finished second in its first race at Michigan on July 27, 2003. Sam Hornish, Jr. went on to win 3 races that season with the new XG. The XG was reduced in size to 3 L for 2004 season and it won one race in 2005 during Chevrolet's final season in IRL.

Other Formula Atlantic engines

Currently these are

inline-four engine A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

s based on the

Mazda MZR engine MZR is the brand name of a generation of Inline-four engines engineered and built by the Mazda Motor Corporation from 2001 to the present. MZR stands for "MaZda Responsive". The MZR generation includes gasoline and diesel powered engines ranging ...

developed in cooperation with

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

. Changes includes a billet crankshaft, barrel throttle bodies, new cylinder head with larger valves, pistons, con rods and camshafts. A detuned version, targeting club racers, is sold to the consumer market. This engine retains the standard crankshaft, and has a different cylinder head. Both engines are built by Cosworth in Torrance, California, under the guidance of newly appointed technical designer Wayne Merry (formerly of Cosworth in Worcester UK).

Other road engines

Best known in Europe for its relationship with Ford – in particular because of the Cosworth name in the vehicle title on the high-performance

and

Ford Escort RS Cosworth The Ford Escort RS Cosworth is a rally version homologation special of the fifth generation European Ford Escort. It was designed to qualify as a Group A car for the World Rally Championship, in which it competed between 1993 and 1998. It was ...

, but also in the creation of other Ford models; the Escort RS1600, Escort RS1800, RS200, and Scorpio 2.9i 24V. 76 Cosworth Vega

In the US, the name has also appeared in the title of a road car (well before it did in Europe) as the Cosworth version of the

Chevrolet Vega The Chevrolet Vega is a subcompact automobile that was manufactured and marketed by GM's Chevrolet subdivision from 1970 to 1977. Available in two-door hatchback, notchback, wagon, and sedan delivery body styles, all models were powered by an ...

. Only 3,508 1975 and 1976 Cosworth Vegas were produced from March 1975 through 1976. The engine features the Vega sleeveless, aluminium-alloy block fitted with forged components. The twin-cam, 16-valve, aluminium cylinder head design was assisted by Cosworth, but Chevrolet did the development work. The engine features

electronic ignition An ignition system generates a spark or heats an electrode to a high temperature to ignite a fuel-air mixture in spark ignition internal combustion engines, oil-fired and gas-fired boilers, rocket engines, etc. The widest application for spark i ...

, Bendix

electronic fuel injection Manifold injection is a mixture formation system for internal combustion engines with external mixture formation. It is commonly used in engines with spark ignition that use petrol as fuel, such as the Otto engine, and the Wankel engine. In a mani ...

, and stainless steel headers. The final US emissions standardised version produces 110 bhp. Cosworth's EA racing version was not successful due to engine block structural failures. Chevrolet later produced a heavy-duty 'off-road' block with thicker walls to better withstand the racing application, but by that time Cosworth had moved on. Projected first year sales of the Cosworth Vega had been 5,000. With only 3,508 cars produced and many unsold, the car was discontinued. 1,500 hand-built Cosworth Vega engines were simply scrapped for lack of demand. Other published projects for

Adam Opel AG Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA G ...

include the

Opel Ascona 400 The Opel Ascona is a large family car (D-segment in Europe) that was produced by the German automaker Opel from 1970 to 1988. It was produced in three separate generations, beginning with rear-wheel-drive and ending up as a front-wheel drive J-ca ...

/ Manta 400 rally cars and the 2.0L 16V engines in the Opel Kadett,

Opel Astra The Opel Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) developed and produced by the German automaker Opel since 1991, currently at its sixth generation. It was first launched in September 1991 as a direct replacement to the Opel Kadett. ...

GSi,

Opel Vectra The Opel Vectra is a mid-size car ( large family car) that was engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel from 1988 until 2010. Available in saloon, hatchback and estate body styles, the Vectra was also sold by the Vauxhall marque ...

and

Opel Calibra The Opel Calibra is a coupé, engineered and produced by the German automaker Opel between 1989 and 1997. In the United Kingdom, where it remained on sale until 1999, it was marketed under the Vauxhall brand as the Vauxhall Calibra. It was also ...

turbo. Other companies known to have benefitted from the Cosworth engineering input are

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

(with the 190 E 2.3-16) and

(notably their RS cars). Cosworth's involvement with

came with moves in the mid-1980s from the German manufacturer to re-enter motorsport after retiring from direct factory participation after the 1955 Le Mans crash which killed 80 spectators. Mercedes-Benz was looking to create a

rally car out of its new W201 Chassis (190E Model) and turned to the expertise of Cosworth to shorten the development time for this project.

The request was a huge surprise for Cosworth, and the original brief for a 320 bhp engine based on the 136 bhp Mercedes M102 2.3-litre SOHC 4-cylinder engine was duly passed to Mike Hall, who "drew the famed DFV and BDA engine"."Flying the Flag", Autocar 7 August 1985, pp32-33 Designed around the existing M102 head bolt pattern, the new twin cam, 16-valve, pentroof head, had its valves set at 45° included angle, rather than the 40° angle of the BDA. The valves were the biggest that could be fitted into the combustion chamber. Flat top pistons delivered the 10.5:1 compression ratio. The new Cosworth WAA engine also was Cosworth's first one-piece head, i.e. the camshaft carrier was cast integral with the head itself. Again the constraints of the existing head-bolt pattern meant that Hall had to shift the camshaft bearings from outside each pair of camlobes as in the BDA to in between each cylinder's pair of cam lobes. The upside being that this configuration made for less flex at high rpm. The advent of the AWD turbo

Audi Quattro The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March. Production continued through 1991. Background The wo ...

gave the rear-wheel-drive, normally aspirated 190E rally car no chance of being successful and the competition car was stillborn. Instead Mercedes-Benz decided to recoup its development cost by selling the car as a road going sports-sedan. Hall detuned the WAA race engine to 185 bhp by reducing the port diameters and a more restrictive fuel injection and induction was substituted for the race items to complete the detune. All WAA 2.3-16 engines were built in the Cosworth factory with the heads being produced by the Coscast method. Cosworth assisted with the later 2.5-16 engine (WAB), and the short-stroke 2.5-16 Evo engines (WAC) although these were all manufactured in house by Mercedes-Benz. The 190E 2.3-16 became the basis for privateer Mercedes entries into the DTM from 1988. The short-stroke 2.5-16 190E EVO II was race-developed to 375+ bhp, gaining the 1992 DTM crown with

Klaus Ludwig Klaus Karl Ludwig (born 5 October 1949) is a German racing driver. Biography He also known as ''König Ludwig'' ("King Ludwig") for his success in touring cars and in sports car racing. In the 1970s, Ludwig drove for Ford in the Deutsche ...

at the wheel. A V10 designated WDA was also built and tested in a Volvo S80 in 1997, but this did not see production. In 2020, Gordon Murray Automotive commissioned Cosworth to design and build a V12 for use in their new T.50 sports car; which produces at 11,500 rpm, and of torque at 9,000 rpm.

Cosworth F1 car

Cosworth made an attempt at designing a full

Grand Prix car in 1969. The car, designed by

Robin Herd Robert John "Robin" Herd (23 March 1939 – 4 June 2019) was an English engineer, designer and businessman. Herd studied at St Peter's College, Oxford, having turned down an offer to play cricket for Worcestershire at the age of 18. He initia ...

, used an original

transmission designed by Keith Duckworth (different from the Ferguson used by all other 4WD F1 cars of the 1960s) and powered by a magnesium version of the DFV unit. The car was planned to drive at the 1969 British Grand Prix, but it was silently withdrawn. When Herd left to form

March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better success in other categories ...

, the project was cancelled. The external design of the car was a product of Herd's use of Mallite sheeting (a wood-aluminium laminate composite) for the principal structural monocoque sections, a technique he pioneered on the first McLaren single-seat cars, including the McLaren M2B of 1966.

Formula One World Championship results

Summary of F1 engine use

References

Notes

Citations

External links

*
List of Cosworth engine types

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