Cosworth

Cosworth is an engine design and manufacture company founded in 1958, specialising in engines for automobile racing. It currently (2005) supplies engines to the Red Bull Racing and Minardi Formula One racing teams. In 2006, the Williams team will use Cosworth engines, transmissions and associated electronics.

Engines

Association with Ford

Cosworth has had a long relationship with Ford, which began when Cosworth first started manufacturing racing engines in 1959. These were modified versions of the 1000 cc Ford Kent engine engine for Formula Junior. Cosworth began its associating with Lotus Cars by boring the Kent out to 1340 cc for the Lotus 7. 1.5 L and 1.6 L units were developed in 1963 for use in Formula B and sports car racing, as well as for powering the Lotus Cortina. The final evolution of the Cosworth-Kent, in 1965, was the MAE, when new rules where introduced in Formula 3 allowing 1000cc engines. The domination of this engine was absolute as long as the 1000cc regulation lasted. As Cosworth had some difficulty facing the demand, the MAE was mainly sold as a kit.

Related Topics:
Ford - Ford Kent engine - Formula Junior - Lotus Cars - Lotus 7 - Formula B - Sports car - Lotus Cortina - Formula 3

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A year before, the SCA was introduced, a 1000cc engine based on a Ford Cortina 116E block that raced in Formula 2, and featured the first Cosworth design head. The Cortina engine was also the basis for the FVA, a F2 engine introduced in 1966, for the new 1.6 L engine rules. This engine dominated the category until 1971, and was also used in sports car racing in 1.8 L form as the FVC.

Related Topics:
Ford Cortina - Formula 2

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Rallying

Cosworth was also a huge contender in the Rallying Circuits. In the 1980s the Cosworth BDT-E equipped mid-engined Ford RS200 competed in the short lived Group B rally formula and then in later years a 2 litre turbocharged engine was used to power Ford Cosworth Sierras, Cosworth Escorts, and now Cosworth Focuses in the WRC.

Related Topics:
Rallying - Ford RS200 - Group B - Turbocharged - Sierras - Focuses - WRC

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The DFV (Double Four Valve)

In 1967, Costin and Duckworth merged two four-cylinder FVA units into a single V8 engine, thus creating a legend in its own right, the DFV (Double Four Valve). This engine and its derivatives were used for a qaurter of a century. Originally designed for Formula One, the engine has been modified to be used in a range of categories.

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The DFV won on its first outing, at the 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, most teams just built a tub around a Cosworth DFV and a Hewland gearbox, and won a record-holding 155 World Championship races, the last being Detroit, 1983, powering a Tyrrell driven by Michele Alboreto.

Related Topics:
Dutch Grand Prix - Jim Clark - Lotus - Hewland - Gearbox - Tyrrell - Michele Alboreto

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The DFY, introduced in 1982 was a further evolution of the DFV for Formula One, with a shorter stroke and a DFL bore, thereby producing more power, but still unable to fight against the turbocharged cars of the day. With Formula 1 going to the turbocharged route, in 1986 Cosworth returned to the lower formulae preparing the DFV for the newly-created Formula 3000, with the installation of a compulsory rev limiter, which scaled power back from 500 to 420 bhp. The DFV remained in this class until 1992.

Related Topics:
Turbocharged - Formula 3000

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In F1, a new DFV-based design was introduced for the new 3.5 L 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 won the 1989 Japanese GP with Alessandro Nannini in a Benetton, before finally being replaced by the new HB series. The DFR soldiered on in F1 with smaller teams until 1992.

Related Topics:
Alessandro Nannini - Benetton

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The DFV has recently been given a new lease life thanks to the interest in Classic F1 racing, which was given a World Championship status by the FIA in 2004.

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DFV variants

Throughout the years, the DFV spawned a number of derivations.

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In 1968, Cosworth created a 2.5 L version for the Tasman Series, the DFW.

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In 1981, the DFL was developed for sports car racing, in 3.3 L and 3.9 L form.

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Aside from the DFV itself , one of the most successful and longest-lived projects of Cosworth has been its CART/Champ Car engine program. In 1975, Cosworth developed the DFX, a derivative of their DFV Formula 1 engine by destroking the engine to 2.65 L and adding two turbochargers, the DFX became the standard engine to run in Indycar racing, ending the reign of the Offenhauser, and maintaining that position until the late 80s. Ford backed Cosworth with creating a new interim design for Indycar racing in the late 80s, the DFS, which merged DFR technology into the aging DFX design, but it was eventually rendered obsolete by advancing technology.

Related Topics:
CART - Champ Car - Indycar - Offenhauser

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Other Indycar Engines

Cosworth designed a series of replacements for the DFV to be used in Indycar racing: the X-series, beginning in 1992 with the XB. The XF, developed in 2000, was chosen as the spec engine for Champ Car in 2003, and will continue in that role at least through the 2005 season.

Related Topics:
Indycar - Champ Car

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Other Formula One Engines

The DFV replacemnt, the HB V8 was introduced with the Benetton team in 1990, and was used in Formula One until 1995. The HB's most successful season was in 1994, when Michael Schumacher won the Drivers World Championship with Benetton-Ford

Related Topics:
Benetton - Michael Schumacher - Drivers World Championship - Ford

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Cosworth also developed a 72° F1 V10 for the Sauber Formula 1 team. It was even rumored in the late 1990s that a manufacturer (Volvo Cars was the prime candidate) intended to use a road-going version of this engine in a production car, although this never came to pass.

Related Topics:
V10 - Sauber - Formula 1 - 1990s - Volvo Cars

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Cosworth has made subesquently several V10 engines for a number of Formula One teams. The Stewart Grand Prix team used Ford Cosworth engines from its first season in 1997. Over the years 1997-1999 Ford had increased its involvement with the Stewart team, and finally bought the team, renaming it the Jaguar Formula One team for 2000. Jaguar pulled out of F1 at the end of 2004, but the team (renamed Red Bull Racing) continued to use Cosworth engines. The Minardi Formula One team also use Cosworth engines.

Related Topics:
Stewart Grand Prix - Jaguar Formula One - Red Bull Racing - Minardi

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In late 2005, it was announced that Williams will use Cosworth V8 engines for 2006 and onwards.

Related Topics:
Williams - V8

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Road cars

Cosworth has developed engines to be used in various production cars, including several from General Motors: the Chevrolet Vega, the Opel Ascona 400 & Manta 400 and the Opel/Vauxhall Calibra V6.

Related Topics:
General Motors - Chevrolet Vega - Opel Ascona 400 - Manta 400 - Opel/Vauxhall Calibra V6

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Mercedes-Benz (190 16V), Rolls-Royce, ARO and Audi also benefitted from Cosworth engine technology.

Related Topics:
Mercedes-Benz - Rolls-Royce - ARO - Audi

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