Tag: How It Works

  • Should you use racing oil in your road car?

    Every part of a modern race car is optimized to extract maximum performance—including the fluids that go into it. Specialized racing oil is a must in the paddock, but is it a good idea to use that in your road car?

    “Engineering Explained” host Jason Fenske answers that question in this video, talking to engineers from Mobil1 (which also sponsored the video), engine builder Roush Yates Engines, and NASCAR team Stewart-Haas Racing.

    First off, Fenske emphasizes that racing engines don’t have much in common with road-car engines. Pushrod V-8s like the ones used in NASCAR disappeared from the average American car decades ago, and racing engines in general have a very different duty cycle. They’re flogged (a NASCAR V-8 can rev to 10,000 rpm and spend 90% to 95% of a race at full throttle), but also have fairly short maintenance intervals. NASCAR engines have their oil changed about every 500 miles and are only expected to last about 1,500 miles, Fenske noted.

    Ford Mustang NASCAR Xfinity Series race car

    Ford Mustang NASCAR Xfinity Series race car

    NASCAR oil is also fairly unrestricted (rules can vary by race series), giving teams more leeway to look for competitive advantages, Fenske said. Teams tend to use thinner-weight oils to reduce frictional losses and maximize power. That’s not great for longevity but, remember, the engine only needs to last 1,500 miles. Road-car engines, on the other hand, are expected to last hundreds of thousands of miles, so that kind of tradeoff isn’t possible.

    Racing oils and road-car oils do have some commonalities, though. They use a lot of the same additives, such as detergents, dispersants, anti-foaming agents, antioxidants, and rust inhibitors, Fenske noted.

    However, the difference is in the details. Oils used for road cars are designed to meet a long list of regulations and requirements set down by individual automakers. In NASCAR where, again, rules governing oil are fairly loose, teams can optimize an oil for one specific engine design. It’s really that process that makes racing oil work, and it’s just not practical for individual road cars. Unless you have your own laboratory and a lot of patience, at least.

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  • How to protect everything with paint protection film

    If you want to keep your car’s paint looking new, paint protection film is a great option. The name is pretty self-explanatory, but this video from Ammo NYC founder and car-detailing evangelist Larry Kosilla shows just how versatile this material can be.

    It turns out you can use paint protection film on more than just cars. Kosilla starts out with the cabinet tops in his garage, which are prone to damage from regular use. This first step is to dust and measure the surface. Kosilla uses Xpel, which makes pre-cut kits for everything from cars to iPhones, but also sells material by the foot and in non-standard sizes.

    The film adheres to surface with an application gel, while a top-surface “slip agent” and a squeegee are used to get it into position and iron out lumps. While the surface is still wet, it’s also possible to remove any dust that you might have missed before. That’s important, as any leftover particles will create bumps in the film.

    Ammo NYC paint protection film video screenshot

    Ammo NYC paint protection film video screenshot

    When applying the film, it’s a good idea to have some extra material in case of mistakes, Kosilla said. That excess material will have to be trimmed away, and the best way to do that is to score the cut line with a razor blade, and then peel the material away like a zipper, he added. Scoring rather than cutting straight through avoids disfiguring the material.

    You can apply these basic techniques to all kinds of surfaces, Kosilla said. For example, Xpel makes a kit for the Porsche Macan that covers not only exterior surfaces, but also interior lights, the trim piece that surrounds the shifter, door and dashboard trim, and even the face of the clock on Sport Chrono Package models.

    If you’re car-detailing perfectionist, Kosilla has plenty of other how-to videos, from small jobs like removing scratches from door handles and interior trim, to installing a vinyl wrap.

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  • The Maserati MC20 has F1 tech

    Maserati hasn’t raced in Formula One in decades, but the automaker’s recently unveiled MC20 supercar boasts some F1-derived engine tech, according to Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained.

    Specifically, the car’s 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 uses pre-chamber combustion. That means each cylinder has dual combustion chambers, each with its own spark plug. Pre-chamber combustion isn’t new; Honda was using it in the 1970s, Fenske noted. But Maserati is doing something different with the technology.

    Maserati is likely the only automaker using a so-called passive pre-chamber system in a production car. As the name implies, air and fuel aren’t actively injected into the pre-chamber, which is smaller than the main combustion chamber and located directly above it. Instead, the air-fuel mixture is drawn into the main combustion chamber, and then pushed up into the pre-chamber, by the motion of the piston.

    Maserati Nettuno 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-6

    Maserati Nettuno 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-6

    This setup is designed to speed up combustion, which in turn reduces knock, Fenske said. Knock is a major potential issue due to the lean air-fuel ratios used in the engine and other modern engines to pass emissions tests. Maserati’s patent on the design also claims it can reduce fuel consumption by 30%, or allow for an engine to be downsized by 25% while producing the same power as a larger one.

    Both the pre-chamber and the main combustion chamber have their own spark plugs. At high rpm and high load, only the pre-chamber spark plug is used, while both are used in other conditions, Fenske said. The amount of time between firing each spark plug can also be adjusted, changing the duration of combustion to warm up the catalytic converter, or even make the engine quieter, Fenske said.

    In the MC20, the Nettuno engine produces 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque. That allows for 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds and a top speed of 202 mph, according to Maserati. The automaker hasn’t provided pricing information or a production timeline for the MC20, its first supercar since the MC12 ended production in 2005.

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