Q&A: Cosworth Racing.

Last week, whilst much of the country was at standstill because of a few flakes of snow, ITV's James Allen made the trip to Northampton to unveil Cosworth Racing's new state-of-the-art dynomometer facility.

The three transient dyno cells, which enable an engine to be bolted down and run through a variety of test programs, will allow Cosworth an edge on developing its products. Cosworth has plenty of work to do in 2003 as the manufacturer will supply three Formula One teams this year - Jaguar, Jordan and Minardi - almost a third of the grid.

Previously to undertake the kind of testing that they can now do at their Northampton base, the company had to ship engine and engineers off to Detroit as Commercial Director, Bernard Ferguson explains. "For the past few years, we had used Ford's facilities in Detroit. Having our own facility will mean that the logistical problems of shipping engines and staff overseas will be overcome. This will in turn improve our response time and get improvements to the track quicker."

Here Cosworth Racing explains why their new Dyno facility is so important to them.

Q:
Why has the facility been built?

A:
The facility has been built to expand our capacity and extend our capability to test ultra high performance racing engines. The new facility has allowed an ambitious specification of test cells including contemporary equipment and techniques that would have been impossible within the constraints of our existing buildings.

Q:
What will the facility be used for?

A:
The facility consists of three test cells, which will be used predominantly for Cosworth Racing F1 programmes. There are two wide range transient cells that will be used for V-10 development work, one of which is configured to allow entire powertrain testing with a car gearbox if required in the future. The third cell is identical in infrastructure to the V-10 cells but is currently configured for running a single cylinder research engine (one cylinder from a F1 engine).

Q:
What kind of work will be done in the facility?

A:
Dynamometers are used to measure the performance and characterise the behaviour of engines. The dynos in these new cells can be used for steady-state and transient experiments that investigate improvements in the performance and behaviour of our F1 engines. The equipment in this facility allows us to more closely simulate the requirements of the engine in the racing car and to more precisely measure the response of the engine to changes we make to it.

Q:
What are the real benefits of such a facility?

A:
Up to now the now, the work done in these cells has been done elsewhere. Some of the work will substitute for testing previously done at a Ford facility in Dearborn, USA. We have been very well supported by the team but there are obvious penalties in effectiveness when work is done off-site, amplified by distance and a five-hour time difference.

Other work was previously done off-site or in our older test-cells up the road. As we migrate work into the new cells, we expect to increase the throughput and accuracy of the work, and continue to improve the performance and reliability of our F1 engines.

This facility makes available facilities that all of our F1 competitors have had for some time. It will provide a platform for further evolution of experimental technique and equipment.

Q:
What are the costs involved?

A:
Exact figures will not be disclosed for reasons of confidentiality, but it is a multi-million pound facility.

Q:
Why has Cosworth spent so much money on this facility when Ford is cost cutting?

A:
This is a long-term capital project, to equip Cosworth with the facilities needed to sustain engine development in the demanding arena in which we compete. The new test facility now operational is believed to be a prudent investment in the future of Cosworth.

Q:
What special features does the facility have?

A:*Sophisticated instrumentation and control systems, integrated in a versatile and configurable testing environment.*Highly specified electrical hardware and software that enable world-class transient performance of the electric motor at the heart of the system.*Extensive control over the test environment experienced by the engine and instrumentation to give very fine resolution in test results. *Wide-range combustion air conditioning system.*Fully integrated with on-car electronic systems.*Flexible programming for circuit simulation and other forms of engine testing.

Q:
Is this the most advanced facility of its kind in the UK?

A:
The requirements of testing ultra high performance racing engines are unique. We believe that the combined expertise between our engineering partners and in-house team has produced a world-class facility that matches or exceeds the capability of similar off-the-shelf solutions. This is certainly the most capable facility available to Cosworth.

Tomorrow Crash.net looks back at Cosworth's rich racing heritage.