But didn't Lotus develop the 'Ford twin cam' shown in the first pic? I kind of grew up with that engine (as my BMC-A series days were waning). We always knew that lump as the Lotus twin cam, based on the veritable Ford crossflow of course. Powered the Élan & Lotus Cortinas Jimmy drove among many other 'diverse' applications. A great lump IMO. Get the bottom end & the Webers dialed in right and it was awesome! Cheers, Ian
By the time they were finished with it the Twincam was largely Lotus. The other engine was Lotus from the get-go. Although it first appeared badged a Jensen-Healy. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Colin Chapman recruited Harry Mundy (formerly of Coventry-Climax) to design a DOHC head to fit on a Ford block. This was intended for the Lotus Elan. The 1500cc pushrod block of the Cortina GT was bored to 1600cc to receive the new head for the Cortina Lotus, and up to 1800cc for the Rally Escort Twin-Cam. It couldn't go much further than that, but was almost unburstable. So, for its next in-house engine, Lotus took the 2000cc Vauxhall engine to develop a twin-cam of its own for the Elite. That engine could be bored to 2200cc, and even 2400cc for some applications, some were turbo-charged. Jensen-Healey received that unit too. Then Lotus joined two banks to make the Elite V8. Not a great engine. No Ford Twin cam engine event went in a BMC car. Ford and BMC were rivals! BMC kept pushrod engines up to the end, almost. The only OHC cam engine at Leyland was on the Triumph Dolomite (adopted by SAAB when they abandoned 2-stroke), and becoming the Stag V8 in its latest developement. It was an abysmal failure. I worked on many of them, and they were pissing water and oil if if there was no tomorrow! Happy days ....
Gotcha. Thanks. Agreed on all points!.... There's a reason many folk replaced the Stag motor with, IIRC, something from Ford. Also brings to mind a great Ford Cortina towbus we once had. Dropped a twin cam in it and it made hauling a trailer all over the country quite a bit quicker. I jumped in it one morning, turned the key and *nothing*... Not a light, click, anything. Then I noticed the bonnet (we were in England after all ) was 'open'. Damn I thought, they've stolen the battery! Opened it up, and sure as hell, the battery was gone. Much more depressing however was the sight of 4 piston crowns! Mother****ers stole all the 'good' bits. Cheers, Ian
So we can accurately conclude Lotus never designed a clean sheet engine, always starting with somebody else's components first, ie. Ford and Vauxhall blocks. Never had anything to do with BMC. Pete
I think it would be clear that everything involved in the V8 is Lotus - it is a little harder than joining two blocks.. JR
I was going to post that link. Interesting take from a credible source. Let me throw out a hypothetical question. I'd Kimi had been paired with any available (ie not Lewis) driver would Ferrari have scored as many points as they did?
Ferrari sticking with pullrod suspension in 2015 > F1 News > Grandprix.com Why would Ferrari still decide to stick with the Pull Rod suspension after so many years, knowing that their drivers, and in particular Kimi Raikkonen, have difficulty with this set-up. What possible advantage do they see in it after 3 unsuccessful years with this design?
Because the design was locked in before they knew Alonso was leaving? The good news is that the odds are that whomever designed it along with whomever signed off on it have been axed.
If last year was bad I'm afraid this year may be worse, though I hope I'm wrong Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I never thought I'd be saying this because I've always argued with others who've said the same thing, but I really miss the old days of F1. One more example of how complicated and consumer unfriendly the sport has become is the engine rules and for example how Honda is being treated. Not that I mind Ferrari gaining an advantage by this (as well as Mercedes and Renault), but its the principle. What other sport would implement this type of thing? Imagine a Hockey expansion team being told they can't change their goalie after the beginning of the season even if he sucks? Its just ludicrous. Ferrari sticking with pullrod suspension in 2015 > F1 News > Grandprix.com
