Mazda to power U.S. Formula Atlantic series
Mazda North America has announced that it has inked a three-year deal with the Champ Car open-wheel racing series to power the new-generation Swift 016.a cars (shown above) in Champ Car's Formula Atlantic support series.
While Honda (in the Indy Racing League) and Toyota (NASCAR) are investing at the top levels of North American racing, Mazda has been quietly building its racing rep at the grassroots level, starting with rotary-powered open-wheeled club racers and steadily moving up the ladder of sports car, sedan and open-wheel race series. By providing engines to the revitalized Atlantic series, Mazda is now only one rung below the top levels of open-wheel racing in the U.S.
The new-generation Atlantics will be powered exclusively by a 300 hp, normally-aspirated version of Mazda's 2.3-liter four-cylinder MZR engine, developed by Cosworth Engineering. The base 2.3-liter engine is used in the Mazda3, Mazda5, Mazda6, MazdaSpeed6 and the upcoming MazdaSpeed3. (I wonder if we'll see Cosworth versions appear in a few Mazda sedans? Hmmm.)
The new Atlantic series already has 26 confirmed entries, with more likely in the coming weeks. Full grids and standing starts (at selected tracks) should make for exciting racing!
_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ian 5:13PM (2/16/2006)
You can drive a version of this engine in a road car too. There is a 260HP Cosworth tuned version in the latest Caterham 7.
Reply
Noah 5:25PM (2/16/2006)
It's a shame they didn't go with the lighter, already close to 300hp, Renesis engine. I'm not sure why they didn't but I'm sure they have reasons, perhaps "political" I don't know.
I do know that Mazda knows how to make good engines and with the help of Cosworth it can't be bad!
--Noah
Reply
Patrick 6:03PM (2/16/2006)
How do you get 300hp out of a 2.3L N/A 4-cyl.?
Reply
Paul Allen 6:07PM (2/16/2006)
High revs.
Reply
Noah 6:50PM (2/16/2006)
A 2.3L engine contains about 0.46L of oxygen (air is about 21% oxygen) at STP which has a mass of about 0.66g which is enough to burn 0.0526g of gasoline, assuming out gasoline is C8H18 (which it's really not, that's octane and octane is easy to work with).
Now that's not very much gasoline is it?
According to Thomas, George's report Overview of Storage Development DOE Hydrogen Program for Sandia National Laboratories the energy density of gasoline is stated to be around 44.4 MJ/kg
There are 1,000g in a kg so one gram of gasoline has 44,400J of energy in it.
Our 0.0526g of gasoline has 2,335.44J of energy in it.
Since one Joule (J) is equal to 0.737562 ft-lb our little dab of gas can produce around 1,723lb-ft of torque.
That'd be assuming a perfect reaction, which you'll never get because of all the other stuff in air.
Also, there is a practical limit to how fast air can enter a cylinder but we'll assume we're going to maintain proper filling up to 4500rpm because thats where maximum torque happens in the MZE engine with stock intake and exhaust configuration.
Since horsepower is (rpm * torque) / 5252 we can go
(4500rpm * 1,723lb-ft) / 5252 = 1,476hp
So this engine producing 300hp is about 20% efficient which isn't at all bad considering the stock MZE engine is only about 10% efficient, which is considered good for a production engine.
Patrick asked, How do you get 300hp out of a 2.3L N/A 4-cyl.? well the answer is pretty simple, by being inefficient!
Now what do they really do?
Well, often high output engines have higher compression rations which makes the mixture more dense before it burns increasing the probability of the gas reacting with the oxygen rather than other elements, or worse, not burning at all.
They often have large intake and exhaust ports with freer flowing intake an exhaust system allowing them to increase their fill rates
They don't have to worry about emissions on the race track so they can run a little lean which increases the probability of.
They run different valve timing, I don't know about this race series but they often run high octane gas which is easier to burn properly in the engine.
They also run the engines faster than where maximum torque happens because they can maintain good torque and let the engine run faster if they can increase the rpm by X and not decrease the torque by X then their going to produce more hp even though the engine might actually be producing less torque, It's easier to motivate an engine to spin really fast than it is to burn gasoline efficiently.
--Noah
Reply
Fabulo 6:51PM (2/16/2006)
3. How do you get 300hp out of a 2.3L N/A 4-cyl.?
4. High revs.
And no torque under 5000rpms.
Reply
Carguy 7:16PM (2/16/2006)
Mazda is also a heavy supporter of the "Spec Miata" and "MX-5 Cup" classes in SCCA. Just giving them their props, because our race cars and racing program wouldn't exist without the hard working guys at Mazda Motorsport.
Reply
skaedenfeld 9:08PM (2/16/2006)
Having seen a few runnings of the Star Mazda Series, showcasing open-wheeled rotary-powered cars, I must say that Mazda's involvement in the Atlantic series can only be a good thing. The Star Mazda Series offers some very exciting wheel-to-wheel racing, which with no sheetmetal to deflect cars, leads to some very dramatic 'incidents'. The cars are very quick and quite loud; rotary power never sounded so good!
Reply
Adrian 9:10PM (2/16/2006)
The old Formula Atlantic cars used 1.6l 4A-GE engines. (Think 1980's MR2 and 1984 to 1991 Corolla GTS.) In stock trim the engine made about 120hp (up to 140hp in some types) and had a redline from 7000 to 7200. (It was 7200 in my 1989 Corolla GTS and with revlimit at 7800.)
Anyway, in formula atlantic trim, they made about 240-250hp with peak power coming in about 8500rpm. The motors could rev all the way up to 10,000rpm. I used to watch FA on TV and it sounded awesome... I really liked how the engine note was the same as my little Corolla ... well, until they kept revving to 10,000. Haha.
What was quite amazing was that the engines weren't really built up that much. Ok, new pistons, rods, cams, etc, but a stock block and stock crank. Just balanced and blueprinted.... (Well, the head was ported, polished, shaped, etc....) and then custome intake and exhaust manifold, etc.... and all custome electronics.
But if one blew, they could just pick on up at the junkyard and rebiuld it.
Anyway, going from the stock 120hp to 240hp isn't too hard -- so I can imagine the stock 160hp 2.3l motor can go to 300 without too much trouble using similar techniques. Of course, getting a large 2.3l motor to rev to 9000+ won't be as easy as the spuper short stroke 4A-GE.....
Reply
C 9:43PM (2/16/2006)
Getting more than 100 hp/liter from an N/A engine isn't hard, but making it pass emissions and be reliable is expensive/hard.
(Honda S2000, Ferrari 355/360/430).
Reply
BrianS 1:23AM (2/17/2006)
Oh my god. I own a 3 five-door, and I would kill to get my hands on that motor. This car handles so well, the only thing that's missing is a little more power. Ok a lot more. Even if it torque-steered like a pig.
(It could also use an extra gear in the transmission: 6-speed rather than 5).
Reply
Ian 10:10AM (2/17/2006)
I am wondering if this new Mazda?Cosworth co-operation will result in Cosworth working on the Rotary engined LMP2 car in ALMS. Last year this car was well down on power (dunno why there are many good tuniners around for these motors). So a Cosowrth tweaked eoatary in ALMS would seem a logical step and in the interests of both companies.
Overall I am impressed by the way Mazda is supporting racing.
Reply
Dave 11:31AM (2/19/2006)
Screw the sedans. When are we going to see the Cosworth Miata (MX-5, whatever)? Or better yet, conversion kits for earlier Miatas like my '95?
Reply
Pete 11:58AM (3/27/2006)
"Oh my god. I own a 3 five-door, and I would kill to get my hands on that motor. "
No problem, here you go:
http://www.cosworth.com/shop_item.php?productid=103
Better have 5 digits of available credit on your VISA though!
Reply
MikeMan 10:32PM (4/23/2006)
Getting 300HP out of a 2.3L race engine is not hard.
In the last of the less rescricted days of FIA Class 2 touring cars (2.0L formula) production based 2.0L enginges were producing in the region of 285-310HP depending on engine type.
300BHP from a 2.3L MZR should not be hard IMHO.
Reply