The Vanwall Grand Prix engines
Part 7: Finality and Overview
Author
- Ron Rex
Date
- January 23, 2020
Related articles
- The Vanwall Grand Prix engines, by Ron Rex
- Introduction
- Part 1: The 2-litre F2 engine
- Part 2: The 2.3-litre interim F1 engine
- Part 3: Technical anomalies
- Part 4: The 2.5-litre F1 engine
- Part 5: The 'AvGas' 2.5-litre F1 engine
- Part 6: The 2.6-litre Intercontinental Formula engine
- Part 8: Specifications and other facts
- Vanwall - The Green Comet: the brief history of the Vanwall, by Don Capps
- Vanwall - Vanwall's inconspicuous entry to the GP world, by Felix Muelas/Don Capps
Who?Stirling Moss What?Vanwall Where?Ain Diab When?VII Moroccan GP (October 19, 1958) |
Why?
When the racing department was disbanded, some of the nine Vanwall race engines were put to use on the Maidenhead test beds, doing endurance running for bearing and bearing material development work until 1962. In this use they were run at 6,500rpm and some completed more than 60 hours of running.
One of the cars, VW10, was rebuilt as a 1958-configuration 'demonstration' car using engine V3 (presumably resurrected as the original was destroyed in a 1958 air crash), incorporating parts from engines V1, V5, V6 and V7, which was later bench-tested and developed 260bhp at 7,400rpm.
Tony Vandervell died on 10 March 1967, and by the end of the year his company Vandervell Products Ltd. had been acquired as a wholly owned subsidiary of the GKN Group.
Vandervell had achieved his goal to produce a winning British Grand Prix car. This was quite an achievement, as although he had the resources of his bearing empire to fall back on, the company had no experience in designing and building racing cars. They did have the experience of running a racing team from campaigning the Ferrari 'Thin Wall Specials' though.
What he did have were research facilities and skilled tool-room staff in his company and this ensured that any work was to the highest standard. He was astute enough to call upon the help of people and companies with race winning experience. In respect to the engine, this included Harry Weslake and Norton's talented designers Joe Craig and Leo Kuzmicki as well as his own designers, Fred Fox and Eric Richter, and companies such as Rolls-Royce, Daimler-Benz and Bosch.
The Vanwall engine was an interesting mix of proven racing motorcycle practice, pioneering fuel injection and the adaptation of quality commercial components. It took time to develop and achieve a degree of reliability but without question, when it was running on alcohol-based fuels, it was one of the most powerful engines to race in the 2.5-litre formula.
Once it had to run on AvGas, the big four-cylinder engine was highly taxed, not helped by Vandervell's insistence on having the large inlet valves sodium-filled, but nevertheless, it was sufficient to power the car to the Manufacturers Championship in 1958. Its drivers praised its low-speed torque and very good mid-range punch.
The Vanwall four-cylinder engine compared favourably with the opposition as detailed below, particularly in respect to the performance parameters of bhp/litre/1000rpm (reflecting bmep) and bhp/sq cm of piston area. However, it generally operated at higher stress levels, as shown in the comparative mean piston speeds at maximum power.
engine |
bore/stroke |
capacity |
piston area |
max bhp |
bhp/l/1000rpm |
bhp/cm2 |
max mean ps |
1955 | |||||||
Vanwall V254 4-cyl | 96 x 86mm | 2490cc | 289.5cm2 | 270@7300rpm | 14.85 | 0.93 | 20.93m/sec |
Connaught/Alta 4-cyl | 93.5 x 90 | 2470cc | 274.6cm2 | 240@6400rpm | 15.18 | 0.87 | 19.2m/sec |
Maserati 250F 6-cyl | 84 x 75mm | 2494cc | 332.5cm2 | 240@7000rpm | 13.75 | 0.72 | 17.5m/sec |
Ferrari Tipo 107 4-cyl | 94 x 90mm | 2498.3cc | 277.6cm2 | 250@7200rpm | 13.94 | 0.90 | 21.6m/sec |
M.Benz M196 8-cyl | 76 x 68.8mm | 2496cc | 362.9cm2 | 290@8500rpm | 13.67 | 0.80 | 19.49m/sec |
Lancia D50A V8-cyl | 73.6 x 73.1 | 2488cc | 340.4cm2 | 250@8100rpm | 12.41 | 0.73 | 19.74m/sec |
Gordini T23B 6-cyl | 80.1 x 82mm | 2479cc | 302.3cm2 | 225@6500rpm | 13.96 | 0.74 | 17.77m/sec |
1956 | |||||||
Vanwall V254 4-cyl | 96 x 86mm | 2490cc | 289.5cm2 | 275@7350rpm | 15.03 | 0.95 | 21.07m/sec |
Ferrari-Lancia V8-cyl | 76 x 68.5mm | 2486cc | 362.9cm2 | 265@8000rpm | 13.32 | 0.73 | 18.27m/sec |
Maserati 250F 6-cyl | 84 x 75mm | 2494cc | 332.5cm2 | 260@7300rpm | 14.28 | 0.78 | 18.25m/sec |
Connaught/Alta 4-cyl | 93.5 x 90mm | 2470cc | 274.6cm2 | 240@6400rpm | 15.18 | 0.87 | 19.2m/sec |
BRM P25 4-cyl | 102.87x74.93 | 2491cc | 332.5cm2 | 270@7500rpm | 14.45 | 0.81 | 18.73m/sec |
Gordini T25 8-cyl | 75 x 70mm | 2474cc | 353.4cm2 | 230@7000rpm | 13.28 | 0.65 | 16.33m/sec |
1957 | |||||||
Vanwall V254 4-cyl | 96 x 86mm | 2490cc | 289.5cm2 | 285@7300rpm | 15.68 | 0.98 | 20.93m/sec |
Maserati 250F 6-cyl | 84 x 75mm | 2494cc | 332.5cm2 | 270@8000rpm | 13.53 | 0.81 | 20.0m/sec |
Maserati 250FT2 V12-cyl | 68.7 x 56mm | 2491cc | 444.8cm2 | 310@9300rpm | 13.38 | 0.70 | 17.36m/sec |
Ferrari Tipo 801 V8-cyl | 80 x 62mm | 2493cc | 402.1cm2 | 275@8400rpm | 13.13 | 0.68 | 17.36m/sec |
BRM P25 4-cyl | 102.87 x 74.93 | 2491cc | 332.5cm2 | 285@8250rpm | 13.87 | 0.86 | 20.61m/sec |
Connaught/Alta 4-cyl | 93.5 x 90mm | 2470cc | 274.6cm2 | 250@7000rpm | 14.46 | 0.91 | 21.0m/sec |
Gordini T25 8-cyl | 75.1 x 70mm | 2480.6cc | 354.4cm2 | 250@7000rpm | 14.40 | 0.71 | 16.33m/sec |
Coventry Climax FPF 4-cyl | 86.4 x 83.82 | 1964cc | 234.5cm2 | 176@6500rpm | 13.79 | 0.75 | 18.16m/sec |
1958 | |||||||
Vanwall V254 4-cyl | 96 x 86mm | 2490cc | 289.5cm2 | 265@7500rpm | 14.19 | 0.92 | 21.5m/sec |
Ferrari Tipo 143 V6-cyl | 85 x 71mm | 2417.3cc | 340.5cm2 | 280@8500rpm | 13.63 | 0.84 | 20.12m/sec |
Maserati 250F 6-cyl | 84 x 75mm | 2494cc | 332.5cm2 | 260@7500rpm | 13.90 | 0.78 | 18.75m/sec |
BRM P25 4-cyl | 102.87 x 74.93 | 2491cc | 332.5cm2 | 270@8000rpm | 13.55 | 0.81 | 19.98m/sec |
Coventry Climax FPF 4-cyl | 88.9 x 88.9mm | 2207cc | 248.3cm2 | 194@6300rpm | 13.95 | 0.78 | 18.67m/sec |
Engine bhp is representative for each given year and for simplicity metric values have not been converted.