Auto Racing: engine for racing cars....., sarasota florida usa, piston rod

Question
will efficiency of a racing car will be increased if  we use the engine head, piston rod and cylinder of a light weight.what should be the material used and whats changes wil take place in engine performence.hope to get reply from your side.

Answer
Normally I only accept questions from race drivers and mechanics who already have a basic understanding of the subject.

Light weight components are a major part of building a powerful race engine,  Internal rotating, and reciprocating parts must be light, very tough and very resistant to high temperatures.  Most modern racing engines use a lot of aluminium, titanium and other exotic metals to achieve this. Magnesium isn't so popular any more because of it's fire hazard.

Bsically it takes horsepower to move anything, inside the engine, or outside. So each race car is built so as to be light in weight everywhere.  I've even seen engine shops grinding metal off the outside of a big V-8 engine to save 10 pounds.

So the use of light weight materials inside the engine will increase horsepower and efficiency somewhat, and weight savings elsewhere in the car will require less horsepower to propel the car, effectively making that horsepower available to make the car go faster.

I hope that answers your question.

Dan Liddy
Sarasota, Florida USA