The third generation from Munich.
Formula One has settled in well at BMW in Munich. 2002 will see the third
BMW Formula One engine making its appearance since the company’s return to
the World Championship. The P82 represents another new design. “It is
based on last year’s engine, the P80,” explains BMW Motorsport Director
Mario Theissen, “but every part of it is new.” The P82 consists of almost
5,000 individual parts, around 1,000 of them different.
All core components are developed and manufactured at BMW – such as the
cylinder head, crankcase, crankshaft, camshaft or electronic engine
management. Says Theissen: “The exchange of know-how between motorsport
and series production was a task and a prerequisite right from the outset
of our Formula One project.” That is what prompted BMW to build its
Formula One factory just a stone’s throw away from the Research and
Technology Centre, and to set up its own Formula One engine foundry as
well as a parts manufacturing plant. “We are drawing on and enhancing our
in-house expertise and are thus in a position to transfer it to series
production,” adds Theissen.
There are plenty of examples to illustrate this. The 2000 season Formula
One engine already had its own engine management system. BMW has a
reputation to defend as an electronics pioneer – also in Formula One as
the one-time inventor of telemetry in motorsport. “We employ top experts,”
emphasizes Theissen, “and our Formula One engine management is handled by
the same team responsible for electronics in the M3 and M5.”
The reinstatement of traction control and launch control in 2001 presented
the electronics experts with a keen challenge, but BMW had no problems on
that score, working in tandem with electronics partners at WilliamsF1. The
chief beneficiary of this when it comes to production models is the new
BMW 7 Series. This top-line saloon features high-performance processors
previously developed and tested for the Formula One project.
In-house Formula One foundry and parts production.
The foundry in Landshut similarly comes with a quality hallmark. Situated
close to the production foundry and under the same direction, this is
where the cylinder heads and crankcases for the ten-cylinder are cast in
elaborately prepared sand moulds. Theissen is of the firm view that “when
it comes to casting, Landshut is unbeatable.” Quality control is carried
out with the help of computer tomography, among other techniques. Testing
a cylinder head in the CT tube takes 20 hours.
In this area, too, Formula One serves as a kind of laboratory for
forward-looking technologies that can filter down into production cars.
Using the sand-casting process, oil sumps can be made for the M3, M5 and
Z8, along with intake manifolds for the eight-cylinder diesel engine.
The factory producing Formula One parts is also run by a team responsible
for production components. Interdisciplinary collaboration between the
motorsport and the production side bears similar fruit when it comes to
model construction. The Formula One team benefits from the company’s
experience in the rapid prototyping/tooling procedure, in which
computer-controlled machines use laser beams or stereolithography to
create scale models in resin, synthetic powder, starch or wax. These
procedures are fast, inexpensive and accurate, and the quality of the
products ranges from presentation models to test-bench levels.
For BMW it is a case of simultaneously integrating construction and
production, of ensuring speed and flexibility for the Formula One project
as well as series production, of achieving maximum quality and preventing
the migration of parts and know-how to competitors. Yet despite all these
sober technical considerations, it is also a question of emotions. “The
whole company sweats it out, palpitates and celebrates with us,” says
Mario Theissen. “The workforce is right behind us, and I think they will
be even in leaner times.” Success breeds pride. “The reason it works so
exceptionally well for us is because we’re doing everything at our Munich
base with our own people,” continues Theissen. “The awareness of our own
capabilities gives us a very strong sense of belonging, and that’s a real
incentive.”
The long road to Melbourne.
In January/February of 2001, a team of fewer than 20 employees began work
on the design of the P82. At the time, the P80 had not even completed its
racing debut. The concept stage was followed by construction during the
months of March to June. All parts for the first engines had been acquired
in September and the testing of components had started in August. On the
21st of September the P82 had its first test-bench trial and on the 3rd of
October it was taken out for its first test run. It was confirmed that the
P82 was in sound health and good working order.
“The foundation stone for a successful engine is, of course, laid during
the design stage,” explains Theissen. “If you don’t spot an unsuitable
concept until December, you’ve got no chance of solving the problem in
time for the start of the season.”
During the test ban from mid-October to early January, simulation and
development work was carried out on dynamic test benches in Munich. It was
a matter of identifying weaknesses, rectifying them and analysing them in
renewed tests. In tandem with this, work was carried out on engine tuning
and establishing the optimal power curve. When it came to developing the
transmission for the FW24, BMW again contributed its significant
expertise. WilliamsF1 is able to benefit from BMW resources that include a
range of development tools, simulation programmes and test benches.
The development objectives for the 2002 engine read as follows: more
power, less weight, greater reliability. As for weight, this is a matter
of cutting down in the upper part of the engine. The overall vehicle
weight without tare weights is well within that, stipulated by the
regulations. When it comes to engine weight, the sole consideration is the
centre of gravity. A light airbox and light cylinder heads are
advantageous, while saving weight in the lower part of the engine serves
no purpose.
“Improving reliability,” says Theissen of the next point, “not only
depends on the design and development of the engine, but equally on the
precision of all procedures carried out by the team – from production and
assembly to the deployment of the engines in the race. We’ve got a fair
bit to learn there in our third season in order to narrow the experience
gap to the established teams.”
New and revised engines.
Around 200 engines a year leave the Formula One factory in Munich. But not
all of them are new. Whereas for races only engines with entirely new
parts are used, during practice and testing revised engines come into
play.
In the revised versions, those parts subjected to the greatest loads are
replaced with new ones, while others are tested and if necessary rebuilt.
The BMW V10 is not a throwaway product. Cylinder heads, for example, run
through this cycle several times.
While the season is under way, development work continues uninterrupted.
BMW engineers bring along small improvements to virtually every Grand
Prix. The latest engine configurations are always used in qualifying and
then tested again back in Munich following this ‘acid test’. There they
may receive the ‘raceworthiness’ seal of quality.
“Our first engine, the E41 of the 2000 season,” says Theissen, “was a leap
from zero to 90 percent. The P80 upped that to 98 percent. And yet we will
never achieve 100 percent of what is technically possible. The benchmark
shifts with every successful innovation. The crossbar is raised as you
jump.”
Mario Theissen has no illusions about what is achievable. “Figures being
bandied about such as 19,000 rpm and 900 bhp are pure speculation.” Even
if you look at a speed of 18,000 rpm, within just one second you get such
impressive statistics as 300 engine revolutions, 1,500 ignitions and 9,000
speed measurements. The pistons cover a distance of 25 metres, 450 litres
of air are aspirated, 150,000 engine and vehicle data measurements are
recorded and processed. At a speed of 360 km/h, the car would cover 100
metres in that second and the wheels would turn 50 times.
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