Cosworth Group provides engineering edge to the fastest car on earth
Cosworth Group’s advanced electronics and high performance engine technologies will feature in the world’s ultimate racing car, which is powered by two engines and a rocket, to reach a top speed of 1050mph.
Cosworth Group’s data electronics, which are used in a wide range of highly demanding applications from aerobatics planes and racing cars to wind turbines and sailing boats, will be incorporated into the BLOODHOUND SSC to gather data which will help to control the vehicle and understand its performance.
These electronics will enable an unprecedented 500 channels of data to be beamed live from the car around the world during its land speed record attempts. This data will also be used as a key part of the education program, which currently has 4,000 UK schools using BLOODHOUND SSC information and materials in class to enable the engineers and scientists of the future to get involved in a great engineering adventure.
Cosworth Group is also supplying the auxiliary power unit for BLOODHOUND SSC in the shape of its latest Formula One engine – the CA2010, which has proved to be the most reliable in the sport today. This 95kg, 750+bhp unit will provide not only essential services to the car but will also drive the rocket oxidizer pump which will supply 800 liters of High Test Peroxide (HTP) to the rocket in just 20 seconds – equivalent to 75 pints every second. The rocket is a hybrid, specially developed for BLOODHOUND SSC and the largest ever designed in Europe.
The Cosworth CA2010 engine will be mounted backwards when compared to its normal position in an F1 car. It will be subjected to -3G acceleration for 40 seconds – not something it was originally designed to withstand with maximum braking forces in F1 only endured for 3 or 4 seconds at a time. However, due to the quality of its design and engineering, Cosworth Group is confident it will work in this new and uniquely challenging scenario.
Cosworth Group Chief Executive Officer Tim Routsis said: “The invitation to participate in such a high profile and adventurous project is both exciting and a privilege for the Cosworth Group. We look forward to working with the Bloodhound team to develop the new technology necessary to achieve the record and inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists."
The BLOODHOUND SSC team aim to be on the Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape, in South Africa, where the equivalent of 4,800 football pitches will be cleared for the event, to begin high speed runs by summer 2012.