Cosworth announced it designed a three-cylinder engine with 250 horsepower, but here’s the kicker: it’s not turbocharged and its emissions compliant.
By comparison, the Ford Fiesta ST has a three-cylinder engine that produces 197 horsepower, but it’s turbocharged. The BMW i8 hybrid sports car also comes with a three-cylinder option, which comes closer with 228 horsepower. Once again though, it’s turbocharged.
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This seriously powerful engine was produced as a test for the Aston Martin Valkyrie’s V12 engine design, which tops out at a heart-stopping 1,000 horsepower. We’re drooling already.
The Valkyrie’s V12 needs to be naturally-aspirated as well as emissions compliant. Creating a giant engine like that takes time. The managing director for Cosworth, Bruce Wood, explained the design process behind the V12 and in an interview with Henry Catchpole at Carfection.
To start the project from scratch, it would’ve taken the team 12 to 13 months to produce a prototype engine from the design. The team decided to go ahead and create a smaller, quarter version of the total V12 and build it in a few months so they could know if their design worked or need to be tweaked so they wouldn’t have to spend a whole year only to go back to the drawing board.
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To make the three-cylinder version, the team took one of their previous four-cylinder designs; altered it for a three-cylinder head, made it compliant to emission guidelines, and revved its power up to 250 horses. They achieved all of this in about five months.
Personally, we want this engine to show up on some cars in the near future so we can take a gander at such a powerful three-cylinder. Cosworth hasn’t announced any plans for it though, and since it was a test for the V12, it’s not likely we’ll see it any time soon.
Sources: Jalopnik.com,
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