Renault unveils its 2014 Power Unit, the Energy F1

renault energy f1-2014 05

The Paris Air Show at Le Bourget may have been a novel place to have unveiled it, but nothing like mixing it up to make things more interesting. It was at the recent event that Renault introduced its race-intent Power Unit, designed to the new technical regulations to be used in F1 from 2014.

The F1 Power Unit, officially named Renault Energy F1 in a bid to illustrate its shared DNA with its road-going Energy cousins, is a 1.6 litre V6 direct injection turbocharged unit, with the pressure charging architecture consisting of a single turbine and compressor.

A new Energy Recovery System (ERS) is in place in the Renault Energy F1, and offers twice the power (120 kW vs 60 kW) and a performance effect 10 times greater than the 2013 KERS. Incorporated in the system are two motor generator units (MGU), an MGU-H (Heat, which handles exhaust energy recovery) and MGU-K (Kinetic, which recovers kinetic energy during braking).

The MGU-K is connected to the crankshaft of the internal combustion engine and is capable of recovering or providing power (limited to 120 kW or 160 hp by the rules). Under braking, the MGU-K operates as a generator to slow the car – reducing the heat dissipated in the brakes – and recovers some of the kinetic energy, converting it into electricity. Under acceleration, the MGU-K is powered (from the Energy Store section and/or from the MGU-H) and acts as a motor to propel the car.

As for the MGU-H, it’s connected to the turbocharger. Acting as a generator, it absorbs power from the turbine shaft to recover heat energy from the exhaust gases. The electrical energy can be either directed to the MGU-K or to the battery for storage for later use. The MGU-H is also used to control the speed of the turbocharger to match the air requirement of the engine.

No specific mention of output, but the company says that the maximum power of the new Power Unit will exceed the output of current V8 F1 engines, while radically improving fuel efficiency by around 35%.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • BOYRACER on Jun 24, 2013 at 3:28 pm

    How much power are these engines producing?In the 80s those turbocharged F1 engines generates about 1000bhp during race and more than 1000bhp during qualifying.Some say about 1200bhp.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • Gavin on Jun 24, 2013 at 4:14 pm

    Turbo placement is cool

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Smaller engine n less weight? 10times more performance power of kers may change the F1 drivers tactic definitely. Could b the most powerful 1.6 L
    engine in the world too.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • shawal on Jun 24, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    will we ever get to see 1 of these in a road car..?
    It’ll be spectacular…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Quote from ESPN

      Naming the Power Unit Energy F1 creates an unbroken range, from the Clio through to our competition department.

      1.6 + turbo is a reasonable choice for everyday car.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • gOOsh on Jun 24, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    compact, light & powerfull… that’s the beauty of down-sizing…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • armandd on Jun 24, 2013 at 5:35 pm

    I guess they will not be having much trouble with turbo lag since this engine revs to more than 6,000 rpm most of the time during a race.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Diablo on Jun 25, 2013 at 12:01 am

    No big fuss. Audi has been racing V6 VTG turbo single turbo with KERS in Le Mans since 2012. In fact their concept is probably more energy efficient because its diesel and they run ‘hot side inside’ turbo layout which means the exhaust exit the cyl heads between the banks into the turbo and less energy loss before the turbo. Audi was in fact trying to run a very efficient pneumatic KERS this year but unfortunately it got banned.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • deepak pn on Jul 03, 2013 at 9:58 pm

    is the turbo lag much less

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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