| Control Merc makes strong debut at Darwin |
| Story
By: F3 Media Release Date: 29/6/2012 at 2:11:16 PM |
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THE LONG-TERM future of the power behind the Formula 3 Australian Drivers Championship has been assured following the successful debut of the Australian-specification Mercedes Benz control engine at Hidden Valley last week.
A five-year partnership between Formula 3 Management and HWA, Inc. was announced earlier this year however Darwin represented the first time that the unique Mercedes Benz M271 ‘Australian Control engine’ was tested in anger on Australian soil.
Steel Guiliana’s R-Tek Motorsport Dallara ran the new specification engine, which nearly doubles useable engine life over existing Powerplants.
The new engine gives teams’ long-term savings on engine leases with 40% more engine kilometres offered for similar prices as the existing Mercedes Benz units.
Guiliana’s car was the first to receive the new-specification engine, which runs a slightly larger air restrictor than the existing engine to offer near identical power and torque figures.
In back-to-back comparison with James Winslow’s sister R-Tek Dallara – running the older specification, ‘non-control’ engine – Darwin showed that there was no noticeable differentiation in performance between the two engines.
A third-placed finish from Guiliana in the City of Darwin Cup race backed up the off-track findings with strong on-track performance.
For R-Tek, Hidden Valley – with its long main straight a true test of horsepower – offered the ideal location to compare the new engine to old.
“HWA have done a superb job of making sure the Australian Control Engine produces the same amount of performance as the existing specification engines,” said R-Tek engineer Michael Olson.
“Down the 1.1km Darwin front straight there was never more than a 1km/hr different in straight line speed between our two cars – which is more attributed to corner exit rather than horsepower.
“Every acceleration trace we compared between the two cars was identical – there really was no perceptible difference between the two engines except for the fact the one in Steel’s car will last for about 2000km more than the one in James’ car.”
Driver Steel Guiliana, who finished third in the City of Darwin Cup feature race, was similarly impressed.
“I didn’t feel a major difference to the old engine,” he said.
“It felt very, very similar right out of the box and that’s a great thing for Formula 3 as the transitions to the new engine. When you get a certain amount of horsepower in a Formula 3 car it becomes very challenging to notice any additional power – it’s more about getting out of a corner than anything - so the engine seems to be a really good step.
“I had some great battles in Darwin with Cameron Waters, who was running a new ‘old specification’ engine, so that was probably the ideal comparison. There was no difference in straight-line performance between the two, so it looks like HWA have done a great job.”
The Australian-specification control engine has now become mandatory fitment for anyone bringing a new chassis into the country, or upgrading an existing Mercedes Benz-powered car to a new engine.
Once current fitted engines are returned to Europe for refurbishment, an Australian-specification one will be returned in its place.
The Australian Control Engine utilises a larger air restrictor to balance a different tune that extends engine life but maintains identical performance. 2012 marks a phase-in period for the new power plant to save teams the up-front expense of securing new engines immediately.
It is expected that by mid-2013 all championship class cars in Australia will be powered by the new control unit.
The next round of the Formula 3 Australian Drivers’ Championship will be held with the Shannons Nationals, at Sydney Motorsport Park, on July 13-15.
James Winslow currently leads Chris Gilmour by 32 points in the championship standings.
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