As I have written about many successful engines during the last few months, I thought I would continue the theme with one on the Lexus V8. I wasn’t that intrigued by these engines until I read an article about drag racers dumping their Chrysler Hemi’s in favour of a lightweight Lexus V8! Lexus have produced two versions of their V8. The first, codenamed 1UZ-FE, was a 4 litre … [Read more...]
Ford Cosworth V8
Some months ago, I wrote about Cosworth in a history article as the company was instrumental in developing technology for road and race cars. This week’s article explores arguably their most famous product – the DFV engine. I have also written about the Repco 620 V8 that won several Formula 1 championships in the mid 1960s. Cosworth were a major competitor to Repco, Honda and … [Read more...]
Ford Windsor V8 Engine
Ford’s Windsor series of V8 motors were fitted to cars from 1962 right through to about 2001. They were built in Cleveland, Ohio and Windsor, Ontario where they got their name from. The engines were 90° small block V8’s with overhead valves – 2 per cylinder. The term small block refers to engines less than 6 litres. The Windsor replaced the Ford Y-Block V8 that was developed … [Read more...]
Jaguar XK Engine
This week’s technical article follows on from the last few weeks articles on great engines. So this week we have one of the all time greats – the 6-cylinder Jaguar XK double overhead cam. Developed by Jaguar after the war, it first appeared in one of the most iconic sports cars – the XK120. This engine is a favourite of mine thanks to my family owning several Jaguars … [Read more...]
Chevrolet LS Engines
This weeks technical article, although titled Chevrolet’s LS engine should really be simply called GM’s LS as it has gone into many of the old General Motors brands. The LS was the successor to the LT and its main difference is that the LS block is made from aluminium rather than cast iron and it has a smaller bore but longer stroke to provide the same capacity. The LS is also … [Read more...]