Powering Up Toyota's NASCAR Teams Needed a V8 Engine, So TRD Invented One

摘要

To go racing in the top three series of NASCAR, a 5.8-liter V8 engine with 16 valves, pushrods, and a cast iron block is the price of entry. That didn't pose a problem for Toyota, however. "When you've got a staff of engineers who've spent close to ten years designing overhead-cam racing engines, working up a new NASCAR V8 is merely a fresh folder in their computer-aided-design programs," notes Lee White, Senior Vice President and General Manager at TRD, U.S.A., Inc. (Toyota Racing Development). NASCAR rules defining engine parameters are both written and unwritten. The written part includes the aforementioned items plus bore, stroke, compression ratio, and a list of approved carburetion and ignition components. The unwritten part is what White calls "the box." "NASCAR expects us to stay within the boundaries established by currently available engines from competing manufacturers," he explains. "So we began with those dimensions and used our own design, engineering, casting, and manufacturing expertise to optimize performance capability, packaging, weight, structural integrity, and cooling performance." The goal as expressed by NASCAR is not to achieve a competitive edge between manufacturers, but to maintain a level playing field. "If we do have one advantage," White notes, "it's that Toyota has the capability of turning into metal anything our engineers dream up. The castings from our production-line foundries are so precise, they don't need the many hours of handwork that might otherwise be required."