Jump to content
The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Rare photo of M12 BMW F1 turbo on dyno


Chris Wilson

Recommended Posts

I saw the aftermath of a Mugen Honda MF-301HE that saw 24000rpm.

 

In 2000 we had an issue with the gearbox rotary pot that relayed back to the ECU what gear it was in. We had a choice of two, the year before we used the larger one, but in an attempt to save weight, in 2000 we went for the smaller version. The problem was the smaller one would every now and then kind of "schiz out" and send spurious signals to back to the ECU. Because we had designed the gearbox casing to accept the smaller pot, we couldn't fit the larger one so had to carry the fault all season.

 

In the Austrian GP, Frentzen was accelerating out of one of the corners, and was had just put the car into 5th, when the pot freaked out and told the ECU it was in 6th. The ECU was clever enough to know that it should have been in 5th, so downshifted just as he about to pull for the next gear. The RPM's peaked at a little over 24000RPM. (This was when the redline on most cars was about 16000RPM.)

 

The net result was everything inside the engine grew by about 0.5mm and the pistons met the valves = Engine destroyed. There wasn't one part in the engine that could be re-used. Probably the best part of half a million quid gone up in smoke, for the sake of £20 rotary potentiometer!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. You might also be interested in our Guidelines, Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.