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Electronics in Race cars


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#1 Fatgadget

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Posted 31 October 2015 - 15:32

Okay,I havent bothered searching the forum for an existing topic on this topic. Be that,I'm interested to find out the geneology of electronics in motorsport.Granted, spark plugs and points and condensors are indeed electronic devices,however,Its when valves and transistors made an impact im more interested in...Was there ever a case a valve used in a race car for example?..apart from radio!

I remember years ago reading this book about fuel injection and in it was a reference about Bendix in the US trialing a vacuum tube electronic injection system on a Cadillac...apparently it worked.Car drove from the east to the west coast.However the system was way too bulky.

Edited by Fatgadget, 31 October 2015 - 20:40.


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#2 Michael Ferner

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Posted 31 October 2015 - 18:21

No, valves have no place in motor cars - what were you thinking?!?

#3 D-Type

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Posted 31 October 2015 - 18:57

Lucas transistorised ignition (black box) appeared in F1 about 1962 in the V8 BRM and Climax powered cars



#4 Fatgadget

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Posted 31 October 2015 - 20:23

Valves as in Vacuum tubes! :D
Yeah Im aware of Lucas and their reluctor igntion setup on the DFV.
Was the DFV ever electronicaly injected back in the day?

Edited by Fatgadget, 31 October 2015 - 20:32.


#5 Peter Morley

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Posted 01 November 2015 - 09:50

DFVs were electronically injected in F3000 from when  it started in 1985.

Presumably the later F1 DFV/DFYs had been running the same system which was then used on DFRs etc.



#6 f1steveuk

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Posted 01 November 2015 - 13:26

What powered the massive BRM data aquisition system that they used in testing? (P83?)



#7 Charlieman

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Posted 01 November 2015 - 23:34

What powered the massive BRM data aquisition system that they used in testing? (P83?)

Electricity, dear boy. If you are asking whether it was an "electronics system", the answer is yes. My understanding is that it used piezo cells and transistors which should have been reliable enough for a test car. How was data recorded? Punched paper tape would have been more reliable than magnetic tape recording but it would have used a lot of energy. (I studied my electronic metering module in 1983 when electronics became a serious consideration for racing cars.)