The one good thing about the potential engine switch, is we got to hear some info that's normally not shared by teams:
- More than a hundred disruptive concepts were studied, nearly a third of which demonstrated significant performance on the test bench and should be introduced on the future Alpine engine: the AR26.
- The target was to start the first Alpine 2026 engine at the end of the first half of 2024, one and a half years after the genesis of the project.
- On 26 June 2024, the RE26A, the name given to the first 'factory' version of the AR26, carried out its first start-up on engine bench no. 6 at Viry-Chatillon, thus marking a success in terms of the targeted deadline.
- On this first engine, almost a third of the performance concepts, previously validated on the system bench, are still absent, planned for introduction before the end of 2024. However, the first test results are promising.”
- The test engine was exceeding 400kW output during its first hours of running – which was close to the performance objective laid down for the first 2026 race.
- It has a thermal efficiency of 48% and had suffered no major reliability problems.
- It is 12 percent shorter than the current power unit Alpine was using, which offered “significant room” for improved chassis integration.
- Furthermore, it is below the minimum weight laid down in the regulations, which meant Alpine could make use of ballast.
- The RE26A is seen by all the Viry-Chatillon teams as a great success, a well-born engine with a clear potential, a year and a half from the first race, to raise the ambitions of Alpine F1 team.
Renault engine staff call for rethink over F1 engine ‘betrayal’ (motorsport.com)
Edited by JL14, 23 August 2024 - 16:46.
