The Evolution Of The Formula Ford Engine

By Author: Linus
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Car racing is a sensory feast, with a truckload of muscle thrown in. It doesn’t matter whether you are a driver or a spectator ─ that rush of adrenaline as the cars swoosh past you, the anticipated celebration as the checkered flag waves in the victors, much like people welcoming back a victorious army, the skill of the drivers, hugging the track while making improbable turns at death defying speeds ─ it’s all very exciting and remains fresh in our memories. But what really makes a car race exciting, is the cars themselves, and like all technology, race car engines have come a long way.
 
The first Formula Ford race car used the 1500 cc Ford Cortina GT. But this engine was not made for race cars. It was made for Ford’s mass-market mid-sized car of the same name, and suited it perfectly. But its four-speed manual transmission meant it could be driven fast ─ fast enough for Geoffrey Clark’s students at the British racing school, Motor Racing Stables. The inexperienced students had been ruining the more expensive Formula 3 engines with their bad handling for long enough.
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However, after a few initial British Formula Ford races in 1967, the Cortina engine was overtaken by the OHV 1600 cc Ford Kent engine, originally developed for the Ford Anglia. While the Anglia engine was fitted with an 80.96 mm bore and 48.41 mm stroke, the Formula version featured a longer stroke, huge torque and thus higher capacity.
 
1994 saw a turning point in Formula Ford engines, with the Kent being replaced by the more modern and more powerful 1800 cc 16-valve Zetec.
Zetec was originally a generic name given to many of Ford’s Inline-4 cylinder engines, introduced for the 1992 model year. However, the Formula Zetec was a 3.5 litre V8 engine, which made its first appearance with the Benetton team, and powered Michael Schumacher’s first World Championship title that year.
This resulted in a new class of more powerful Formula Ford cars, although the added weight of the larger engine made handling more difficult.
 
The 1600 cc Duratec engine, introduced in 2006, is lighter than the Zetec, and also provides more power, addressing both speed and weight concerns. The Zetec abdicated, making the Duratec the engine of choice in most Formula Ford races.
 
Despite dramatic engine changes, the chassis of Formula Ford cars continue to not have a wing, limiting the cars to a mechanical grip. The cars also remain extremely light, at about 1,000 pounds typically, enabling them to reach top speeds of around 150 miles an hour. The light weight also has the distinct disadvantage of causing the car to be flung upwards when the forward edge of one tire touches a rear tire of another car. And since the mechanical grip means drivers cannot depend on aerodynamics to give them an advantage, they have to consistently perform at their optimal levels. After all, no one said auto racing was easy, right?

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