Yamaha R1 Power

With the basement racer mock-up in construction, I began looking at frame layout. There were too many unknowns though, particularly concerning the powerplant which would be one of the heaviest pieces of the car.

Looking at engines, I slowly narrowed in and decided to buy a Yamaha R1 engine. It's a high power engine, high-revving, and I could look for a used engine a few years old. I found a 1999 model on ebay in Florida.

It's nothing really special and I suspect it may have seen some moisture, but it looks good overall. I think it will run once I pull together the remaining ignition electricals. If it doesn't run immediately, I'll get a refresher on engine rebuilds. It was cheap though and now I can continue designing the rest of the car around it.

With the power available from this engine, my vehicle weight could climb a significant amount before I miss my minimum power to weight target. I'm still shooting for 900 pounds empty though.

1999 Yamaha R1 Specs

988cc Inline Four
150 Horsepower at 10,000 rpm
80 ft*lb Torque at 8,500 rpm
11,750 rpm Engine Redline

Radiator and Cooling

Keeping the engine cool will require a fairly capable radiator. There are several places to put radiators, but the nose is not really one of them. The frontal area of the car is too small there to fit one well. I also want to kee hot water lines away from the cockpit in case of a crash or leak because I don't like burns. A conformal mount on the side of the body or above the drivetrain and differential like a Formula SAE look promising. Alternately, I might still still do sidepods.

If I go for sidepods, I do want to keep things looking symmetrical on the outside. Using one radiator though will probably save some money, effort and complexity. The oil system might need a cooler though which would work well on the other side of the car. Think 1975 Ferrari 312T for sidepod shape if I add sidepods and bodywork.