Formula 3’s Engine Reliability…

[Canadian Formula 3 Championship]

Formula 3's early days in 1948, mostly saw Cooper cars powered by 500cc motorcycle engines from Norton, Triumph, BMW and JAP. This engine format ran until 1964 where it was then bumped up to 1000cc. FIA regulations kept increasing displacement to 1600cc in 1971, and then finally to its current size of 2000cc in 1974.

Since then these 1974 Formula 3 FIA engine regulations have more or less remained the same; (2000cc, 4-cylinder, normally aspirated stock block engine with an expandable air inlet restrictor) making it one of the longest-lasting technical stabilities in any global motorsport category.

This status quo has created the Formula 3 engine to be a very dependable and reliable unit through the constant development and evolution of this same technical platform. Many of today?s current Formula 3 engine providers have been involved every year in developing Formula 3 engines for the past 30, 40 or even 50 years.

By undergoing continuous development with the same basic concept matches a similar philosophy shared by Porsche and their ultra-successful 911 model, whom has created an incredibly-reliable supercar since 1963. Everyone knows that you can beat the hell out of a Porsche 911, drive it year-round, (even in the snow) race or track lap the car, and she'll always keep begging for more.

Many engine manufacturers have had a crack at Formula 3 since its inception in 1948 because of its International status and recognition. Many of these same manufacturers listed below still support engine rebuilds and spare parts sales to various Formula 3 Championships, or have their engines running competitively in gentlemen club-level racing.

(Those manufacturers are underlined below and are the largest logo sizes in the attached JPEG.)

So when you think of engine reliability, engine rebuild intervals, and engine running costs with other formulas here in the United States and Canada, it's understandably hard to grasp and understand as to why a Toyota Formula 3 engine will last until 6,200 miles before a rebuild is needed when the comparable race engine here on this continent requires rebuilds every 1000 miles

When you add up your costs for an engine rebuild every 1 or 2 years, and your dollar costs per mile, per km or per lap, just think about how many full race seasons that you can squeeze out of a 10,000 km / 6,200 mile Toyota or Opel Formula 3 engine. Anyone can see why this is hard to comprehend, but I do hope this thread quells those doubts.

Formula 3 Engine Manufacturers:

1948 - Norton

1948 - Triumph

1949 - BMW

1964 - Renault

1964 - Ford

1967 - Cosworth

1971 - Alfa Romeo

1974 - Toyota

1975 - Lancia

1978 - Chevrolet

1979 - Volkswagen

1981 - Mercedes Benz

1984 - Nissan

1985 - Saab

1988 - Honda

1991 - Mugen

1989 - Opel

1989 - Peugeot

1992 - Vauxhall

1993 - Fiat

1994 - Mitsubishi

[shifter997]

Hi, Folks. I am a newbie on this site. I just want to feed more info on the engine selection for F3 engines.
All F3 engines until 2011, and probably including 2012 season are NON Vtec engines. In other words Mugen MF204C engines came from S2000 sports car but the head has been modified to NON Vtec K20A head. I really don't know what the reason was for eliminating Vtec but I suspect the reason was, when Honda developed MF204 based on Vtec B20/ B18 engines ( Civic/ Prelude/ Integra ) back in ~1994, FIA stepped in to limit the hp on F3, thereby removing the Vtec technology all together. This rule actually welcomed more engine suppliers to participate in FIA F3. Therefore, Fiat, Renault, Opel, GM UK, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes supplied to F3. I am sure there are more but I can't remember.
Anyway, these engines are very reliable and they all use the off the shelf engine components from the mass produced engines ( rules ). But one caution on Toyota 3S GE's beam engine, they are steel blocks and heavy, but they have titanium valves for faster revving to make up for the lost performance. This engine perhaps costs more to rebuild but they are known to have very long life. Now Toyota engine are based on 1AZ-FE in Japan F3 series, which are based on old RAV4's. They are not used in FIA in 2012. Hopefully, this helps.

[philippinemotorsports]

HKS-Mitsubishi
Opel-Speiss
Honda-Mugen
Renault-Sodemo
VW Motorsports-Speiss
Ford-Berte
HWA-Mercedes Benz
Nissan-Tomei
FIAT-FPT
Toyota-TOMS
Toyota-Hanashima

and i think the reason why they don't have vtec for the Honda based F3 engines are due to the maintenance, since increase wear will also increase the time for rebuilds which will be shouldered by the teams to have it sent to the engine manufacturers, and yes, F3 engine nowadays are more bulletproof and requires less rebuilds than any race prep engines out there... use in real competition of course...

[Top]

Hi, Folks. I am a newbie on this site. I just want to feed more info on the engine selection for F3 engines.
All F3 engines until 2011, and probably including 2012 season are NON Vtec engines. In other words Mugen MF204C engines came from S2000 sports car but the head has been modified to NON Vtec K20A head. Ih are based on old RAV4's. They are not used in FIA in 2012. Hopefully, this helps.

If I'm not mistaken my car has a MF204B engine that was based off of the Prelude.

[turnbaugh]

My understanding is that while the VTEC is reliable, it is the least reliable part of the engine. My engine builder builds a K engine and takes out the VTEC, uses a lighter valvetrain and ccan build a very high revving KX motor. 10,500 is posible and releiable.

Hi, Folks. I am a newbie on this site. I just want to feed more info on the engine selection for F3 engines.
All F3 engines until 2011, and probably including 2012 season are NON Vtec engines. In other words Mugen MF204C engines came from S2000 sports car but the head has been modified to NON Vtec K20A head. I really don't know what the reason was for eliminating Vtec but I suspect the reason was, when Honda developed MF204 based on Vtec B20/ B18 engines ( Civic/ Prelude/ Integra ) back in ~1994, FIA stepped in to limit the hp on F3, thereby removing the Vtec technology all together. This rule actually welcomed more engine suppliers to participate in FIA F3. Therefore, Fiat, Renault, Opel, GM UK, Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes supplied to F3. I am sure there are more but I can't remember.
Anyway, these engines are very reliable and they all use the off the shelf engine components from the mass produced engines ( rules ). But one caution on Toyota 3S GE's beam engine, they are steel blocks and heavy, but they have titanium valves for faster revving to make up for the lost performance. This engine perhaps costs more to rebuild but they are known to have very long life. Now Toyota engine are based on 1AZ-FE in Japan F3 series, which are based on old RAV4's. They are not used in FIA in 2012. Hopefully, this helps.

[shifter997]

I can't only speak for Japan F3 Mugen engines as NBE engines are coded differently XH6 and XJ6 for the latest spec.

1. MF204(1988-1995) - Base engine B20A 170ps F3 spec with 24mm
2. MF204A(1996) - Base engine B18C 175ps F3 spec with 24mm
3. MF204B(1997-2001) - Base engine H22A 210ps F3 spec with 26mm
4. MF204C(2002-2010) - Base engine F20C w/ Head K20A 215ps F3 spec with 26mm

NBE XH6 are based on H22A and I believe it is the same as MF204B but different ECU's due to their own development. (according to ten-tenth.com) XJ6 are similar to MF204C's. XH6 are being used for National class in UK F3 series and XJ6 are the Championship class engines.
Ofcourse, some older Dallara may have different Mugen engines installed for updates.

[Top]

I can't only speak for Japan F3 Mugen engines as NBE engines are coded differently XH6 and XJ6 for the latest spec.

1. MF204(1988-1995) - Base engine B20A 170ps F3 spec with 24mm
2. MF204A(1996) - Base engine B18C 175ps F3 spec with 24mm
3. MF204B(1997-2001) - Base engine H22A 210ps F3 spec with 26mm
4. MF204C(2002-2010) - Base engine F20C w/ Head K20A 215ps F3 spec with 26mm

NBE XH6 are based on H22A and I believe it is the same as MF204B but different ECU's due to their own development. (according to ten-tenth.com) XJ6 are similar to MF204C's. XH6 are being used for National class in UK F3 series and XH6 are the Championship class engines.
Ofcourse, some older Dallara may have different Mugen engines installed for updates.

No argument what so ever, my 394 had the Opel replaced with a later Mugen when the car was owned by Steve Nichols.

[shifter997]

Does anyone know what the difference between "Short and Tall" engine in NBE Mugen XH6 engine?

[prestonparke]

about 2 inches

[prestonparke]

F3 engines use nothing form street car engine inside them
all engines are bespoke racing engines not modified road car motors
the rules state stock block engines
the air box restrictor dictates the internals and the rpm used mostly max at 6300 on 26 mm 5900 on 24 mm
rods crank valves springs all special for F3 engine
most engines where lease only you could not buy them until it was 3-4 years old and new version was then being leased to teams