Nurburgring gets ‘F1 engine journey’

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I was curious when I learned a British company was building an exhibit allowing people to walk through a model of an F1 engine.

Unfortunately for me – but luckily for German F1 fans – it’s being built at the Nurburgring.

Part of the Ring Werk museum, the exhibit was built by EDM. Here’s what they had to say about it. If anyone gets a chance to go and see it, please tell me all about it!

Press release

An innovative exhibit designed and built by Manchester-based company EDM – allowing visitors to quite literally walk through a Formula 1 racing car engine – was officially opened on Saturday at the legendary Nurburgring motor-racing circuit in Germany.

EDM, the interactive exhibits and training simulation specialist, located at a modern facility in Newton Heath, won a competitive bid to supply a range of exhibits for the Ring?é??Werk action museum at the Nurburgring.

Visitors to the new exhibition will be left in no doubt what extreme forces and complex mechanics play out inside a Formula 1 racing car – for they will be able to walk through the engine and see for themselves.

The EDM manufactured ‘see-through’ engine measuring seven metres by six metres by five is complete in parts to the finest detail, is a highlight of the Ring?é??Werk action museum

The walk-through engine is the latest and one of the largest exhibits ever produced by EDM, which draws on 38 years of experience designing, producing and installing innovative interactive exhibits and complete exhibition, museum and gallery displays to educate and fire the imaginations of visitors of all ages.

In tendering for the Ring?é??Werk project, the company had to develop a creative solution that included not just the oversized F1 engine, but also three wind-tunnel interactive models and an historic driver’s cockpit. Following an exhaustive bid process that began in 2007, the contract was finally awarded in the third quarter of last year. All of the exhibits were delivered to Germany earlier this summer.

After entering the engine underneath its two-metre diameter cooling fan, visitors can take a close-up look at the internal workings as they pass along a slowly moving piston, crankshaft, valves and camshaft to show how the four-stroke combustion cycle works.

Clever use of lighting indicates the flow of intake, exhaust and the spark of combustion, and the multi-sensory experience is completed by typical engine sounds throughout the journey. Many external features have also been fully modelled, including the manifold, rocker covers and exhaust pipes.

The company’s workshop team admitted that one of the major challenges had been the sheer size and scale of the exhibit. During build, the EDM craftsmen needed to fashion some innovative manufacturing solutions, and even had to produce custom-built platforms to enable total access in and around the engine framework. Components such as the pistons – which one person would find virtually impossible to lift – required moulding from multiple layers of fibre glass.

The three wind-tunnel models visualise the complex air flows affecting aerodynamic performance. Visitors can manipulate the profile and angle of front and rear wing to witness the effect these subtle changes of car body shape have on an F1 car, which is so heavily reliant on a combination of smooth air flow and down force to maximise grip around the track.

The final interactive exhibit going on show touches on motor racing history by allowing visitors to climb into the seat of a 1950s Alfa Romeo F1 motor car that raced around such famous tracks as the Brooklands circuit in the UK. Compared to today’s cars and their systems, which are progressively optimised for greater driver efficiency, the controls, steering wheel, gear changes and pedal pressures will demonstrate just how different it was to drive a Formula 1 car half a century ago.

EDM’s talented team utilised skills ranging from traditional hand crafts to the very latest in computer-aided design technology to bring the exhibits to life. The company’s in-house capabilities include a comprehensive workshop accommodating high-precision crafts including joinery, machining, metalwork, toolmaking and fabrication. The factory also incorporates a full paint-shop, electronics laboratory, foundry and welding bay.

EDM F1 engine model (artists' impression)

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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10 comments on “Nurburgring gets ‘F1 engine journey’”

  1. Terry Fabulous
    18th August 2009, 0:28

    That is without doubt… the coolest thing I have seen all year.

    I am going to start suggesting to my wife that we do Europe next year,
    specifically Germany,
    more specifically the Eifel Mountains area.

    1. more specifically the Eifel Mountains area.

      haha, yes, if you do that could you please put a transcript on this site of the arguement you and your wife has after you’ve “accidentally” turned into the Nordschleife, going round in circles at 90 miles an hour.

      You should really stop and ask for directions Terry, maybe ask that speeding Audi, he’s seems to know where he’s going?!

  2. Awesome.Does it mean that F1 will stay in Nurburgring for quiet some time.

  3. I’ve been around there…you can tell your wife it is a pleasant place also…and actually it is!

    Good luck.

  4. Is development on the exhibit frozen and the revs limited?

  5. The final interactive exhibit going on show touches on motor racing history by allowing visitors to climb into the seat of a 1950s Alfa Romeo F1 motor car that raced around such famous tracks as the Brooklands circuit in the UK

    Now that’s something that I’d like to try out.
    Someone go get some pics and post them back here.

  6. That is way cool. Holiday to Germany next year me thinks! :)

  7. Am I missing something here or why does it have a cooling fan? Is it an old Brabham perhaps…
    And rocker covers? Do we need those for pneumatic valve springs?
    Btw, that picture looks like a V10 or V12 to me.
    I would still love to see it but I’m a bit confused.

  8. I don’t think ive ever heard of anything so amazing, a holiday to Germany just got a lot more attractive..

  9. “If anyone gets a chance to go and see it, please tell me all about it!”

    … won’t they let you into Germany then Keith?!

    Perhaps you can wangle a trip as a fact finding mission for your mates at Sky Sports!

    :)

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