Supercars head of engineering Adrian Burgess recently spoke to Australia’s Speedcafe, and revealed the category is closing in on the Gen 3 engine specifications.
The development of a new generation of cars is a balancing act, managing a number of factors to achieve parity across the field while keeping costs as low as they can.
“We have always worked on the fact that we don’t want the cars going over 300km/h down Conrod,” Burgess revealed.
“If we left the current power unit in the Gen3 car, [top speed] would be substantially over 300km/h”.
“We didn’t really want to move our top speed any higher than that [300km/h mark] because you’re putting more stress into the brakes.”
“When we have targeted the downforce number that we believe we can get to and when we’ve worked on our projected minimum weight of the car, you also factor in where you would like to be in terms of manufacturers being able to bring a wider range of engine configurations to us,” Burgess told Speedcafe.
With category heads set on a number of factors, they are able to target the new specs.
“We aren’t going to stick in a V8 still doing 650bhp because those engines are so highly stressed and so highly developed that that’s why they are expensive to run and maintain,” Burgess continued.
“By bringing the horsepower number down roughly 50bhp, combine that with less downforce, you still need to have a reasonable amount of drag on the car or you will be too quick, but it gives us an engine platform that should be easier for more manufacturers, should they arrive.”
With conversations of cost and racing quality surrounding the series over the past few seasons category heads are attempting to quieten them while attracting new manufacturers with the new regulations.
The next-generation cars are set to make their racing debut at the 2022 Sydney SuperNight.
Main Image:Mark Horsburgh, Edge Photographics