Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 l 1988 1989 1990 pictures and drawing

[GF-F1]

Hello,

I need help for the dimension of the Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 l 1988 1989 1990 engine, pitures and drawings, the info on the web seem very limited . Many thanks by advance.

Cheers
Franck

[Daliracing]

I've had a fo searching but more pictures of the engine are small/blurry. Can't find any dimensions as well.
Is it possible to measure a scaled version?

[GF-F1]

Hello.

I've got one from the Benetton B188 from Tamiya but it seems undersized, next to a DFV 3L it seems smaller despite these 3.5 liters!!?

Cheers

Franck
www.gf-models.eu

[Steffen_T]

This is what I could find:
Two pictures of the DFR in 1988 as it was tuned by Heini Mader. And two pictures of the DFR in 1991. The first shows the version used by AGS, the second shows the Brian Hart tuned version that was used by Lola.
In perticular the coloured picture of Heini Mader is interesting, as it shows exactly the same details on the engine block as the Tamiya DFV engine. The only differences I can see are different valvecovers, and a different injection system.
Also keep in mind, that Tamiya's Ferrari F189 is known to have a too small engine. They could have done the same on the Benetton.

[OultonPark]

The engine in the first picture is likely to be a DFZ as this was the customer cosworth engine until the end of 1989 and the 3.5 version of the DFV. The DFR was exclusive to Benetton as the Ford works and team. The engine being 3.5l doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be smaller in external dimensions than the DFV.

[GF-F1]

Many thanks Steffen,

The 88 pictures gave to me some confirmation, I had a lot of pictures of the JS33 and JS33b DFR engine but with all the devices around.
I finally found some more photos, the main difference with the DFV seems to be the height of the lower part of the engine which is the most modified and optimized.



Cheers

Franck
www.gf-models.eu

[Daliracing]

I do think the V angle might also be different on both. Being the DFR being 'wider' and lower for the center of gravity. Didn't Benetton use their B188 in 1989 with the older spec as the new engine wouldn't fit the B188? They eventually used it in the B189 which was quite different.

[Steffen_T]

I checked it again, and it seems OultonPark is right. The F1 entrylist for the 1988 season in the same magazin I took the Mader pictures from, mentiones a 'second generation' Cosworth for exclusive use by Benetton. So the first two pictures show a DFZ.
The different V-angle was introduced on the Ford HB engine which had it's premier in the back of the Benetton B189.

[GF-F1]

Hello,

thank you all for your help.

The different V-angle was introduced on the Ford HB engine which had it's premier in the back of the Benetton B189.

I agree
Compare what I read in books or on the web, it is all the time mention 90°.
Here's another view of the height difference between the two engines in the lower area.

The engine in the first picture is likely to be a DFZ as this was the customer cosworth engine until the end of 1989 and the 3.5 version of the DFV. The DFR was exclusive to Benetton as the Ford works and team. The engine being 3.5l doesn’t mean that it couldn’t be smaller in external dimensions than the DFV.

Maybe it should be taken into account that there is always a way to reduce the thickness of the internal elements with better knowledge of the resistance of the materials and experience too, they have had almost 20 years to learn and optimize all the original concept, and make it more compact.
So I think only the dimensions of the real engine could awser 100% to my questions.

Cheers

Franck
www.gf-models.eu

[martinpesce]

Hi Franck, all,

I checked a couple of technical books covering the era, but no luck on the engine dimensions yet. The (great!) book by Sal Incandela covers a chapter on the DFZ and DFR with pictures and description, although it seems you have plenty of those already. Joe Honda does not have engine dimensions for the 1987 season, perhaps someone could check the 1988 gp cars edition. Final suggestion could be GP Car Story for the Benetton B190?

Hope any of this may help, good luck!