The legend that is Cossie

Cosworth DFV

There are many debates in the world, such as who makes the best brakes. AP Racing, Brembo, Wilwood, Rotara and Porsche are all eligible for the top spot but the best is defined by personal taste [or which band wagon you on]. The same applies to the following debates: Impreza vs Evo, 911 vs Corvette vs GT-R, Senna vs Schumacher, BMW vs Benz and Lamborghini vs Ferrari. Fortunately there is one thing that cannot be debated [and I'm not being a fan boy]. Cosworth is the king of engines. Mentioning to anyone that you have Cosworth engine parts will cause them to immediately give you that [impressedraisedeyebrow] look with a small smirk [tryingtohideabigone] acknowledging the awesomeness underneath your hood.

Cosworth started out with Lotus [go Lotus!]. Mike [Cos]tin and Keith Duck[worth] both left Lotus to start their own engine firm called Cosworth [if you didn't catch the hint as to where the name comes from, you fail] Their first set of projects started by helping out Lotus [no surprise there]. At that time Lotus had a good relationship with Ford and that relationship spread to Cosworth, so much so that Ford is Cosworth's number 1 customer. Lets see where it starts.

Lotus 7

Caterham 7 CSR

The 7 was the ultimate interpretation of Colin Chapman's "Simplify then add lightness" campaign. The first set of engines used 1.1L 4 cylinder Ford Kent motors. Later on in the model run, Cosworth was commissioned to bore out the engines to 1.5L. Up to today Caterham [the descendant of the Lotus 7] maintains a strong link with Cosworth with their CSR line.

Lotus Cortina

Lotus Cortina Mk1

When Ford wanted to send the Cortina racing they sent it to Lotus for tuning. The engine was to use a heavily modified DOHC version of the Elan engine [same Ford Kent]. The Lotus Twin Cam was born. Cosworth specifically designed the head of the engine. The Twin Cam served as a template for all engines to come. [try to think up of another twin cam engine built in the 60s]

Cosworth DFV

Lotus-Ford 49 [top] and 72

After the Lotus twin cam Cosworth went on to design the FVA [Four Valve type A] At the same time Cosworth went on to design a V8, which would use the same twin cam principle. The engine was dubbed the DFV [Double Four Valve] This design first saw its way into the Lotus 49. The radical design of the 49 and the cheap reliable and robust construction of the DFV catapulted both Lotus and Cosworth into legendary status. As Lotus changed their chassis' The DFV stayed the same. In fact it gathered up wins for 25 years with minimal design changes [most race engines barely pass 5 years before a major redesign] From this the DFV goes down in history as the most victorious engine in racing. It was so dominant in fact that every race in the '69 and '73 F1 seasons were won by DFVs. Driver's Champions under DFV power include:

Graham Hill

Sir Jackie Stewart [3 times]

Jochen Rindt [who was so dominant he won the title despite dying midway through the season]

Emerson Fittipaldi [who was at that time the youngest world champion, won it twice]

James Hunt

Mario Andretti

Alan Jones

Nelson Piquet

Keke Rosberg

Outside of F1 the DFV gathered wins in Indy 500, CART, Le Mans and Formula 3000.

Cosworth BDA

Ford RS200

Another Twin Cam derivative, BDA stood for Belt Drive type A. This engine provided power for Ford's Escort and RS200 line. Both vehicles saw enormous success in the WRC. Toyota based their 4A-GE engine on the BDA

Cosworth YB

Ford Sierra Cosworth [heavily modified]

This took Cosworth into the turbo era. It was based on the Ford Pinto engine but carried along modifications to hone one big turbo. The 2.0L 204hp engine labeled the YB as the first to pass the 100hp/L mark. It found its way into the engine bays of the Sierra Sapphire, the Sierra and the Escort. Each of these were labeled RS Cosworth to show off its pedigree.

Other Cossie projects

Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution

Cosworth has done other projects outside of Ford and Lotus, highlights inlcude the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16, Cosworth/Chevrolet Vega and most recently the Subaru Impreza STi CS400. There are rumors that Cosworth has also done work on the Nissan GT-R and is working with Lotus on building new engines together. Cosworth also sells engine parts for the Impreza, Evolution, Skyline GT-R and Ford Duratec engines.

One thing to mention though is that although Cosworth does not always make the most powerful engines, their sturdiness and bulletproof internals have proven them to be reliable at horsepower ratings near 11ty billion and above.