Drake-Offy engine started on a 1972 AAR Eagle Indy car, part 2

[kramrollin69]

Nice, Love Offy Midgets too..This one sounds just like my newly restored 1970 Honda CB750. No wonder people loved those bikes in the day..they all thought they were racing at Ascot. :).

[aesmith8719]

The engine design style was also used by GM (Oldsmobile division) in the quad 4 design. A high rpm 4 cylinder with dual cam towers, 4 valves per cylinder. A.J. Foyt set a record top speed over a mile of 267.88 mph in a highly turbo-charged version of the 2-litre Oldsmobile Quad 4 engine in the Aerotech in 1987. An awesome formula for performance.

[TSRF24]

Is that not the truth... but let's face it: the Offy is an extrapolation of an engine that was designed in 1912... maybe it was time to move on?

[imrotting]

The motor that corporations killed. It did not have a head gasket so it could run more turbo boost that other engines and make more power than the bike bucks jobs. Ford etc. Whined like little girls and had the rules changed and it's boost lowered until they could beat it. Real racing huh????

[63DW89A]

@imrotting While the Offenhauser was developed from a Puegot engine circa 1912, it was an entirely unique engine design in its own right. An Offenhauser 4, updated with modern engine electronics, would still dominate racing today if permitted fair rule racing.

Porsche, (& other European mfgs ), declined invitations to Indy after testing an Offy-Turbo, & realizing their 6's, 8's and 12's could not beat the mighty 4-banger. Indy management wanted Offy's out of racing to attract big bucks!

[63DW89A]

@imrotting Exactly right. The Offy, if permitted to race under the same rules as everyone else, simply dominated racing. Offenhausers were such dominate engines, that they were being rulebooked off dirt tracks starting in the 1930's!

Under fair rules, the Fords and Cosworths did not stand a chance against the Offy. So the Offy was denied modern electronics, etc and STILL dominated until it was limited to the same amount of fuel as the Cosworth, and could no longer use its power advantage!