Aprilia RXV / SXV 450 & 550 FI V-twin engines?

[Mechanicaldan]

Anyone planning to use these sweet engines? Fuel injected. Electric start. Dry sump!!! Very compact. Light weight. Anyone want to say great for FSAE?

http://www.apriliausa.com/modelli/offroad/modello.asp?id=111

From the www.apriliausa.com (http://www.apriliausa.com) website:
V2 ENGINE
The amazing V2 engine is the natural centrepiece of the SXV. Aprilia was the first manufacturer in the world to believe in the potential of V twin engines in a market segment where nobody has ever had the courage to try.
The 77? V angle means that the new engine vibrates far less than any single without even requiring a balancer shaft.
The cylinders are integrated in the crankcase and are lined by replaceable wet sleeves. The intelligent design of the V2 has also permitted engine accessories to be arranged in an extremely rational way, keeping the powerplant as compact as possible. The results are amazing: Aprilia's V2 is one of the most compact in the world, smaller than many singles of similar displacement.
The sophisticated electronic engine management, developed by Aprilia Racing, introduces a number of innovations for this type of motorcycle. The fuel injection system features 38 mm throttle bodies (40 mm on the 550) and is controlled by a programmable ECU. Another market first is the fact that the SXV engine features an extended drive shaft to allow the sprocket to be placed further out. This intelligent solution allows racing tyres to be fitted without risking contact with the chain.
Reduced displacement per cylinder has permitted use of an extremely compact and lightweight single-piece crankshaft. The gyroscopic effect of the crank is therefore dramatically reduced. The engine responds instantly to throttle input, making the whole bike faster and more agile. The inertia under acceleration and deceleration typical of large bore engines has also been reduced, permitting engine speeds never before seen on this type of motorcycle. The 450cc red-lines at an amazing 13,000 rpm!
Valve gear based on a single overhead cam and four titanium valves per cylinder gives the best possible compromise between compactness, lightweight and performance.
Thanks to its advanced technology the V2 engine is extremely civilised and silent running, and easily conforms to Euro 2 standards even without a catalytic converter.
The same sort of effort has gone into weight reduction. The engine sets a new record for a V twin, even with its starter motor fitted! This has been achieved by an abundant use of super-lightweight prestige materials. The central crankcase sections, for example, are made from aluminium silicon alloy. All covers are in magnesium; the valves are in titanium; and the entire gear train has been made lighter than ever before.
The gear ratios are also precisely calculated for supermotard use. Even the injection and ignition mapping have been modified to give the engine the right character and performance for the bike.

[JP Venturi]

These engines are definitely a pretty little piece of engineering...our engine guys were drooling over them right around june, and then we discovered that it was difficult to get a hold of just the engine, plus a little pricey. From what we figured out, made a little cad, this is THE fsae engine, with so much torque, so tiny, and very sexy.

I predict we should see some at next years detroit, do any of the euro teams have them yet?

[Matt Gignac]

We talked to some dealers around here, and one place told us they could probably get us the engines... at about 7000$ a pop. But we'd need two, and I dunno about the availability of spares.

Matt Gignac
McGill Racing Team

[Mechanicaldan]

Now available for sale!

http://fsae.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/412600868/m/19210732631

[LU-Hetrick]

We also looked into this engine. Seemed pretty perfect, but like you guys say kinda pricey. We talked to a local dealer and he said he could get them for us for $3500 each.

Ryan Hetrick
Lehigh University FSAE
Brake, Suspension, Chassis

[thunderbird]

i would like to know if these engines do have enough initial torque to move a pretty heavy car of about 250-300kgs.... we were planning to use it this year but the idea of the initial torque is swaying us away from it.....

[Mechanicaldan]

Yes, the Aprilia 550cc engine is capable of producing roughly the same amount of torque as any other 600cc engine, IF YOU tune it correctly. Take a look at the HP and torque curve by clicking on the link in my previous post, and compare it to other engines.

Plus the Aprilia engine is roughly half the weight of an inline-4, which would make your car 25-30 kgs lighter.

[jonny]

Hi,

Are there any other schools who have used the 450? Read from some other forums that the 550 suffers from some reliabilty issues and that the 450 doesn't... But cant seem to find any evidence to confirm that theory...

[screwdriver]

All I know about this particular engine is that our engine-team doesn't like it, because people say that it has serious reliability issues.

[Davidimurray]

It is very simple to write these engines off as being unreliable. However, those issues that have actually been encountered are actually production issues. As a team who are moving to this engine this years, I have done quite a bit of research on these engines.

The most well known problem is the case sealant. Apilia initially specified a sealant for the case that ran into problems in service. This caused a water gallery to leak into the oil. If this was caught quickly, the cases could simply be split and resealed with an laternative sealant. If not caught quickly, the result could be damaged valve buckets and cams.

Another well knwon issue is the starter motor which can burn itself out. Aprilia recalled all the bikes to change the starter gear ratio to reduce the load on the motor. They also placed a 6 second cranking limit on the engine to prevent overheating of the motor.

Another issue that occured was due to an error in the factory. An operator assembling the stators forgot to loctite some of the bolts into the stator. As a result, the bolts backed out and damaged the stator/generator. This was also recalled by Aprilia for all bikes to be checked.

At the end of the day you must remember that these are as close to a race engine that you can buy off the shelf. They need regular oil changes and should be warmed up before being driven hard, but there are plenty of bikes out there that have run more that 10K miles with only regular servicing. A lot of these bikes are raced so they get a very hard life, yet with regular servicing many of them only get rebuilt at the end of each season. If you do plan on buying one, it is a good idea to get the engine stripped and rebuilt by someone who knows the engines. With the amount of use an FS car gets I think we will probably be looking at an overhaul every 2-3 years.

[Yellow Ranger]

So all the 2008 Aprilia 550s shouldn't have this issues right?

[Davidimurray]

So far all the reports on the 2008 engines are looking good. Rebuilt 2007 engines also have a good report with some engines out there in a very high state of tune running without problem.

It is a shame that the rule you quote is rarely given any attention by the judges. There are a hell of a lot of teams running very complicated packages out there that ae the complete opposite of this idea.

[mjdavidson]

Too bad the 2008 engines don't seem to have become available yet. As was mentioned earlier, I do think that the problems with the 2007 engines are well known and can be fixed.

I'm not sure how I feel about that section 1.2 rule. I thought our 2006 car met that rule better than 99% of the other cars I've seen, but the judges didn't acknowledge that, and the car could have performed better if we had ignored rule 1.2. At the same time, I like seeing some cool, unique/complex systems that actually work.

[TG]

Originally posted by Davidimurray:
It is a shame that the rule you quote is rarely given any attention by the judges. There are a hell of a lot of teams running very complicated packages out there that ae the complete opposite of this idea.

Ha. Take a look at some of the stuff running in cost controlled series using motorcycle engines and you'd be surprised at the type of engines ran and the modifications performed. Everyone I've talked to has said the Aprillia V-4 that they are coming out with, provided it will produce the 210+ hp they are claiming, will become de rigeuer for F1000, DSR, and other 1000cc classes. Based on the 550 costs, I'd say they will probably cost at least $7000 if not more, and there are many people willing to pay that for a motor like that. Of course, complicated DAQ systems will be hooked up along with tuning from dyno shops and ecu wizards to get as much horsepower as can be made with-in (or stretching) the rules.