Description
How would you like an actual Cosworth Formula 1 piston to display in your home or office? We have for sale one of the actual pistons that was fitted to one of the Cosworth TJ engines from the 2004 Formula 1 season – a time that is considered by many to be the heyday of the V10 engine era.
Cosworth TJ Engine
The TJ was active in Formula 1 for four seasons. Designed and manufactured initially for Jaguar Racing in 2003, the TJ engine went on to become one of the benchmark engines towards the end of the V10 era. This engine was capable of speeds of up to 19,000 rpm with power in excess of 900 bhp.
Jaguar Racing and Jordan Grand Prix ran the TJ engine in 2004. The next year, Red Bull Racing took over the Jaguar team and continued to use the TJ. Finally, in 2006, Torro Rosso (formally Minardi) ran the TJ, with the maximum speed restricted to 16,000 rpm to allow then to compete with the newly-introduced V8s.
Click here for a brief video that we made that showing a cutaway version of this amazing engine .
Cosworth Formula 1 Piston
The piston was perhaps the most highly-stressed component in the engine. It had to withstand huge forces over a sustained period of time. At speeds of 19,000 rpm the piston moved up and down 300 times per second. That’s 30 times in the blink of an eye! Despite the incredible forces that it had to endure, it also had to be as light as possible.
The TJ piston was the culmination for Cosworth of decades of experience in piston design. As such, this piston contained several important design features. For example, a single compression ring replaced the traditional top and second compression rings. The undercrown received additional machining to remove excess material, with buttresses whittled away to the bare minimum. The skirts and undercrown were DLC-coated to give additional wear resistance, creating a gloss black appearance.
This actual piston was used in the early part of the 2004 Formula 1 season. It was fitted to one of the engines that was used by the Jaguar Racing team, powering drivers Mark Webber and Christian Klien.
Please note that these pistons show signs of wear, with some discolouration and scratches evident.
Details:
- Diameter = 95 mm
- Height = 40 mm
- Weight = 218 g
- Material = High strength aluminium alloy
