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 Auburn FSAE is excited to announce the arrival of our new Aprilia 550cc V-twin power plant. The idea of incorporating a new engine into the Auburn car has been thrown around some in the past, and this years powertrain section leaders (Jeffery Cobb, Austin Longshore, and Garrett Fulton) have finally decided to take the initiative to do so. The introduction of this new motor represents a radical design change as in-line 4-cylinder Honda CBR600 motors have been utilized every year since the first Auburn car was built in 1996. The powertrain leaders feel as if the new 5-speed Aprilia SXV550 V-twin will offer many benefits over last years F4i motor. One of the greatest features of the new Aprilia motor is that it extremely lightweight at just 72lbs compared to the nearly 130lbs of the old Honda. And while it is not expected to make quite the same peak power as the Honda, the smooth revving V-twin should give the car a greater power to weight ratio and pull to its peak torque capacity nearly right off the line. The motor also comes with a dry sump oiling system from the factory, so oil sealing problems should not be a problem as they have been in past years. Another great benefit of the new engine is that its dimensions are significantly tighter than the old, as it is over 6 inches narrower and two inches shorter front/back. This simple fact has inspired the team to come up with some innovative packaging ideas that will be implemented to aid driver placement and decrease maintenance requirements to operate the car. The power will be mated to a new, reconfigured Salisbury limited slip rear end that will have a final drive of approximately 3:1 to optimize the powerband of the new V-twin. Currently, the motor is being set up to be broken-in on the dyno as many different intake runner lengths and exhaust configurations are being modeled and analyzed to optimize performance with consideration for the 20mm intake restriction.
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