Images taken from the screen projection (copyright RenaultF1)of the Renault RS23 (2003) Engine


(Text and comments copyright: Craig Scarborough)

Jean Jacques His explained that the engine was still a DOHC layout with pneumatic valve return, but it was the drive to the valve train that was radically different. Looking at the CAD images projected on the stage it would appear there is a single run of gears driving the upper cams and the two cams are geared together and hence running in reverse directions to each other(is this radical?).
The engines V angle is unchanged from last year and JJ His refused to tell us what angle it was last year and refused to do so again this year! Otherwise the layout is very different to last year, that appeared almost too neat. The front mounted oil tank has what appears to be a pump at its lower mounting and the oil and water outlets all have cast outlets ending at the very front of the engine. The water cooling problems that affected reliability last year by cracking the heads and crankcase were down to an intrinsic design fault according to Mike Gascoyne. he also added that the strut between chassis and gearbox remained as a design feature, then cryptically added that conventional upper mounting and an unconventional lower mount formed the engines installation to the front of the chassis.