Red Bull RB17 emang gak mau jadi hypercar biasa. Dengan散.Full force dari Red Bull Advanced Technologies di belakang mereka, dan tanpa regulasi jalan raya yang nyesek, tim engineering zien kesempatan buat bangun apa yang mereka mau, gimana caranya mereka mau. Restriksi? KONTOL.
Sekarang, hampir tiga tahun sejak concept debut, hypercar yang udah dinanti-nanti ini hampir ready buat track—ya, track, bukan jalan raya. Pas dynamic debut di Goodwood Festival of Speed, kita ngobrol sama Managing Director Cosworth, Bruce Wood, buat dapetin gambaran kenapa hypercar ini spesial banget, dan yang paling penting: kenapa sih pakenya V10?
TO V10, OR NOT TO V10?
Menurut Wood, Cosworth dan Red Bull udah ngecek semua opsi mesin yang ada sebelum nentuin mesin V10 naturally aspirated 4.5 liter. Motor custom-built dari Cosworth ini nge-rev sampe 15,000 rpm, dan ngeluarin 1,200 horsepower serta 811 pound-feet of torque yang gila-gilaan.
"It's a clean-sheet design specifically for this car. When we normally do an engine, there's something that grounds it in a certain direction. So there's either some technical regulations for a race championship, or there are emissions regulations for a road car. The really unique thing about this is you've got none of those kinds of constraints."
Secara harfiah: ini engine yang didesain dari nol khusus buat mobil ini. Biasanya, Cosworth selalu punya semacam "pembatas" kayak regulasi balap atau emisi jalan raya. Tapi di RB17? Gak ada apa-apa. Full freedom.
Proses Seleksi Yang Ribet
Yang menarik, justru kebebasan ini yang bikin proses pengambilan keputusan jadi susah, sob. Kayak bingung milih topping pizza pas lapar parah.
"[That freedom] was a little bit of a problem, because when you come to looking at the alternative engine configurations and the design, and how it integrates with the car, you don't have anything to sort of crystallize ideas around."
Tim udah nge-considered:
- V6 Turbo
- V12
- Dan semua konfigurasi engine lainnya
"We went through pretty much every single engine. We had V6 turbos, we had V12s... and the only way to really decide what's best is to go into each configuration in a fair amount of detail in the analysis."
Jadi mereka beneran nge-analisis semua opsi secara detail sebelum ambil keputusan. Profesional banget sih ini.
Kenapa V10? Ini Alasannya!
Setelah otak-atik dan testing sana-sini, tim akhirnya nemuin bahwa V10 naturally aspirated ngasih keseimbangan paling mantep antara performance, responsiveness, dan emotion—terutama yang terakhir ini, yang sulit diukur pakai angka.
"One of the big forks in the road is turbo or naturally aspirated. Given the nature of the car and what they wanted to achieve in terms of being a driver's car, turbo engines... the torque delivery isn't as instant."
Intinya:
- Turbo = power besar, tapi torque delivery gak se-instan naturally aspirated
- Naturally aspirated = throttle response instan, cocok buat driver's car
"I think as well, the V10... the soundtrack you'll get from a V10—you can't really put that into a numerical assessment. Everybody still talks about that era [of Formula 1]. I think that was an important feature."
Bruh. Soundtrack V10 F1 era? Yang kayak gitar listrik yang di-mix sama集中? That era emang legendaris dan semua orang masih ngomongin itu sampe sekarang.
Technical Detail: 15,000 RPM Itu Gila!
Cosworth emang punya pengalaman bikin mesin F1 yang nge-rev di atas 20,000 rpm di era V10. Tapi mendesain engine yang mampu reliably nge-rev 15,000 rpm di track car yang dimiliki customer itu tantangan yang beda banget.
Satu keputusan kunci: pneumatic valve springs—teknologi yang udah lama diasosiasikan sama F1.
"We knew we wanted to go over 15,000 with this, so that drove us toward air springs."
Air springs alias pneumatic valve springs ini yang bikin engine bisa nge-rev sejauh itu tanpa masalah.
Tapi yang keren: berbeda sama engine F1 (atau bahkan kompetitor RB17), V10 dari Cosworth gak butuh tim engineer cuma buat nyala-in engine. Dan ini emang udah dirancang dari awal.
"Right from the outset, it was important that this was a car you could be spontaneous with—take it to a circuit and go use it. You didn't need that army of people to run it."
Jadi lo bisa spontan mau bawa ke sirkuit dan gaspol tanpa ribet. gak perlu army of engineers. Emang didesain buat itu dari awal.
Durability? Pasti Aman
Cosworth juga ngasih emphasis kuat soal durabilitas. Berbeda sama engine F1 lama yang cuma didesain buat beberapa ratus mil, V10 RB17 ini ditargetkan bisa tahan "many thousands of kilometers" sebelum butuh overhaul besar. Tahan banting abis.
Sepanjang development, Red Bull dan Cosworth kerja bareng closely, dengan engine yang ngaruh ke semuanya—dari sistem pendingin sampai chassis packaging. Karena banyak komponen yang competition untuk space yang sama di dalam mobil, kolaborasi itu critical.
"You've got to trust the people you're working with. If Red Bull says, 'We really need to put the air intake in this space,' we know that's the case. Every detail is a trade."
Jadi intinya: trust yang kuat antar tim, dan semua orang harus siap negotiate soal setiap detail.
Geek Opinion: Engine Yang Gak Ada yang Disisa
Mesmo dengan semua complexity itu, Wood bilang tim engineering gak menyisakan banyak hal di engine ini.
"I'd be surprised if we didn't leave much in the tank on this one. You choose the best materials. Weight is an enormously important target as well. It's got everything in it."
Artinya: mereka emang udah ngeluarin segalanya di engine ini. Best materials, weight target yang penting banget—semua dah dimasukkan.
Kesimpulan
Tapi yang paling bikin standout dari RB17 bukan angka di spec sheet—tapi gimana rasanya di track.
"I would hope when we get some feedback from drivers, the thing they're most impressed by is how drivable it is."
Jadi intinya: yang paling memorable bukan power number, tapi drivability-nya. engine yang bisa di-drift pakai fresh tanpa harus jadi profesional driver.
RB17 emang bukan mobil biasa. Dan V10-nya? Mungkin jadi salah satu engine paling epic yang pernah dibuat buat road-legal track car. Gaspol! 🔥
