OLDSMOBILE IRL AURORA V8:
THE POWER THAT DRIVES THE INDY RACING LEAGUE

The roar of the Indy Racing League's naturally aspirated engines heralded the dawn of a new era in open-wheel racing in America. The IRL's introduction of a production-based engine formula in 1997 presented an opportunity for Oldsmobile to compete in the Indianapolis 500, the cornerstone of the 1 -race Pep Boys Indy Racing League series. Now Oldsmobile is making motorsports history by pacing, racing, and winning with Aurora V8 engines. With a perfect record of 11 consecutive victories, Oldsmobile's IRL Aurora V8 is the dominant engine in the IRL series.

"Oldsmobile is going from success to success," commented Oldsmobile General Manager Darwin Clark. "We're winning in the showroom with rising sales of Oldsmobile vehicles, and we're winning on the race track with an engine that is based on the architecture of the production Aurora V8 that we sell to our customers."

The Cockpit

Aurora Sources

In contrast to the engine leasing programs that have been adopted by manufacturers in other open-wheel series, the IRL allows teams to buy, sell, rebuild, and modify their engines. IRL regulations require that all approved engines be readily available at the IRL-specified price of $80,000. In this open market, the IRL Aurora V8's combination of performance, packaging, and proven reliability has made the IRL Aurora V8 the overwhelming choice of IRL teams. In this year's Indianapolis 500, 97 percent of the starters used Oldsmobile powerplants.

"Oldsmobile has to take care of its customers in racing -- the teams that have chosen IRL Aurora V8 engines -- just as Oldsmobile retailers have to take care of their customers in sales and service," noted Dennis Weglarz, Oldsmobile Specialty Vehiclenager. IRL teams are free to use any approved engine, and the motors are interchangeable in the chassis. Oldsmobile does not have any factory teams or special deals. We have to earn the right to be in the race with our on-track performance and our commitment to providing an exceptional level of service to IRL engine builders and teams."

The IRL Aurora V8 is based on the production 4.0-liter DOHC 32-valve Aurora V8 that is available exclusively in the Aurora luxury performance sedan. As required by the IRL rules, the competition engine retains the production Aurora V8's basic "architecture" -- its 102mm cylinder bore spacing, 90-degree bank angle, and chaindriven camshafts. The street and racing versions also share similar technology, including lightweight aluminum construction, dual overhead camshafts, multi-valve combustion chamber design, and advanced electronic engine management. The production Aurora V8 engine produces 250 horsepower at 5,600 rpm on unleaded gasoline; the methanol-burning IRL Aurora V8 racing engine produces over 700 horsepower and revs to 10,500 rpm.