Cosworth paints Ford cars in battle gear
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[1] In the 1980s, the high-performance Ford Sierra, known as the RS Cosworth, was a popular choice in motorsports around the world. [2] When developing the Aston Martin Valkyrie engine, the team faced the daunting task of developing a V12 engine that could rev up to 11,000 rpm, produce over 950 PS, and comply with Euro 6 emissions regulations.
This time, we used an undercover article on Cosworth, the company that developed the V16 engine used in the Bugatti Tourbillon, as teaching material. We will introduce some descriptions using metaphorical expressions and idiomatic phrases from the writings of Gavin Green, who writes for British magazines such as Car.
Cosworth is a British engine builder that has achieved brilliant results in motorsports, including Formula 1, since the late 1960s. In the 1980s, they produced the mass-produced “Sierra RS Cosworth” model, which was fitted with a Cosworth engine in the “Ford Sierra.” Green describes the Sierra, which was also active in racing and rallies, as follows:
“Far from building the engines that power war-painted mass-market Fords, it designs and hand-builds exquisitely detailed V10s, V12s and now V16s…”
“(Today Cosworth) designs and hand-builds exquisitely detailed V10, V12 and V16 engines, a far cry from the war-painted mass-market Ford engine development.”
Here, “mass-market Fords” are described as “war-painted.” While a literal translation would be “painted for war,” in this context it is used as a metaphor to mean “mass-produced Fords dressed in motorsport-specific (flashy) livery.” It is a unique way of describing the exterior of a commercially available car, which exudes a “combat” atmosphere.
The engine’s “innards” start moving
The Bugatti Tourbillon’s V16 engine head cover. Beneath it, the “innards” of the engine burn more than 1,000 times per second.
Regarding the newly developed engine that will be installed in the Bugatti Tourbillon, it is said that “even at a speed of ‘only’ 7,500 revolutions, 1,000 combustions (explosions) occur inside the V16 engine per second.”
“Even at ‘just’7500rpm, there are 1000 individual explosions per second within the bowels of the V16.”
“Bowels” means intestines or internal organs, but here it is used with the nuance of “deep inside/heart of a V16 engine.” In English, “the bowels” can be used to describe the depths of a machine or city, such as “the bowels of the earth.” In this context, it also gives the impression that the engine, a collection of metal, is alive. It also seems intended to create the image of a machine breathing, moving, and pulsating.
Engines also have their own “aptitudes”
With the change from W16 to V16, the new Bugatti flagship has become “a jewel of a car.”
The previous Veyron and Chiron were equipped with a W16 engine made by the Volkswagen Group, but Green felt that the W16 was not the right power unit for Bugatti:
“It (points to W16) didn’t lend itself to high-revving normal aspiration. Nor did it lend itself to being a jewel-like feature that everyone is talking about.”
The idiom used here is “lend itself to.” “Lend” means “to lend,” but “lend itself to…” means “suitable for” or “suitable for.” In other words, Green says the W16 “was not suited to a high-revving naturally aspirated engine, and it never became a jewel of a name.” He feels the new Cosworth-built V16 is more suitable as the heart of Bugatti’s flagship tourbillon.
The appeal of a high-performance car goes beyond numbers like horsepower and acceleration times. The sound of the engine, the beauty of its structure, and even the thoughts of the developers are all expressed in a rich way through the choice of words.
