Racing Fuel (such as E85 ethanol fuel, methanol or 110-octane high-octane gasoline) requires extremely high fuel pump compatibility. The “Technical Report on High Performance Fuel Systems” issued by SAE in 2023 states that, after operation for 500 hours in E85 fuel, the failure rate of regular civilian fuel pumps caused by ethanol corrosion is as much as 47%. Fuel pump racing such as Aeromotive A1000 with polytetrafluoroethylene seals and 316L stainless steel impellers only managed to pass 1.8% under the same test cycle. For example, the Porsche 911 GT3 R squad used this pump in the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. With E85 fuel, it increased the engine performance by 14%, and the fault of fuel injection accuracy was controlled to ±0.5% (the fault of the common pump was ±3.2%).
Flow and pressure regulation capability is Fuel Pump’s key to adapting to racing car fuel. Bosch Motorsport 044 fuel pump is backed up by 450-800 L/h (liters/hour) flow rate and work pressure of 6-12 bar, which are capable of meeting methanol fuel low calorific value (19.7 MJ/kg) requirements. At the 2023 IndyCar season, race cars equipped with this pump reduced the fuel supply fluctuation from 8% of the standard pump to 1.5% under ethanol fuel mode, while reducing the average lap by 0.25 seconds. Industry tests show that the buying price of racing-grade fuel pumps (about 600-1,200 US dollars) is 3-5 times that of civilian pumps’ price, but can reduce the chance of engine knocking by 60% and extend the maintenance period to 3,000 hours (civilian pumps’ mean is 800 hours).
Reliability of Fuel Pump is directly influenced by high-temperature resistance performance. According to the FIA’s 2024 technical regulations, the racing car’s fuel pump must operate continuously for 24 hours at a fuel temperature of 120°C and ambient temperature of 80°C. The Walbro 450L fuel pump features ceramic bearings and a double-layer heat insulation coating. In the actual test of the Nurburgring 24 Hours endurance race, its attenuation rate of flow is only 0.3% per hour, while that of conventional pumps in the same condition is 2.1% per hour. Red Bull Racing figures show that since its introduction, the number of stalling occurrences caused by overheating of fuel has decreased from five per year to zero at a cost saving of approximately $180,000 in race time penalty expenditure.
Certification requirements are the key foundation on which compatibility is measured. Fuel pumps in accordance with the FIA FT3-1999 specification must undergo a 2000-hour cycle test (with corrosive fuels like methanol and nitromethane), and internal component deformation must be less than 0.02mm. For example, when Magneti Marelli’s HPD series fuel pumps were deployed on methanol fuel in the 2023 Dakar Rally, the wear rate on the impeller was only 0.001mm /100 hours, 90% less than that of non-certified pumps. Market studies reveal that the average cost of FT3-certified fuel pumps is $950, yet their penetration among commercial fleets stands at 89%, and their ROI is 37% higher than non-certified products.
Intelligent Fuel pumps are a new trend. Holley HydraMat 2.0 has a fuel density sensor (± 0.01g /cm³ accuracy to detect) and a dynamic flow compensation software program, which is capable of learning the changing ratios of blended fuels in real time. In testing the 2024 Daytona 500, this pump increased the combustion efficiency of ethanol fuel from 88% to 94% and reduced the exhaust gas concentration of unburned hydrocarbons (HC) by 42%. According to Deloitte’s calculation, by the year 2027 the market size of the intelligent racing car fuel pump in the entire globe will be 630 million US dollars, wherein the share of multi-fuel compatible models will be above 58%, with 21% average annual growth.