Stick block motor

Stick block engine is the name for a usually near-series (hence the name), technically not highly developed engine.

Examples can be found above all in US motorsport, where despite the simplest technology (usually a bumper construction with a camshaft underneath and two valves per cylinder) they achieve considerable performance. While reliability plays a subordinate role in drag racing , the motors in oval races in the NASCAR series have to work almost constantly at full throttle for up to 600 miles (almost 1000 kilometers). From a displacement of 5.7 liters, the V8 engines with carburettors achieve up to 625 kW (850 hp) at 8500 rpm, but are throttled to around 331 kW (450 hp) on fast journeys.

A loophole in the Indianapolis 500 regulations was exploited in 1994 by the stick block engine from Mercedes-Benz , which was successfully used by Penske as the Ilmor 500I. Ilmor designed a modern V8 engine with the required features just for this race, which with 764 kW (1040 hp) had significantly more power. After the foreseeable victory, the rules were adjusted and the engine exhibited in the Mercedes-Benz Museum . While the four-valve turbo engines with four overhead camshafts and 2.65 liters at the permitted boost pressure of 45  psi (approx. 1.5 bar) achieved around 588 kW (800 PS), for historical reasons in Indianapolis were for two-valve bumper engines still allowed 3.43 liters displacement and 60 psi (approx. 2 bar) boost pressure, since such engines (e.g. a Buick V6) had actually disappeared and were not taken into account in rule changes.