Race Engines
Neil Brown Engineering first designed, developed, manufactured and built a completely new DTM engine for the 2002 season to run with privateer team Abt. This new engine helped Abt beat the factory Mercedes and Opel teams to become 2002 DTM driver champions. We then formed a relationship with Audi in 2004, building their race engines up to 2018 when regulations changed. The engines have gone on to take 7 Drivers Championships (2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2017), 4 Manufacturers Championships (2004, 2014, 2016, 2017), 6 Teams Championships (2004, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017), 237 Podiums (75x P1, 79x P2, 83x P3) and 76 Pole-Positions.
The DTM engine went through extensive testing and development making use of our dyno cells. The engines are run with lap simulations and the dyno offers air conditioned environment in order to accurately see the changes in performance to upgraded parts.
Spec: 4 litre 90 degree V8, 4 valves per cylinder, Bucket type valve lifters, Belt or chain driven camshafts, Min. 93 mm bore size, Min. piston and conrod weights, Min. crankshaft pin sizes, Min. cylinder bore centre distance, Two 28 mm air restrictors, 470 PS, 525 NM
Since 2000 the BTCC has had 3 sets of major engine regulation changes, for each of these, Neil Brown Engineering has developed an engine that has scored countless race wins and championship wins.
The Honda K20 engine was the first to the 2002 BTCC regulations, followed by an engine to suit the S2000 and currently an engine to suit the NGTCE Regulations.
Since 2012 we have also developed a BMW 2.0l engine to meet the NGTCE regulations, with this engine most recently winning the 2016 championship with Team Dynamics and the 2018 title with WSR.
Spec: 2 litre Honda K20 Platform, 8500rpm Rev Limit, 4 cylinder, 16 valve, Normally Aspirated, Minimum Crank, Piston, Conrod & Flywheel Weight, 11:1 Compression Ratio: S2000/WTC Spec, 12:1 Compression Ratio: BTCC Spec, 270-290, PS 245-255 NM
In 2013 the FIA introduced a new set of engine regulations for Formula 3. We were one of the first tuners to consider the new engine regulations and by doing this it would take on manufacturers Mercedes and Volkswagen in the 2014 European FIA F3 championship.
The direct injection engine received extensive 1D simulation and CFD Analysis using GT-Power and NX Nastran. Our simulation work has allowed us to run multiple set-ups and configurations without the need for expensive manufacturing of each configuration.
The new engine ran in the 2014 F3 Euro Series with T-Sport. It performed well against the manufacturers’ engines of VW and Mercedes, gaining a podium finish in Macau.
Spec: 2 litre inline 4, 4 valves per cylinder, Gear driven camshafts, 28.0 mm restrictor, Free cylinder block and head design, Direct fuel injection, Bosch MS 5.1 ECU with closed loop Lambda and Knock control
Neil Brown Engineering has been involved in Formula 3 since 1986, where a NBE engine with VW won the British F3 Championship with Andy Wallace. After a British Championship win with Toyota and J.J. Lehto in 1988, a long and successful period of tuning and developing the Mugen-Honda F3 engine began. In our first year, we narrowly missed the championship with Alan McNish in 1989.
Since then NBE has enjoyed a huge amount of success with three generations of the highly competitive Mugen-Honda F3 engines, including 15 British Formula 3 Championships wins between 1990 and 2005 (10 championship wins in a row from 1996 to 2005). In 2006 our engines finished second in the championship. In 2008 there were four wins and several podium finishes. We also achieved two wins and several podium finishes in the German F3 Cup.
The latest specs of these engines are still for lease and can be used in the F3 cup. NBE can also offer professional rebuild services to our existing engines.
Spec: 2 litre 4 cylinder inline, 4 valves per cylinder, Belt driven camshafts, 26 mm air restrictor, Cylinder head and block from Honda production engines, 210 PS, 275 NM, Bosch MS 3.1 engine management system with closed loop fuel and knock control
In recent years Neil developed a passion to be behind the wheel, at the age of 63 he bought a Ford Lotus Cortina with Fortec Motorsport boss, Richard Dutton. This was shortly followed by a 1966 ex Alan Mann Racing Ford Mustang and an Austin A35 ‘Powerful Peanut’. In this short period of racing he has chalked up an impressive number of wins and has competed twice in the St Mary’s Trophy race at the Goodwood Revival paired up with BTCC champions Matt Neal and Gordon Sheddon. This has opened the door to the classic motorsport market for NBE.
We now devote time to some legendary British motorsport engines, in particular the Lotus Twin Cam and A-series. The work ranges from simple rebuilds to improving and reverse engineering some of the components. Our flexible and experienced team of engineers will make an outstanding job of any engine given to them. Latest technology, particularly related to new casting methods and post casting machining, means engines leave us in a better than new condition.
In 1994, Honda commissioned Neil Brown Engineering to design, manufacture and build engines for its entry in to the Super Touring car categories in England, Germany and Belgium. Our 2-litre Super Touring car engine quickly became the benchmark for all of the other manufactures and helped Honda win numerous Super Touring car races between 1995 and 2000, as well as the Total Cup Championship in 1997.
Ever since we have been rebuilding and maintaining these engines which are now gaining popularity again in classic touring car series. In 2014 our engines took 1st and 2nd in the HSCC Super Touring Car Trophy. As the original manufacturer of these engines, we know all the technical details to ensure that they are as powerful as when they were new.
Spec: 2 litre, 8500 RPM limit, Normally aspirated, 330 PS, 280 NM
NBE’s involvement in club racing continues to grow but most notably we have carried out the below projects.
VdeV Honda K20
Neil Brown Engineering developed an engine for the highly competitive VdeV Championship. Our 250PS Honda unit has already proved to be one of the best in the field, winning praise from the drivers and teams. The development of this production-based engine is ongoing as we optimise all the areas we are allowed to modify within the regulations. We are also undergoing extensive dyno testing to optimise power, driveability and reliability. These engines can easily be further developed for other championships where the regulations allow more freedom.
Spec: 2 litre Honda Type-R production engine, Dry sump, 250 PS
Ford Duratec
2.3 litre Duratec engine used for hill climbs, sprints and track day racing. The engine can produce 250bhp to 300bhp. We developed a Westfield Duratec engine for Terry Everall who has had great success with the engine in the hillclimb championship.
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