Racing Fuel Tanks Are an Essential Race Car Component

By Byron Jonas

Race cars are remarkably complicated machines with a thousand and one different parts and pieces, all of which need to come together to create one harmonious and powerful final product. For real performance on the race track, no single aspect of the race car can be overlooked: everything from the tiniest O Ring to the bulkiest gasket needs to be spot on to have a winning vehicle.

With the advance of technology, one part in particular which has been changing a lot is the fuel tank on racing cars. Otherwise known as fuel cells, they need to fulfill certain criteria in order to be incorporated into a race car that don't apply when dealing with an ordinary vehicle.

As with most auto parts making up a race car, the fuel tank has to be sturdier, smarter, and it has to last longer. The fact that racing accidents occur at typically phenomenally high speeds only reinforces the need for these features, as the chances of the volatile gasoline becoming a problem even greater. Given these fantastic conditions which prevail on the race track, there is simply no way that the fuel tanks can be anything but optimal, to guarantee reliability and safety to the utmost.

One big difference exhibited by race car fuel tanks that is not to be found in their ordinary, layman version is the inclusion of a flexible inner liner to the tank body. This liner is added specifically so that in the case of a violent crash, the impact does not produce a fuel leak or complete spillage-the flexible liner absorbs the blow and keeps the fuel where it needs to be, thereby reducing fire risk.

The form of racing fuel tanks is another of their distinguishing features: they are generally shaped different than normal fuel tanks, which is done so that they can fit neatly and snugly inside the architecture of the car at hand. This sort of space economization is a fundamental aspect of good performance on the track; for example, instead of before or after the rear axle, the tank can be located directly above it.

An additional characteristic of racing fuel tanks is the technology used to help further reduce the chances of explosion and fire risk in general. Many racing cars incorporate open-cell foam cores in the fuel tank which effectively diminishes the chance that the fumes floating around in the empty portion of the tank will explode.

To help optimize performance out on the track while racing, it has been necessary to find a way to reduce the impact of the fuel as it swishes around inside from one side to another, which has been shown to cause jerks in the vehicle's movement and hence reduce performance. In addition to causing additional swivel, the same issue of the fuel moving around has also been shown to cause fuel starvation in certain cases, which means that the fuel is not getting extracted adequately from the tank.

Traditionally made out of metals such as steel and aluminum, over recent years there has been increasing experimentation with high density polyethylene (HDPE) as a fuel tank material. Though HDPE can be blown into very complex and appealing forms, they are not recommended for long term use due to the risk of fuel tank saturation as the fuel progressively penetrates the HDPE. - 21392

About the Author:

Byron Jonas acquires all his racing gear from GMP Racing Products. From racing suits, to fuel tanks, they have him covered