In the case that you don’t have this article delivered to your inbox, I hope that the title has drawn you here either in the hope that you will find how to make your con rods smaller and lighter (in which case you may be disappointed) or because you disagree with the fundamental statement of the title.
Previous articles on the subject of con rods have talked about some of the material choices for these parts, and in the recent magazine Focus article on the subject of con rods, the author discussed the Read more…
In a number of previous articles, I have touched on the subject of residual compressive stress, and how this can be helpful to us in increasing the fatigue strength and hence life of components. This allows them to be smaller and lighter than would otherwise be possible for a given life requirement, and as designers and tuners of racing engines, this naturally appeals to us. Light components, most especially those that rotate are becoming more important than ever to the series production engine designer, as the push for fuel economy continues with haste. Very recently in fact, in 
The big end bearing is critical to the operation and reliability of the four-stroke racing engine. At lower levels of racing, it is possible to run with standard road-going shells of good quality (provided of course that they are rated highly enough to cope with the service loads). After this, special uprated bearings are required. On the RET Monitor website, Anne Proffit has written 
Last month, we looked further into the use of titanium for con rods and this month we look briefly into the use of steel, which remains in many cases the material of choice for con rods. There are far more manufacturers of con rods who offer steel rods than any other material. Titanium is definitely on the increase, and possibly the time will come where steel becomes a ‘minority’ material choice. Some of the reason for steel remaining popular is the price of the raw material – it remains markedly cheaper than titanium. Another important reason is the familiarity of the suppliers with steel con rods. Many have 
This month, we continue to examine material choices. In last month’s article, we looked at some of the reasons why people choose titanium as a con rod material. This month we shall carry on discussing titanium and some more closely allied materials.
Last month, we started to look at materials which are being used for con rods. The article looked at the use of aluminium, which finds widespread use in drag-racing. This month we shall turn our attention to engines with less than 5000 hp and con rods in another low-density material: titanium.
There are several types of materials which are currently used for con rods – some for reasons of manufacturing, some for reasons of quality, but most have been specifically chosen owing to their particular combination of mechanical properties. This month we shall begin to look at con rod materials and, in those cases where they are chosen for reasons of properties alone, what makes each suitable for the particular application.
Last month we looked at some of the aspects concerning the design of the big end and this month we pick up with further aspects of this critical area, namely those concerned with the joint faces. The big end joint is an important area of rod design, as it affects the durability of the rod bolts. If there is a problem with this joint, it will surely lead to a catastrophic engine failure – it would be a real surprise to find a loose rod bolt with no significant damage found elsewhere.
After the article last month which looked briefly at the small end of the con rod, we shall look this month at the opposite end of the con rod. Referred to as the ‘big end’ or ‘large end’ this end of the con rod houses the bearings which transfer the piston and con rod loads to the crankshaft. Again we shall concentrate on the type of con rod found in the four-stroke engine typical of Formula One and many other racing series.
The con rod has a number of important design features and many of these are associated with the design of the small end. The primary function of the con rod is, of course, to transmit the power of the reciprocating motion of the piston to the rotating crankshaft. In this article we shall consider some of the design features of the small end of a modern four-stroke racing con rod and the different solutions to the various problems which must be overcome.
