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The paper reviews the design of the supercharging system for a strongly downsized engine, to be installed on a sport car. Design is supported by cfd-1d engine simulations, using an experimentally calibrated model. The goal of the supercharging system is to deliver the required values of boost pressure at steady operating conditions, and to maintain or improve the full size engine response during acceleration (one of the most critical issues for downsized engines). Two options have been considered: 1) two-stage turbocharging, with two small turbochargers as a high-pressure stage, and one big turbo as low pressure stage (referred to as “TRITURBO”; 2) two-stage supercharging made up of one low pressure stage turbocharger and one electric supercharger (referred to as “E-SUPER”).

The paper reviews the theoretical and experimental development of the engine powering the 2011 Formula SAE single seater of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE). The general design criteria followed by the UNIMORE team are discussed and compared to those chosen by other competitors. In particular, the reasons supporting the selection of the engine type (single cylinder by Husqvarna) are explained in details. The adoption of a single cylinder, instead of the more powerful four-in-line, required a much bigger effort for getting an acceptable level of brake power. Therefore, the development was massively supported by CFD simulation (both 1D and 3D) and by experiments. It was found that the most important design areas for the single cylinder are: the intake system, including the restrictor (20 mm), the intake runner and the plenum, and the muffler.