Cosworth Vega Engine Specs

• The Chevrolet Cosworth Vega was marketed with the unfortunate, and inexplicable, slogan "Cosworth Vega: One Vega for the Price of Two" and was priced just $600 below the Corvette. The buying public wasn't amused. Only 3,508 were sold in 1975 and 1976. The Cosworth Vega engine failed from the time it had to face reality in the form of the Environmental Protection Agency. Given the history of the engine, Chevrolet should have seen it coming.

History

• In 1970, Chevrolet approached Cosworth, a Formula One Racing company in England, with the idea of putting a high-performance engine in the Chevy Vega, a light compact car. Cosworth designed a double overhead cam aluminum head to place on Chevy's aluminum block. It produced 185 horsepower when it worked, but the head showed a tendency to split horizontally below the cylinder bores. The engine had a compression ratio of 12.1-to-1 and used super premium gas. The engine never got better than this. Chevy and Cosworth tried to modify the engine to fit into emission standards enforced by the EPA by lowering the compression ratio to 11.25-to-1, then 10.5-to-1, then 9.5-to-1 and finally, 8.5-to-1. As the compression ratio was lowered, horsepower and torque died in slow stages. The street version of the Cosworth Vega produced 110 horsepower and 107 foot-pounds of torque. A zero-to-60 mph time of 12.3 seconds and a top speed of 112 miles per hour failed to interest the car-buying public

Good Components

• The designers made the engine with good parts. It featured a sleeveless, aluminum alloy engine block, a twin cam, 16 valves, aluminum cylinder head, electronic ignition, electronic fuel injection and stainless steel headers.

The Basics

• The dual overhead cam, straight four-cylinder engine had a displacement of 2.0 liters and a bore and stroke of 3.5 inches by 3.16 inches, five main bearings, electronic fuel injection and solid lifters.