The R series is a line of

petrol engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as '' ...

s introduced by

British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...

in 1983 for the then-new

Austin Maestro The Austin Maestro is a five-door hatchback small family car (and two-door van derivative) that was produced from 1982 to 1987 by British Leyland, and from 1988 until 1994 by Rover Group, as a replacement for the Morris Marina and Austin Al ...

. It was only produced in one capacity—1.6 litres.

Design

The engine was essentially a lightly modified version of the

E-series E series may refer to: * BMC E-series engine, a series of automobile engines * Electronic E series of preferred numbers, a series of preferred values for electronic components such as resistors, capacitors, inductors, zener diodes * Entwicklung seri ...

unit found in the Maxi and Allegro. The main differences over the older engine are to the sump and gearbox mounting flange, which were adapted to accept a traditional "end-on" transmission unit which had been bought from

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

in place of the traditional BMC transmission-in-sump arrangement. It retains the 1.5-liter E-series' bore of along with a longer stroke. Like the E-series, it has a cast iron block and aluminium head. As with the E, the cylinders are siamesed, to fit the biggest bore cylinders possible. The combustion chambers were of

Weslake Weslake & Co also known as Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, described as England's greatest expert on cylinder head design, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake is most famous for its work with Bentley, ...

's kidney-shaped design. The

carburettor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meteri ...

for the regular version was a single-venturi one with an automatic electronic choke, while the MG version received two twin Weber 40 DCNF carburetors and none of the fuel-saving electronics. Maximum power is at 5,500 and 6,000 rpm respectively. Renaux, p. 11

Problems

The R series was mainly a stop gap, and had a very short production run that lasted barely two years. BL had been working on a more substantially revised version of the E series, but this was not ready for production in time for the Maestro's already badly delayed launch. The company was instead forced into launching the Maestro with the half-developed power unit which cost the company dearly—R-series-equipped Maestros soon gained a reputation for hot starting problems, cylinder

head gasket In an internal combustion engine, a head gasket provides the seal between the engine block and cylinder head(s). Its purpose is to seal the combustion gases within the cylinders and to avoid coolant or engine oil leaking into the cylinders. Leak ...

failures (endemic to the E series also), and premature crankshaft failure. Because the E series was turned through 180 degrees in order to accommodate an end-on transmission, the R series was fitted to the Maestro with the

facing the front of the car, which also led to a reputation for carburettor icing in cold weather. The endemic problem of crankshaft failure was later attributed to flexing of the

crankcase In a piston engine, the crankcase is the housing that surrounds the crankshaft. In most modern engines, the crankcase is integrated into the engine block. Two-stroke engines typically use a crankcase-compression design, resulting in the fuel/ ...

– because the E series relied upon the heavy sump/transmission unit to give additional strength to the

cylinder block In an internal combustion engine, the engine block is the structure which contains the cylinders and other components. In an early automotive engine, the engine block consisted of just the cylinder block, to which a separate crankcase was attac ...

casting, this caused problems when a plain

sump A sump is a low space that collects often undesirable liquids such as water or chemicals. A sump can also be an infiltration basin used to manage surface runoff water and recharge underground aquifers. Sump can also refer to an area in a cav ...

was bolted in its place. The R series was superseded in 1984 by the S series.

References

{{reflist R series engine Gasoline engines by model