Reliability for Indy 500 drivers is just like reliability for you and your car

It starts with timely auto maintenance

The Indy 500 is a test of endurance, not just

for the drivers but also for the cars. The

same is true for you and your car. And the

key in both cases is timely auto maintenance.

This coming weekend, we’ll all have a chance to watch one of the premier sporting events in America each year. Of course, we’re talking about the Indy 500.

The Indianapolis 500 race was first run in 1911 – 115 years ago. Of course, the cars go a little faster now than they did back then. The average speed of Indy cars in 1911 was 74.6 mph. Average speeds these days are more than 234 mph. These dramatic increases in speed demonstrate awesome technological improvements.

The chief difference is that the engines in Indy cars today are vastly more powerful. In 1911, the Marmon Wasp, which won the first Indy race, had an engine with 110 horsepower. Today’s Indy cars run twin-turbocharged V6 engines that put out more than 700 horsepower.

In other words, Indy cars today run more than three times faster than the original Indy cars and have engines with more than six times the horsepower. Obviously, the skill and endurance of drivers is serious. 

Putting an Indy car on the track today is an exhausting and expensive endeavor. A new Indy car can cost as much as $3 million. With that kind of an investment, Indy teams do everything they can to stay in the race.

Accidents, which may thrill onlookers, and mechanical breakdowns will wipeout a team’s hopes of Indy glory or even a strong finish. While skill and endurance are essential from the driver, power and reliability from the race car are no less important.

This is certainly something you have in common with Indy drivers when you get into your car and pull out of the driveway. No, you’re not trying to win a race (and if you want to avoid accidents and tickets that’s a good policy) but you don’t want to get where you’re going in a timely fashion and without mechanical inconvenience.

Indy cars have ‘rev limiter’ set at 12,200 rpm (revolutions per minute). That’s more than twice as much as most street cars will ever reach. At that kind of rpm, engine oil had better be doing its job. 

The average rpm of a car on the road is typically between 1,500 and 2,000 rpm. And yet, engine oil is no less important. Your car may not breakdown as soon or as dramatically as an Indy car in the middle of the race, but you will put unnecessary wear and tear on your car’s engine if you don’t have timely oil changes. And there’s more to a car than engine oil.

Tires, brakes, suspension, steering, electrical, and more – you’re vehicle has any number of ways to leave you stranded on the side of the road if you give it a chance.

You don’t need to drive on The Brickyard, the nickname for the track at the Indy 500, to have mechanical difficulties. But you can reduce the risk if you maintain your vehicle in a timely manner.