Roller Rockers on competition engines – what are they for?
On racing engines and by racing we mean engines that live at 7000RPM for a great deal of their operating lives it is important to minimize frictional losses. Roller Rockers are also used as they provide greater reliability than stock items. The valve gear is heavily loaded at high RPM, especially with wild cam profiles and dual or triple valve springs using a standard rocker arm in a race application has resulted in costly failures. When rockers fail they have a tendency to fracture causing ingress of aluminum/metallic particles within the oil/lubrication system, as well as possible irreparable engine damage. On a fast road engine the standard rockers provide adequate service. They can however be upgraded to steel items at a cost roughly equal to that of the standard alloy items. The only minor snag however, is increased mass which tends to give the valve spring greater inertia and less precise valve opening and closing at high engine rpm (float). The benefit of the steel items outweig
