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| BMC A series | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Austin Motor Company British Motor Corporation British Leyland Motor Corporation Rover Group MG Rover Group |
| Designer | Leonard Lord, Bill Appleby, Eric Bareham |
| Production | Longbridge, Cowley in UK between 1951 - 2000; Pamplona in Spain, NMQ (Nueva Montaña Quijano) between 1966 - 1975; |
| Layout | |
| Configuration | Inline-four engine, (Straight-three engine and Straight-twin in Prototype) |
| Displacement | 803–1,275 cc (49.0–77.8 cu in) |
| Cylinder bore |
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| Piston stroke |
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| Cylinder block material | Cast iron |
| Cylinder head material | Cast iron, Aluminium |
| Valvetrain | OHV 2 valves/ cyl. in OEM versions, OHC 4 valves/cyl prototype and in racing. |
| Compression ratio | 7.5:1, 8.3:1, 8.5:1, 8.8:1, 9.4:1, 10.5:1, 23.6:1 (Diesel) |
| Combustion | |
| Supercharger | Shorrock and Eaton supercharger (racing only) |
| Turbocharger | Garrett T3 (1275 Turbo only) |
| Fuel system | SU carburettor or fuel injection |
| Management | Rover MEMS, Lucas, AE Brico, T.J Fuel Injection, Lucas CAV (Diesel Version) |
| Fuel type | Petrol, Diesel |
| Cooling system | Water-cooled |
| Output | |
| Power output | 28 to 96 bhp (21 to 72 kW; 28 to 97 PS) |
| Torque output | 40 to 85 lb⋅ft (54 to 115 N⋅m) |
| Emissions | |
| Emissions target standard | Euro 3 (MPi engine). |
| Chronology | |
| Successor | Rover K-series engine, Tritec engine |
The Austin Motor Company A-series is a British small straight-4 automobile engine. Launched in 1951 with the Austin A30, production lasted until 2000 in the Mini. It used a cast-iron block and cylinder head, and a steel crankshaft with three main bearings. The camshaft ran in the cylinder block, driven by a single-row chain for most applications, and with tappets sliding in the block, accessible through pressed steel side covers for most applications, and with overhead valves operated through rockers. The cylinder blocks are not interchangeable between versions intended for conventional end-on mounted gearboxes and the 'in-sump' transaxle used on British Motor Corporation/British Leyland front wheel drive models such as the Mini. The cylinder head for the overhead-valve version of the A-series engine was designed by Harry Weslake – a cylinder head specialist famed for his involvement in SS (Jaguar) engines and several Formula One-title winning engines. Although a "clean sheet" design, the A-series owed much to established Austin engine design practise, resembling in general design (including the Weslake head) and overall appearance a scaled-down version of the 1200cc overhead-valve engine first seen in the Austin A40 Devon which would form the basis of the later B-series engine.