Tickford had produced encouraging results with a 5-valve version of the Cosworth DFV engine in late 1987 and knowing Lotus would not have Honda engines in 1989 made approached to supply them for the 1989 season.  It was estimated that the Tickford modifications would provide the engine with an additional 25bhp on top of the 610bhp that the Judd CV V8 4-valve normally made.  

The engine was tested for the first time during Silverstone 1989 testing in the Lotus 101 and ran for 450 miles with encouraging results.  It was brought to Paul Ricard and used in practice for the 1989 French Grand Prix, but throttle problems meant that the standard units were used in the race instead.  It was run during practice for the British Grand Prix and proved 3mph faster down Hangar Straight, but question marks over reliability meant it again wasn’t used in the race.  

When Peter Warr left Team Lotus and Tony Rudd took over before the German Grand Prix, the project was removed from the race program and any further work was just done on the Dyno.  

Tickford also had a design around that time for a 3.5 V12 F1 Engine with a 5-valve head but needed funding to take the engine from concept to reality. 

The engine pictured above resides in the Transport Section of the Milton Keynes Museum.