F2007 wheel base and bridgestone

Can someone explain the issue with Ferrari adding wheelbase while other are staying the same or shortening for the Bridgestone tires? What is the engineering significance of wheel base with tire choice? I don't understand what is happening here.

 

I heard the commentators saying something about being able to adjust the ballast more with the longer wheelbase. Anything more than that I wouldn't really know without more research or info from the team, which I doubt Ferrari will be giving out any time soon. But seeing as how Ferrari was Bridgestone's team in the past I'm sure they know what they were doing and it looks like they did the right thing.

 

people were saying that Ferrari knows something about the BS tires not many know about

 

Well...I know Ferrari is never going to tell us. I was wondering from a more academic point of view like widening rear track decreases oversteer and stiffer front springs contribute to more understeer stuff like that. I have no clue what wheelbase does because it is never talked about. We can never change it so it is a topic never discussed.

 

Short wheelbase = twitchy car, thus changes direction faster.
Long wheelbase = less twitchy car, thus changes direction slower.

Pete

 

www.racer.nl

Free racing sim, changing wheel base in it won't be a problem. Generally when I'm designing a car, its for looks, and the wheel base and track come about from the styling. I have on some cars though, shifted the wheel base quite a bit. Also, moving just one side fowards or back, will affect weight distribution. Most modern front engined sports car, have moved the front wheels farther fowards for more equal distribution.

 

I posted the following in regards to this subject:

I know that the British press (and some of their misinformed "experts"), probably supplemented by some wishful-thinking, made a stink about how Ferrari had got it wrong; that by going to a longer wheelbase - assuming all the added wheelbase was forward of the engine, the CG would move closer to the rear axle - they would overload the rear tires, which were showing themselves to be marginal over a long stint in early testing. In fact, it seems there are other cars which have wheelbases almost as long, or even longer than the Ferrari.

According to chief designer Tombazis in Autosprint magazine, apart from increasing the distance forward of the engine, they also increased the length of the spacer between the engine and gearbox - so weight distribution is similar to last year's 248, but obviously tweaked to the requirements of the new tires. Note that Ferrari are the only current team (in name or structure) to have used the 2005 tire construction, on which the 2007 tires are supposedly based. They learned quite a bit about tire behaviour and suspension geometry that year!

Chassis director Aldo Costa says they increased wheelbase primarily for aero reasons. What they achieved by increasing the wheelbase was freeing up space between the wheels and bodywork to improve airflow and more underbody area for added downforce. Also, with the harder tires offering less grip, a longer wheelbase makes for a more controllable car - at the cost of some lost responsiveness.

 

It's definitely true they learned alot from the 2005 season and made a very nice comeback in the 2006 season, even if they didn't get the title. Judging the outcome of this season at this point in time would be foolish, but if results continue to look the way they did in Australia, it looks like the longer wheelbase was the way to go.