'12 season technology and predictions thread

Let them rip here. I don't care about what, who, what team. This is the place. A couple more weeks to new car unveiling and testing so things are getting exciting.

technology this year:

The big appears to be the new front reactive ride height system which essentially changes the previous suspenion by no longer mounting the front suspension pushrod rigidly to the axle, but rather there is a few mm movement and a hydraulic cylinder which reacts to the braking force and essentially further stiffens the shocks yielding more stability at the front end under braking which was a huge complaint front Renault drivers especially at the beginning of '11 due to KERS. Bob Bell and another Renault engineer Bob swiped for MB some time ago actually came up with this idea, but Renault was the first to test it. MB and Renault have theirs completed while Ferrari is hoping to have theirs out at the final test.


The second 'gimmick' is very much an unknown as we don't know if it's going to be on the field but there is a lot of conjecture and rumor that it will be there, but it's the MB front wing f-duct. This f-duct essentially stalls 20-30% of the front wing and in theory works the same as the DRS in gaining acceleration and speed in the form of drag reduction. What we don't know is if MB have devised a clever way of 'switching' the mechanism via a fluid switch or slide valve which is g-force activated (no driver assist stuff remember). In essence, this means the flow could be controlled to be open during straight line acceleration and closed during any turning movement or braking. This is an extremely tricky technology as it delves into the very bedrock of the handling. I suspect they could tie it in with the reactive ride height as well in that the fluid switch or intertial switch would be closed while the ride height system were active. That's how I would do it anyway. Ferrari are also working on one.




Teams of interest:

Red Bull - yes, they will be rediculously strong

Mclaren - see Red Bull, only I believe the gloves have come off at Mclaren

Ferrari - ?????? lots of new faces and lots of daring new radical thinking - they are also working on their own front wing f-duct

Mercedes - ???? best case scenario for this season would be a fight for 2nd or 3rd place constructors championship

Renault - although they have some clever tech, they have lost key people to other teams.




A big question is if Red Bull and Mclaren will have an Ace up their sleeves and if they will be successful in adapting the new reactive ride height system IF it is indeed found to be effective. If they cannot figure it out quickly, this could be a silver bullet for those who get it right. Similar to the EBD in that Red Bull were the only team to really make 100% full effective use of the technology.

 

suspension pic for visual learners like me
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In addition to stalling the front wing thus reducing drag, the reduction in drag at high speeds allows for a lower static ride height setting specifically for the tea tray and front wing.

The front end of an F1 car compresses a good amount at the end of straight speed meaning the car must be statically set up higher so to account for this. The F-duct reduces much of that drag at the end of straight speed meaning there is not as great a concern regarding the tea tray static height or dynamic height at speed. So in the end, the wing can be set lower, the tea tray lower, and the active ride height suspenion perfectly compliments this union as the lower static height can remain low (but not too low)under heavy braking. Otherwise, without the ride height control, the static height would have to be set according to how much dive is present in relation to the tea tray. It's almost as if one cannot purely exist without the other. Very neat tech.

 

agreed. It's the developing of the technology which might take a few races to figure out. But in all I definitely agree it's one of the easier implemented ideas, or at least it appears to be anyway

 

Andreas could very well be right with this one. The only reason I see that prediction not being correct is if Red Bull cannot come to grips with the ride height technology and perhaps front wing f-duct technology. Otherwise they are the hot ticket. Their staff is just incredibly good and well-rehearsed.

 

hmmm. He states a car must be designed as a whole and basically not designed around any one component, but the problem with this statement is the RB7 they designed was built entirely around the EBD platform. It certainly doesn't help their statement in that the new Lotus/Mercedes technology is the easiest to physically install on the car but rather it's the development which is difficult. None of the bodywork needs to be changed for this new concept which is why I am now questioning if RB have the technical know-how or facility to hack this one out. Lotus, Ferrari, MB are all pretty much major constructors teams so....... yeah. Tough call with RB saying this though. They will still be awesome though

 

I'm not 100% sure on this yet but I just heard from a source that the ride height system is banned.

 

Nico went in for seat fitting today.

 

I just heard Mercedes' hydraulic system may be using mercury rather than hydraulic fluid. Normal hydraulic fluid is I believe around .9 while Mercury is 13.5 weight meaning it will obviously provide tons and tons more force wherever it's applied.