Mercedes reveals their 2014 turbo V6!

Yup. Every article that I've read or report I've seen by someone who has actually heard the new era turbos was not impressed.

Mark

 

Read the James Allen article I linked above - he heard the Mercedes V6 yesterday and seemed to think it sounded pretty good.

 

I doubt it is a scare tactic. More like a marketing effort to get some PR for the expensive F1 buck.

Picture looks great and I'm looking forward to 2014.

That said, I'm pretty sure other manufacturers are at an equal stage in their progress. With the exception of team US F1. They're still busy with getting the carbon fibre for their toasters right.

 

I hope so. A big part of F1 has always been the sound.


Mark

 

Unless they're floating it early in case the innovation is outlawed.

 

Gorgeous engine design. I can't wait to hear them in person.

 

MB had the best engine in the past and I wouldn't be surprised if they get the best motor again. I never doubted their engine building skills.

 

how can you tell its not? just wondering

 

i do not see why it would be quieter or muffled as you say. These engines have not been detuned so they can run a turbo, they have been designed around the expected boost. The only real difference between now and the previous turbo era will be the fuel.

Btw they did limit the boost back in the old days too ... still sounded good .

So lets stop being so negative and give these very exciting engines a chance. The current v8 is boring as and not relevant to production cars at all ... turbos are very much the now.
Pete

 

+1

 

+ a million

I have followed F1 when we had the 1,000+ hp monsters. True those were not the same engines. Nor were the cars, the regulations, the drivers, the tracks or the spirit.

These are different turbos, but that doesn't make them any less exciting compared to other current engines. Comparing them to the turbos of the eighties they probably look wimpy but that's apples to oranges.

IMHO F1's golden age was the seventies but that's a time long gone. Lets enjoy what we have now instead of sulking about what's lost.

 

OK, done some more reading (the latest 2014 technical regulations are dated 5th December).

Seems Gordonc got it right! I'm now almost certain the "center housing" is in fact what they call an "MGU-H".

KERS as we know it today comprises what they now call an "MGU-K".

MGU-K; "Motor generator unit, kinetic". This is the motor/generator that adds power to the drivetrain and harvests it back into ES (energy store).

MGU-H; "Motor generator unit, heat". This is on the same shaft as the turbo (may be geared and clutched) and it too can both harvest energy into the ES and be powered from it.

You're free to use one or the other or both. The ES is massive compared to today; Maximum release over a lap is currently limited to 300KJ. 2014 you can release up to 400MJ per lap (!) You can only harvest 200MJ per lap though.

This really is some pretty exciting technology folks - I'm not aware of any road cars harvesting from their turbos (?)

Somewhat alarmingly they're also restricted to just 5 "power trains" per year - If your MGU's fail, that's a powertrain down the toilet..... Life expectancy is up to ~4000KM.

They are once again pushing the limits and not running dinosaurs! Hopefully, this will also get some other manufacturers involved.

And, they'll sound just fine IMO!

Cheers,
Ian

 

And for those of us who don't give a damn about MJ, that's an additional 150 hp per lap.

Whoa!

PS: I'm a strong believer in metric through and through and despise the King's system, but Joules instead of hp? C'mon!

 

Not quite as simple as that though - Time is also involved - Converting Joules to HP isn't possible - You convert Joules to "HP/hour".

You are correct that they're going to get ~150-160 additional HP, but that's "only" available for ~33 seconds / lap.

Fer sure, if you don't get your MGU's right you're going to be completely hosed......

Cheers,
Ian

 

My head hurts.

 

You should try reading the complete regulations!

The more I read about these things the more excited I get.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Well yes, I figured that the 150 hp on tap wouldn't be for long.

But 33 seconds is plenty of time to use a "push to pass" button on the steering wheel.

With this much extra horse power, DRS becomes almost irrelevant.

Talk about "turbo boost"...

 

Same here.

But first we have to endure another Red Bull season.

 

Indeed!.....

Throw in saving your harvest for a couple of laps in order to get the full 400MJ (sorry ) and these guys are going to have to *think* about what they're doing a lot more than today.

Should be really fun to watch.......

Cheers,
Ian

 

Okay I think I get it. So, for 33 seconds every two minutes they'll be riding a jeweled horse. F1, the electric cowboys.

 

That is precisely the point!

Right now everything is about the same (yes, some cars are faster than others but on average it is not a big difference) and DRS is only allowed in the one zone. So not much to strategize about.

But with 150 hp at any part of the track (after saving it for 2 laps), the possibilities suddenly become endless. Particularly when the car to be passed has the same hp on hand to counter.

And if somebody times this nicely with DRS, there is no way of holding them back.

Add to that the suddenly shredding Pirellis and even I won't need sprinklers anymore.

Or to paraphrase FerrariPilot: The Pirelli lottery has just become the Power Ball lottery of turbo harvesting.

 

To the showers with you two!