Official 2013 car unveiling and conjecture thread

I'll asssume we x-posted there.

Something which I thought Charlie had explicitly outlawed BTW! [Can't find it now, but something like, "you can have a vanity panel, but it isn't allowed to give you any aero (or other) benefits"........ Hmmmm..... ]

Cheers,
Ian

 

Yea, sorry Ian. I tend to open about 5 or 6 threads open in tabs and then read/reply to each in turn. Sometimes in the quicker posting threads I can get a little left behind.

That'll be an interesting one at the start of the season.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

No apologies needed - Made me chuckle that we had an agreement here for once.

Indeed. My guess is they've already cleared it with Charlie - They wouldn't be telling us if not. He'll give 'em a little room. What he doesn't want is Mclaren style Viking horns sprouting from the thing!

Cheers,
Ian

 

OK, so a little bit of downforce with a little bit of "drag" (what is the proper term here, forward force?). Not a good way to get downforce, i.e., not efficient. I guess as you guys have said, it's such a small amount that it's not material to the overall performance of the car.

Yes, yes, I'm stuck at the front of the car and haven't had a chance to catch up with everyone else.

Side pod airflow you say? Hmmm.

-F

 

Drag is it!

Generating maximum D/F with minimum drag is the holy grail these days of course.

+1

OTOH, they said it's a "few points" of additional D/F for an added 100-200g's. "We figure it's worth it". [In their case going "smooth" rather than stepped of course.]

*That's* a whole other can-o-worms right now! Seems most of 'em have elongated their 'boxes - partly for the suspension but more, I believe to "stretch" the Coke bottle. Stopping air flowing from the "top" of the floor underneath seems to be keeping 'em busy......

Cheers,
Ian

 

Finding the right balance between all the variable is mind boggling. Car balance, suspension performance (during acceleration, braking, turning, going over bumps) engine cooling, downforce (during acceleration, braking, turning, going over bumps), air flow over the car, around the car, through the car, under the car, width vs. height, vs. length, vs. weight distribution, and on and on and on.

I can't imagine the arguments between the engineers, fighting for their piece of the puzzle. Especially in the case of the Italians. I image even the computers get into fights with one another.

-F

 

+1 A long way from a spec series.

We know that wind tunnels do! Throw in different CFD results and they better not let the 'puters talk to each other!......

Cheers,
Ian

 

I dunno... I thought BMW made the Viking horns look pretty cool.

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Those were the days - the cars all looked much more unique and interesting.

I wonder if going smooth just reduces drag near the front end, allowing them to run a little more front wing. Therefore, it could be indirectly providing more downforce - but is not in contravention of the rules because it does not do so directly.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

McLaren says it will not race passive double DRS for now - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com

Goss was adamant that smoothing the airflow in that area of the car was more of an advantage than the disadvantage of extra weight on the car, which is why Lotus has opted not to race it.

"Aerodynamically you would not put a step on the top surface of the nose through choice, it is an artifact of the regulations," said Goss. "So we don't...

"It is a lightweight structural cover. There is no structural significance at all, so it weighs very little.

"I think James [Allison, Lotus technical director] left it quite open as to whether they would do something.

"If we look aerodynamically at the step on the nose then, to be honest, it is not very significant but you will pull a few minor losses off it. You would not do it [have a stepped nose] out of choice, so we don't."

 

The Sauber is gorgeous.

 

Well, it's not like f1 cars go at 180 mph everywhere and when they do, the pressure of the air coming to the engine is pretty good already.

What I mean is they must have dialed in a double vortex like this at lower speeds with the high pressure part to happen at the height of the engine intake by means of the complex stepped nose design
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I bet it will have passive drs front and back

 

Also the new Ferrari has it. Mercedes have been the only ones to have it at front, initially passive, than active and now passive again it seems from the nose.
Wonder what red bull comes up with, after the letter box last year which didn't actually influence much.

 

RB9

RB9 RHYTHM OF THE FACTORY - YouTube

 

James Allen:

There is a secondary air intake once again behind the roll hoop, which could be for the passive double DRS system. This is a difficult thing to get right, as Lotus showed last year. Ferrari had one working at the Brazilian GP at the end of last season and this year’s model looks similar.

 

I bet that nose flexes more than the cast of Star Whores

 

They must be on a caffeine rush