Meh, I see a lot of BS there too. Suggesting that diesel and hybrid cars are selling well and are respectable because someone races them at Le Mans is naive: it´s quite the opposite, they race them because that´s what they´re selling. In Europe diesel has been outselling (or almost outselling) gasoline many years before they admitted them at LM. And what does he mean when he says that active suspension and four wheel steering are "cul se sac"s? Many road cars are using them now. Although I agree in that Formula 1 is not relevant for road cars anymore. But not just F1, almost all kind of racing.
Maybe not a huge contribution but didn't Ferrari invent the paddle shift in an F1 car then apply it to road cars? I'm pretty sure the first active suspension was introduced in Formula One too.
I think this guy is just trying to go against Todt... F-1 in the 80's was hugely influential on road cars: Turbo's Electronic Ignition & FI suspension - pull rod & push rod active suspension - Lotus in 87...won detroit and Monaco Light wheels - Fondmetal, OZ, BBS all started making lighter thinner wheels Digital readout dashboard & then computer controlled "black boxes" which lead to telemetry electronic Gear change - a la Ferrari 640... Ground effects... and venturi effect at the rear of a car = diffuser / extractor planes Varriable trumpets for intake manifold lots of ceramics used in the early 1990's that are now banned Tons of aero data... before the early 2000's how many cars really went thru a wind tunnel development? ... the sad thing is F-1 is now so restricted its like Indy car racing... the teams cant really shine so if you have a great idea, you really dont use F-1 to showcase it. the talk about money - is because Ecclestone keeps it all for him self & CVC. if they shared the money like they did in the late 70's - F1 teams would be hugely profitable.
F1 is where you come to see the best drivers compete. Period. FIA rules have governed out innovative technologies that used to have come from F1. Areas of innovation in F1 are/were: - carbon/carbon brakes (though that was taken from airliners) - carbon fiber body - Mclaren innovated it - F1 transmission - steering wheel with multifunction - KERS - aerodynamic finessing - helmet improvements (after Filipe's accident) Still lots of other innovations have come from Sportcars.
Diesel cars are popular in Europe because they benefit from cheaper fuel and lower taxation, nothing else. It's the financial advantage that push people to buy Diesels, although they pollute more. Diesels cars have been recently dominating Le Mans because they have been given an unfair advantage by the ACO - the rule maker. Turbo petrol engine are limited to 2000cc, but turbo diesels allowed 3700cc: almost double! Petrol cars cannot really compete against Diesels.
Turbo race cars predate their F1 introduction. Ground effects too. First in Can-Am? Next Le Mans? It's hard to have perspective after so many years have passed since these technologies were first applied in racing. It is sad to fight over what series is introducing new technology when the rules in virtually every series precludes the wide open thinking that used to prevail in almost every top shelf series or event: rally, F1, Le Mans, CART and precursors, Can-Am, drag racing, etc.
You can rule the UK out of that statement! In most places in the UK, diesel is more expensive than petrol! (Because it was noticed by the fuel companies just how popular diesel had become!). Errr not quite!........ does the expression: "Better fuel economy than a petrol engine" mean anything? Yes diesels have gained in popularity due to tax advantages, but also because people like the fact that they can go further on the same amount of fuel as a petrol version (especially business users), and, they like the performance from the low down torque of the diesel engine (even though the diesels get very breathless quite early on compared to a petrol engine so there's a lot more cog swapping to be done to make good progress! - hence the popularity of diesel automatics). So it's not just the financial advantage!
I'm hoping Florian will be along shortly...... I'm pretty sure that with some of the "latest & greatest" implementations that's no longer the case. I am sure he's noted that they must use "purified" air on the intake as otherwise they dunno if the **** coming out is from combustion or the intake charge..... Cheers, Ian
I don't think it's still a case that diesels pollute more! (especially with modern DPF systems), I think it's more a case that they pollute in a different way. Petrol (gasoline), pollution still tends to be based on the invisible chemical make-up of the gases expelled. Diesel pollution tends to be based on the physical particles that are pumped out with the exhaust rather than the gasses themselves. As I see it, they're as bad as each other but I'll settle for the invisible gas pollution for F1 and endurance racing can keep the particle pollution! (Just to keep this on topic for the forum section! )
You´re right. Diesels produce less greenhouse gases but produce other particles that are extremely toxic. There has been a lot of improvement in the last years regarding this, but as far as I know, petrol cars are still more eco-friendly.
Yeah, since we'll never see things like KERS type systems, paddle shifting, ceramic brakes and advanced turbo management systems on road cars.
You are right about all that on Race cars... but the point was F-1 being influential on Road Cars... Turbos were not at all popular on road cars until the mid 80's when F-1 was really full of Turbo cars..
