?? If you're gonna build a re-circulating tunnel (and nothing else is gonna work over long term running) you've gotta turn it round somehow. Forcing it to turn is pretty easy and well understood fluid dynamics. Even the mighty Toyota tunnel does just that. Cheers, Ian
Should we be impressed by that statement or just LOL? I mean they could have designed it just with a pack of Crayons and it wouldn't have made a difference...
Wow a new factory. Build a car that wins from the front row consistently. That will be something. Its been a while.
I'm pretty sure they're not allowed to use full-scale models in the tunnel either. This may actually be a good thing when combined with the 50 m/s wind speed cap (ie: 50 m/s wind on a 50% or 60% scale model would be like ___ m/s wind on a full-scale model).
Very true. 60% is the biggest they can go. Ross recently claimed that their move from 50% to 60% is going to buy them a lot. [Beyond additional space for sensors I'm not convinced TBH. But neither do I claim to be Ross. ] I like your thinking! Unfortunately, that's not the way it works though..... *If* we could scale the air down to 60% we'd be home free. We obviously can't do that. So some fancy math gets involved trying to equate the model, running in "full size" air to what a full size car would do. Cheers, Ian
I imagine if Mr. Eccelstone could figure out how to make more money by having a mandatory wind tunnel for all teams, he would build it today!
Cost again, I think. The needed power of the fan motor scales by the fan diameter (-> scale models!) to the power of FIVE, and I guess the relationship air velocity to motor power isn't a linear one, either.
Was it HRT? I could swear it was Virgin, and having a great laugh at "Beardy" Branson eating his words and stepping out of the way after his splashy media comments on it being the way of the future. Of course I could be conflating the two. Or it might have been both... Note to self: Pick up more memory on the way home.
I think you are right. I remember how SRTMike commented on it. He hates Branson, I adore Branson. Oh well...
It was Virgin racing and the car was designed with a fuel tank that couldn't hold enough fuel to get the car to the end of a race without performing at a drastically reduced rate (and in some races it couldn't make the finish regardless of how carefully it was driven!). Here's what your beloved Branson had to say about his forth-coming Virgin racing team in December 2009 (From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/dec/15/richard-branson-virgin-formula-one ) : "......But money's not everything. They are determined to prove that via engineering prowess, great drivers and a great affinity with the public they can do well." In the words of Jeremy Clarkson: "That's not gone well!"
Be fair to the guys who tried their best and look at lap times from a few seasons back, the car might have been on pole in 2010? (I can't be bothered to look at those stats but it irks me when people denigrate the sweat of others from the sidelines.)
Good point..... [EDIT; I guess the HRT was done in Google Sketchup! ] You're of course absolutely right, thanks for the correction - The 2010 & 2011 Virgins were both done exclusively in CFD. John Wirth was the CFD "guru" and he split with them in mid 2011 and they're now also using tunnels. I don't really follow ALMS, but AFAIK the only other car to be done exclusively in CFD, at least by Wirth, was the 2009 Acura LMP1 car. Anyone know if it was any good? Cheers, Ian
And if they'd done those lap times a decade ago they'd dominate F1! - so what? - what the point in comparing lap times from different seasons? - all it does is point out how far F1 has advanced. A wise man realises when he's wasting his time! Would you watch a man trying to cut logs of wood with his bare hands and think: "Well done you!, making an effort to try and cut logs with your bare hands!" Or would you be thinking: "Give it up man, despite all your efforts, you're wasting your time! - it's not gonna happen!"?
