Fly by wire ...

Okay I just read an article in Australian Motorcyle News mag. about fly by wire and how some teams are trying to use it in MotoGP. What I did not realise is exactly it's purpose in F1 (yes I know head in the sand ... ), and that is to ensure that a 25% movement with the throttlw will result in a 25% rear wheel torque increase.

I thought they used the throttle input for other things, etc. But ofcourse this is what makes these screamer engines so easy to drive, because the fly by wire throttle takes the skill out of throttle control.

Most of us here have probably raced cars where we have modified the engines and chucked in some wild cams and ended up with a really peaky engine ... and this makes throttle control so much more important.

Just imagine how much SLOWER F1 cars would be without the fly by wire throttle. Quite simply I reacon we would be down about 200 hp (easily) because we now have motor engineers only worrying about maximum power and not having to think about linear torque curve, etc. because the computer will make it appear linear via throttle control.

This is surely got to be the easiest change to the rules, ie. engine must have throttle 100% controlled by the drivers foot. We would wind back to before the turbo days instantly, or atleast early turbo days.

Very clever technology but it has removed way to much skill from both driver and engineer!

Your thoughts?

Pete