Lotus's new ride height adjustment system deemed legal by the FIA

GravyMonster

GravyMonster

GravyMonster

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... other teams set to do their nut.

The mechanical system helps maintain a standard ride height during braking - when often the front of the car would dip down.

AUTOSPORT can reveal, however, that the adjustment to the ride height - which improves aerodynamic performance and stability on the Lotus under braking - does not come from the driver.

Instead it is reactive to brake torque and is linked directly to the suspension - so cannot be classified as a moveable aerodynamic device in the way that independent mass dampers were.
Click to expand...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96952

Interesting about the comparison to mass dampers which also started the season being legal, but were banned halfway through.
 
Apparently they first had the idea as early as May last year, and were in contact with the FIA immediately to get clarification that it was legal.

The reason they didn't bother implementing it on last years car was because they gave up 90% of their development time after they realised Kubica wasn't coming back any time soon, and Petrov and Heidfeld weren't setting the world on fire.

As to any alleged performance benefit, I did see one report that said .3 per lap, but that seems a bit high considering KERS gives that with it's extra 80bhp.
 
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