Motorsport Off Topic Thread

First vid of the new Merc vuvuzela exhaust. Admittedly it's not at full chat, but still doesn't sound great.

http://www.mobypicture.com/user/piusgasso3/view/16896640

70T5HXC.jpg


Can anyone technical explain why the mid 80s turbos sounded so much better than the current ones?
 
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I think part of it was that fuel was used to cool down the turbo back then which was also burnt at the exhaust exit, making them sound better. Pretty sure they actually rev'd all the way to redline also.

Whereas these PU's are really efficient extracting as much waste energy as possible and the cars rarely shift above 12,000rpm even though redline is 15,000 due to rate at which they are limited to burning fuel.
 
For the '86 engines with massive boost the redline was lower than it is now. Around 11000rpm for most engines if memory serves. They also ran twin turbos designed for maximum power, rather than a large single designed for maximum efficiency.

The mid 80s fuels were erm ... interesting. They had very little in common with pump petrol. I've seen it heard that the main constituent of BMWs fuel was toluene and/or benzene as it passed the low-stress RON tests for the regulations and had a massive resistance to detonation allowing it to run at really high boost and high loads in qualifying. During qualifying they just dumped it in to cool the engine in an attempt to stop it grenading. Find video of a qualifying session and you can see unburnt fuel coming out of the exhaust amongst all the black smoke!
 
I just burst out laughing at that picture. It looks like some vandal has broken into the Mercedes garage at night and rammed a metal funnel as hard as possible up the exhaust of the car. :D
 
dannyjo22 said:
Hilarious, from the mean streets of Stevenage

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/27530327
Click to expand...

As someone who lives a couple of miles from Stevenage... I can understand his reasoning. I'd want to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. :D

It was built in the 50/60's and pretty much bog all has been done since. It's one of the nastiest places in the UK, and I'm including Hull in that. ;)
 
I wonder if they will use a engine based on the Renault F1 PU?

And with Toyota and Nissan both in Le Mans, surely it's only a matter of time until Honda jump in? Hmm... if only they had a partnership with a race team who they could partner with... oh hello McLaren!
 
Skeeter said:
I wonder if they will use a engine based on the Renault F1 PU?

And with Toyota and Nissan both in Le Mans, surely it's only a matter of time until Honda jump in? Hmm... if only they had a partnership with a race team who they could partner with... oh hello McLaren!
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that would be a great deal for McLaren. Sure, they're a big team, but despite having the clear number one engine, they're currently struggling to make a car capable of finishing in the top 10 against effective part-timers Williams and Force India.

While differentiation might be good for the team, personally I think they need to refocus on their core F1 business, or they might do a mid-80s Williams (gain a Honda engine deal only to lose it to a more ambitious team). Perhaps McLaren are already focussing on 2015? Looking at 2014, you have to hope so, as Melbourne excepted they have been utterly woeful.
 
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