Motorsport Off Topic Thread

Kris_90 · 28 Aug 2015 at 08:33

Closed cockpits could play a bit part in making the cars go faster for the 2017 regulations. I assume the aero benefits would be substantial which would help in reducing the lap times by a couple of seconds.

Skeeter · 28 Aug 2015 at 08:41

Joe! said:
I wouldn't mind closed cockpits at all in honesty. I don't agree with tradition being a reason not to make the sport more safe - However, I'd love to see an actual engineers implementation of it, rather than an artist's.

The X2010 in GT5 is about the best engineers view of a closed cockpit single seater.

Kris_90 said:
Closed cockpits could play a bit part in making the cars go faster for the 2017 regulations. I assume the aero benefits would be substantial which would help in reducing the lap times by a couple of seconds.

Indeed, but it would need to offset what would be a not insignificant amount of additional weight too.

One thing that seems to be being passed by however, is any closed cockpit needs to be a Motorsport wide solution, not just F1. We have had a few serious or fatal incidents in open cars in recent years that could have been prevented/reduced with a canopy, but only one of them was in F1 (Massas, a closed cockpit would not have saved Bianchi). So any solution needs to be able to filter across and down formula Motorsport, right to the bottom level in things like Formula Ford etc.

Joe! · 28 Aug 2015 at 10:01

Skeeter said:
The X2010 in GT5 is about the best engineers view of a closed cockpit single seater.

Forgot about Newey's cars. I wonder how they'd look with less ground effect aero.

Skeeter · 28 Aug 2015 at 10:41

Why would you want less? Ground effect is the solution to most of F1s aero problems, the FIA are just too stupid to realise.

MissChief · 28 Aug 2015 at 12:26

I believe the issue with ground effect is if the car gets even a little bit airborne then the loss of downforce can be sudden and dramatic, potentially increasing the risk of cars becoming airborne in a big way. At least that's my understanding.

If they're talking about making the cars wider then all the FIA needs to do is create new rules. The teams can bitch and moan all they like but they have to follow the rules.

Skeeter · 28 Aug 2015 at 12:33

Flat floors are the problem with cars being airborne, but ground effect wouldn't have flat floors.

El_Watcher · 28 Aug 2015 at 12:50

I think the problem is more that if the ground effect were removed mid corner (for example if the car gets too close to the ground, or one wheel goes up on a high curb), all down-force would be lost immediately and the car would spin off into a big high speed crash.

Marvin · 28 Aug 2015 at 21:40

That was certainly the problem back in the day with the sliding skirts.

Skeeter · 28 Aug 2015 at 21:44

El_Watcher said:
I think the problem is more that if the ground effect were removed mid corner (for example if the car gets too close to the ground, or one wheel goes up on a high curb), all down-force would be lost immediately and the car would spin off into a big high speed crash.

The plank prevents the former, and the latter would stop drivers taking the pee with track limits

.

Skeeter · 31 Aug 2015 at 12:54

I didn't realise IndyCar were following F1 and putting double points on the last race... Until I just saw the Autosport article where Montoya is less than happy that the stupid rule has cost him the championship

. I'm not a fan of the guy, but he has been robbed by a ratarded rule.

Psycho Ned · 31 Aug 2015 at 13:06

The Indy 500 is double points as well which Montoya won so technically him and Dixon won 1 double points race each.

Double points for any race though is a stupid rule, one which F1 were lucky didn't affect the result of the one season they tried it.

Speaking of Indycar the last few races they've been running LED number screens on each cars airbox which show race positions and change to pit stop times when in the pit. Good idea something which F1 should be implementing.

Skeeter · 31 Aug 2015 at 13:23

Autosport worked out the championship with no double points for Indy either and Montoya would have still won.

As for the LEDs, they are great, but F1 needs to make the bloody car numbers visible first so fans trackside can tell who is who, before they go to the mind boggling heights of informing fans which position they are in too!

deuse · 1 Sep 2015 at 13:08

Skeeter said:
Autosport worked out the championship with no double points for Indy either and Montoya would have still won.

As for the LEDs, they are great, but F1 needs to make the bloody car numbers visible first so fans trackside can tell who is who, before they go to the mind boggling heights of informing fans which position they are in too!

And 5 years later......

Skeeter= when will they slow the bloody car as I can't see the numbers any more. I hate the fia..grrrrrr

Skeeter= Can't they race where it doesn't rain as I can't see the numbers! bloody fia

My 3 year old grand daughter can tell Nico from Lewis by the top Camera.

Skeeter · 1 Sep 2015 at 13:17

Its amazing that you wander around this forum accusing other people of trying to cause arguments...

The_Abyss · 1 Sep 2015 at 13:45

I think those LED numbers look absolutely terrible. F1 has enough technology and money to deliver something far better. For those at the track it should be straightforward to deliver an augmented reality overlay to a smart phone based on the camera and also the GPS position of the car, and also to provide a similar layer to toggle on and off for an armchair viewer.

There must be a superior solution to sticking a basic two digit screen on the side of the car.

Skeeter · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:01

A large chunk of people at a track won't be from that country, so unless they want to rack up massive roaming data charges, using a phone for anything is a bad idea.

Also, who wants to watch a live race squinting through a phone screen?

The numbers are simple and functional. Theres no reason to over complicate it with extra technology needlessly. The top 3 lights and coloured numbers for classes has worked brilliantly for Sports Car racing for many years.

All it needs is a basic 2 digit screen.

deuse · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:26

Skeeter said:
A large chunk of people at a track won't be from that country, so unless they want to rack up massive roaming data charges, using a phone for anything is a bad idea.

Also, who wants to watch a live race squinting through a phone screen?

The numbers are simple and functional. Theres no reason to over complicate it with extra technology needlessly. The top 3 lights and coloured numbers for classes has worked brilliantly for Sports Car racing for many years.

All it needs is a basic 2 digit screen.

a two digit screen? lets look at the number 10

goma
kudhan
toban
mute
عَشَرة
għaxra
and so on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_numbers_in_various_languages

Lets do what people have done for years. Know their drivers cars by helmet\top camera.
Wonder how the Motogp fans know when it's Rossi?

deuse · 1 Sep 2015 at 14:36

"Hulkenberg signs two-year contract extension with Force India"

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/222540...year-contract-extension-with-force-india.html

Hope his made the right choice.

mctiny · 1 Sep 2015 at 15:38

deuse said:
Lets do what people have done for years. Know their drivers cars by helmet\top camera.

Helmet design is always the easiest way to identify, until they start change every few races....

deuse said:
Wonder how the Motogp fans know when it's Rossi?

Yellow 46, generally in front. lol

Otherwise it's by the helmet designs... and stickers...

deuse · 1 Sep 2015 at 16:29

mctiny said:
Helmet design is always the easiest way to identify, until they start change every few races....

Yellow 46, generally in front. lol

Otherwise it's by the helmet designs... and stickers...

Or the gyro camera facing his ass

I have no problems knowing what rider\driver is in what car\bike.