Front wheel covers - this seasons must have...

[Conceptual]

I love the Mazda 787B.

*cough cough*

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/ ... corner.jpg

edit - after more looking around, im guessing these move. but still how come f1 never then looked at the idea ???

http://automobile.2405.com/automobile_g ... B_2405.jpg

http://automobile.2405.com/automobile_g ... B_2405.jpg

also ive seen other group c racers with wheel covers, but these were good pics

[MclarenGorilla]

I posted this in a seperate thread but apparently this one deals with the same thing.

The way I read the rules, such a Wheel cover around the wheel should be legal:




The periphery of the wheel as I understand it is the front face of the wheel, so a complete cover of the wheels is not possible, but a little gap around the front should be sufficient.

From my seperate thread:

As far as I regard the rules concerning brakeducts (see below), I think they don't limit Teams on introducing a limited size wheelcover. I painted a little side view on how I think the rules restrict Bodywork in this area and in blue a "wheelcover" as I would expect it. What do you think of it?

11.4 Air ducts :
Air ducts around the front and rear brakes will be considered part of the braking system and shall not
protrude beyond :
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm above the horizontal centre line of the
wheel ;
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm below the horizontal centre line of the
wheel ;
- a vertical plane parallel to the inner face of the wheel rim and displaced from it by 120mm toward the
centre line of the car.
Furthermore, when viewed from the side the ducts must not protrude forwards beyond the periphery of the
tyre or backwards beyond the wheel rim.
All measurements will be made with the wheel held in a vertical position.

I think someone at McLaren has been checking out your idea...





Grtz

[Benniau]

WTF!?!?!?! That has to be the craziest thing I've seen on an F1 car for some time!

Surely they'll get banned for exceeding the maximum width specs though?

[manchild]

Are you sure it isn't some temperature measuring device, IR camera or so?

How else can that be legal width-wise? Isn't that wider than the tyre wall? All explanations for Ferrari fairing were that it is within the regulations since it is not wider than the tyre.

Now this... Have the regulations changed in that area?

[MrT]

That doesn't look like a permenant addition to me and i'm almost certain it's not within the rules... It obviously is likley to be housing some sensor to either log sidewall tempreture, or possible track the sidewall deflection using either infared or a camera and datum...

[zac510]

McLaren ran with an illegal upper wing element for quite a while last year testing.

[MrT]

I don;t really think the rules come into the equation here.... it's not a performance component, just a research item.

[ginsu]

While it could be a sophisticated sensor I think it's just a rubbing strip to determine how much the sidewall deflects in case they need to mount something in that location in the future.

[LoudHoward]

I like this pic, how they're covering up what they're sponsored by

[Roland Ehnström]

LOL! =D>

[Ian P.]

Any comments on the positioning of the opening in the static disc..??
The Toyota and Renault layout seems to copy the Ferrari. Naturally McLaren has done it a bit differently. One might guess they have spent the time in the wind tunnel to understand it a bit better. Or how the different positions react to different aero designs.
Since this is a device to take advantage of the wake generated by the front wheel and the wake most likely extends well back of the front wheel, are the now common chimneys being used to dump rediator outlet air into a low pressure region in the shadow of the front wheel.??
The question comes up since some teams have introduced new cars with chimneys but these are blanked off in early season testing.
If the static wheel covers offer significant benefits, there must be designers burning the midnight oil to come up with the rear wheel equivalent. Shouldn't be too difficult once you get to accept that the whell nut will form part of the outer wheel bearing or contain a bearing of its own. This is the time I suspect the FIA will step in and halt the whole process.

Ian P.

[axle]

Not wishing to sound thick but how do you test brake ducting in a wind tunnel?? As surely you need to brake and heat some air?? Or blow some from the caliper...something anyway.

So how's it done? Or is it tested on the brake testing dyno.

[Ian P.]

Simulating the flow over the car with rotating wheels is a common feature of F1 wind tunnels. In fact it is absolutely necessary to get the interraction between all the bits, moving and stationary. They use a moving ground-plane or rolling road to give the effect of a car moving through stationary air.

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/select ... wind_tunne

There is also a Sauber site with good pictures of their rolling road which will go up to 150 mph and house a full size car. Most teams use 50% or 60% scale models for testing, cheaper and faster to fabricate parts.

As for simulating the heated air comming off the brakes, that is one for the CFD simulators. It would be near impossible to duplicate this in a tunnel.

Ian P.

[axle]

I figured it was CFD driven, but didn't know if they could innovate in the wind tunnel.

[Belatti]

I figured it was CFD driven, but didn't know if they could innovate in the wind tunnel.

I would build an Aluminum rotor disk and use it like an electrical resistance to generate heat. Then you could film the wind flowing through with a thermal camera and see how the heat flux moves.

As for simulating the heated air comming off the brakes, that is one for the CFD simulators. It would be near impossible to duplicate this in a tunnel.

Whats does the word impossible means?
Didn´t you see Adidas comercial, man?