USF1 -- F1's All-American Challenger

[sticky667]

oh come on... their PR guy doesn't know how to tag the vids correctly.

[grat]

I'm going to call your collective bluff on this.

Transverse gearbox - where did this rumour originate from? I can only see one blog, followed by speculation in this thread. I'd be surprised if the team have gone so radical so soon in their development. Or perhaps Ken has a strong background in that sort of drive train and preferred to stick with what he knew?

From this article: http://www.racintoday.com/archives/13543

Coil springs - This came from examination of one detail of one pic in this thread. When you look at the full picture you see the same symbol for the tyres. It's a symbol.

The coil springs idea came from close examination of the cutaway renders in this article:

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news ... ealed.html

and may or may not be accurate. The picture I posted does indeed show coil springs "under" the wheels, but that's almost certainly from the suspension simulation, where a coil spring might make sense for test purposes. Whether the coil springs would be so accurately modeled in the car itself, I don't know, but I suspect whatever software they're using is smart enough to distinguish between a coil spring and a torsion bar, and wouldn't confuse the 3d models.

Height adjustment - Man with spanner turns dial by 1/4 turn in pit stop, probably a preset mechanism so no worry about error in the rush of a pit stop. Its been talked about on the forum since last Nov/Dec? So what's the worry?

Yeah, that's totally speculative. It does make sense, though, given that the the weight of the car will change during the race, and you don't want the poor car skittering around the corners late in the race.

[ringo]

From the video:


Is is just the angle or is this thing really tiny?
This gearbox appears to be a transverse box, it's pretty stubby, but i need a pic of another teams traditional gearbox to decide if it is tranv.
It's missing a lot as it pertains to suspension mounting points too.

the tub:


I hope those aren't the finished sidepods but the side impact structure. The car is shaped pretty nicely though it seems bulky in the nose and splitter area.

Time is running out USF1!!

[outer_bongolia]

From the video:

I hope those aren't the finished sidepods but the side impact structure. The car is shaped pretty nicely though it seems bulky in the nose and splitter area.

Time is running out USF1!!

No kidding when you say bulky... My bathtub is shallower than this tub...

[ESPImperium]

By the looks of things, USF1 are going down the road of producing 4 chassis for the start of the season. I think they could be using them like this:

Type 1-01 = Crash tests & Mockup
Type 1-02 = Majority of testing, probably used as T car at Bahrain.
Type 1-03 = Some testing, probably shaken down on penultimate day of testing. Race Use.
Type 1-04 = Shaken down during FP1 at Bahrain, with no testing use. Race Use.

Then they will probably update the chassis once for each driver, with 04 being used as T car for rest of season after that.

[WhiteBlue]

It is pretty amazing what USF1 do. I have never seen a video from an F1 car assembly. I absolutely enjoy it. The gearbox shape is consistent with the transversal box that we have seen before and it does not look too bulky for that kind of concept. Naturally longitudinal boxes look slimmer.

[nacho]

Yeah, USF1 is becoming the most interesting team really.

[christopher.mahlon]

My guess is that we're seeing things a week or so after the team have finally finished work on specific parts, so there's plenty of time for the car to be more complete than what we see in the pictures so far. If those photos are truly representative of their progress, then I'd say we've got problems, but I doubt they'd be releasing photos immediately after fitting/finishing work on a part. We'd assume a bit of lag from most other teams, and I see no reason to think that's not the case here.

[Astro1]

We'd assume a bit of lag from most other teams, and I see no reason to think that's not the case here.

But then there's this.

USF1 won't have car on track until end of February.

http://en.espnf1.com/teamus/motorsport/story/7493.html

[marcush.]

what does indicate a transverse layout on the published video? if the gearcluster was transversal you should see where the main bearings are located on the sides of the gearbox ,and we would see at least a sidecover !But nothing on th right side confirming a transverse layout ,not even an especially bulky casing....

Has anyone seen the Xtrac spec box yet ?

[PlatinumZealot]

Good point! Maybe the cover could be on the left..hmm in the picture is the differential crown wheel inside or is it not attached yet? Space looks kinda tight back there.

[segedunum]

At the risk of repeating myself, have they actually crash tested this thing (whatever it is) yet rather than crumpling a nose into a wall to give the appearance?

[segedunum]

USF1 won't have car on track until end of February.

http://en.espnf1.com/teamus/motorsport/story/7493.html

As someone else has said, IRL have a test booked for the 24th - 25th:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80829

NESBA have the track booked 27th - 28th:

http://www.barbermotorsports.com/events.php

I can't see anything that's been pencilled in where they could test on a firm date.

[scarbs]

Hmm… that gearbox looks suspiciously like a longitudinal layout, you’re right there’s no opening or bearings for the transverse shafts visible on either side of the case. Plus the circular aperture below the diff is identical to that used for the cross shaft on longitudinal set up.

Was there a transverse set up initially planned (as suggested in the CAD pictures) and then changed ? or are we the victim of another non technical journo writing about something they know nothing about.

[WhiteBlue]

At the risk of repeating myself, have they actually crash tested this thing (whatever it is) yet rather than crumpling a nose into a wall to give the appearance?

To pass a front crash test when you have successfully done a nose test is just an exercise of logistics. I guess they simply don't have the necessary number of chassis yet to spare one for a test. Its another to do point with the side and rear impact structures. Having confirmed the nose though will give them confidence in their simulation methods.