Renault R26 Breaks Cover!

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Hey guys, just seen sum pics of the R26...

Heres the links:

http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarge.p ... catID=1876

http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarge.p ... catID=1876

Thats all There is right now. There's an article about it on ITV's website:

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34813

[Steven]

Okay first thoughts:
- Front wing and nose haven't changed so far, I expect to see some changes when the car gets officially launced on 31 Januari.
- Note there are no more shark gills for cooling. A smaller engine and lower cooling need may have helped to solve that. Other ingenious things will of course also have had their impact
- The rear is again tighter, you can see the bulge where the engine is. Really low cuts around that, with exhaust nicely in the edge of that.
- Raised rear wing in the center, somehow the opposite of what he was seen 2 years ago on almost all cars.
- Sidepod air inlets are smaller, especially at the lower half where it seems to me they have a McLaren-ish shape, not quite excactly the same though.

More to come undoubtedly

[mike]

i think the back of the side port is similar to the one seen on FW27 very low and small

[manchild]

No gills and chimneys are closed!

[dumrick]

Yeah, Manchild, but we are in winter... chimneys will be opened when needed. Nevertheless, is impressive how much less cooling the V8 needs and how it shows more in the outlet's side than in the inlet's.
One thought: for years that I didn't see a central pole connecting to the upper element of the rear wing. Curious shape of that element, indeed!!

[Steven]

Of course it is winter, but where is all that hot air going then?

[dumrick]

..through the rear!!!

Another obvious details: smaller engine air intake, look-alike lateral side of sidepods to the R25.
R26:


R25

[manchild]

Yeah, Manchild, but we are in winter... chimneys will be opened when needed. Nevertheless, is impressive how much less cooling the V8 needs and how it shows more in the outlet's side than in the inlet's.
One thought: for years that I didn't see a central pole connecting to the upper element of the rear wing. Curious shape of that element, indeed!!

That's like saying "chimneys are opened, gills are closed and gills will be opened when they are needed”. That car has no visible hot air outlet and that is strange.

Central pole on rear wing actually represents continuous vertical stabilizer reaching all the way from airbox cover and than turning upwards below the wing – similar to Nike swoosh

[dumrick]

That's like saying "chimneys are opened, gills are closed and gills will be opened when they are needed”. That car has no visible hot air outlet and that is strange.

Central pole on rear wing actually represents continuous vertical stabilizer reaching all the way from airbox cover and than turning upwards below the wing – similar to Nike swoosh

Concerning the chimneys, just check the first tests last year of the R25. Chimneys were closed alltogether or opened (sometimes only in one side) with grill-like vents. Anyway, I don't recall the car being actually raced in that configuration, that was only due to low temperature in winter testing. Anyway, I've already wrote that is clear that the V8's have less cooling needs and in this tests the R26 is "outleting" the hot air exclusively through the rear.

About the "Swoosh", I was trying to make it out from the photos, I noticed something peculiar, but was unable to figure it out. In the end was that... interesting feature and quite unique.



R25:

[manchild]

I wanted to say that "swoosh" starts below that pointy cutout and than goes up reaching the bottom of the upper rear wing

BTW, what is that "something peculiar" you've noticed? Is it the cutout?

[DaveKillens]

The mirrors are mounted with a different strut, before it was straight, now it leaves the body horizontally, and curves upward to meet the mirror. The air intake has changed shape, it was almost "D" shaped, now it's almost a triangle. And the rear wing is very diferent than the previous constant chord, straight piece. To me, it appears they are devoting a lot of attention to the airflow along the body, and where it meets the rear wing.
And the cut where the sidepods meet the undertray is much more pronounced, a trend all teams seem to be following.

[dumrick]

BTW, what is that "something peculiar" you've noticed? Is it the cutout?

No, I was talking about your idea of an extension of the fin in the airbox upwards to reach the upper wing.
But now, I've checked this picture in detail and I'm pretty much convinced that there is a clear disruption in design between the airbox cover and the pole. In fact, it looks like classical connection of the upper wing straight in the gearbox housing. That was very usual in the past, until the endplates started assuming the role of passing the force generated by the upper element into the lower element, which was then attached to the gearbox or some extension of it.

[manchild]

This is the pic that made makes me believe that there is a vertical longitudinal stabilizer stretching from beneath the cutout to that rear wing element in the middle.

[Spencifer_Murphy]

That shape of the Rear Wing is something I've been thinking about ever since the 2004 "larger engine cover" rules came about. Everyone was talking about the aerodynamic effects, how the engine cover will be closer to the wing and how that will create more turbulant air on the rear wing and therefore less efficiency.

So, if Renault are thinking what I was thinking (obviously they have had to test it and perfect it in windtunnels etc) then maybe the wing is shaped that way to increase the distance between bodywork and the rear wing, to make the wing more efficient.

Also of note, anyone else noticed that the nose cone has sharper endges than the R25, a good comparison can be seen on the two pics that Dumrick posted. Another thing I saw was how "chunky" the airbox inlet appears...why do you think they would do that?...I have no ideas!

[Steven]

I think what you say about the nose is optically misleading. I'm convinced that this is still the nose of the R25 and that you only have that impression because of the red stripe on Alonso's R25.