Im a rookie, so here is a stupid question

[m3_lover]

I know that in Formula one this year, they mandated the center of gravity for the engine, is that min space that the engine has to be above the ground at all times?

[Guest]

As far as I know, there is no requirement for center of gravity. In most cases, engineers prefer to keep it as low as possible. But the FIA rules are very specific about dimensions and clearances.
http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/ ... ATIONS.pdf
Basically, no part of the chassis is allowed less than 50mm from the ground. But there are tons of little rules specifying what parts and dimensions are allowed on different parts of the car. Section 3 covers most of this.

[Guest]

There is a min center of gravity spec for the engine. I think it cannot be less than 150mm. They usually quote this as the spec for the part(i.e. the CoG of the engine cannot be less than 150mm above the crankshaft reference line)

[Steven]

2006 regulations concerning your question:

Code: Select all

5.4.3 The crankshaft centreline must not be less than 58mm above the reference plane.
5.5.1 The overall weight of the engine must be a minimum of 95kg.
5.5.2 The centre of gravity of the engine may not lie less than 165mm above the reference plane.

Which means:
- it is not the engine that must be of minimum heigt above the bottom of the car, but its crankshaft. Changing the design of an engine to lower the crankshaft and thereby the CoG is therefore useless (and if so they should raise the engine higher from the ground to comply with 5.4.3
- The CoG is a physical term that is the point through which the force of gravity seems to act (the balance point). While it is beneficial to lower that for the car's cornering performance, it is now limited to be at least 165mm above the car's bottom. This means in effect that adding mass to the engine (since today's F1 engines could weigh a lot less than 95kg) cannot be done all at the bottom as it would lower the CoG too much.