Another Question

[m3_lover]

If you watch this video, before the car starts, the engine is making a lot of noise (time index 1:40-1:42). what is it doing? Is it flooding the cylinders with fuel? making sure all the oil is going through the engine?

You got love to jeremy clarkson say the car has a lot of torque, f1 cars do not have a lot of torque, isn't it just fast because of the low weight?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... q=top+gear

[DaveKillens]

The car is in launch mode for the start. The driver has applied throttle, and the engine management controls are cutting out spark on cylinders to restrict power and RPM. It's the ignition cutting in and out that is making that sound.
Torque is basically the twisting force the crankshaft applies. The engine makes lots of power, but at a very high RPM. Torque is calculated relative to RPM and power. In most cases, the more RPM, the less torque. But it's still a lot in that car. In the average road car, horsepower and torque are about equal. In an F1 engine, there is less torque relative to HP.
It's around 300 ft/lbs peak torque.

[Scuderia_Russ]

Yep, that clattering is what traction control sounds like.

[Spencifer_Murphy]

Dont different teams use different ways of implementing TC? i.e some cut-out cylinders and some decrease the throttle (cos they r drive by wire nowadays).???

[DaveKillens]

Dont different teams use different ways of implementing TC? i.e some cut-out cylinders and some decrease the throttle (cos they r drive by wire nowadays).???

I guess they could, or maybe use a combination of those methods. But as displayed by the video, the engine is running at optimum RPM to be launched. As well, the throttle butterflies, the fuel injectors are all set and delivering the correct fuel/air mixture for that specific RPM. Once the driver releases the launch button and the car begins it's automated sequence to get up to speed, there's absolutely no lag from the engine.

[wowf1]

Jeremy Clarkson didn't say the Renault had a lot of torque. He is implying that the Renault F1 car has more torque than any other F1 car, which is generally accepted as being correct. Yes, F1 cars have relatively low torque when compared to fast road cars/other racing series, but that isn't what JC was referring to.

[RH1300S]

I have read that using relatively high torque and rearward weight bias was a very deliberate race philosohpy from Renault.

The high (ish ) torque engine allowed them to carry one gear less in the 'box than is the norm, saving weight (rotating and absolute ). The torquey nature and rearward weight bias helped a lot with traction. Also, they calculated that the torque bias in the engine would allow them to carry less fuel (or go further for the same fuel weight). I think lower cooling requirements etc. etc. In 2004, this was quite extreme; but the need to get more weight to the front tyres in 2005 meant that the rearward bias was reduced a bit.

Of course all of this could be BS to get hide the truth about their jack-rabbit starts, a secret they are understandably very keen to protect