Renault R31

[Carlo's]

Ok, let's start thread devoted to next year Renault car. Lopez confirmed that R31 is designed from scratch so they abandoned R29/R30 design, I guess it includes things like new chassis, nose, splitter and sidepods.

R31 will have Magnetti Marelli KERS and batteries should be mounted around sidepods which means that sidepods inlets should be higher than typical Renault design in the past.

Looking forward to see it, their aim is to be 3rd or 4th in WCC. What is more, there is possibility that R31 will have pull rod suspension. Apparently, Renault is already working on it.

I remember that in some point during 2010 season there were some rumours that Allison was told to be very creative and to work on holes in the regulations, I guess it had something to do with rumours about Bell's leaving from the team - it was something about that Bell prefered to be more restricted than Allison.

We know very little about their aero personnel but in 2009 I've heard some rumours about Jason's Sommerville joining to the RF1, he was a leader of Toyota aero department in 2009.

Moreover, Renault crew were testing some new parts for 2011 during the post-season Abu Dhabi test sessions. Apparently there was some new electronic parts and they were testing their reliability. As we know, aerodynamic profile of the new Pirelli tyres is different from Bridgestones, so some hard work on it is expected.

As we have seen in 2010 season, it's better to have ultra downforce car rather than low-drag car like it was in some cases. In my opinion R31 should be rather more Red Bull-esque.

[cravenciak]

I've wating for this topic Im very carefully when i am talking about R31 and other 2011 cars BUT i hope that Renault engineers can give to Kubicas hands great car!

[mith]

I remember some gossips about new gearbox necessary for switching from push-rod to pull-rod suspension and that being the main reason for Lotus (1Malaysia) to contract Red Bull box for upcoming seasons.

[scarbs]

I've been waiting for this thread to open, as I have some inside info on the R31.

Firstly it appears to be a clean sheet on the chassis side, the nose is distinctly more "V" shaped, I'm told the shape resembles the B192 with a rounded underside and flatter top.

As mentioned earlier (and in my autosport.com post) the KERS batteries are in the sidepods and this lifts the radiator inlets upwards into a McLaren like shape.

No word on the Gearbox\suspension layout, although Lotus heading for Red Bull may suggest Pullrod is not on the cards. Renaults 2010 car shifted the rockers & dampers towards the front of the case, this makes them sit neatly in the shadow behind the engine\airbox. So they might not need the access issues of pullrod.

[Carlo's]

I'm curious if W01-style airbox will be more like standard. There were probably no information from any other team about considering it.

EDIT:
@down - thanks scarbs, appreciate your posts.

[scarbs]

No thats been agreed by the teams to be banned, certainly the R31 has a conventional roll hoop

[godlameroso]

I knew it, creating a dome shape under the nose creates a low pressure zone in that area, as plenty of air passes through there, most teams will design their cars around this principle. Expect to see some crazy noses. I also expect to see someone do a trapezoidal sidepod inlet

[gridwalker]

Godlameroso, I'm afraid that the curve in the B192's nose went in the opposite direction :

[mith]

Gerard Lopez just said in the interview, that they have started to work on R31 in February. I thought it was later - somewhere around June or July. Nice to hear it.

And thanks for your post, scarbs.

[PNSD]

Design work will start in Jan/Feb time with the first bits likley machined maybe June/July...

Interesting to hear that scarbs!! Im expecting alot of Renault. Its easy to forget this is the team that won in both 2005, and 2006. Won races in 2003, and 2004 and in both those years were pretty competitive. This year the team has shown great strength through a rather difficult period IMO. I would not at all be supprised to see Renault (and Mercedes) alot closer to the top 3!

[scarbs]

Well the team have just done the first R32 meeting, so the projects lead tiem is nearer 18 months. I can't recall if Renault maintain their alternating design teams....?

[mith]

That's incredible. I never thought they're planning things that much far ahead.

[marcush.]

I´m not surprised at all .If you are considering new ideas you need a lot of lead time to implement and remove obstacles and get a clear idea so as to be able not to end in dead ends.
A januar meeting will not mean you are in production of parts at all ..it just sets directions for the different teams so as to know how to intégrate all the ideas that have evolved over time and perhaps new ideas that could possibly be implemented...you have at some point to just share the lines of thought to get all involved into the correct stream of thought..who might be the one to lead
in renault?

[Florio]

Memory permitting I heard McLaren started designing the MP4-23 in December 2006. Well, what they could design without the need of regulation conformation. But yeah the cars take years to develop. I wonder how Renault will progress now with Bob Bell gone.

[Neno]

Memory permitting I heard McLaren started designing the MP4-23 in December 2006. Well, what they could design without the need of regulation conformation. But yeah the cars take years to develop. I wonder how Renault will progress now with Bob Bell gone.

I heard that Bob Bell was quite careful with the rules of car design. did not want to go across the border rules, or "gray zone". This is one reason why is Bell released.

While Allison wanted to exploit the holes in regulations, more than is allowed. However this is good news for Renault, could see something new next year on the car.