McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[PlatinumZealot]

I am starting to doubt the exhaust slit right now. I have been watching videos and I don't see any form of smoke, flame, spark, condensation or anything coming from there. These are things you can see clearly near the "side skirts" of the R31. We also do not see any opening even from top views.

Even the location looks geometrically clumsy when you look at it from different views.I think the exhaust gasses are definitely near that area though due to the material, but for all I know it may be under the car. Need more photos. Not denying it's not slit though, just second guessing it.

[ringo]

It could be in the vertical transition between step and reference plane.
For this to happen though parts of the car must be lifted upwards to allow the pipes to settle in that area.

[Italiano]

[...]

[mstar]

either way the hard facts i am slowly concluding is that the Mac is on the back foot. It could be like the MP4-25, the almost car was close but never got to be better consistently then the RB and Ferrari.

[Pup]

At least next week we'll finally get to see that new rear wing...

"The next test will be important for putting together all of the components, KERS and a new rear wing, then we’ll have a clear picture of the situation. "

Also, is he implying that they haven't run KERS yet?

[akshat21]

It could just be that they are sandbagging... Red bull did it last year when they had a very radical car. Mcl were consistently on the top during the tests and come the first race, RB just blew the pants off everyone.

I don't know, maybe I am wrong, but except for Button and Brundle (he did say the car looked awful in the turns), there hasn't been too much bad press about the car.

So let's see, maybe I am wrong and Mcl have a potential tortoise on their hands or maybe they have a half decent car and they are just giving disinformation about it (thats the fan in me talking )

[boci]

either way the hard facts i am slowly concluding is that the Mac is on the back foot. It could be like the MP4-25, the almost car was close but never got to be better consistently then the RB and Ferrari.

The -25 was better than the Ferrari for half the season.

I don't think the exhausts can exit under the car, the floor is not supposed to have any holes. I wonder if they can even simulate exhaust gasses in the wind tunnel? Also could it be beneficial to go back to top exhausts like before 2010, Ferrari definitely had found an aerodynamic advantage in the early 2000s with them.

[dren]

It could just be that they are sandbagging... Red bull did it last year when they had a very radical car. Mcl were consistently on the top during the tests and come the first race, RB just blew the pants off everyone.

I don't know, maybe I am wrong, but except for Button and Brundle (he did say the car looked awful in the turns), there hasn't been too much bad press about the car.

So let's see, maybe I am wrong and Mcl have a potential tortoise on their hands or maybe they have a half decent car and they are just giving disinformation about it (thats the fan in me talking )

I don't think the teams really know where Mclaren stand with the new car. They have recently been going through teething issues with it. Last year most everybody knew the Red Bull was going to be good, but not quite sure how good. I think the qualifying pace surprised some.

[McG]

At least next week we'll finally get to see that new rear wing...

"The next test will be important for putting together all of the components, KERS and a new rear wing, then we’ll have a clear picture of the situation. "

Also, is he implying that they haven't run KERS yet?

Yeah apparently they haven't used the movable rear wing and/or/with KERS in anger. Another other McLaren guy said it even bofore that quote from JB.

[Byronrhys]

either way the hard facts i am slowly concluding is that the Mac is on the back foot. It could be like the MP4-25, the almost car was close but never got to be better consistently then the RB and Ferrari.

The -25 was better than the Ferrari for half the season.

I don't think the exhausts can exit under the car, the floor is not supposed to have any holes. I wonder if they can even simulate exhaust gasses in the wind tunnel? Also could it be beneficial to go back to top exhausts like before 2010, Ferrari definitely had found an aerodynamic advantage in the early 2000s with them.

What about the mp4-24's floor, could they blow under this?

[raymondu999]

Interesting. That seems a lot like the Red Bull solution, just in a different position, and starting earlier.

[PlatinumZealot]

either way the hard facts i am slowly concluding is that the Mac is on the back foot. It could be like the MP4-25, the almost car was close but never got to be better consistently then the RB and Ferrari.

The -25 was better than the Ferrari for half the season.

I don't think the exhausts can exit under the car, the floor is not supposed to have any holes. I wonder if they can even simulate exhaust gasses in the wind tunnel? Also could it be beneficial to go back to top exhausts like before 2010, Ferrari definitely had found an aerodynamic advantage in the early 2000s with them.

I guess the floor can be cut back to just over the regulated 650mm from the center line. And you have a legal 50mm left on each side. It is still legal if you cut the reference with a trans. or long. plane you will get a continuous line on the reference plane within the 650mm. I could be wrong though..

This is my second guess on the layout. I figure those metal forms on the edge of the floor are guides that turn the exhaust towards the middle of the diffuser, and at the same time allow a slit opening proximately 30mm wide under the floor, outside of 650mm from the center line.



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[McG]

So the floor is the exhaust? Quite smart. Are Red Bull getting some of theirs towards the centre of the diffuser too? Their outlet looks like an oval that points to the rear, but god knows whats going on under it all.

[boci]

either way the hard facts i am slowly concluding is that the Mac is on the back foot. It could be like the MP4-25, the almost car was close but never got to be better consistently then the RB and Ferrari.

The -25 was better than the Ferrari for half the season.

I don't think the exhausts can exit under the car, the floor is not supposed to have any holes. I wonder if they can even simulate exhaust gasses in the wind tunnel? Also could it be beneficial to go back to top exhausts like before 2010, Ferrari definitely had found an aerodynamic advantage in the early 2000s with them.

I guess the floor can be cut back to just over the regulated 650mm from the center line. And you have a legal 50mm left on each side. It is still legal if you cut the reference with a trans. or long. plane you will get a continuous line on the reference plane within the 650mm. I could be wrong though..

This is my second guess on the layout. I figure those metal forms on the edge of the floor are guides that turn the exhaust towards the middle of the diffuser, and at the same time allow a slit opening proximately 30mm wide under the floor, outside of 650mm from the center line.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626/ ... ccaex2.png

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I guess something like that could be legal, but would be really be effective? When Newey first introduced the low exhaust it was to "clean up" the air around the rear tires to make everything work more efficiently, not specifically to use those gases for an increase in downforce.

One Idea that I've been thinking about for a while is to put the exhausts right ahead of the rear wheels facing towards the front of the car. That could encourage the air that goes to the rear wheels to instead travel inboards to the diffuser. It could also decrease drag as that air isn't just "wasted" going to the rear tires.

[Formula None]

I guess the floor can be cut back to just over the regulated 650mm from the center line. And you have a legal 50mm left on each side. It is still legal if you cut the reference with a trans. or long. plane you will get a continuous line on the reference plane within the 650mm. I could be wrong though..

This is my second guess on the layout. I figure those metal forms on the edge of the floor are guides that turn the exhaust towards the middle of the diffuser, and at the same time allow a slit opening proximately 30mm wide under the floor, outside of 650mm from the center line.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v626 ... ccaex2.png

I was wondering about the same prospect in my initial analysis of the photos back on page 86.

That's what I'm wondering. They can have a hole in the floor at the outer 50mm AFAIK, but I'm not sure what effect this would have (blowing down and seemingly out). The metallic strip might just be part of the shaped exhaust piece getting exposed in that area.

The thick, stumpy spine shape on the topside still needs explaining, though, and it ain't no turning vane/vortex generator. Surely there is a clear cut answer, I mean we're talking about affecting the high pressure side, on one hand, and the low pressure side, on the other. Seems like one, and I don't know which, would have to be preferable. Say it were a blown wing. Would you aim the exhaust gases at the high pressure side, or the low pressure side? Apples to oranges, wings to floors?!

Maybe they are doing a little of both, as in the front exit of the Renault R31 (some exhaust goes above, some below, split by floor's leading edge). I brought up the idea a few weeks ago in the RB7 thread, of using bodywork positioned in front of two legal exhaust exits to split the flow for routing to different parts of the car. If such an interpretation of the rules is legal, then there could be two slits, above and below. It's a question of where the exhaust system ends and bodywork begins.