Oh I'm sure "suspension guys" think they know a lot about what they want and need out of a tire, or how to get itSayshina wrote:and just about every suspension guy who's ever spoken up on the subject has said tires would look very different if they were allowed to.
I've had plenty of those conversations before.
Well, actually yes, but all indications are it's the aerodynamics that teams are terrified of changing. The specific demands they made of Pirelli seem to be mostly about the aero shape of the tires at speed, and the requirement for them to exactly mimic the Bridgestones.strad wrote:Maybe I worded it wrong...They have used these sidewalls and designed the car and it's suspension around them. IF you were to change the sidewall you would have to completely redesign the suspension, and that is not something they seem to be inclined to want to do just now.
Yes, you would need to redesign the suspension specifics, but no more so than when you raise the nose or go to or away from a keel design. Actually, almost certainly a lot less change would be required. You would need to redesign the hubs, but teams seem to do this almost every year regardless. Of the other things mentioned, teams sometimes change brake ducts at nearly every race.godlameroso wrote:You would have to change the suspension and the packaging if you used larger wheels, ...
..., second you need better control over suspension travel as well as more of it, this plays havoc on an f1 car's super ride height sensitive floors.
You would have to redesign the steering rack, control arms, uprights, suspension packaging, brake ducts and that's just off the top of my head I'm sure it affects other things which I'm not smart enough to realize.
Well, I actually liked those "modern" tyres.Sayshina wrote:... use a more modern construction, similar to what you see in other high performance tires (IE., much shorter sidewall, very different aspect ratio) and larger wheels.
Like any hand made product, it's somewhat a function of the quality of the equipment and the skill of the builder. And yes, there are ways of checking for variation.riff_raff wrote:JT,
Here's a question you might be able to answer. Being a hand made product, how consistent are race tires structurally from one to another? And is there any way the manufacturers check them for consistency in structural characteristics?
Thanks.
riff_raff
+1, well done Pirelli so farmyurr wrote:Can I just say, congratulations to Pirelli for getting the tyres just about right for this event. We had a good mix of strategies, good differentials between the cars, overtaking, and no real problems or people whose performance dropped completely off a cliff. Bravo!
Sure JT and Ben will know more about it, but this is perhaps a way to check the finished tire, for uniformity of radial stiffness.riff_raff wrote: And is there any way the manufacturers check them for consistency in structural characteristics?
Thanks.
riff_raff
In what way, other than your beloved Ferrari doing badly, did this race and more specifically the tyres suck?strad wrote:I'm glad you guys liked it. It played out just I susspected and it sucked.
"The most important thing to be said is that every result this weekend, whether positive or negative, has a common cause: the Pirelli tyres," Trulli wrote in a column for Repubblica.
"They've left us all shocked. I don't mean they were better or worse than we had expected, I mean that they were completely different: it's as if they have been changed since the last tests in Barcelona.
"During the winter all of us, in every team, have worked with tyres that would deteriorate immediately. It was a characteristic of the tyres, and there's been some polemics too. So we had thought the problem was to make them last long enough.
"Instead here in Melbourne we've found ourselves with tyres that had no durability problems, but in exchange for that they would struggle immensely to get up to temperature."
"If the tyres don't get up to temperature it's impossible to get the performance," he said. "During the race only two drivers had no problem getting the tyres up to temperature: [Lewis] Hamilton and [Sebastian] Vettel, second and first.
"Everyone else, some more than others, struggled. Even [Mark] Webber. In my opinion it's the same reason why Ferrari did badly in qualifying."
