Virgin MVR-02 Cosworth

[forty-two]

Flo-Vis isn't exactly expensive though is it? Surely a bit of luminous green paint, chuck in a bit of oil and you're done?

That looks for all the world like they've got a couple of dozen lengths of grnadma's wool and whacked them onto the car using a bit of duct tape. The tape isn't straight, and the end hasn't even been cut square.

Is this REALLY an F1 team?

[dren]

Thanks Zgred

Is that hole in the diffuser legit?

That's the starter hole I think.

[Giblet]

Flo-Vis isn't exactly expensive though is it? Surely a bit of luminous green paint, chuck in a bit of oil and you're done?

That looks for all the world like they've got a couple of dozen lengths of grnadma's wool and whacked them onto the car using a bit of duct tape. The tape isn't straight, and the end hasn't even been cut square.

Is this REALLY an F1 team?

String is still used by top team as well. I've seen it on Mclaren and Brawn as recently as 2009 testing season and midseason.

Flow vis is not as good at showing instabilities, as the string's are usually filmed and do different things in yaw etc.

[Jon]

Flo-Vis isn't exactly expensive though is it? Surely a bit of luminous green paint, chuck in a bit of oil and you're done?

That looks for all the world like they've got a couple of dozen lengths of grnadma's wool and whacked them onto the car using a bit of duct tape. The tape isn't straight, and the end hasn't even been cut square.

Is this REALLY an F1 team?

String is still used by top team as well. I've seen it on Mclaren and Brawn as recently as 2009 testing season and midseason.

Flow vis is not as good at showing instabilities, as the string's are usually filmed and do different things in yaw etc.

[Off topic]
Thank you for your timely post Giblet. It has prevented me from writing a very sarcastic comment...
Grant me patience, I pray... [-o<

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Thanks Zgred

Is that hole in the diffuser legit?

That's the starter hole I think.

Werent there restrictions on the size of the hole? This appears fairly large....

[horse]

Werent there restrictions on the size of the hole? This appears fairly large....

No part can be more than 100mm from another and I think it can have a maximum area of 3,500mm squared. In theory it can be reasonably long and thin.

[zgred]

[ESPImperium]

I can confirm, from watching todays episode of Channel 5s The Gadget Show (Very F1 of all shows!!) that the Marussia Virgin MVR/02 is built by Derby (UK) based EPM Technology (http://www.epmtechnology.com/).

By the looks of things, they have produced the Force India VJM/04 and all the "Silverstone" teams cars dating back to the Spyker F8-VIII that became the VJM/01.

[Belatti]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90340

Glock worried about Virgin's form

Although the Virgin team was better prepared for the race this year - having brought a fuel tank too small to last a full race distance in 2010 - the German believes its speed has fallen away.

"We went forward in terms of the whole structure of the team", said Glock, "the work from the mechanics and engineering side is much better than last year. But performance wise, in my opinion, we moved backwards.

"The others just made massive steps. We are just not able to make these big steps. We didn't believe it in Barcelona [testing] but now it's quite obvious that we are not where we should be. The team has to think about certain things and make changes to get us closer. We cannot continue like this. It's not possible."

I think they are "in the oven" as it is said by youngsters arround here... the "we dont use a wind tunnel" philosophy doesnt seem to work here in F1

"Definitely. At one point we were 105 [per cent] off, I think, so we had a bit of a margin. But if the other guys put soft tyres on and really go for it in Q1, we will be massively in trouble.

"The balance of the car is not that bad. Simply, we just have not enough downforce, and the people in the team have to realise that."

When asked if the Virgin team's high-profile use of Computational Fluid Dynamics rather than wind tunnel testing when designing their car was a factor, the former-Toyota pilot admitted this may have hurt development.

"Could be. We have to think about these things now. Other teams are using CFD but mixed with the wind tunnel, so we have to come to the point and rethink about this."

[nacho]

I don't think it is the CFD vs wind tunnel that is the problem with this car, it is what the engineers are drawing up. Their concept with the low nose seems to be completely wrong and unfixable for this season. They still use the Xtrac box which was a disaster last year.

[747heavy]

..... Their concept with the low nose seems to be completely wrong and unfixable for this season.......

according to an AMuS article, they plan a upgrade
for Turkey, which apparently includes a high nose, a new exhaust system, a new diffusor and a modified rear wing.

This brings us back to the question, if a nose(cone) is really still homologated ( can´t be changed during the season), or just subject to pass the FIA crash test.

[PlatinumZealot]

I think John Booth should have just bought the Toyota and called it a day! He might still be able to get it for 2012.

[adrianjordan]

I think John Booth should have just bought the Toyota and called it a day! He might still be able to get it for 2012.

Yes but by then it will be a 2 year old design which will need to be modified to comply with the 2012 regulations.

I think John Booth should employ some better designers - wind tunnel or CFD, it doesn't matter which you use if your design isn't that great to start with.

[beelsebob]

Yes but by then it will be a 2 year old design which will need to be modified to comply with the 2012 regulations.

I think John Booth should employ some better designers - wind tunnel or CFD, it doesn't matter which you use if your design isn't that great to start with.

It's a shame the rules limit computer time – I'd love to see a car designed using genetic algorithms and a good CFD model. That would eliminate the bad designer issue, and plausibly produce some very efficient designs. Of course, good engineers would still be needed to figure out where the weird holes in the rules are.

[bot6]

At the end of the day, it's not about weird holes in the rules. It's about having the right global design concept, and having a "feel" for how the flow bends and where it goes. That just comes with years of experience and some talent to start with.

Wind tunnels and CFD can only be used to check the validity of a given solution. They can't design the solution for you from scratch. That's the creative bit of the engineer's brain's job. And that's the beauty of it.