Mercedes GP W02

[yener]

Yes i mean in terms of camber.

[raymondu999]

Not really related to ride height; but Ferrari's Silverstone upgrade changed the rear suspension geometry; including shortening the upper wishbone. This then created the effect of as the car was being pushed down by the downforce, the camber increased and became "more negative"

[yener]

Not really related to ride height; but Ferrari's Silverstone upgrade changed the rear suspension geometry; including shortening the upper wishbone. This then created the effect of as the car was being pushed down by the downforce, the camber increased and became "more negative"

Strange.. i think with optimizing that system would make the car faster, wouldn it?

[raymondu999]

How would it?

[atanatizante]

In 2010 they`ve had one of the lowest top speed on the grid and now in 2011 they corrected this issue and do the opposite having one of the highest … In both cases they could change the car`s set-up but unfortunately with slower times over one lap, because the W01 car was optimized for high DF and now W02 is optimized for low DF. Overall they didn`t gained too much because they`re still 4-th team in the WCC despite a fundamental change in car`s philosophy: SWB, low nose, push road, double deck radiators, middle side exhausts and so on and I think that in 2012 they have learned some lessons and wouldn`t make the same mistakes …

Btw. on other forums guys are speaking that the biggest factor for the 2012 would be the high rack of the car and particularly how big could this be, because everyone knows that the rake makes the diffuser exit larger. RB now is working to replace the blown exhaust (which makes a fluid barrier along the diffuser edges) with some aero devices near the floor in order to make a skirt of air on both sides of the diffuser.

In addition, does anybody have some updates about their new simulator, because I think the last results were partially due to this one …

[yener]

How would it?

When the car is on high speed it will be pushed downwards. The car gets lower and will have a "little" bit more topspeed.
When slowing down for the corner the car will lift up and the camber settings may change to which one it most fits.

So the camber will be optimized for the corners.

Correct me if i'm wrong

[raymondu999]

I don't see why ride height would affect top speed. It would increase downforce with the diffuser going lower to the ground (in conventional wisdom; I'm not sure about how that works with rake). But I don't see how top speed can/will change

[bhall]

I might be making this up, but I'm almost positive that I read/heard something about the active suspensions in the '90s being able raise the ride height of a car at the press of a button. Much like the philosophy behind today's DRS, drivers would use this feature on straights to reduce the effectiveness the floor, diffuser, etc, in order to shed downforce (and crucially, the resultant drag) to allow for quicker acceleration and higher top speed.

[dren]

As for the suspension geometry, the cars are all designed around their aerodynamic goals. The suspension an afterthought and fitted accordingly. The suspension likely changes camber somewhat when it moves, how much I don't know. I do know the CRXs I used to have would have more negative camber in compression, aiding the inside front tire traction. That was part of the design.

[tjaeger]

Just read an interesting article on Motorsport F1 a german website an interview with Pirelli.
Pirelli confirms that this year the key to success or failure is to make the tires work in a very precise, very tight window. Every driver and each car seem to struggle with it, but Vettel appears to be handling them best.
He understand to adjust each weekend the car and style to unlock the maximum from the tyres.
As a lot of conditions change, weight, balance, downforce, temperature the car appears to be going from possible, understeer to oversteer, or possibly wise versa. Nobody seems to be able to predict how and when the tyres going to react how.
A lot of drivers, including Alexander Wurz, which got a ton of experience as test driver for tyres confirm this behaviour.
So...maybe, just maybe, it is more related to the tricky deal around the tyres that is causing the MGP W02 to struggle this year...?? Maybe this is their biggest problem, given the complete new suspension geometry, angles, and different concepts at the back end?

[MIKEY_!]

They didn't help themselves with that tire warming exhaust did they. High CoG contributing as well i suspect.

[LotusF1]

Katz says that an airfoil in ground effect increases in drag. given that an f1 car is a giant aerofoil as you get towards the ground your drag increases. thats if you want to listen to the truth...

[MIKEY_!]

sorry but how is this relevant?

[yener]

Maybe this is their biggest problem, given the complete new suspension geometry, angles, and different concepts at the back end?

You should know the tires are related to the shortwheelbase which made it necessary to place a high fueltank and that caused a movement of the centre of gravity.

It has been explained earlier before.

They will never get the tires work like they want with the WO2. That's a fact.

And next year they have the advange that they can't make the same stupid mistake again.

[dren]

The team found a lot of performance early in the season with simple set-up changes.

They are also suposedly running a complex front-rear suspension coupling system. I don't know how much benefit this is to the car. Sorting out set-up issues with the system could be down to part of it.

The compromised car design is certainly part of it.