Vodafone McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes

[Shakeman]

Are my eyes deciding me or is the exit of the engine cover blocked off completely?

[icemanchay]

What is this? I’m guessing it's some kind of sensor measuring the airflow from the top of the sidepod?



From this angle, the bodywork housing the exhaust channel looks like a massive boyracer exhaust pipe haha.

any news o mclaren yet on jerez.why arent mclaren going fast or is it problem issues theyre having or are they trying new parts.Lotus is flying like a rocket

I wouldn't read anything into this, if I’m not mistaken Williams topped the first test last year, and look where it got them.

[Holm86]

Thats a "monkey-seat" a little extra wing mounted on top of the beamwing.

Its not mounted on the sidspod.

[Mchamilton]

Are my eyes deciding me or is the exit of the engine cover blocked off completely?

yes it is

[officialsushy]

What is this? I’m guessing it's some kind of sensor measuring the airflow from the top of the sidepod?



From this angle, the bodywork housing the exhaust channel looks like a massive boyracer exhaust pipe haha.

any news o mclaren yet on jerez.why arent mclaren going fast or is it problem issues theyre having or are they trying new parts.Lotus is flying like a rocket

I wouldn't read anything into this, if I’m not mistaken Williams topped the first test last year, and look where it got them.

its a monkey seat to give u extra downforce under the wing

[Chalke]

Are my eyes deciding me or is the exit of the engine cover blocked off completely?

yes it is

Wild suggestion - a feature on some cars, very notably the FI, is an exposed starter hole. Perhaps more noticeably because of the increasingly tight packaging at the rear of this generating of cars... but not something I've been able to spot on the Mclaren.

With all obvious exits to the sidepods blocked, any chance they're trying to duct all the 'waste' air from the sidepods downward and blowing it through the starter hole to increase the effectiveness of the diffuser?

[gridwalker]

I'd say they are more likely to be trying to accelerate the air out of the slots on the exhaust pods, attempting to create an air-wall to seal off the tyre wake (but I'm no engineer, so that is just a stab in the dark).

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Great rear end/exhaust shot. right click>view image

[raymondu999]

Why is it an entire longitudinal slit? Any takers?

[icemanchay]

Beautiful. I wonder how many different exhaust configurations they will be bolting on over the course of the test. They look like they can be changed pretty quickly.

[Mandrake]

I'm still puzzled about the exhaust of that car. First of all, why do they need such a large bulge to house the extension for the exhaust?

Then the cutout, I'm sure it's meant to be closed as the final product.....but the rules say no bodywork may guide the flow of gases? This one chages a slightly upwards stream into a slighty downward stream doesn't it?

Lastly, in current config it looks as if it points to the tires, but didn't MGP have terrible problems with that last season? Or is the airstream enough to push the exhaust gases further inward?

[Chalke]

I'd say they are more likely to be trying to accelerate the air out of the slots on the exhaust pods, attempting to create an air-wall to seal off the tyre wake (but I'm no engineer, so that is just a stab in the dark).

Yep, I see your thinking there, especially if this car is designed heavily around that concept, we'd need a shot down the spout of those slots to see how open they are to verify this theory.

My feeling was that too much energy would be lost/deflected in the journey from the exhaust slot to the brake duct, so blowing direct into the diffuser (essentially) would be a more efficient use of the air.

Edit : I think the slots are essentially sealed bar the hole for the exhaust pipe to poke through, without enough room to evacuate all the air from the side pods - see this image linked on the last page: http://www.formule1.nl/media/uploads/me ... 7-0176.jpg

[Chalke]

Beautiful. I wonder how many different exhaust configurations they will be bolting on over the course of the test. They look like they can be changed pretty quickly.

I think they learnt from last year, aside from the horrific reliability of the stillborn 'octo-exhaust' it was taking them hours each day to switch between variations, losing further testing time on the rest of the car.

[bonjon1979]

I'm still puzzled about the exhaust of that car. First of all, why do they need such a large bulge to house the extension for the exhaust?

Then the cutout, I'm sure it's meant to be closed as the final product.....but the rules say no bodywork may guide the flow of gases? This one chages a slightly upwards stream into a slighty downward stream doesn't it?

Lastly, in current config it looks as if it points to the tires, but didn't MGP have terrible problems with that last season? Or is the airstream enough to push the exhaust gases further inward?

The difficulty for the FIA is that ALL bodywork will guide the flow of gases. Mclaren have an obvious looking channel but other cars are sculpted to drive the gases in a certain direction. Be interested to see how they police this.

[Donuts]

Why is it an entire longitudinal slit? Any takers?

I guess they want to let the exhaust out at that specific point in space but regulations prohibit them to have the exhaust exit that far out, so they made a channel... open slit does not count as pipe... but I have'nt read the regulations.