Lotus E20 Renault

[munudeges]

The rear to this car looks very generic and the detailing around the brake ducts is miles away from a car like the Red Bull. They have some way to go with this car, but although today was almost certainly a lower fuel run I don't think that car was on fumes. If they can make progress with this car things bode well.

[PlatinumZealot]

Last week the team said Kimi needed to get some practice on low fuel - so... I have a hunch he was running light.

[ringo]

No it's an E20

Wrong. It's the R31. Read the previous pages. Lotus used un R31 for the two launches (Enstone/Jerez)

Focus on the vertical splitter (side view images), it's one of the details that differentiates the two chassis.
Let's end this discussion.

Well what should be done is to find a picture from last year of the r31 with these holes. That is logical, as this r31 is bastardized to have features of the E20 correct. Those holes may well be bastardizations rather than features found previously on the r31.

[bizadfar]

Last week the team said Kimi needed to get some practice on low fuel - so... I have a hunch he was running light.

Interesting. I read the opposite. He needed more heavy running. That doesn't mean I'm saying his time was heavy.

But it is interesting considering that pointless thread you opened in General F1.

[ernest]

I don't know if anyone has seen Insoniacs great photos from testing -http://imgur.com/a/nWA69#LbRvP

But take a look at the shot of the Lotus 3rd picture down, in the Autosport interview with Paddy Lowe something is mentioned about Lotus ducting the exhaust back into the body to exit out of the cooling outlet, my reading of this picture is that there is an opening in the bodywork behind the first 2 temp sensing strips which could well act as an inlet for the exhaust flow to re enter the body work. Of course I could be completely wrong and speculating wildly.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Flo viz. You can clearly see how the air is flowing. Right click>view image

[kilcoo316]

Erm not really. Some surface paint tells you very little, I'm surprised they even bother to be honest.

Load cells, pitots and even hot wires tell you sooooo much more.

[Donuts]

I don't know if anyone has seen Insoniacs great photos from testing -http://imgur.com/a/nWA69#LbRvP

But take a look at the shot of the Lotus 3rd picture down, in the Autosport interview with Paddy Lowe something is mentioned about Lotus ducting the exhaust back into the body to exit out of the cooling outlet, my reading of this picture is that there is an opening in the bodywork behind the first 2 temp sensing strips which could well act as an inlet for the exhaust flow to re enter the body work. Of course I could be completely wrong and speculating wildly.

Can anyone find thata part of the interview(I am considering to pay for Autosport Plus, but have'nt made my mind up. Are the articles any good?)?

Any closeups of this area?

[raymondu999]

I *think* this is the part he's looking for.

Q. How much focus have you had on the exhaust area of the car this year – especially with teams like Lotus evaluating some radical ideas to divert gases into air ducts?

PL: It is certainly going to be one of the more active development areas. Any time that you have a rule change around the exhaust geometries then of course it is the richest area of development to find gains. But as it matures over two or three years, then people will settle on generally the right answer. But when you have the rule change and disturbance, then people try different things – which is fascinating.

So, because of that, it is something we have had a good look at here at Jerez. You want to know what the other teams have done and work out how they are going to make it work. Always you find interesting ideas that you did not think of, or questions as to why rival teams have done what they have done, and what it means about other areas of the car.Although the constraints on the exhaust are much tighter than last year, in terms of location, you still have 10 quite different solutions out there, even though it is a reasonably small box where you have got to put your tailpipe. And that is fascinating.

I think there is going to be a lot of development in that area throughout the year, as that aspect starts to mature. The problem we had last year with exhausts was that because it was such a new area of rapid development the precise application of the rules proved difficult. We are very happy that for 2012 the FIA has defined clear and measurable guidelines because that gives us all definite boundaries to work to.

Everybody knows that exhausts will always generate some limited aerodynamic performance – you cannot stop that altogether. But what is so much better than 2011 is that the limits have been clearly defined and in a way which restricts the performance to a small fraction of what was possible before.

I see this as being very similar to the situation with wings: in theory any wing which deflects in the slightest is illegal but we all know that real wings must bend, so to solve this the FIA set practical limits using specific stiffness tests. Actually, both examples are based on the interpretation of the same technical regulation: Article 3.15. What F1 always needs is clarity over what is OK and what is not OK, and I think the FIA have achieved that: Charlie has done a great job."

[Donuts]

I *think* this is the part he's looking for.

Q. How much focus have you had on the exhaust area of the car this year – especially with teams like Lotus evaluating some radical ideas to divert gases into air ducts?

PL: It is certainly going to be one of the more active development areas. Any time that you have a rule change around the exhaust geometries then of course it is the richest area of development to find gains. But as it matures over two or three years, then people will settle on generally the right answer. But when you have the rule change and disturbance, then people try different things – which is fascinating.

So, because of that, it is something we have had a good look at here at Jerez. You want to know what the other teams have done and work out how they are going to make it work. Always you find interesting ideas that you did not think of, or questions as to why rival teams have done what they have done, and what it means about other areas of the car.Although the constraints on the exhaust are much tighter than last year, in terms of location, you still have 10 quite different solutions out there, even though it is a reasonably small box where you have got to put your tailpipe. And that is fascinating.

I think there is going to be a lot of development in that area throughout the year, as that aspect starts to mature. The problem we had last year with exhausts was that because it was such a new area of rapid development the precise application of the rules proved difficult. We are very happy that for 2012 the FIA has defined clear and measurable guidelines because that gives us all definite boundaries to work to.

Everybody knows that exhausts will always generate some limited aerodynamic performance – you cannot stop that altogether. But what is so much better than 2011 is that the limits have been clearly defined and in a way which restricts the performance to a small fraction of what was possible before.

I see this as being very similar to the situation with wings: in theory any wing which deflects in the slightest is illegal but we all know that real wings must bend, so to solve this the FIA set practical limits using specific stiffness tests. Actually, both examples are based on the interpretation of the same technical regulation: Article 3.15. What F1 always needs is clarity over what is OK and what is not OK, and I think the FIA have achieved that: Charlie has done a great job."

Thanks! Does'nt really say much, but I have'nt heard anything about Lotus exhaust yet, not much talk in this thread anyway or by sports journalists or anyone! The Lotus car is less "spectacular", I guess, than some other cars.

[Blackout]

ducting the exhaust back into the body to exit out of the cooling outlet

Something like this ? would it be legal ? (a very bad drawing I know. it's a top view and the red things are exhausts )

[volarchico]

Not technically, because those "intakes" you have drawn behind the exhausts would be bodywork within the cone defined around the exhaust exit that is not allowed to have bodywork.

[Blackout]

Ok. Thanks.

[yace]

i made a a comparison between the R31 and the E20

i know the angle is a little different, but the scale is the same

[scuderiafan]

OT but WHY IS THE CAR CREAM COLORED!