hardingfv32 wrote:
In the last 4-5 decades when has anyone ever found it beneficial to route air flow into the cockpit? You want us to believe that these guys just came up with a new idea in this area. Do you have even the smallest amount of logic supporting your position?
Brian
McLaren/Everyone else who had a driver controlled F-Duct in 2010. They came up with a brand new concept for 2010. Red Bull/Renault engine dept came up with a brand new idea for off throttle blowing to make the EBD more stable... So yes... People come up with new ideas all the time. Granted the EBD has no relation to cockpit airflow, but it is a valid illustration of my point. As would be the Renault Mass Damper, McLaren J Damper, McLaren's second brake pedal, Double Diffuser, any innovation where one or more teams have stolen a march on the rest of the grid. All new ideas in existing areas.
hardingfv32 wrote:
2) We have had rear engine cars for 5 decades. You want us to believe that in that time no one ever considered routing the front radiator flow in to the cockpit as a simple experiment (disregarding driver comfort)?
3) Why are not other FI team doing this? Too difficult to perform CFD or test in the tunnel? You guys thought it up and 200 or so paid professional wouldn't? Does that sound logical?
Mid Engined cars. From what i've read from many people on here who are way more knowledgeable than myself, flow coming from the back of the radiators would be too turbulent and slow to do any complex routing with. Flow hitting the gap in that letterbox (pretty much unobstructed) at up to 200mph I would suggest is more usable. A front wing F-Duct does seem like some pretty extreme routing, but not a lot more extreme than Mercedes' routing for theirs. Plus the letterbox is way bigger than the intake on the Mercedes nose cone, and if Mercedes can get enough air to their wing to do the job using the hole in the end of their nose cone, then perhaps Red Bull are getting a similar amount of air to their front wing using a more complex system, but starting with a larger amount of air/energy, and losing more along the way.
Nobody here is saying that they invented this letterbox intake... They're speculating as to what it might do. And obviously someone at Red Bull came up with it and the rest of the grid either hasn't looked into it (like 2010 with the F-Duct) or it doesn't bring much of a benefit and other teams didn't feel the need to do whatever it is that the intake does.
