Lotus E20 Renault

[Forza]

Here is a top view of E20 from Day 1 at YDT at ABD.

[RB7ate9]

Of course it is because of an unexperienced driver.

Well, it couldn't be because of improved aero right? And considering that Webber is one of the tallest drivers on the grid, it's not a height issue (of course, I haven't seen pictures of the driver so he might be a giant! ).

[Forza]

ABD Young driver testing - day 2

Today they are testing DRD in combination with old exhaust setup and bodywork

[turbof1]

Perhaps the old exhausts are fitted to keep downforce more consistent, to give the young driver more predictability?

[MarkedOne8]

Perhaps the old exhausts are fitted to keep downforce more consistent, to give the young driver more predictability?

Probably.Maybe they want to make more comparisons to Coanda exhaust.

I'm really excited about DRD.How much of km/h does it gives?

[bucker]

I expect that tommorow they will run with DRD and Coanda exhaust for some more comparison.

[quidam]

If they have a new upgrade DRD, they have to run it with the old exhaust otherwise they can't conclude anything.

[MarkedOne8]

ScarbsF1:
"...Having the passive system means that the Lotus device can be used to stall the wing above a certain speed on every lap, meaning the small c5-8kmh speed advantage is available on every straight and fast corner..."
This is massive advantage on straights.As I understand, the problem is tuning the device when you have circuit like Spa, or corners like 130R or Blanchimont.If Blanchimont, let's say the speed on the apex is 300 kph.The top speed on Kemmel straight is 320.That means they must setup the DRD to be activated not before 300 kph or even more.That means DRD on Spa can't have big operational windows.Circuits like Korea, Bahrain, Malaysia, China, Abu Dhabi are much better for DRD.They have long multiple straights, but they like fast aerodynamic corners.If the fastest corner is about 270 kph, and the absolute top speed is 320 kph, then the operational windows of DRD is about 50 kph.That is much bigger comparing to 20 kph in Spa.
This are just an examples.Don't blame me for wrong numbers in terms of speeds.

5 kph is approximately 84 meters per minute.Let's say the average lap under full throttle is one minute.If the advantage per lap is 84 meters, that means the advantage over one lap is 1,5 seconds (average lap speed 200 kph).He have to do calculations for each circuit separately.It's dependent of DRD operational windows.If the DRD could be activated for whole lap, that would mean 1,5 seconds advantage per lap, but that is impossible even on Monza, but half lap should be possible which is equal to 7 tenths of a second per lap.It's very different from circuit to circuit.I think there will be no room for DRD in Monaco.

[Forza]

ABD Young driver testing - day 2 - Photo update

[Ral]

ScarbsF1:
"...Having the passive system means that the Lotus device can be used to stall the wing above a certain speed on every lap, meaning the small c5-8kmh speed advantage is available on every straight and fast corner..."
This is massive advantage on straights.As I understand, the problem is tuning the device when you have circuit like Spa, or corners like 130R or Blanchimont.If Blanchimont, let's say the speed on the apex is 300 kph.The top speed on Kemmel straight is 320.That means they must setup the DRD to be activated not before 300 kph or even more.That means DRD on Spa can't have big operational windows.

That's not entirely true. I've read from various sources that in high-speed corners the diffuser generates enough downforce all by itself. Which is why we saw Vettel go through 130R with the DRS activated for example. But presumably you have to set the balance of the car with that in mind.

I think the problem with tuning is more to do with making sure they know when the fluidic switch activates and preventing premature bleeding into the stalling channel. Comments James Allison made regarding the unsuitability of the device for Monza, made it sound like the pipes were simply unable to cope with the volume of air forced through them, for example.

[raymondu999]

Given that the DRD is a passive system which changes the level of downforce, I think the lack of a Coanda exhaust was a given. The young driver otherwise wouldn't be able to differentiate between a loss of downforce due to lifting, or due to the device kicking in, or vice versa.

[Nando]

I doubt it, i think there's another explanation as to why they ran standard exhaust.
Possibly because they have done so all season. You don't want to introduce new elements to something you have been trying to figure out for months.

[MarkedOne8]

Can or could DRD system be considered as a big upgrade?How much potential does it has?
I know my calculations were not quite accurate, but I think that system is worth at least 4 tenths per lap of an average circuit.
What do the other guys think?

And how much will RBR lose with ban on DDRS?

[raymondu999]

Why are we talking about an RB thing in a Lotus E20 thread?

[Forza]

Q: What’s the state of play with upgrades? Are there more to come?

JA: We are still experimenting with the latest evolution of our Coandă system. This delivers the same downforce as the one we introduced in Korea and used in the Abu Dhabi race, but does not sap as much power from the engine. We trialled this evolution in Abu Dhabi, but opted to go for the known quantity of the Korea-spec. Now we have the young driver test behind us, we are confident that this evolution will assist with around an extra six horsepower for the last two races of the season. We also have a little aero upgrade to the front wing too.

Q: How useful was the young driver test?

JA: We were able to evaluate three drivers and get different input for the car which is always useful, but primarily the test allowed us to calibrate our factory based tools we use to assess what is good and what is bad for developing the car. We were able to measure our simulations against reality by performing correlation tests at the track. The young driver test gave us a brilliant opportunity to catch up with the backlog of these correlation tests that have built up over the course of the year to make sure that the design direction we’ve taken from our factory-based tools is not leading us astray. This is valuable as we approach our final two races of the season, but also for design developments heading into next season too.