Hondas new front wing

[pRo]

Is this for real or a joke?



http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/news/2007/05/ ... hant_ears/

[pRo]

Seems to be a double post as there are pics on the McLarens front wing thread already.

[checkered]

I think

it's OK, such developments deserve their own threads. The earth car seems to be sprouting appendages, maybe Honda has written software that simulates evolution? Some people are already crowing that these are "Dumbo" ears ... maybe they now think they've seen everything. But who's the aerodynamicist that's playing the role of Timothy Q. Mouse, then: "Why, they're poifect wings! The very things that held ya down are gonna carry ya up and up and up!"

I can't immediately perceive how the airflow through that front wing could be very "clean". But perhaps that's not their main concern. Here's Nick Fry at Autosport.com: ( http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58478 )

We have yet to fully identify the route cause of the problem, so to give you a definitive answer is not easy ... But from what I have seen, I don't think we can say hand on heart that we fully understood the problems we had at the start of the 2005 season, when we raised the front wing of the car ... Although we improved the situation I don't think we even understand now how we did that. And if those kind of issues are coming back to bite us again it would not surprise us.

Their front wing profile has seemed to differ, as far as I'm concerned anyway, from the others' for a long time now. Whereas most teams accentuate the angles and increase the surfaces of their airfoils towards the end plates, Honda's have seemed "flat", or even curving the other way along the sections by comparison. This latest development also implies that they're more concerned about the flow closer to the center line.

Edit: Or perhaps I should've rather written "less concerned about the flow closer to the center line"? As solutions go, the philosophy is in many ways completely opposite to McLaren's, even if the aim might be the same ... whereas the Woking team has foregone any supports connecting their top wing to the nose, Honda has two separate elements sturdily attached to it. Clearly there's much room to improve the general concept still.

[f1.redbaron]

I'm just waiting for the headline that reads "FIA bans....". Bernie is not gonna like it, just like he didn't like it on the BMW's.

btw, I think that Honda is asking to get picked on this year.

EDIT:



Who here has good eyes? Is that Button or Barrichello?

Disney is gonna sue them...

[DaveKillens]

Last night I had to administer some weird and strong medications. When I saw the pictures of the Honda appendage, there can only be one explanation. I'm on drugs and halucinating. I'll go back to sleep, and hopefully when I wake up, sanity will return and the Honda Dumbo ears will be gone.

[zender05]

I'm not a Aero genius...so what exactly would those 'ears' do? They look almost as if they'd create vortices.

[Steven]

Will post that in development blog later today. Quite funny looking.
The McLaren front wing still looks far more efficient than these thick flaps.

[zac510]

I'm dumbfounded. They don't appear to have any wing profile yet they appear to curve back down on the trailing edge.

[mahesh248]

Looks like they want big time grip in the front end ...hope it works for them ...

[monkeyboy1976]

It's official. Honda have gone mad.
I wonder if this will make any difference. If it moves them up the grid then they will be the prettiest looking bits of aero development we have seen in a long time.

[monkeyboy1976]

Looks like they want big time grip in the front end ...hope it works for them ...

JB says that the car suffers from rear end stability. They have been working to solve this since the start of pre-season testing.
These seem to be an attempt to steady airflow over the body.

[monkeyboy1976]

Thursday Times:-

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:21.066 59
2. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:21.267 58
3. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:21.483 38
4. Fisichella Renault (B) 1:21.876 63
5. Kubica BMW-Sauber (B) 1:22.098 55
6. R.Schumacher Toyota (B) 1:22.359 49
7. Klien Honda (B) 1:22.807 80


Seventh quickest Christian Klien caused a few raised eyebrows in the morning when he tried out extra nose wings, nicknamed 'Dumbo Wings', on his Honda Racing RA107.

The extra devices did not prove a success, however, with team sources suggesting that the idea was scrapped when it became clear very quickly it did not provide any benefit to the problems the team are suffering.

from Autosport
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58486

Honda really are in chaos. Poor JB and Rubens.

[joseff]

Oh hey at least they didn't crash 2 cars in 3 days and go home early

[Fan Solo]

Well, scrapped they may be but its another monumental clue that their wind tunnel is not performing as expected.

How can anything as large as those ears provide any benefit whatsoever? Unless their trying to slow the front down so the back sticks of course?

[mahesh248]

JB says that the car suffers from rear end stability. They have been working to solve this since the start of pre-season testing.
These seem to be an attempt to steady airflow over the body.[/quote]

They are having problem everywhere I think its time for jenson to switch to a better team ...Honda has lost it ..