I liked it =D> ... At the same time, they should also consider to change the width of the tire/rim to increase grip and compensate the downforce lost on the last aero changes.
Thunders wrote:I'm sure once the Cars are actually built for the 18 Inch Wheels everything will look better aerodynamically. The Lotus was just a current Car with 18 Inch Wheels slapped onto, of course some Things look a little odd.
I doubt the teams would run bigger brakes to fill the wheels, they're already braking stupidly late and the weight cost would surely outweigh the stopping benefit?
I don't know what the rules are on the brakes but making them bigger would definately have an advatage in the initial braking phase since the systems are currently not powerful enough to lock the tyres at top speed with high downforce. If the current setups of master cylinder dia, caliper piston area and pedal ratio were applied to a larger braking radius then you would have more braking torque capability at high speed.
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roadie wrote:Personally I think the 15" or 16" wheels as used in Indycar would strike a better middle ground.
I agree 16 inch rims would be perfect next step if the wheel rules are changed. Imo they should have changed them in 2014 itself so that we would have ignored them due to ugly noses this season.
Im in agreement, the 18 inch diameter may be a little too OTT. Road relevance to me is the 16" i have on my Vauxhall/Opel Corsa, 18" are more for performance cars to me and most people don't have a performance car where I am.
16" diameter would be nice to see. A nice intermediary to the 13" we have now and the 18" that Pirelli have. A 16" wheel with a return to a limited, FIA approved active suspension would be nice.
F1 is going in a decent direction, but there are lots of tweaks that could be made for the better, if F1 can improve by small increment every season, leave the artificial elements behind and go racing again ill be happy like many others. All that needs to happen is to get rid of the roadblocks to F1s development and recovery technically speaking. Sporting and Commercially is another matter.
flyboy2160 wrote:But in their stupid quest for PC relevance and to slow down the cars even more, I could see the FIA cramming it down their throats.
What's PC relevant about 18" rims/tyres?
Instead of just saying, as in decades past, "We race because racing is fun to do, to engineer, and to watch," the current F1 "leadership" (FIA and Teams) shows its guilty conscience by claiming it must be PC "road relevant" and "Green relevant," and thus, somehow, be saving the planet and all its oppressed peoples through the unmatched-in-the-known-universe achievement of F1 technology!
Pirelli has admitted, on more than one occasion, their desire to make the F1 tire size more 'relevant' to its commercial tire sizes.
I don't see the problem.
You do realize that if we were to run lower profile tires they would have to bring back real suspensions which would be fine with me..
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strad wrote:I don't see the problem.
You do realize that if we were to run lower profile tires they would have to bring back real suspensions which would be fine with me..
For me, F1 isn't supposed to be 'real', it's supposed to be far fetched. Not just for the sake of it, and not to 'entertain' - but solely because that's the fastest way to lap a track.
Could expect a lot of savings in the brake R&D department. The brakes can be a bigger diameter with less complicated thermal management. Brake temperatures will be less of an issue as well.
ringo wrote:Could expect a lot of savings in the brake R&D department. The brakes can be a bigger diameter with less complicated thermal management. Brake temperatures will be less of an issue as well.
Brake thermal management is always going to be an issue, big or small. The bigger one could be more of a problem as it could cool down too much and glazing the surface.
Why be limited to a single size and to a single tire manufacturer? Let's have a real tire war! Set the maximum diameter and maximum section width, encourage more than one tire manufacturer, then stand back and see what happens. Let the fastest solution be determined on track, not by some stylin' bureaucrat who comes up with this:
Other than aesthetically, I think 18" rims will change the cars enormously.
First combined with the ban on tyre warmers with the 18" rims will be the challenge of keeping the tyres in the working temperature range, something that teams are already struggling with currently.
A large internal diametre will increase the surface are to volume ratio, effectively increasing the sensitivity to temperature change between corners and straights.
Brake rotor sizing is another key element. If they keep the current sizing, not only will they look funny in comparison to the wheel diam, there will be less heat energy transfer into the rim due to the buffer volume between the rotor and rim.
If the diametre is increased the heat rejection during braking will increase due to the higher mass/revolution to reject kinetic energy via heat energy.
Combine that higher heat rejection with much more volatile surface temperatures after a long straight, I would expect a higher rate of lock ups on corner entry, whether it being totally exceeding the adhesion limit under initial braking phase or via locking the inside tyre on turn in.
The other major consideration is the aero impact of the wake. With the current wheels the cowlings shape the air flow to minimise the effect of the wake of the trailing car body. A larger rim will have inherently higher velocity spokes a the extremes of the rim, causing much more violent turbidity in the wake air stream. How this affects the trailing air on the car will be of concern.
As already mentioned, suspension characteristics will change significantly. Car response on turn in will be significantly different and I would expect to see much more camber run on the fronts with short track arms.
All in all i think this change would be a huge cost to the F1 teams, and even though it would make the sport more relevant to road cars, it would be a huge change at a time where team spending is under such massive scrutiny.
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