diffuser wrote:Over at auto sport forum
http://forums.autosport.com/topic/19828 ... try7200896 theyŕe talking about if Honda is getting 3ird party help on the PU.
What I hadn't realized is that in July 2014, they had yet to finalize their turbine/ers-H/compressor and that they wouldn't finalize them till Sept/Oct!
That doesn't leave for alot of time for dyno, test,etc? right ? extract below.
On turbine supplier (July 2014)
http://as-web.jp/new...c_id=1&no=58709
In April Arai said they havent decided about which solution to choose for turbine and compressor, normal or split. Arai said "We will decide final config in Sept or Oct (2014)".
There was rumor that IHI will supply turbine but;
(Arai) I know there was such rumor in Europe, but we havent decided yet. We are making final arrangement talking with various makers, including Garrett for example.
(Arai) Taking time because all depends on the final config, split or not.
Based on so many people who spoke to Mercedes all having the same story about the full split turbo being an engineering feat that took them over a year to solve. That Ferrari spoke during last year about having thought about it maybe tried it and figured they couldn't get it done so went another way. With the short time frame honda were working in I would bet they hadn't finalised that kind of decision simply because with a split turbo they were yet to get it working and unsure if they could so had a back up plan.
Part of me still thinks that both Ferrari and Honda now tried exactly what Mercedes did but couldn't fix the vibration on a long shaft issue and because the rest of the engine was built with size/space to have the turbine right at the back of the engine block and the mgu-h in between the compressor and turbine their fall back option was redo all of that or cram a compressor in the V so they didn't have to move the turbine, the mgu-h, design the mgu-h differently, etc. Complete guess of course but could explain how both engines ended up seemingly sub-optimal. Ferrari appear to have had a year to redo that and come back this year with the compressor size/power/location issue fixed or improved at least. Fixed in that scenario might have the compressor actually at the front like Mercedes.
Lets see what Honda end up doing next year frankly but I think they'll follow a very similar development path to Ferrari and move the compressor outside the V, if they managed to get it working upfront or the 'easy' way of having it by the turbine I think it would pretty much validate the idea that a compressor in the V just isn't working(but wouldn't prove that my theory on how they ended up there was true at all, it's just that, a theory, fits but both could have planned that the whole time just as easily).
The problem Honda will have if they do follow the Ferrari path is unlike Ferrari who seemed to have enough time to get their not as good engine working very reliably and kept that reliability this year. Honda haven't had that reliability, they haven't had a prolonged testing period to assure reliability on many parts so while I could see a large increase in power and reliability I think they will be a big big gap behind Ferrari/Merc in reliability next year.
