Renault RS16 Speculation Thread

[Scuderia1967]

Well first of all, Renault name it themselves the 2016 contender during the launch. Granted they called it a showcar afterwards, but that could just as well mean "this will be the 2016 chassis, but the bodywork around it will change."

Secondly, it is not such a stretch to believe they will reuse the 2015 chassis. After all, this is a transitional year. The regulations have kept very stable, with minor changes to the cockpit.

The aero will very likely change. Then again, so has it been with the likes of Ferrari who very clearly have always showed the real car on their launches, just with old aero packages.

So my dear scuderia1967, I think it is VERY f1technical to consider that this indeed is perhaps is not the 2016 contender, but also that it has a high probability it actually is given the team, according to Bob Bell, has to be rebuild. Reusing almost the same chassis as last year is a rather logical move in their position.

Again, I am open to merge it with the speculation thread. Messages in the days before called it a car reveal, as well as Renault calling it their 2016 car at the launch, made me believe this is the official car. I am not 100% sure though. Hence why the option for a backthrow to speculation is an option.

My comment was not intended at you, or to anyone in particular. I myself am an administrator/moderator in several Facebook groups, so I know a thing or two about how hard it is to manage these kind of things... and how difficult and unrewarding such a task can be.
Having said that, seeing that the 2016 chassis rules have changed (new cockpit protections, harsher crash tests...), do you really think Renault would use the 2015 tub? And don't tell me the team didn't have time and/or money: after a very difficult 2014 season, they still had the resources to build a very decent 2015 car...

[turbof1]

My comment was not intended at you, or to anyone in particular.

I know, it wasn't taken personal either. It is simply a matter of defending the network name .

Having said that, seeing that the 2016 chassis rules have changed (new cockpit protections, harsher crash tests...), do you really think Renault would use the 2015 tub?

Well not per se the physical 2015 tub; they probably will have made some adaptations and made/are making a new one. As you said, there are some changes (I do want to stress they are quite minor). By my knowledge, there are no harsher crash tests and only the cockpit protection has changed:

Cockpit head protection guards are now 20mm higher on either side of the driver. They’re able to resist increased loadings of 50N per 30 seconds. To further improve the FIA’s quest for safety, each car will be fitted with a high-speed camera to record and analyse accidents. Additionally, all drivers will race and test with in-ear accelerometers to further quantify accident data.

Do correct me if I'm wrong and there are actually changes to the crash tests.

I also want to point out Marussia actually succeeded reusing the 2014 tub last year, under less favorable conditions. Force India did just that what I am proposing as a possibility: keep the same chassis model, make a few alterations, and start the season with that.

And don't tell me the team didn't have time and/or money: after a very difficult 2014 season, they still had the resources to build a very decent 2015 car...

You know as well as us that the 2015 car had very little updates throughout the season. The team was really in shortage of cash, with the deal with Renault only concluded at the very end of last year. Little development was made throughout the year. You can't just claw that back within the timespan of a month.

But ok, I do want to underline I do not know the truth. What I am discussing is a possibility, staved with logic. It can absolutely be wrong. I think why it's best we are moving this back into speculation mode. I'll do that tomorrow.

[Gridlock]

Do whatever you did when Force India had their "livery unveiling" last year, which I suspect is to keep the Spec thread open..

[Scuderia1967]

My comment was not intended at you, or to anyone in particular.

I know, it wasn't taken personal either. It is simply a matter of defending the network name .

Having said that, seeing that the 2016 chassis rules have changed (new cockpit protections, harsher crash tests...), do you really think Renault would use the 2015 tub?

Well not per se the physical 2015 tub; they probably will have made some adaptations and made/are making a new one. As you said, there are some changes (I do want to stress they are quite minor). By my knowledge, there are no harsher crash tests and only the cockpit protection has changed:

Cockpit head protection guards are now 20mm higher on either side of the driver. They’re able to resist increased loadings of 50N per 30 seconds. To further improve the FIA’s quest for safety, each car will be fitted with a high-speed camera to record and analyse accidents. Additionally, all drivers will race and test with in-ear accelerometers to further quantify accident data.

Do correct me if I'm wrong and there are actually changes to the crash tests.

I also want to point out Marussia actually succeeded reusing the 2014 tub last year, under less favorable conditions. Force India did just that what I am proposing as a possibility: keep the same chassis model, make a few alterations, and start the season with that.

And don't tell me the team didn't have time and/or money: after a very difficult 2014 season, they still had the resources to build a very decent 2015 car...

You know as well as us that the 2015 car had very little updates throughout the season. The team was really in shortage of cash, with the deal with Renault only concluded at the very end of last year. Little development was made throughout the year. You can't just claw that back within the timespan of a month.

But ok, I do want to underline I do not know the truth. What I am discussing is a possibility, staved with logic. It can absolutely be wrong. I think why it's best we are moving this back into speculation mode. I'll do that tomorrow.

I said they built a decent car, not that they had a contender for GP wins. Yes, there wasn't money for in-season developments, but even so they secured a podium with Grosjean and were regular contenders for FP1 through out the season. That's a very good job in my book and there's no reason for not doing it again this year

[turbof1]

I said they built a decent car, not that they had a contender for GP wins. Yes, there wasn't money for in-season developments, but even so they secured a podium with Grosjean and were regular contenders for FP1 through out the season. That's a very good job in my book and there's no reason for not doing it again this year

That podium was a very extraordinary job. Don't take me wrong; Lotus did more then its best with the little resources it had. But they were running on fumes. I don't think they would have survived if Renault did not take over. That will translate now in an underdeveloped car from the start, but with more development later on fortunaly as the team picks up pace.

[r.t.1.n]

I said they built a decent car, not that they had a contender for GP wins. Yes, there wasn't money for in-season developments, but even so they secured a podium with Grosjean and were regular contenders for FP1 through out the season. That's a very good job in my book and there's no reason for not doing it again this year

Lotus and Grosjean did it with Merc engine
now they have Renualt Engine with a chassis designed for Merc engine
Renualt Driveability is very poor right now

[ME4ME]

“The RS16 is an evolution of our previous cars,” explained designer Nick Chester, “particularly our 2015 car, but incorporating the Renault power unit.”

“It’s been a real challenge to incorporate the Renault Sport power unit. We made the decision very late to put the Renault Sport power unit in and the amount of work you have to do to re-sculpt the chassis, change the cooling geometry, all in the matter of a few months, has been a really big effort for Enstone. But now we’re all the way through the crash testing it’s been a really good effort.”

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2016/02/03/r ... ck-livery/

"I think we had a good handling car, that the drivers could get the most out of it," he said. "We tried to carry on those characteristics and take them a bit further.

"We have probably lost out a bit with development of this car because we were so constrained for the last part of 2015, so aero development was constrained and that is going to knock on to this year.

"But I hope we will have a base car that has pretty good handling, that the drivers can get the best out of - and we will have to add more development and more aero to try to catch up."

"We had to change the chassis design very quickly, so we could not go through the amount of optimisation that we normally go through. So there are some compromises in there.

"They aren't too big, but there are some compromises."

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/renau ... ck+Chester

What we want to be: we want to have a reasonable, reliable, easy to work with platform, on which we can build – both from an engine and a chassis perspective," he explained.

"We want mileage for the team, for the drivers, for everyone to get the data that they need to build 2017/2018. So we want something easy.

"We do not want to have headaches, or issues – we have asked Enstone to be quite conservative with their solution and their approach and it will be the same thing from Viry. We think we know what we have to do.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/renau ... ts-671471/

[Blackout]

A good appraoch.
BTW, the new coque is quite different. As the pic they published after the crash tests shows, the hole that helps the mecanics access the front suspensions is located much more forward on the RS16 compared to the E23 (where you can see it around the T of the big LOTUS here

http://i.imgur.com/9K1ySfR.jpg
The 2016 hole would be between the U and the S on the E23


Or maybe the RS16 nose droops earlier than the E23 nose : p

[turbof1]

So guys,

I merged this the 'official' car thread into this speculation thread. There is confusion whether or not the car shown on the team launch is effectively the 2016 contender. Hence why it is better for now to move it back into speculation mode.

The plan is now to wait it out until testings starts, at which point a new official car topic opens.

Now, speculation is allowed again. However, I still will be strict concerning livery: it belongs in the team thread, not here!

[FrukostScones]

https://translate.google.de/translate?s ... t=&act=url

N. Chester: car shown is not the one they go testing with

lots of work still to do, new car it's a compromise.

rumors:
car they go testing with is probably not the final car
final car will probably come around Spain GP

also from AMuS:
car near the max weight, not much ballast to play with

[turbof1]

https://translate.google.de/translate?s ... t=&act=url

N. Chester: car shown is not the one they go testing with

lots of work still to do, new car it's a compromise.

rumors:
car they go testing with is probably not the final car
final car will probably come around Spain GP

Yeah if that last rumor is true, I'm not going to wait for it. The car showed on testing will be labeled here as the official RS16. If a new car shows up in Spain, we'll open up a RS16 B-spec topic.

[trinidefender]

https://translate.google.de/translate?s ... t=&act=url

N. Chester: car shown is not the one they go testing with

lots of work still to do, new car it's a compromise.

rumors:
car they go testing with is probably not the final car
final car will probably come around Spain GP

Yeah if that last rumor is true, I'm not going to wait for it. The car showed on testing will be labeled here as the official RS16. If a new car shows up in Spain, we'll open up a RS16 B-spec topic.

Why not just leave it as one topic and just change the name. There will be no discontinuity of flow between discussions. It will just be kinda like when Force India intorduced what some called a B spec car for the 2015 season. The discussion just keeps going. I am of the opinion that having separate topics for absolutely everything just leads to confusion and there have been legitimate times where I just don't know where to post things.

I say just leave it as is, change the name of the thread and let it continue as normal.

[adrianjordan]

https://translate.google.de/translate?s ... t=&act=url

N. Chester: car shown is not the one they go testing with

lots of work still to do, new car it's a compromise.

rumors:
car they go testing with is probably not the final car
final car will probably come around Spain GP

Yeah if that last rumor is true, I'm not going to wait for it. The car showed on testing will be labeled here as the official RS16. If a new car shows up in Spain, we'll open up a RS16 B-spec topic.

Why not just leave it as one topic and just change the name. There will be no discontinuity of flow between discussions. It will just be kinda like when Force India intorduced what some called a B spec car for the 2015 season. The discussion just keeps going. I am of the opinion that having separate topics for absolutely everything just leads to confusion and there have been legitimate times where I just don't know where to post things.

I say just leave it as is, change the name of the thread and let it continue as normal.

+1 for this

[stefan_]

So let's get this straight:

Launch car: 2015 E23 with some little bits changed + 2016 testing livery
Enstone car: something on four wheels in the 2016 testing livery
Renders: Presumably the R.S.16

The real R.S.16 thread would be the one with the car used in testing. I think that's the best option.

Now let's get back to business.

[Blackout]

So let's get this straight:

Launch car: 2015 E23 with some little bits changed + 2016 testing livery
Enstone car: something on four wheels in the 2016 testing livery
Renders: Presumably the R.S.16

The real R.S.16 thread would be the one with the car used in testing. I think that's the best option.

Now let's get back to business.

Renders? what renders?