Front wheel covers - this seasons must have...

[Iciano]

Indycar's used to run similar looking wheel covers in the early 90's.

1990 Penkse Chevrolet:

[Carbon]

I remember those wheels well. A number of Teams adopted similar versions. USAC (I think it was the governing body at the time) banned them, as they were aerodynamic aids. I'm sure this wasn't the case - they were extentions of the brake system

[Iciano]

Another one!
Nissan used them on the Primera in the late 90's



Surpising it took F1 so long to catch on.

[zac510]

I understood that the touring cars use them to maintain heat in the rear brakes.

As scarbs has said, the effect of them on the open wheel aerodynamics is quite a lot different.

Further, because they are static their behaviour towards air flowing over the wheel would be different again, probably decreasing turbulence.

So a flat hubcap and a static hubcap are quite different.

[Ciro Pabón]

... a flat hubcap and a static hubcap are quite different.

That's true.

We already had a couple of threads on this... I repost some "oldies but goodies" ideas.

Porsche 1986


Lancia Delta S4


Fan wheels on the Peugeot Talbot (Jean Todt was the navigator in this car)

[joseff]

I understood that the touring cars use them to maintain heat in the rear brakes.

Yeah, those front-engined/fwd touring cars are so nose heavy, there's very little action going on at the rear. Hence the need to keep brake temps up.

[Ciwai]

Another one!
Nissan used them on the Primera in the late 90's

Surpising it took F1 so long to catch on.

As scarbs elucidated, its more to do with a regulatory change. They were illegal until wheels became brakes.

[kNt]

I posted this in a seperate thread but apparently this one deals with the same thing.

The way I read the rules, such a Wheel cover around the wheel should be legal:




The periphery of the wheel as I understand it is the front face of the wheel, so a complete cover of the wheels is not possible, but a little gap around the front should be sufficient.

From my seperate thread:

As far as I regard the rules concerning brakeducts (see below), I think they don't limit Teams on introducing a limited size wheelcover. I painted a little side view on how I think the rules restrict Bodywork in this area and in blue a "wheelcover" as I would expect it. What do you think of it?

11.4 Air ducts :
Air ducts around the front and rear brakes will be considered part of the braking system and shall not
protrude beyond :
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm above the horizontal centre line of the
wheel ;
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm below the horizontal centre line of the
wheel ;
- a vertical plane parallel to the inner face of the wheel rim and displaced from it by 120mm toward the
centre line of the car.
Furthermore, when viewed from the side the ducts must not protrude forwards beyond the periphery of the
tyre or backwards beyond the wheel rim.
All measurements will be made with the wheel held in a vertical position.

[Metar]

Lancia Delta S4

I was under the impression that those elements on rallycars are made to keep dirt outside, preventing it from clogging up the brakes? I recall cases of amateurs who had their brakes fail when stones got stuck in between the calipers - even in saloon races.

[checkered]

I posted this in a seperate thread but apparently this one deals with the same thing.

The periphery of the wheel as I understand it is the front face of the wheel, so a complete cover of the wheels is not possible, but a little gap around the front should be sufficient.

The way I

see it, the word "periphery" indicates a boundary (as opposed to a plane) formed by an area or space. Thus the "duct", as it were, shouldn't only remain within the outernmost forward dimension of the tyre, but also within its maximum radius. This rules out a structure in front of the tyre. Any other interpretation, and F1 would cease being an "open wheel" racing series.

[Conceptual]

I love the Mazda 787B.

*cough cough*

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v452/ ... corner.jpg

edit - after more looking around, im guessing these move. but still how come f1 never then looked at the idea ???

http://automobile.2405.com/automobile_g ... B_2405.jpg

http://automobile.2405.com/automobile_g ... B_2405.jpg

also ive seen other group c racers with wheel covers, but these were good pics

[MclarenGorilla]

I posted this in a seperate thread but apparently this one deals with the same thing.

The way I read the rules, such a Wheel cover around the wheel should be legal:




The periphery of the wheel as I understand it is the front face of the wheel, so a complete cover of the wheels is not possible, but a little gap around the front should be sufficient.

From my seperate thread:

As far as I regard the rules concerning brakeducts (see below), I think they don't limit Teams on introducing a limited size wheelcover. I painted a little side view on how I think the rules restrict Bodywork in this area and in blue a "wheelcover" as I would expect it. What do you think of it?

11.4 Air ducts :
Air ducts around the front and rear brakes will be considered part of the braking system and shall not
protrude beyond :
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm above the horizontal centre line of the
wheel ;
- a plane parallel to the ground situated at a distance of 160mm below the horizontal centre line of the
wheel ;
- a vertical plane parallel to the inner face of the wheel rim and displaced from it by 120mm toward the
centre line of the car.
Furthermore, when viewed from the side the ducts must not protrude forwards beyond the periphery of the
tyre or backwards beyond the wheel rim.
All measurements will be made with the wheel held in a vertical position.

I think someone at McLaren has been checking out your idea...





Grtz

[Benniau]

WTF!?!?!?! That has to be the craziest thing I've seen on an F1 car for some time!

Surely they'll get banned for exceeding the maximum width specs though?

[manchild]

Are you sure it isn't some temperature measuring device, IR camera or so?

How else can that be legal width-wise? Isn't that wider than the tyre wall? All explanations for Ferrari fairing were that it is within the regulations since it is not wider than the tyre.

Now this... Have the regulations changed in that area?

[MrT]

That doesn't look like a permenant addition to me and i'm almost certain it's not within the rules... It obviously is likley to be housing some sensor to either log sidewall tempreture, or possible track the sidewall deflection using either infared or a camera and datum...