McHonda wrote: ↑26 Feb 2018, 11:54
1158 wrote: ↑26 Feb 2018, 11:45
I realize there are a lot of things going on with this comparison but RIC just did a 123.221 with Hartley at a 126.430. The top speeds are 272.7 for the RB14 and 273.4 for the STR13.
I know it's kind of an apples to oranges thing and there are many variables but this at least seems promising to me as far as the power of the Honda PU goes.
How is going 3.2s slower a positive? Top speed alone can be affected by lots of things, tow,drag,fuel mix etc... Grosjean is currently 4kph quicker than Kimi with the same engine for example.
We know the RB chassis is going to be better and more efficient at producing downforce. They will have less drag than the TR. Let's say TR have to take off all the downforce to get the car moving in a straight line (which is why the lap time is so low - again it's testing so with a grain of salt) I'd bet the RB14 is still slipperier with downforce set up to turn a good lap than the STR13 with minimal downforce.
Lets just compare last years trap numbers then. The current Honda PU in the STR13 is 5.5 kph faster than it was on day 1 in the McLaren last year and that's after 1.5 hours. In a chassis that was late being developed and with a team that is not as large as McLaren.