Renault R31

[reikorp]

Here's a photo of the new R31 I've heard there's literally gold in paint, even in black. Hope it's a form of self-fulfilling prophecy [-o<

[forty-two]

I've heard there's literally gold in paint, even in black.

In a sport where every gram is scraped off the car in the interests of weight saving, surely flakes of gold in the paintwork would be a rather odd move?

[thestig84]

I've heard there's literally gold in paint, even in black.

In a sport where every gram is scraped off the car in the interests of weight saving, surely flakes of gold in the paintwork would be a rather odd move?

Quite the opposite. Extract from James Allen blog about Renault livery.

"One of the advantages of having a black car is that you need less layers of paint to cover it than a white car, so you save weight, probably worth up to half a tenth of a second per lap. Painting an F1 car white, requires three or four layers and uses around 4 kilos of paint. A black car needs only one base layer and one top coat, so saves around 30% of paint. At a race like Barcelona in pure performance terms that equates to four seconds over a 66 lap race, although the cars have to hit a minimum weight, it still confers a saving."

Also Im quite sure it is gold paint mixed with the black not actual gold.

[djones]

0.050 seconds for 1.2 kg (30% of 4kg) weight?

Also its not taking into account a minimum weight so there isnt really a saving.

Sounds like typical James Allen BS to me.

[Sukhoi]

Hello everyone

[Blackout]

Hello. You've taken this photos from a video ?

[manchild]

I guess someone was secretly taking photos or filming first fire-up. Those photos are not available on LRGP site or tweeter.

Got some more?

[Neno]

This airbox on pictures looks like R30 airbox after Spa and f-duct?! http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xSlRgVbVSoY/T ... 010-21.jpg
Is this on pictures R30 in 2011 colors or R31?

[Sukhoi]

Hello. You've taken this photos from a video ?

Yes , from that video on LRGP twitter

here link : http://www.kyte.tv/ch/lotusrenault-gp-f ... 5&l=218371

[H.Lyoud]

As i expected they will launch an hybrid.

[thestig84]

0.050 seconds for 1.2 kg (30% of 4kg) weight?

Also its not taking into account a minimum weight so there isnt really a saving.

Sounds like typical James Allen BS to me.

What? Did you read the quote?!? Read the last sentence again. I am well aware of the minimum weight.

although the cars have to hit a minimum weight, it still confers a saving.

Why would teams constantly look to save weight throughout the season. Check Mclarens list of upgrades over the season, a lot of weight saving in there. Fair enough the maths may not be spot on but it was from Renault not James Allen.

I think the premise is sound enough. You just pile on the paint till you hit that minimum weight, who needs ballast!?

[djones]

Just for the record I'm not having a go at you - just JA exaggerating the importance of something.

[forty-two]

I think the premise is sound enough. You just pile on the paint till you hit that minimum weight, who needs ballast!?

This reminds me, last year I took my daughter to Mercedes Benz world, where they have loads of stuff for kids to look at, presumably to keep them occupied while dad is looking at the flash cars.

One of the things I learnt was that the famous "Silver Arrow" which Mercedes entered when they first won the WC was bizzarely subject to a maximum weight limit, so in order to reduce the weight of their car, they removed the paint in order to get the weight down. There's actually a touch-screen there where kids can "scratch" the paint of a picture of a car while a number in the corner representing the weight decreases.

I think that this later contributed to the intensity of the fire at the famous crash at Le-Mans, because had the magnesium been painted it would have been slightly less likely to burst into flames.

A touch off topic, but I thought it was interesting!

[H. Zedozil]

R31 shark fin and the rear wing

[mith]

R31 shark fin and the rear wing

It's taken from that teaser film and it's R30. I was watching it several times yesterday, pausing after each 2-3 seconds and I am 99,9% sure that all images, beside the one shot at engine lunch are made with R30. It's the same also for the CFD model, shown there (but actually it was nice to see it, as it has W wing on it with flow lines attached, so one can get idea how does it work).

It's not long until we'll see the real thing, so we'll be soon able to verify my statement, but as I said, I'm almost completely sure, we saw R30 in LRGP new livery in that teaser.