Force India VJM04 Mercedes

[auto saibot]

the only visible change to my eyes is the difference between the venturi channels of the upper two wings...

[roost89]

Ah the revert to an older design philosophy on the front wing. So, the turkey wing was half baked then?

"New" wings are in the back of the photo. Seem to have taken both sets with them

[zgred]

[bot6]

Ah, the amount of things you can do with double sided tape... like bind a plank to a tub...

[Harvey]

Their low slung exhaust looks just like McLarens. Well, apart from the jubilee clips! I hope they race it JUST like that!

[Giblet]

Not surprising as FI and Mclaren have a working technical relationship.

[PlatinumZealot]

They have now put in the triangular strake at the exit of the exhaust beside the throat of the diffuser ala RedBull and Mclaren. Ferrari have also copied this and improved so I expect Force India to be more competitive just because of this upgrade.



Since they use the mecedez engine they should also be able to make the side pods much smaller - like Merc and Mclaren.

[bot6]

The McLaren sidepods are huge, and Merc are using double decker radiators (and have cooling problems). So those sidepods might be huge (especially at the back near the suspension pick up point), but at least the engine does not overheat.

[adrianjordan]

The McLaren sidepods are huge

Not really when you consider how much volume is missing from the top of them. Different philosophy from every other car on the grid.

[Byronrhys]

They have now put in the triangular strake at the exit of the exhaust beside the throat of the diffuser ala RedBull and Mclaren. Ferrari have also copied this and improved so I expect Force India to be more competitive just because of this upgrade.


Since they use the mecedez engine they should also be able to make the side pods much smaller - like Merc and Mclaren.

I don't expect them to improve much, and the driver thinks the same:

"We have to decide today," said Sutil when asked by AUTOSPORT whether the team will run the package tomorrow. "The upgrade package didn't work at all. It [the aero] was stalling, then gaining grip and we don't know why.

"The general stability of the car is not there, but I am convinced that this is the way to go. The package has potential."


They have been on a downward spiral since midway 2010, a rejuvenated Sauber has taken over them.

[PlatinumZealot]

He said the package has potential.. so there you go. The strake trips up the exhaust flow before it goes under the diffuser and it creates a super vortex under the diffuser. It is very powerful if tuned properly, that is why redbull and mclaren are so far ahead.

[sriraj1031]

[...]

[volarchico]

Good prediction, came true today...

[PlatinumZealot]

Ah but Force india were on hard tyres! So Lotus is really about 0.4 seconds behind the FI right now.

[Pierce89]

He said the package has potential.. so there you go. The strake trips up the exhaust flow before it goes under the diffuser and it creates a super vortex under the diffuser. It is very powerful if tuned properly, that is why redbull and mclaren are so far ahead.

I seriously doubt that that one strake will bring FI huge gains and launch them up the grid. and off topic: Mclaren doesn't seem that far ahead of Ferrari or Mercedes(maybe the strake has let them down?)