Lotus T127 Cosworth

[raceman]

gosh! how many small plates would one fit onto that lil' front wing??!!!

[raceman]

all muscles, yeh

this IS something beast

[Raptor22]

I don't know my self but the way Ken Anderson of USF1 makes it sound, the engine cover seems to be one of the more difficult parts to make. I guess that is why the Lotus' has such a simple shape.

in all honesty ,the engine cover is difficult ? in what ? perhaps in getting into the small autoclave they have ..
If you can make a tub , nosecone ,wings and suspension you should not have a problem with a big panel ...
but wait, we have only seen pieces of the tub yet, maybe he forgot that those items need to be done as well before may15 ,2010...

the engine cover is actually quite a difficult part to manufacture. It needs to be shaped over a wooden plug much like a racing yachts hull.
the complex shapes and size makes this quite a difficult part plus it has to be pretty light hence the skin is thin.
When removing it from the plug extreme care has to be taken or you could end up breaking it and then you have to start from scratch.

The tub is easier in that its made from two halves that are then joined together and co cured in the clave.

[marcush.]

I don't know my self but the way Ken Anderson of USF1 makes it sound, the engine cover seems to be one of the more difficult parts to make. I guess that is why the Lotus' has such a simple shape.

in all honesty ,the engine cover is difficult ? in what ? perhaps in getting into the small autoclave they have ..
If you can make a tub , nosecone ,wings and suspension you should not have a problem with a big panel ...
but wait, we have only seen pieces of the tub yet, maybe he forgot that those items need to be done as well before may15 ,2010...

the engine cover is actually quite a difficult part to manufacture. It needs to be shaped over a wooden plug much like a racing yachts hull.
the complex shapes and size makes this quite a difficult part plus it has to be pretty light hence the skin is thin.
When removing it from the plug extreme care has to be taken or you could end up breaking it and then you have to start from scratch.

The tub is easier in that its made from two halves that are then joined together and co cured in the clave.

shaped over a wooden plug? what are you talking about ? Of course you could start of doing a buck and do claymodeling ,and machine the surface as they do in automotive design.
alternatively you could as well sprayon polyurethane foam and machine that down to arrive at a plug conforming to your cad data .

From there you will define the necessary dividing lines and decide of just how many pieces your mold has to be constructed to be able to get it out of the mold .
(If you think you are smart you might try to put those dividers in areas also not to be changed in the future so you could possibly get away with only parts of the mold redone during later development stages.then you will start your normal process of building the mold,eg you will build up the dividing points and laminate the first part of the mold ,remove the bits that defined the parting line and layup the other parts .Last of all you will have to glue some stiffening boards over the different pieces and of course you will have to make sure the pieces will match up perfectly when joined ,which is done usually by precision pins.At the end some sharp plastik chisel and a fair bit of compressed air will help to release the mold (if you did not forget to impregnate the buck before you started with layup...straightforward job.Ah yes you might want to get the molds cured in the oven before you do your first parts,of course.

[nacho]

Some Lotus news from TS:

- Heikki says the car might lack more grip in comparison to the leaders than the Minardi he tested in his first F1 test. Lack of downforce is the problem.

- He has never started a season with so little driving. Couldn't do a race simulation, Jarno got one together which was interrupted by raining.

- He has no idea how the different tires degrade and how different fuel weights affect it because the lack of race simulations. He feels he gained experience in tyre saving when driving with McLaren.

- Hydraulic problems have been the main issue in reliability. Xtrac's system is not up to it and not up to date. Causing problems with diffs, power steering and gearbox.

- They will get their own hydraulic system in 2 or 3 months and he's hoping for a new gearbox too which is designed with their aerodynamics. The current is off the shelf.

- Trulli says they shaved a second of their lap time on Friday just by set-up work. But gains from there are limited, he's waiting for the upgrades. They know what they need to do, but says it's a different thing when they can get the work done.

- Trulli says it was a miracle in itself to get the car designed and running on track in five months.

Seems like they have a lot of work to be done.

[mith]

So basically everything seems to be a stopgap. Somehow it makes me feel more impressed about their efforts to just make a drivable car for the start of the season.

I like it, cause it shows they're pumped with the spirit. I wish they could score at least a single point this year however unlikely it seems. And I'm looking forward for the battles on the back between them, Virgin and maybe Campos as well.

I don't believe in USF1 at all and if Stefan will get permission to join F1 circus in their place, considering they're going to use Toyota car, they'll be in whole different league than the other newcomers.

[Blackout]

Some Lotus news from TS:

- Heikki says the car might lack more grip in comparison to the leaders than the Minardi he tested in his first F1 test. Lack of downforce is the problem.

- He has never started a season with so little driving. Couldn't do a race simulation, Jarno got one together which was interrupted by raining.

- He has no idea how the different tires degrade and how different fuel weights affect it because the lack of race simulations. He feels he gained experience in tyre saving when driving with McLaren.

- Hydraulic problems have been the main issue in reliability. Xtrac's system is not up to it and not up to date. Causing problems with diffs, power steering and gearbox.

- They will get their own hydraulic system in 2 or 3 months and he's hoping for a new gearbox too which is designed with their aerodynamics. The current is off the shelf.

- Trulli says they shaved a second of their lap time on Friday just by set-up work. But gains from there are limited, he's waiting for the upgrades. They know what they need to do, but says it's a different thing when they can get the work done.

- Trulli says it was a miracle in itself to get the car designed and running on track in five months.

Seems like they have a lot of work to be done.

Thanks. Who's TS ?

[Timomies]

Thanks. Who's TS ?

Finnish newspaper called Turun Sanomat

[Blackout]

Thanks

[Confused_Andy]

Sorry but this is good news:

http://www.f1technical.net/news/14319

CNN on Lotus, two very iconic brands, should give them a little extra ££££ to play with too, could be a good year at lotus, they dont even need podiums for a good year imo.

The red of CNN will look a little odd on dark green, a white border could work i guess.

[autogyro]

Now that realy is good news and a very sensible move by CNN.
They obviously realise the vulnerability of the news networks to the internet and are starting to move with the times.
Look out for CNN pay for news on the web to increase.
Good move.

[thestig84]

No red logo luckily. Quite small but nice in keeping white text.

[ben_watkins]

nice shot on flickr




http://www.flickr.com/photos/palpofa200 ... otostream/

[raymondu999]

Finally they're adding some undercut to the thing

[mith]

Finally they're adding some undercut to the thing

It was like that from the beginning.