MOWOG wrote:Ah HA! A gauntlet has been flung! Well, OK. I'm up for a challenge. Who knows? I might even learn something.
I have been reading for the past year how the new turbo V-6's will have more torque than the outgoing NA V-8's and how the Pirelli tires for 2014 will need to be able to handle the increased torque.
But now it appears that there won't be any extra torque to handle because those clever folks who engineer Formula One cars will rearrange the gearing in their transmissions so torque at the wheels will be the same as before? Am I getting this right???
Let's see if I can state my case more clearly. Barring changes in the transmission, if the torque at the flywheel increases, torque where the rubber meets the road - literally and figuratively - will increase accordingly. Are you saying that is not a true statement?
If I am wrong, then so be it. The fact of the matter is, there is little to do where I am this time of year other than watching hockey, so some playful banter with folks here at F1T is a welcome relief!
Power=Torque*angular velocity. If the rear tyres are spinning at the same speed, which they will be, and because the power of the 2014 cars will be at best similar to the current cars, and at worst, significantly lower, then the torque delivered to the wheels will be less than the current cars. What you read from journalists on tehcnical matters is more often than not, complete rubbish, 99% of them would probably believe you if you told them torque is energy. The only way to rationalize the journalists claim that we need bigger tyres because we have more torque is that there are potentially situations, out of slow corners for instance, where the current cars will be off the power band and producing far less power than their maximum, while the 2014 cars will more than likely always be in the power band, producing close to peak power, and in this case the 2014 cars may have more power and hence more torque being delivered to the wheels, therefore requiring wider tyres to cope.
