Virgin Racing VR-01 Cosworth

[conni]

im told that the wing end plates are kevlar not carbon so they must be expecting some clashes this year, I think its a smart move

conni

[Saribro]

Is that a so-called "swan-neck" beamwing mount? (As seen on some LMP rear wings)

[ESPImperium]

Concept and philosiphy i like. Im openly skeptical about the CFD approach, but ill be ready with the humble pie if i need it. Nick Wirth has done a pretty neat design. I hope it goes really well for them in their first season.

The only thing id change on that car is the front wing on 2 counts, firstly it looks very very brittle, secondly there seems to be absoutly no where to attach downforce add ons ala Brawn/Mercedes & Force India style, let alone a Newey sculpting. Other than that the car looks to have plenty of natural downforce.

Front suspension looks low, really low, but alot of suspensions look like that this year, almost to the exttent that Zero-Keel is out and Single and V Keel Hybrids are back in.

Im gonna say they are gonna be up there alongside Lotus this year.

[jddh1]

the livery isn't bad, very distinguishable, a bit less red would have been even better

It would look much better with a darker shade of red!

Colours always come out much darker on the TV screen. The 'british racing green' F1 Jaguars were in real life a very light metallic green.

This Virgin colour scheme is growing on me, I like the interesting swirls.

Lets just hope it's more reliable than my Virgin broadband connection / Virgin trains / Virgin phones...

...Virgin girlfriend...oops (I'll have to change that soon. In need of a "Ferrari".)

[Sambo]

One thing that worries me with the front wing is that by the look of the end plates they are trying to divert the air around the front wheels instead of over it. Now correct me if im wrong but didnt McLaren try to do the same last year but ran into alot of problems with trying to do so and we're left with a very under-performing car. Am I right or totally off the mark..???

[myurr]

One thing that worries me with the front wing is that by the look of the end plates they are trying to divert the air around the front wheels instead of over it. Now correct me if im wrong but didnt McLaren try to do the same last year but ran into alot of problems with trying to do so and we're left with a very under-performing car. Am I right or totally off the mark..???

You've got it back to front. Last year McLaren were trying to lift the air over the top and to the inside of the front tyres, everyone else scooped it out wide.

[Giblet]

Concept and philosiphy i like. Im openly skeptical about the CFD approach, but ill be ready with the humble pie if i need it. Nick Wirth has done a pretty neat design. I hope it goes really well for them in their first season.

The only thing id change on that car is the front wing on 2 counts, firstly it looks very very brittle, secondly there seems to be absoutly no where to attach downforce add ons ala Brawn/Mercedes & Force India style, let alone a Newey sculpting. Other than that the car looks to have plenty of natural downforce.

Front suspension looks low, really low, but alot of suspensions look like that this year, almost to the exttent that Zero-Keel is out and Single and V Keel Hybrids are back in.

Im gonna say they are gonna be up there alongside Lotus this year.

It is on two mounts. Look at other pictures other than the first one.



I am not an engineer or anything, but I understand a loaded wing can not be on a single thin mount. The flex would be ridiculous and it would shake for the entire race. I think movable wings are illegal

The CFD approach might be right for the times. Simulation tech as we all know keeps jumping in leaps and bounds, and the ones who master it first will be the ones that succeeds.

Understanding the weaknesses of what CFD is unable to do well, would be the best start, and put them ahead in the future when this becomes the norm. Finer readings, more FLOPS.

[Sambo]

One thing that worries me with the front wing is that by the look of the end plates they are trying to divert the air around the front wheels instead of over it. Now correct me if im wrong but didnt McLaren try to do the same last year but ran into alot of problems with trying to do so and we're left with a very under-performing car. Am I right or totally off the mark..???

You've got it back to front. Last year McLaren were trying to lift the air over the top and to the inside of the front tyres, everyone else scooped it out wide.

Ah right....got ya!! Cheers myurr

[Pandamasque]

Is that a so-called "swan-neck" beamwing mount? (As seen on some LMP rear wings)

Where?

EDIT: oh I see... but not clear enough. Need more pics.

[Sambo]

On a bit more of a lighter note.....I do love what they've done with the livery, it looks pretty cool

[thestig84]

Think we established it wasnt a single mount however it is not ridiculous Tyrell did it in 96 I think...not too successful mind you

[horse]

The CFD approach might be right for the times. Simulation tech as we all know keeps jumping in leaps and bounds, and the ones who master it first will be the ones that succeeds.

Understanding the weaknesses of what CFD is unable to do well, would be the best start, and put them ahead in the future when this becomes the norm. Finer readings, more FLOPS.

I think CFD may be right for the times in terms of a low budget approach, but you get what you pay for in life, and I don't think Fluent is expensive enough. A combined wind tunnel/CFD approach has to be favoured or you just won't know if your CFD is plain wrong. And beyond that numerical simulations will always find it challenging to recreate the complicated boundary conditions of driving in a turbulent boundary layer, for instance, or of the wheels turning, even. Granted the reliability of CFD will improve over time, but it will be those that have good experimental facilities to test it who will end up on top.

[Giblet]

Yes all very true, but amazing how much fudging can be done. Most of what you say are understandable vague concepts to me, but if you use a simplified tool, you better be making a simplified design.

I would think that if the F1 rules of 2008 were kept, CFD only would be near impossible. When we forcing the air to do what we wanted. I think in a world of reducing drag, it is the right time to at least be a torchbearer if you have the money. Rebel billionaires don't tend to do things like the regular Billionaires

The car looks pretty KISS to me.

Is fluent one of the weaker software solutions?

[horse]

Is fluent one of the weaker software solutions?

No, I wouldn't say weaker, just commercial, say like CFX, star-ccm+, etc. These lack the features of some high end academic codes that could be considered on the cutting edge, but these are hard to get hold of and use, obviously.

I'm not trying to say CFD is not a good tool, but someone somewhere will have to do some validation experiments to know that a particular package works well for F1. Perhaps one of the other teams with big experimental facilities could provide this kind of quality assurance and then you end up with one or two industry standard solutions.

[PlatinumZealot]

Can someone show/explain what exactly wishbone is?

He means the control arms. That is why we should try to avoid using nicknames for technical parts..

wishbone..

I bet some non-english speakers are thinking: "A wish for a bone? Whaat?" lol..