Lotus E20 Renault

[jordangp]

So, what's the conclusion? Have they raced the updates from China this week?

Either Allison of Bouiller did say they got the China parts to work for the cars this weekend, on Sky Sports F1 after the race. I forgot who said it though.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

So, what's the conclusion? Have they raced the updates from China this week?

Yep, on Friday Kimi used the new floor that didn't work in China. They spent all of Friday morning testing aerodynamics, with Romain using the old floor and Kimi was much more competitive. Lotus spent Friday afternoon on high fuel. They fit the new floor on Romain's car on Saturday.

Alan Permane says the new floor was worth one and a half tenths.

[Neno]

So, what's the conclusion? Have they raced the updates from China this week?

Yep, on Friday Kimi used the new floor that didn't work in China. They spent all of Friday morning testing aerodynamics, with Romain using the old floor and Kimi was much more competitive. Lotus spent Friday afternoon on high fuel. They fit the new floor on Romain's car on Saturday.

Alan Permane says the new floor was worth one and a half tenths.

it's very good for the team when they find out, how to work updates who didnt work previous. =D>

[mith]

Thanks for your replies.

It might be possible, that updates actually worked in China, but because of the very unstable weather conditions it was impossible to asses them properly.

[raymondu999]

After China there was an interview with Eric Boullier and he said that it wasn't that the upgrades didn't work - but there was smething that prevented a reliable comparison. Possibly weather.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Thanks for your replies.

It might be possible, that updates actually worked in China, but because of the very unstable weather conditions it was impossible to asses them properly.

Alan Permane on the China updates & Bahrain:

"We knew from Malaysia we were competitive," says Lotus engineering chief Alan Permane. "We were very uncertain of our aero numbers in China, and we were very uncompetitive on Friday, so we were cautious and took it off."

"We were rather spooked on Friday in China by the pace of the car," adds technical director James Allison. "We were very uncompetitive on Friday morning, only because our tyres were just too cold – they weren't in the window. Just out of total caution we went back to a baseline.

"We had used it on both cars in the morning, but we were rubbish, so for Saturday we went back to the other package. For Bahrain we had a chance to see that it was working alright.

"It's just part of the upgrades we're going to keep bringing. It's probably worth one and a half tenths, something like that – but you know what the grid's like now."

Only Raikkonen had the latest floor on Friday in Bahrain, and it was immediately apparent that it was working well. Kimi was ninth in FP1 and on paper an unspectacular 13th in FP2 – half a second off ninth-placed Romain Grosjean in that session – but the team knew what fuel loads both guys had been running, and after doing the numbers was hugely encouraged.

"We spent Friday morning looking at aerodynamics and stuff that we didn't think had worked in Shanghai," says Permane. "We looked at it closer and in a few different ways and managed to convince ourselves that we were happy with it.

"Kimi had the new floor fitted on Friday, and that was a major part of our upgrade. Romain stayed with the old floor, and Kimi was much more competitive. That gave us the first clue, and the aero numbers looked good.

"Friday afternoon we basically spent on high fuel. We did one run on low-ish fuel, but the rest of the session was done on high fuel. We were actually surprised; we knew then we had a good car on high fuel.

"It almost looked too good, and we were worried that we didn't have enough fuel and other people had more.

"We calculated stuff out and looked at the quickest Mercedes lap – because they were very fast on their long-run pace. We worked out what fuel they were on and we were fairly confident then."

The decision was made to give Grosjean the new floor for Saturday and he soon found an improvement in FP3 and qualifying, and in fact looked more competitive than his team-mate.

"We had the new floor on both cars for Saturday," says Permane. "We spent the morning doing our normal qualifying prep. From Friday to Saturday Romain went from being three tenths behind to three or four tenths in front of Kimi.

above quote/s is from Permane & Allison via AutoSport



Extreme diffuser for E20

Lotus and maybe the car that has the most extreme diffuser extraction profile with the end cut at 45 degrees, following a solution initiated by Brawn GP in 2009. This creates a transverse tunnel that carries air into areas of low pressure at the bottom of the rear tyres, making more efficient the central areas of the diffuser

[Owen.C93]

Yeah I think the E20 diffuser will be something that a lot of teams try and copy. I thought we'd have seen at least someone try it by now though.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Yeah I think the E20 diffuser will be something that a lot of teams try and copy. I thought we'd have seen at least someone try it by now though.

I never realized until this weekend how different it really is. Like you I'm surprised others haven't tried to copy.

[raymondu999]

Aren't the vanes situated below the McLaren endplates also trying to do the same thing?

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Aren't the vanes situated below the McLaren endplates also trying to do the same thing?

Yes but I don't think, no matter how they're angled, control the flow as much as Lotus. I mean that's a serious 45° turn with those strakes. The extensions on the McLaren probably help get this effect to a point, but the strakes on the Lotus gets the air before the MaCa extensions would and looks like it diverts more air.

[wesley123]

Yeah I think the E20 diffuser will be something that a lot of teams try and copy. I thought we'd have seen at least someone try it by now though.

I did

No seriously I used to do something similar but decided to ditch it since the air pointed out would just be aimed at the tire wall, increasing influence of the tire on the diffuser.

[bar555]

E20 diffuser is largely based on R31's late 2011 season spec

[flyboy2160]

Yeah I think the E20 diffuser will be something that a lot of teams try and copy. I thought we'd have seen at least someone try it by now though.

I never realized until this weekend how different it really is. Like you I'm surprised others haven't tried to copy.

yeah, but there's no free lunch. turning the flow that hard will suck some energy out of it. other teams will weigh the benefits of filling in behind the tire against using that energy in the "normal" direction of the diffuser exit flow.

[ame85]

Lotus E20 Technical Overview by Scarbs.

Enjoy

http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2012/04/2 ... velopment/

[Forza]

Alan Permane on TFL. E20 would have new suspension and dampers. They are trying to improve traction of the car. Also few other parts but he didn't specify them.