Red Bull RB7 Renault

[mep]

Looks really interesting. The way the rocker is designed looks really strange.
Scarbs might have messed up his article because he doesn't really go into detail of this. The rocker is definitely not what we are used to see as rocker.
Also I think I can see a white spring around the damper so it’s not a spring-less design.

[imightbewrong]

This is my view of it:


Obviously some parts missing, but they are hidden from view..

[zgred]

[ringo]

What's amazing is that 50mm of this is bellow the floor. The rocker end would be under the floor. Talk about COG lowering.

This is much different to last years, they've really gone for bigger rockers and effectively having out borad joints.

The KERS device being right behind the engine, shows how long this gearbox really is.


this must be a cooling tunnel under the drive shaft.

[Just_a_fan]

Is it actually true and legal what Horner says? Due to the rake their FW sits lower? I thought the wing mustn't be closer to the ground than some xxx mm. No matter if you run high rake or very low rear suspension.

The rules don't talk about the ground. They talk about the reference plane and the step plane. These are just defined planes about which the rest of the car is measured. There is no requirement for the planes to be parallel to the ground. The only thing that prevents the reference plane being at ground level is the plank and the rules relating to the wear thereof.

The teams all run their cars (and hence the planes) at an angle to the ground. This is the rake that is mentioned hereabouts. Red Bull appear to have figured out how to get their car to be at the best angle / position relative to the ground.

[mep]

What's amazing is that 50mm of this is bellow the floor.

I can't see anything below the floor.

[hollowBallistix]

What's amazing is that 50mm of this is bellow the floor.

I can't see anything below the floor.

If you look a the second picture with the floor in place & then look bad at the top picture where it's not, it looks as if a LOT of that gearbox & even the KERS battery are below the floor line

[PlatinumZealot]

What a long ... gearbox.

Yeah the rocker really seems below the floor line.

[Robbobnob]

http://i.imgur.com/RI44U.jpg

improved KERS cooling perhaps?

[kalinka]

The teams all run their cars (and hence the planes) at an angle to the ground. This is the rake that is mentioned hereabouts. Red Bull appear to have figured out how to get their car to be at the best angle / position relative to the ground.

But even if Horner is right, that doesn't say much about the bending of the FW under load. What esentially he says is that their wing should be almost flat, and beacause the rake the whole wing should be closer to the ground ( being flat at the same time ). But it's not the case. Under load, the center of the wing is much higher than the endplates, so it's not just rake. It's bending.

[siskue2005]

The teams all run their cars (and hence the planes) at an angle to the ground. This is the rake that is mentioned hereabouts. Red Bull appear to have figured out how to get their car to be at the best angle / position relative to the ground.

But even if Horner is right, that doesn't say much about the bending of the FW under load. What esentially he says is that their wing should be almost flat, and beacause the rake the whole wing should be closer to the ground ( being flat at the same time ). But it's not the case. Under load, the center of the wing is much higher than the endplates, so it's not just rake. It's bending.

moreover you guys are forgetting about the Bib or tea tray
the bib load test is there for the cars not to run high rake and touch the front wing on the ground

if what horner saying is correct, for that to happen the BIB has to give way a bit IMO
so they might have a flexing floor which is assisting them in running the wings closer to ground.....thats why he is so confident about the front wing not flexing thing?!?

[Chalke]

If what Horner said is true then it's implied that the front wing load test is measured against the reference plane. If this is the case, surely the FIA can change the load test instantly if they want to stop front wings skimming the ground - make the deflection test measure proximity to a plane created by the contact points of the tyres instead of relating to the reference plane the floor sits on.

However...

I don't believe a word of what he's said today, it's a smokescreen - the wing bends in relation to rest of the car as shown in the onboard footage. It's legal by virtue of passing the tests the FIA require and will remain so untili the tests change sufficiently to expose the extra flexibility they've managed to manufacture.

[Onch]

Could it be that the rod attached to the forward end of the tea tray is the device allowing the RB's to run that much rake? (Thanks n_anirudh for the picture)
I have the feeling it would not be too difficult to connect it somehow to front suspension components so that it will pull upwards on the tray as the car lowers at speed, thereby allowing more aggressive rake...

Maybe this has been mentioned (and denied) before, all I know is that this was already there on the RB6. I don't remember seeing it on any other car either.

[myurr]

@Onch - it's called a bib stay, and whilst it used to be a sprung part the FIA cracked down on it last year and increased the deflection tests in that region.

Also attaching it to the front suspension would change the suspension characteristics. Perhaps not the end of the world, but I would have thought it would complicate things with the setup of the car.

Watching the onboards from the McLaren the front of the bib is already scraping along the ground, so I would be interested to know exactly how Red Bull are getting it even closer so that they can increase the rake of the car. I don't think that's the whole explanation for the front wing being so close to the ground, doubly so thanks to watching the videos where you can see the wing flex up and down depending on how fast the car is going.

[Onch]

@Onch - it's called a bib stay, and whilst it used to be a sprung part the FIA cracked down on it last year and increased the deflection tests in that region.

In which direction are performed the tests, downwards or upwards?

Also attaching it to the front suspension would change the suspension characteristics. Perhaps not the end of the world, but I would have thought it would complicate things with the setup of the car.

The bib bending stiffness would just be added to the front springs, no big deal I would think. Certainly less hassle than getting a consistent car with a blown diffuser for instance.

Watching the onboards from the McLaren the front of the bib is already scraping along the ground, so I would be interested to know exactly how Red Bull are getting it even closer so that they can increase the rake of the car. I don't think that's the whole explanation for the front wing being so close to the ground, doubly so thanks to watching the videos where you can see the wing flex up and down depending on how fast the car is going.

That would exactly be the purpose of it: lift the front of the bib as the (front of the) car moves closer to the ground so that scraping is delayed.
There is indeed wing flex additionally, but this device mainly affects rake envelope of the car.