bigblue wrote:One question that is not particularly specific to the new engine, and so may be answerable in general terms is : how did the issue from last year's engine not get picked-up in pre-season dyno testing ?
To a non-expert in engine design it would seem that such a fundamental issue should have been very apparent by simulating laps of various cicuits. The only thing I can think of, off the top of my head, is reliability issues meant running at less than previously dyno'd settings (lower turbocharger speed or something like that). Even that seems a bit odd, did in-car installation show up issues never seen before leading to having to reduce recovered energy ? Would love to know !
Of course if the nephew can't say, he can't say ... don't get him in trouble !
If you think about it, Honda had no race data going into 2015 for their PU. As others have mentioned, with the limited testing allowed, you commit to a certain concept, design and layout and then you are stuck with that PU for the whole season. Nothing can equal real track data and experience for the true test of your PU. You discover your flaws and you cannot make major changes during the season. Issues arise from races that you did not foresee in the dyno room. So it's very difficult to translate dyno testing results to real race situations without a real race benchmark. Now that Honda has a full season of race data with this PU, major improvements come much easier as trouble areas are now clearly defined. It's hard to explain but things change when you bolt a PU into a chassis. It's a marriage that many times is like a human marriage. Issues that were never anticipated arise or a much larger issue than originally thought. Nothing beats real race experience....nothing.
=D>
