95 - 02 F1 Tech
Discussion
Megaflow said:
So, all the rumours about RB's floor flexing were correct, just not for the reason people were think.
I'm confident it was running as a mass damper, there is some slow mo on youtube from TV at the time which showed the floor stay flexing repeatedly at around the rate required for damping (hard to tell from TV due to the FPS) - basically the floor became the weight and the stay the spring of a more coventionally arranged mass damper. Actually having just googled for the video someones done a much nicer edit showing it really clearly: http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y62/Somersrallysl...
Time to see how much the bias has drifted...
On these, if they test good then they'll be refurbed with new seals and connectors with a note attached for any shift in bias so we can account for it in the electronics. Ideally you'd just fit new but at £3.5K a pop if you can get a few more KMs from then you tend to take that option!
If we have an issue on circuit with one it gets changed for investigation later on, as such we carry a complete car set of spare Moogs for each car.
On these, if they test good then they'll be refurbed with new seals and connectors with a note attached for any shift in bias so we can account for it in the electronics. Ideally you'd just fit new but at £3.5K a pop if you can get a few more KMs from then you tend to take that option!
If we have an issue on circuit with one it gets changed for investigation later on, as such we carry a complete car set of spare Moogs for each car.
Edited by poppopbangbang on Monday 1st September 11:30
Agent Orange said:
Great thread and appreciate your time and insight. 
Which component from the era do you regard as the most beautifully engineered? Both in function and aesthetics?
Function has to be the hydraulics, the power density is amazing and when you think we actuate pretty much everything that moves on the entire car from a pump smaller than your fist it's pretty impressive. Which component from the era do you regard as the most beautifully engineered? Both in function and aesthetics?
From an aesthetic point of view it's got to be rear diffuser exit, especially on the cars which were using blow or heavy integration with the rear wing. The amount of angles, bits, curves and shaping going on is astounding.
garycat said:
Ah this thread bump reminded me of a question, but its more to do with recent F1 cars.
How do the current F1 steering wheels with all their complex electronics connect to the wiring loom of the car? They seem to be able to swap them so quickly.
Normally a high density connector, similar to the one shown here (this is the Bloodhound SSC one, I'm designing the steering wheel at the moment)How do the current F1 steering wheels with all their complex electronics connect to the wiring loom of the car? They seem to be able to swap them so quickly.
The master spline on the QR mechanism ensures the electrical connector pins align correctly.
Edited by IN51GHT on Friday 17th October 06:58
IN51GHT said:
garycat said:
Ah this thread bump reminded me of a question, but its more to do with recent F1 cars.
How do the current F1 steering wheels with all their complex electronics connect to the wiring loom of the car? They seem to be able to swap them so quickly.
Normally a high density connector, similar to the one shown here (this is the Bloodhound SSC one, I'm designing the steering wheel at the moment)How do the current F1 steering wheels with all their complex electronics connect to the wiring loom of the car? They seem to be able to swap them so quickly.
The master spline on the QR mechanism ensures the electrical connector pins align correctly.
Edited by IN51GHT on Friday 17th October 06:58
not got any decent questions for you yet popsandbangs.
but are the floors on on of the Minardi's you look after, held on with steel cables? I made some up a couple of years ago, I certainly supplied some for a Minardi how many can there be in the UK? also did some strops for the suspension of a Jaguar at the same time.
Andy
Edit I think it was for a Minardi M189?
Edited by TheConverted on Friday 17th October 12:00
Edited by TheConverted on Friday 17th October 12:00
Well not a great deal to fill you all in on at the moment as it's that point in the year where we've run out of KMs on most parts. Currently all that is on the workshop floor is a lot of F1s in pieces awaiting the return of their fresh engines for the start of next year.
We did a test last week that went very well so nothing exciting to report there.
It's all a bit boring at the moment! We start our Winter builds in December though so plenty to update you all on at that point.
Sorry for being a bit disapointing LOL
With regards steering wheels most F1s are using a Lemo rather than an AS as per the picture above as they are lighter. Ours are all semi floating and self aligning so rather than relying on the connector staying rigid in the wheel they are sprung and self centre and as a result it is impossible to bend the pins on the male half during engagement.
Modern stuff is using fewer pins than our stuff as they are now doing power over CAN so with five wires up the column (PTT is usually hard wired for obvious reasons) everything else is coming over two seperate pairs of CAN wiring, usually split functions and display. All the functions you see on the wheel are therefore passed to the car on just two wires with the display acting as a CAN gateway and encoding these swithc positions etc. onto the CANbus. Rosbergs failure was due to one of these buses failing which left the dash working but not a lot else!
The M189 bits would have been for Motohistorics who built one a couple of years ago. We do still use steel cables for edge of floor support on our stuff though. The Jag might have been for Klaus's lot? Was it for an R5?
We did a test last week that went very well so nothing exciting to report there.
It's all a bit boring at the moment! We start our Winter builds in December though so plenty to update you all on at that point.
Sorry for being a bit disapointing LOL
With regards steering wheels most F1s are using a Lemo rather than an AS as per the picture above as they are lighter. Ours are all semi floating and self aligning so rather than relying on the connector staying rigid in the wheel they are sprung and self centre and as a result it is impossible to bend the pins on the male half during engagement.
Modern stuff is using fewer pins than our stuff as they are now doing power over CAN so with five wires up the column (PTT is usually hard wired for obvious reasons) everything else is coming over two seperate pairs of CAN wiring, usually split functions and display. All the functions you see on the wheel are therefore passed to the car on just two wires with the display acting as a CAN gateway and encoding these swithc positions etc. onto the CANbus. Rosbergs failure was due to one of these buses failing which left the dash working but not a lot else!
The M189 bits would have been for Motohistorics who built one a couple of years ago. We do still use steel cables for edge of floor support on our stuff though. The Jag might have been for Klaus's lot? Was it for an R5?
renmure said:
FairfieldSteve said:
What an excellent, well written and wonderfully informative thread.
Thank you.
Can't say it better than that.Thank you.
One thing I forgot to mention is that the splined hubs for the wheel quick release as per the pic above went out of favour in the late 90's, most stuff since then has used a four taper prong or similar type setup as it allows the wheel to be fitted fair easier, reduces free play in the quick release and helps alignment so the self centering electrical connector has less work to do. I will grab some pics of a circa 2000 era wheel if I'm in tomorrow.
poppopbangbang said:
The M189 bits would have been for Motohistorics who built one a couple of years ago. We do still use steel cables for edge of floor support on our stuff though. The Jag might have been for Klaus's lot? Was it for an R5?
That's it, motohistorics I remember now. The jag was an E type. I belive they were using them to setup the dampers, stop the nose lifting under acceleration.I was surprised at how low tech it seemed for them to be using steel strops. I would have though they would be kevlar/PBO fibre like the wheel teathers. But I guess the M189 is from a time when these where in their infancy.
Where I work at the moment we supply Lemo connectors also, so if you ever needs some let me know.
Thanks for taking post this thread its infactuating.
Andy
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