Formula E - Am I The Only One Excited?

Formula E - Am I The Only One Excited?

Author
Discussion

Munter

31,319 posts

240 months

Tuesday 25th March 2014
quotequote all
Looks like this vid of Trulli only went up today: http://www.fiaformulae.com/multimedia/trulli-drive...

woof

8,456 posts

276 months

Tuesday 25th March 2014
quotequote all
As I understand it - all the drivers that are listed aren't on any payroll as yet. They are simply drivers who have expressed an interest to drive in the Formula. It's all a little odd. But it's got the FIA backing and work at Donington is ongoing. One can only hope that monies have already been paid to the developers.



jurbie

2,339 posts

200 months

Tuesday 25th March 2014
quotequote all
Rude-boy said:
3. It is not supposed to be a feeder for F1. It will be distinct from F1 as, for a start, it will be racing in places that F1 could only dream of going. Monaco is the only track that they will have in common. It is not intended to fit in in the ladder, it will be stand alone and that is why it could well work for those who have no interest in motorsport. It is not intended to rival F1 but to tap into the millions who have no interest in noise and pollution (as they see it) but like the idea of cutting edge motorsport with a genuine and obvious line to ‘improvement of the breed’.
I think you are being a little optimistic if you think this will appeal to all those with no interest in motorsport, I'm not interested in cricket and if the powers that be decide to change the rules of cricket and start using wider stumps and a bigger bat, I'm still not going to be interested.

Noise and pollution has nothing to do with it, the people who don't like motorsport don't like it because they think that watching cars going around in circles regardless of what is powering them is just a bit dull. It's been said many times on this forum that the general public perceive cars as white goods and driving is just one of lifes banalities. These people aren't lying awake at night wishing for some kind of eco friendly racing they can enjoy without feeling guilty, they just don't care and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.

dr_gn

16,140 posts

183 months

Tuesday 25th March 2014
quotequote all
jurbie said:
Rude-boy said:
3. It is not supposed to be a feeder for F1. It will be distinct from F1 as, for a start, it will be racing in places that F1 could only dream of going. Monaco is the only track that they will have in common. It is not intended to fit in in the ladder, it will be stand alone and that is why it could well work for those who have no interest in motorsport. It is not intended to rival F1 but to tap into the millions who have no interest in noise and pollution (as they see it) but like the idea of cutting edge motorsport with a genuine and obvious line to ‘improvement of the breed’.
I think you are being a little optimistic if you think this will appeal to all those with no interest in motorsport, I'm not interested in cricket and if the powers that be decide to change the rules of cricket and start using wider stumps and a bigger bat, I'm still not going to be interested.

Noise and pollution has nothing to do with it, the people who don't like motorsport don't like it because they think that watching cars going around in circles regardless of what is powering them is just a bit dull. It's been said many times on this forum that the general public perceive cars as white goods and driving is just one of lifes banalities. These people aren't lying awake at night wishing for some kind of eco friendly racing they can enjoy without feeling guilty, they just don't care and there is nothing anyone can do to change that.
100%

I predict it'll be dead in the water after 12 months.

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

232 months

Tuesday 25th March 2014
quotequote all
How many turned up for a simple demo in London?

And the British GP?


pedromorgan

148 posts

177 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
quotequote all
I have been biting my toung on this one for too long!

Guys, one of the biggest problems facing motorsport globally is the noise it creates. circuits are having to close because if it!
How is this good for motorsport?

I love the sound of the great F1 cars. (I have a particular liking for the Ferrari V12's revving to the point where the valves get out and do a little dance on the engine cover!!).
But emagine for a second, racing without all the objections from the noise lobby.
Emagine for a second, racing working in harmony with the surrounding community instead of fighting it at every opportunity...

I think I am right in saying that the big loop at Brands Hatch is closed the vast mahjority of the time because of noise problems.
Overnight these cars can render it a non-issue!

Also, lets face it... F1 has big problems at the moment. last years racing was dysmal. its compleatly out of touch. and i suspect that the level of corruption will gradually be revealed over the next couple of years...
F1 is really only available on Sky which means giving money to Rupert Merdoch. I flatly refuse to do that.

I am really looking forward to seeing these races.


I love going to the Silverstone classic every year. the sound is fantastic. but after 3 days of it, my ears have had enough.

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

232 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
quotequote all
Pedro I agree with a lot you have to say.

The only issue i would mention is that the 'haters' have now moved on to tyre squeel as a source of their noise objections.


We do have a major problem though with people having been known to move to areas near race tracks with the intention of shutting them down, and that's before we deal with the pathetic idiocy of divorcing couples and their vendictive families.

CraigyMc

16,333 posts

235 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
quotequote all
H18 ENF said:
The test day was the first outing and only ran at 25% power but still didn't look awful.

Test here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqIsFbdLJ7k#t=124

Thoughts?
25% of 270bhp is 67.5bhp, and yet he was talking about wheelspin.

errr...


jurbie

2,339 posts

200 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
quotequote all
Rude-boy said:
How many turned up for a simple demo in London?

And the British GP?
That was F1 which has had 60 years to build a brand and a fan base. If you think they are all going to migrate to FE then you will be disappointed. If you don't believe me then go and ask the people who came up with A1GP or Super League Formula.

By your reasoning every club weekend across the country should be packed out with F1 fans, I would suggest you pay a visit to Silverstone over Easter, you'll witness a world championship event, some top drivers and even a few hybrid engines ready to soothe all those with a guilty conscience. The only thing missing will be spectators because actually beyond F1, motorsport isn't really that popular.

I'm happy to be proved wrong about this but the reality to me is that this is just another in a long line of single seater championships that has come and gone over the years and I don't think that being electric will draw in any more punters then any other series with a supposed USP.


celicawrc

3,343 posts

149 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
quotequote all
Imo this will be a massive flop and fold quicker than A1GP.

Just look at the fuss that has been caused by the recent F1 noise. Not many people are going to want to watch silent cars.

l354uge

2,892 posts

120 months

Wednesday 26th March 2014
quotequote all
The only thing that excites me about formula e is the use of road car sized wheels and tyres, hopefully a step towards them being more commonly used.

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

232 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
I’m not 100% sure that everyone is ‘getting’ this.

This if Formula E, not F1, not WEC, not BTCC, not like any other sort of motorsport in the World.

Joe P has little or no idea what F1 is. They know of the glamour and of the money and a few driver names (most long retired) but outside of that they know zip. They know even less about WEC, etc as you say.

The point of Formula E is not to get you or I or any ‘F1 fans’ (you know the sort that think that motorsport begins and ends there) on board and interested. Some will, many will not and for all their crying most of those who love motorsport will still follow it to one degree or another in the same way that I glance at the results of the MRF Challenge (well done Rupert – you need to update your Wiki page!)

Formula E will not be run on the traditional race tracks around the World but in the heart of major cities. The closest it gets to ‘normal’ tracks is Monaco. It is not after the F1 fanbase, it is after those who would never dream of going to Silverstone, Spa or Suzuka but those that are sitting in Zone 4 who have heard in the Metro about the centre of town being closed down on the weekend for some race or other and have had their interest spiked.

Of the 300,000 that turned up in London for the F1 demonstration a few years back if only half that number turn up for the Formula E it will be a success and that’s not that many people. Add to that the majority of those who turned out had no idea about F1 and you can easily see how they could be attracted to hop on a tube.

Ignore A1 and Super league and the other ‘gimicky’ series that have grown and died on the vine. They brought nothing new to the party except how they added the points up or the colours the cars were painted in. Formula E is different. To the uneducated it will be electric F1 and that is why it will succeed IMO. It looks like what they know but it’s not loud and noisy and unenvironmental. It’s on the door step of 10+ million people for almost every race who don’t have to trek miles to get to see it.

Heck I have already lost count of the number of articles on it in the press – I’ve seen more about FE there to date than in the whole time SF and A1 were running.

Don’t break the Spinning Jenny. Embrace it for without it the industry will just keep on as it always has and so WILL die out.

CraigyMc

16,333 posts

235 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
Rude-boy said:
Joe P has little or no idea what F1 is. ...

....To the uneducated it will be electric F1 and that is why it will succeed IMO.
Pick one or the other, there's a good chap.

Formula E is of passing interest to racers because it's novel. It's of no interest to the prius crowd, like the rest of racing.

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

232 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all

Joe P knows that F1 is loud, glamorous and big money. It happens around the World 100’s to 1,000’s of miles away from where they roam. Other than that they know Jack.

Now you have cars that look a like F1, big advertising majoring on the fact that they are electric and environmentally friendly. Add to this that it will be on their doorstep. Because they know nothing about F1 they will think that this is Electric F1 and will then add all the positives, as well as being 30 minutes in, 30 home, and have lost the anti noise and green negatives.

Sorry if the concept is too difficult to grasp old bean but we must really stop trying to break the looms and back our sport or else we become nothing other than destroyers like that fool Berger.

CraigyMc

16,333 posts

235 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
Rude-boy said:
Joe P knows that F1 is loud, glamorous and big money. It happens around the World 100’s to 1,000’s of miles away from where they roam. Other than that they know Jack.

Now you have cars that look a like F1, big advertising majoring on the fact that they are electric and environmentally friendly. Add to this that it will be on their doorstep. Because they know nothing about F1 they will think that this is Electric F1 and will then add all the positives, as well as being 30 minutes in, 30 home, and have lost the anti noise and green negatives.

Sorry if the concept is too difficult to grasp old bean but we must really stop trying to break the looms and back our sport or else we become nothing other than destroyers like that fool Berger.
I'm clearly too stupid to understand.

jurbie

2,339 posts

200 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
I get the concept, the general public are going to fall for Formula E in the same way everyone became an athletics fan during the Olympics or a tennis fan during Wimbledon. I love your optimism and salute you for it however I stand by my point that this will be viewed as just more tin boxes going around in circles but without the deafening noise. It'll have some novelty value to begin with which will help sustain it for a few years but that'll wear off and eventually the masses will find something else to amuse themselves with.

I actually hope you are right but the tired old cynic in me isn't so confident. Personally I won't be attending as London is too far and I generally hate street circuits although they are apparently going to do a full race weekend simulation at Donington at some point over the summer. If it is open to the public then I will certainly try to get to it.


Rude-boy

22,227 posts

232 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
CraigyMc said:
I'm clearly too stupid to understand.
I doubt you are.

I just suspect that you are with the majority of those that love our sport that find it hard to see the world outside what we know and love.

Rude-boy

22,227 posts

232 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
Jurbie,

I realise that I am out of step with this, and perhaps I am even sounding a little more positive than I am in reality, but I am fed up to the back teeth with people who profess themselves to be motorsport fans (not just those myopic F1 only fans) yet when something a little left field comes in start to pour scorn on it from day one.

1. I don’t like diesels, they sound crap. Really? I think that they are an odd and different sound but it also gives you a new perspective. Stand on the exit of the Ford chicane and watch an R18 e-tron go through it and then head up the pit straight. You might not hear the power but by God you can see and feel the force in a way that you never perceive with a petrol car as the noise dulls the senses and blots out the nuances.

2. The new F1 cars sound pants so it’s now crap. Really? Okay it’s subjective here but this is from the same people who talk with misty eyes about the turbo cars of the early ‘80’s that sounded little different.

3. The Public don’t get it. Well last time I looked they don’t seem to get motorsport at all at the minute. So shall we keep banging on with the same old product or do we create a new one for the 21st century, not the 20th, less noise, just as much action, on your doorstep and relevant.

I really hope it will work and yes I am pushing it like hell to my friends who are interested in ball games only. They are actually starting to show an interest as (regardless of if it is reality) they see the ‘engines’ in these cars as being the prototypes of the ones they will be driving around in. These are the same people who, until they met me, thought that F1 was motorsport other than your odd shed race at Snet.

Even my secretary (who has turned down the offer of tickets to many events many would rip my arm off for) has asked me what I know about Formula E for gawds sake!

Okay so it might not work but the surest way to never improve is to only ever do what you have always done. A little enthusiasm and support from those that call themselves motorsport fans would not go a miss, instead of giving people feeling that they view Formula E in the same way that they would something smelly on the bottom of their shoe.

I LOVE my sport and it is my life. If I can do anything to push it forwards and get others to feel half the buzz I do even when typing about watching an R18 then I will be a happy man.

Mezzanine

9,149 posts

218 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
I think the cars themselves look good.

dr_gn

16,140 posts

183 months

Thursday 27th March 2014
quotequote all
Electric bike racing anyone?

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/racing/2013-fim-er...

I tend to think Formula E should listen to the wise words of "Kevin", who makes a statement many might relate to:

"bring it back in a hundred years maybe then I WILL GIVE A st!"

rofl