95 - 02 F1 Tech
Discussion
Thank you PPBB for posting all of this. I love it. I was lucky enough to visit the historic lotus F1 lot at Hethel a while ago, and my admiration for you and for them (and anyone who can keep these conceptual beasts ticking over) is sky high.
Can I ask where in the UK would I be able to come and see some of these cars running?
Can I ask where in the UK would I be able to come and see some of these cars running?
A fabulous thread PPBB. Very insightful, very well explained and easy to follow for those of us who aren't engineers.
A couple of questions...
Which 2011 car did your operation get to run?
What's it like to drive these? Do you have any motorsport experiance or just a very thorough understanding of the cars. I'd guess that most/all race car engineers would give their 'eye teeth' to be in the hot seat...
A couple of questions...
Which 2011 car did your operation get to run?
What's it like to drive these? Do you have any motorsport experiance or just a very thorough understanding of the cars. I'd guess that most/all race car engineers would give their 'eye teeth' to be in the hot seat...
andyroo said:
Thank you PPBB for posting all of this. I love it. I was lucky enough to visit the historic lotus F1 lot at Hethel a while ago, and my admiration for you and for them (and anyone who can keep these conceptual beasts ticking over) is sky high.
Can I ask where in the UK would I be able to come and see some of these cars running?
There was a series called Euroboss which until about 4 years ago catered for this machinery until it was hijacked by a German and some rich Dutchmen. It is now called Boss gp which is a graveyard for old GP2/Worldseries machinery with mainly Gentlemen drivers. Such a shame.Can I ask where in the UK would I be able to come and see some of these cars running?
gaz1234 said:
How did active suspension work?
PPBB will be along with a more detailed explanation, but simplistically, the springs and dampers were replaced with hydraulic rams and the car programmed with a ride height and rake the team desired. The rams are then adjusted to try and maintain that ride height and rake to maximise the aero performance of the car. It could also control the side to side roll of the car, thus I believe, doing away with anti roll bars.If you search FW14B on You Tube the are some videos of the car going up and down on the rams in the garage as the team check the system.
Megaflow said:
PPBB will be along with a more detailed explanation, but simplistically, the springs and dampers were replaced with hydraulic rams and the car programmed with a ride height and rake the team desired. The rams are then adjusted to try and maintain that ride height and rake to maximise the aero performance of the car. It could also control the side to side roll of the car, thus I believe, doing away with anti roll bars.
If you search FW14B on You Tube the are some videos of the car going up and down on the rams in the garage as the team check the system.
And there was a button on the steering that if you ended up in the gravel it would lift the car to it's max ride height to lessen the chances of getting stuck.If you search FW14B on You Tube the are some videos of the car going up and down on the rams in the garage as the team check the system.
Thundersports said:
There was a series called Euroboss which until about 4 years ago catered for this machinery until it was hijacked by a German and some rich Dutchmen. It is now called Boss gp which is a graveyard for old GP2/Worldseries machinery with mainly Gentlemen drivers. Such a shame.
Ah, that sucks 
with f1 sounding as it does these days, I bet there'd be real demand for an almost-contemporary f1 series. Thanks for letting me know, and keep up the great posts!
Megaflow said:
PPBB will be along with a more detailed explanation, but simplistically, the springs and dampers were replaced with hydraulic rams and the car programmed with a ride height and rake the team desired. The rams are then adjusted to try and maintain that ride height and rake to maximise the aero performance of the car. It could also control the side to side roll of the car, thus I believe, doing away with anti roll bars.
If you search FW14B on You Tube the are some videos of the car going up and down on the rams in the garage as the team check the system.
Rams?If you search FW14B on You Tube the are some videos of the car going up and down on the rams in the garage as the team check the system.
Rake?
While I don't want to sound like some kind of vulture, just suppose the cars from Marussia and Caterham find their ways into the hands of private buyers. Would the tech supplied by the likes of Mclaren still be in the car along with the hybrid systems etc?
Does that mean you guys are having to swot up on hybrids and so on?
Does that mean you guys are having to swot up on hybrids and so on?
Megaflow said:
PPBB will be along with a more detailed explanation, but simplistically, the springs and dampers were replaced with hydraulic rams and the car programmed with a ride height and rake the team desired. The rams are then adjusted to try and maintain that ride height and rake to maximise the aero performance of the car. It could also control the side to side roll of the car, thus I believe, doing away with anti roll bars.
If you search FW14B on You Tube the are some videos of the car going up and down on the rams in the garage as the team check the system.
Yep that's about it but the system wasn't rigid, it allowed an almost infinite combination of effective spring and damper rates too and the strategies included anti-dive for braking, squat for launch etc. etc. If you search FW14B on You Tube the are some videos of the car going up and down on the rams in the garage as the team check the system.
marshall100 said:
While I don't want to sound like some kind of vulture, just suppose the cars from Marussia and Caterham find their ways into the hands of private buyers. Would the tech supplied by the likes of Mclaren still be in the car along with the hybrid systems etc?
Does that mean you guys are having to swot up on hybrids and so on?
Generally yes as this kit is usualy purchased not leased. Current stuff is easy to run as there is still support available if required. The older stuff is much more challenging really despite the simpler tech as there is no support and you are very much on your own!Does that mean you guys are having to swot up on hybrids and so on?
Cool. I know what you mean though, I ran a cannondale quad bike with fuel injection which was hugely tuneable. Just try finding a working laptop with a serial port on it, and that was only a couple of years ago! It's the last thing you'd expect to think is going to cause you a headache.
marshall100 said:
Cool. I know what you mean though, I ran a cannondale quad bike with fuel injection which was hugely tuneable. Just try finding a working laptop with a serial port on it, and that was only a couple of years ago! It's the last thing you'd expect to think is going to cause you a headache.
You're doing it all wrong:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B000J3OK7C?pc_redi...
:-)
Silent1 said:
Which are almost totally useless for anything we do as they essentially emulate an XT compatible serial port in the connector but many lack proper implementation of hardware RTS/CTS which we rely on for some things and seem to really struggle with latency when there is a constant 115200bps data flow through the port. Tried A LOT of them over the years with little success.TheConverted said:
Don't think anyone has asked this yet PPBB.
What's most interesting/amazing solution to a problem or piece of engineering. you've come across?
IE something thats made you step back and go 'wow thats genius', cheeky I know can we see it, if you're able to get pictures?
Thanks Andy
Toyota with their "water cooled" exhausts. Actually they were injecting specific quantities of water into the exhaust post collect to change the density of the exhaust gas within it and therefore the effective length of the exhaust. Worked extremely well filling in the torque hole that a V10 FPC suffers from and was quite frankly absolutely genius in it's design, execution and pitch for approval by the FIA.What's most interesting/amazing solution to a problem or piece of engineering. you've come across?
IE something thats made you step back and go 'wow thats genius', cheeky I know can we see it, if you're able to get pictures?
Thanks Andy
poppopbangbang said:
Which are almost totally useless for anything we do as they essentially emulate an XT compatible serial port in the connector but many lack proper implementation of hardware RTS/CTS which we rely on for some things and seem to really struggle with latency when there is a constant 115200bps data flow through the port. Tried A LOT of them over the years with little success.
This. I tried a couple and the software just isn't designed to work with it. Complete PITA.Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff