Want to know the difference between a fast car and F1? Wow..

[magnus911]

http://iedei.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/just-how-fas...

Just came across this. You can have both videos on at the same time...

[magnus911]

Actually this link is better...

http://youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http://www.youtu...

[Conor D]

Ah, I've been looking for that video for ages!

Thanks!

[minimatt1967]

Bloody hell.

[TonyHetherington]

Blimey - good video!

Good post

[magnus911]

minimatt1967 said:

Bloody hell.

My thoughts precisely. I suppose those drivers do earn their money.

[goldblum]

Fantastic vid.Just amazing how much faster those F1 cars are.

[john_p]

That's awesome

A good reason to post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQVhyJP0Bc8

RIP McRae

Stopping is also better! (F1 vs E46 M3)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1jCiU-4K5Y

[RobM77]

Even a wingless Formula Ford with a Fiesta engine will outrun a supercar around a race track. Add massive slicks, downforce and times the power by five to get to F1 and the results are very dramatic!

[magnus911]

RobM77 said:

Even a wingless Formula Ford with a Fiesta engine will outrun a supercar around a race track. Add massive slicks, downforce and times the power by five to get to F1 and the results are very dramatic!

So...educate me here. How many seconds a lap difference around the top gear test track do you think you'd get if you fitted racing slicks to the Kia C'eed? I ask because I'm always told that the tyres are the one component to make the most difference to a car's performance but i'm wondering how night and day the difference is.

[pmanson]

john_p said:

That's awesome

A good reason to post
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQVhyJP0Bc8

RIP McRae

I was just thinking about that video

[TonyHetherington]

Magnus, do you recall they did exactly that with the Renault Avantime on Top Gear? Put track day rubber on, then re-run, then suspension, then re-run etc.

The thing with fitting slicks to a Kia Cee'd is that the suspension isn't set up to take them.

[kambites]

magnus911 said:

So...educate me here. How many seconds a lap difference around the top gear test track do you think you'd get if you fitted racing slicks to the Kia C'eed? I ask because I'm always told that the tyres are the one component to make the most difference to a car's performance but i'm wondering how night and day the difference is.

I suspect it would start running out of suspension travel if you gave it too much grip and hence be largely undrivable on the limit.

[SamPet]

magnus911 said:

RobM77 said:

Even a wingless Formula Ford with a Fiesta engine will outrun a supercar around a race track. Add massive slicks, downforce and times the power by five to get to F1 and the results are very dramatic!

So...educate me here. How many seconds a lap difference around the top gear test track do you think you'd get if you fitted racing slicks to the Kia C'eed? I ask because I'm always told that the tyres are the one component to make the most difference to a car's performance but i'm wondering how night and day the difference is.

DUUUUURRRRR!

[thinfourth2]

magnus911 said:

RobM77 said:

Even a wingless Formula Ford with a Fiesta engine will outrun a supercar around a race track. Add massive slicks, downforce and times the power by five to get to F1 and the results are very dramatic!

So...educate me here. How many seconds a lap difference around the top gear test track do you think you'd get if you fitted racing slicks to the Kia C'eed? I ask because I'm always told that the tyres are the one component to make the most difference to a car's performance but i'm wondering how night and day the difference is.

Don't foget a formula ford wieghs about the same as a crisp packet

[RobM77]

magnus911 said:

RobM77 said:

Even a wingless Formula Ford with a Fiesta engine will outrun a supercar around a race track. Add massive slicks, downforce and times the power by five to get to F1 and the results are very dramatic!

So...educate me here. How many seconds a lap difference around the top gear test track do you think you'd get if you fitted racing slicks to the Kia C'eed? I ask because I'm always told that the tyres are the one component to make the most difference to a car's performance but i'm wondering how night and day the difference is.

Crumbs, I've no idea I'm afraid, someone on here will know though if they see the thread. If I had to guess I'd say probably about 3 or 4 seconds, but I really do have no idea. The Top Gear test track is also not very representative of car performance as it's got so many long straights, which are very unlike British B roads or British race tracks. Also, as Kambites says above, you can't just bolt slicks to a road car without changing other things. As you probably know, a slick is more than just a road tyre with no tread, the compound is massively softer. Slicks wear out in under a hundred miles, whereas even a performance road tyre will last maybe 5-10k miles.

It's not just slicks that make a single seater fast, you've also got to consider the track, roll centre and CofG - they're extremely low and wide compared to a road car.

For comparison by the way, I can quote some lap time figures for Brands Indy off the top of my head. Plato took an Esprit Sport 350 round there in 57 seconds for Evo magazine, Tiff had some hot hatches in and around 60 seconds, and I think an R500 or a Noble M400 can crack 51/52 seconds (all on road tyres obviously). I think I was doing 54s in my Caterham (only 115bhp and road tyres, but with racing suspension). A current Formula Ford is lapping in around 46 seconds (I think they're around 450kg and 160bhp). A guy called Scott Mansell has the outright lap record I believe, in an old F1 car homologated for the BOSS series, fitted with a manual gearbox, probably a Judd or DFV engine etc (this all makes them cheaper to run) of about 39s; I expect a modern F1 car might push 36s.

[epom]

that is some difference in speed, it looks like a game with the F1 cars, watching the F1 its always amazing when the camera is set low to the ground so you can actually appreciate how quick these guys are going... great vid

[RobM77]

thinfourth2 said:

magnus911 said:

RobM77 said:

Even a wingless Formula Ford with a Fiesta engine will outrun a supercar around a race track. Add massive slicks, downforce and times the power by five to get to F1 and the results are very dramatic!

So...educate me here. How many seconds a lap difference around the top gear test track do you think you'd get if you fitted racing slicks to the Kia C'eed? I ask because I'm always told that the tyres are the one component to make the most difference to a car's performance but i'm wondering how night and day the difference is.

Don't foget a formula ford wieghs about the same as a crisp packet

Weight is certainly a big factor, yes, although many supercars have power to weight ratios exceeding that of single seaters. A Formula Ford is about 300-350bhp/tonne, which isn't that special amongst supercars; that's just R300 performance in a straight line (acceleration from rest is much quicker though due to the greater grip of slicks). The really big difference is in braking and cornering - even a Caterham will only pull about 1 or 1.3g in cornering, whereas 2 or 3g is quite common for low level single seaters, and an F1 car can pull up to 5g.

[mr_spock]

I like this demo with James Hunt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nPLsEE_duE

[magnus911]

TonyHetherington said:

Magnus, do you recall they did exactly that with the Renault Avantime on Top Gear? Put track day rubber on, then re-run, then suspension, then re-run etc.

The thing with fitting slicks to a Kia Cee'd is that the suspension isn't set up to take them.

Yes I do actually, it didn't make all that much difference IIRC.

Then Clarkson was moaning because he just wanted to increase power.