2012 Formula One cars

[Streps]

Well the new formula one cars are starting to come out.
Pics of the new Caterham have just been released..


Sure has challenging looks..



And with the new Ferrari with the Eurofighter style wings..
Could be an ugly year.

[fatboy69]

Jeez that is one hell of an ugly beast isnt it?

Whatever happened to good looking F1 cars such as the Lotus 79, the Wiiliams FW07 etc etc.

[Henry Fiddleton]

That nose is awful.

Infact it looks awful all over.

[Lost soul]

the Caterham sure is boxy

[Streps]

The current regs sure do not have good looks in mind!

Bit of a shame really.

[m0rris]

Step aside Walrusnose, you've met your match.

[Rugbyman]

Streps said:

And with the new Ferrari with the Eurofighter style wings..
Could be an ugly year.

Any pics of this ?

[Streps]

Rugbyman said:

Any pics of this ?

Mclaren have apparently also got something similar.. sadly we need to wait until the cars are uncovered.

Edited by Streps on Wednesday 25th January 12:58

[kybo]

[quote=Streps]Well the new formula one cars are starting to come out.
Pics of the new Caterham have just been released..


Sure has challenging looks..



quote]
Has that car been telling Pork Pies? Or did Pinocchio design the front end?



/S

[LocoBlade]

The nose look is a result of the new regulations, the entire nose assembly must now be below 55cm whereas the cockpit area behind the front bulkhead can still be up to about 62cm high, and as the teams want the cockpit/tub as high as possible to get as much aero benefit from the front of the floor underneath, this disjointed nose look might be quite common unfortunately.

Edited by LocoBlade on Wednesday 25th January 14:28

[Streps]

It's to help increase safety in T-bone accidents according to Andrew Benson.
I keep remembering this crash:


Anything to help stop the cars climbing another is a good thing.
Just a shame it's fugly

[TheHeretic]

Well, I don't mind it at all, but I do like weird looking cars anyway!

[DanDC5]

That Caterham nose is a very solution to the new nose height regulations. They say if a car looks fast it is, well what if it looks awful? Does the same apply?

[Redlake27]

So they have been using Caterham's road wind tunnel facility?


Actually, I like it. I hope we get away from all F1 cars looking identical.

[LocoBlade]

DanDC5 said:

That Caterham nose is a very solution to the new nose height regulations. They say if a car looks fast it is, well what if it looks awful? Does the same apply?

The problem may be that the two are mutually exclusive within the confines of the 2012 regs. For best performance you need as much air going under the nose to the front of the floor as possible, and when it gets there you need as much space as possible between the tub and the floor for the aero appendages. To get the first part you need the nose as high as possible out of the airflow, and as the entire nose section is now limited to 55cm in height, thats the line most upper surfaces will follow. Then to get the second bit you need a high tub to lift the drivers legs up and mount the suspension as high as possible, hence keeping the tub higher.

[davepoth]

Rumour has it most cars will be similar.

[Munter]

[redacted]

[24lemons]

Is the idea of the step to prevent the nose acting as a ramp in a head on crash or is it to prevent injury in a side impact? If it's the latter I dont see what effect that would have over simply mandating a maximum height for the tip of the nosecone.

If they did that then the designers would be forced to have a lower nosecone whilst maintaining a nice sleek design.

[brierleys]

24lemons said:

Is the idea of the step to prevent the nose acting as a ramp in a head on crash or is it to prevent injury in a side impact? If it's the latter I dont see what effect that would have over simply mandating a maximum height for the tip of the nosecone.

If they did that then the designers would be forced to have a lower nosecone whilst maintaining a nice sleek design.

I think it would be very difficult to define exactly what the nose tip is without defining what the profile should be and that's not what the rules should be used for.