NEW RECORD for Ugliest Aero Bits EVER!

[blakebeatty]

A new low from the team that brought you the walrus nose (ok - only partially responsible), and the twin-towers nose cone winglet...

Man, i hope that this does not make it out of testing

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/f1/2008/tes/f1-2008-tes-xp-0645.jpg

[ShiftingGears]

...hail satan?

[airshifter]

What?

Do you have a problem with Viking helmets or something? :laugh:


Freaky looking.

[woody2goody]

That's wierd, ugly and cool all at the same time!

Might explain Quick Nick's slow time today :)

[Hawkmoon]

I thought the horn thing had gone out of fashion. Haven't McLaren dropped theirs and they're the ones who came up with the idea in the first place.

Can we have another ban for safety (read aesthetic) reasons?

[RJL25]

that car makes me horney.. gettit!?!?! HORNey... bwahahahahahahaha

[LeonBrooke]

That's hideous. I wonder if it'll be banned like the nose towers... I hope so :s hock:

A new low from the team that brought you the walrus nose (ok - only partially responsible), and the twin-towers nose cone winglet...

Man, i hope that this does not make it out of testing

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/f1/2008/tes/f1-2008-tes-xp-0645.jpg

As a retired aerodynamicist, I think that is stunning.

[CNR]

wrong car it would look good on a redbull

[Azumanga Davo]

A new low from the team that brought you the walrus nose (ok - only partially responsible), and the twin-towers nose cone winglet...

Man, i hope that this does not make it out of testing

http://www.motorsport.com/photos/f1/2008/tes/f1-2008-tes-xp-0645.jpg

I actually applaud them for trying something unique in the chase for downforce.

Everyone whinges, "oh, where's the uniqueness of today's cars?" and then they complain when a new as-yet unseen on the race day device comes out.

Make your minds up.

[RJL25]

now i'm finnished laughing at my totally hilarious joke i can look at this a bit more seriously. I gather then intention behind the horns is to speed up the airflow from the front of the car, through the middle and over the rear wing at the back, thus creating more downforce. However what i dont get is that before it can get from the front of the car to the rear wing it must first pass the drivers helmet, which is a part of an F1 car that happens to create a hell of alot of drag. So to me, this suggests the horns will accelerate the airflow over the drivers helmet, thus INCREASING drag... not good. Yeah there will be a gain in downforce but would it be worth it when considering the increase in drag? The other thing i wonder is the original horns by mclaren where developed during adrien newey's time, yet he never brought the concept to red bull... that suggests to me that the original founder of the horn idea believes its not a viable concept....

either way i agree that it would suit the red bull car better :)

I actually applaud them for trying something unique in the chase for downforce.

Everyone whinges, "oh, where's the uniqueness of today's cars?" and then they complain when a new as-yet unseen on the race day device comes out.

Make your minds up.

At last, someone who appreciates the art.


So to me, this suggests the horns will accelerate the airflow over the drivers helmet, thus INCREASING drag... not good.

The airflow is not necessarily speeded up, just made more efficient by being directed towards the rear aero devices. That in itself would actually reduce drag, even around the second most un-aerodynamic thing in an F1 car.

[RJL25]

At last, someone who appreciates the art.



The airflow is not necessarily speeded up, just made more efficient by being directed towards the rear aero devices. That in itself would actually reduce drag, even around the second most un-aerodynamic thing in an F1 car.

ok then, i just thought that it would have been better to direct the air away from the drivers helmet, and then let the rear horns re-direct the air back over the rear wing, best of both worlds. I guess its easy to say and hard to design though huh..

[RJL25]

also whats the keel arrangement on this bad boy? The lower front suepension arms dont appear to attach directly to the bottom edge of the tub as one would assume a zero keel arrangement would, and it doesn't appear to be twin keel either... are they using the renault V keel?

[Robinho]

there is a lot going on around the front of that car, i'd imagine they'll try to clean it up before the start fo the season, or parhaps thats just a very high downforce configuration for all the street circuits this year? if they want to win a race it might make sense to concentrate on making the car especially good at either high or low downforce circuits whilst sacrificing some of the all round ability?

[ArrowsFA1]

According to Nick Heidfeld:
"I would say the balance of the car is too wide - meaning it is not only understeer and not only oversteer depending where on the circuit it was. We've made some set up changes and the aero adjustment is getting better, but it is still not where it should be."
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64816

Perhaps the new aero bits are planned additions to get the car where "it should be" i.e. normal new bits going on a new car pre-season. Or they may be an attempt to address problems that have emerged in testing.

[V12]

I wonder (and I couldn't say myself personally), if the bodywork regs were actually loosened up (i.e. design whatever the hell you like within a 3D box specifying max width, height, length), rather than tightened up to try and get rid of all these appendages, if they would actually disappear, or become less frequent.

With the regulations as tight as they are, it seems all these aero pieces are the only way to chase extra downforce and aero efficiency within the regs, perhaps if it was all thrown open we would start seeing more "natural" car shapes again?

I would guess you would end up with something similar to a Peugeot 908 Le Mans car (with a single central seat and narrower cockpit bubble) eventually

According to Nick Heidfeld:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64816

Perhaps the new aero bits are planned additions to get the car where "it should be" i.e. normal new bits going on a new car pre-season. Or they may be an attempt to address problems that have emerged in testing.

My first reaction was that it was an attempt to cure something. As Williams showed in 04, being 'radical' in an attempt to get a jump on your competition isn't always a success.

This looks more to me like a 'fxxk, how do we fix this quick' piece of radicalism!

[JasonD]

Its only ugly until its fast then everyone will love it.

[woody2goody]

With the horns coming outwards from the nosecone, would that redirect the air either side of the driver or would it still go straight back?

It's right that they would be brilliant on the RBR.

I think the BMW should be good on the tighter circuits, as I imagine that massive front wing would make the front end nice and responsive. I'm sure they'll do well on all circuits, I mean they usually do well at Monza, and even the ghastly Honda could have won that race last year if it had some straight line speed :)

[cy bais]

It's not as bad as Honda's elephant ears from last year. It was only used once during testing.

[Osella]

I wouldn't have thought that it was a quick fix solution, based simply on the fact that they used the twin tower wings last season. I'd imagine this is a refinement of the concept, and more cleverly designed (bearing in mind those vertical fins were banned on safety grounds, like the Arrows tea tray of 2002) to be legal and useful. Considering the Ferrari mini-wings either side of the cockpit, and the Arrows wing of 2002, I'm surprised more teams haven't tried these concepts out.

Looks to me like a piece of ALBERT2 design... ;)

[Osella]

Ahem, it's 1972; I give you: The Eifelland-March!
http://www.f1rejects.com/teams/eifelland/profile/preseason-72.jpg
http://www.f1rejects.com/teams/eifelland/profile/kyalami-72.jpg
http://www.f1rejects.com/teams/eifelland/profile/brandshatch-72.jpg
How's that BMW looking now huh? ;)

[CNR]

i think this may be a one off as it was not on the car at the launch of the 2008 car.
or you can not see it from the side

http://www.setantasports.com/en/Sport/News/Other-sports/2008/01/14/F1-BMW-launch-new-car/?facets/sport-space/great-britain-locale/motorsports/

BMW Sauber launched their 2008 challenger on Monday, unveiling the F1.08 in Munich.

[truefan72]

Its only ugly until its fast then everyone will love it.


ditto

and all the teams start adopting it.

Since when has ugly pplayed a role in efficiecny. If teams onkly modfied cars so thatr they would be aesthetically pleasingto the eye, ingenuity would get nowhere.

Let's see if it works rather than if its pretty.

[jso1985]

I actually applaud them for trying something unique in the chase for downforce.

Everyone whinges, "oh, where's the uniqueness of today's cars?" and then they complain when a new as-yet unseen on the race day device comes out.

Make your minds up.

well said :up: , this isn't a beauty contest.

[ShiftingGears]

I actually applaud them for trying something unique in the chase for downforce.

Everyone whinges, "oh, where's the uniqueness of today's cars?" and then they complain when a new as-yet unseen on the race day device comes out.

Make your minds up.

I agree. The devil horns may be ugly, but at least BMW are trying to innovate something, kudos to them. I hope its fast.

[waitey]

is anyone else just a little bit worried about the pace of BMW in testing? I know we can't really judge because we don't know what they are testing compared to the other teams. But last year they were up the front in testing and came out well during the season. I just would like to see them have a few runs up the top, as they seem to really be off the pace a bit. What is everyone else's opinions?

[woody2goody]

I'm worried about it, but let's hope they're sandbagging.

I mean, two or three years ago, BAR (Honda) set a lap record at Barcelona, when their real pace wasn't amazing relative to everyone else.

BMW may not be concerned with times. They don't seem to be the sort of team to go for glory especially in meaningless testing.

In 2004 I thought the season was going to be the closest ever, and the week before Melbourne, Ferrari set a new lap record at Imola, and then go to Australia and hammer everybody.

I think, and hope the BMW will be quick at the start of the season.

[wmcot]

If it works, it's fine.

Still, it reminds me of those old western movies with old white cattle skulls by a watering hole! :)

[waitey]

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080124084741.shtml

Nick Heidfeld has expressed concern about BMW Sauber's 2008 car.

After the Swiss based team proved F1's third force in 2007 with its predecessor, the newly launched F1.08 has not performed ideally in pre-season testing so far, 30-year-old Heidfeld revealed.

"Last year, at this stage, things seemed better to me," he is quoted as saying at Valencia by the Daily Mail.

BMW chiefs, including team boss Mario Theissen, have targeted a maiden win for the German team this season, which begins in Australia on March 16.

Heidfeld says it is too early to rule out an improvement before then.


"I cannot yet say this car is worse, because I think we know what areas we have to work on," he explained.

For the past two days, BMW's 2007 car has lapped faster than the new contender as they ran simultaneously at Valencia.


that doesn't sound good when the driver has bad feelings. they seem to have changed the car quite a lot compared to last years car, and maybe that isn't working out. surely if they felt by melbourne the car wasn't up to it, they could bring an updated version of last year's car

[wedge]

I wouldn't have thought that it was a quick fix solution, based simply on the fact that they used the twin tower wings last season. I'd imagine this is a refinement of the concept, and more cleverly designed (bearing in mind those vertical fins were banned on safety grounds, like the Arrows tea tray of 2002) to be legal and useful. Considering the Ferrari mini-wings either side of the cockpit, and the Arrows wing of 2002, I'm surprised more teams haven't tried these concepts out.

Looks to me like a piece of ALBERT2 design... ;)

Most of the other teams have aerofoils placed somewhere around the front suspension. Didn't Renault started it off soon after their mass dampers were banned because they needed a solution to the pitch sensitivity of the front end?

BMW Sauber look dead cert that they have something with vertical fins as opposed to the usual horizontal one.

[Azumanga Davo]

Hmmm, I'm having another look at that picture and I wonder if BMW may be looking at a trend in the future.

My understanding of race car design are probably not as high as most, but my understand of the idea behind the part is to direct the airflow coming from the front of the nose to go under the "horns"wings and down the side of the engine cover. They may be trying to eliminate a couple of things:

1. The ymay be trying to get the air to go around the engine cover rather than head straight into it.

2. They may be trying to be clever and looking at ways of reducing the effect on the driver. It may be possible that a lot of air at high speed may miss the helmet and therefore perhaps help the driver out in some way (a little bit more visiblity in the wet?)

I reckon there may be more neater ways found in the future, but that's my thoughts on the mystery part anyway.

PS. I was one of the fans of the walrus nose idea from a few years ago. I reckon making the nose act like downforce wing was a clever notion, but needed to be stronger in the belief of the idea.

[Osella]

[quote="Monaro Doorslammer"]
1. They may be trying to get the air to go around the engine cover rather than head straight into it.
QUOTE]

And thereby directing it onto the t-wings on top of the sidepods..and cleaning up the airflow from the front wheels in 'transition' (where the car is turning and the front wheels are angled) which will provide a cleaner airflow to the rear wing and create more efficient downforce.

Whether the underside can tidy up the airflow coming over the nose and off the front wing and direct it more efficiently into the radiators to aid the cooling I am not sure, but I would hazard a guess that it's been a consideration..

[wedge]

What creates a lot of drag and dirt air in a single-seater are the wings, wheels and suspension wishbones. If you 'tidy' the airflow and reduce vortices you'll get more efficient downforce.

[Azumanga Davo]

Hmmm, cooling ideas for Monaco, that I reckon would work too.

Are there still many examples of the clean up aero wings on other cars this year? I know they were prevalent last year, but I can't say I've noticed anywhere else...

[Osella]

Basically that is what the bargeboards are designed to do. (one primary function is to extend the effective area of the underfloor forward to create more pressure change and therefore more total underbody downforce.

The Ferrari's have small aerofoils either side of the steering wheel area, have had for a couple of years. McLaren had their bull/viking horns last year (like BMW), All the Honda-style pieces at the leading edge of the sidepods are to do tidying work (as virtually everyone has this year!), as is the centre section of most of the bridge wings seen recently. If a piece of bodywork is vertical, you can be pretty sure it is a tidying piece, of designed to smooth airflow to reduce drag, or scavenge air back onto a downforce-producing device. (Notice the treatment given to the exhaust duct areas, hot air being less dense needs different treatment from cooler air arriving from the front of the car, a lot of CFD work has gone into this area in the last 5 years or so)

And near-horizontal piece will create downforce, but also drag if aerofoil-shaped in profile. Looking closely at the bridge 'wings' you see that the profile is twisted, being winglike at the edges, but not in the centre. A lot of the calculations going into this central section are not involving outright downforce, but ducting air into the airbox and back to the rear wing, again more to do with channeling airflow than creating downforce.

Take a close look at this/last season's cars and you will start seeing all kinds of pieces performing these functions. Hope this helps!

[Azumanga Davo]

It most certainly does... :)

[millencolin]

i think it looks kinda good. its more aggressive looking. i bet it will be banned thogh eventually, which would be a shame

[A.F.F.]

As a retired aerodynamicist, I think that is stunning.

As an avarage joe, I think it's hideous.

[wmcot]

Could you just see a botched pitstop similar to Nakajima's? The pitcrew would be gored!

[Azumanga Davo]

So now we have 4 sets of bull in the compo:

1: Red Bull
2: Red Bull of the Med
3: Beemer Bull
4: Max Mosley's Bull

Excellent...

[555-04Q2]

Looks terrible. Time to clamp down on "aero bits".