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By R00DIT
#4072
something i thought of last nite, does the renault engine still sit at a funny angle? i know two years ago they had it angled differently than other teams

does that apply now?
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By bud
#4074
Na i rekn now all the teams have to have the same centre of gravity and same degree of the V so that wouldnt be the case for the Renault now.
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By darwin dali
#4086
Considering internal combustion engines (thus leaving out oscillating and Wankel rotary combustion engines), there are basically three different ways of building an engine. The difference here is how the cylinders are placed compared to each other.

Inline engines, where all cylinders are placed next to (or after) each other are not used in Formula One since the 60's. While the engines are small, they are long and therefore require a heavy cranckshaft.
Boxer engines are actually one of the best ways to build an engine, if all external factors allow it. Two cylinder rows are placed opposed to each other. You could consider a boxer engine as being a 180° V-angle engine design. These engines became popular in F1 because of the low centre of gravity and the average production costs, but later on disappeared out of the picture as this type of engine is not sufficiently stiff enough to whitstand the car's G-forces in cornering conditions. Ferrari for instance have run 12 cylinder boxer engines from 1970 to 1980 before moving to a 120° V-angle engine.
V-type engines, as currently used in all F1 cars. The V is in fact the geometrical angle that seperated the two cylinder banks from each other where the crankshaft can be considered the origin of the angle. Obviously for this type of engine the size of the V is a major factor and must be decided in the first phases of the engine design. Previously, engines have been designed with angles such as 60° V12 or 72° V10. Although it has historically been an interesting evolution to see the differences between the teams' engines, the FIA have fixed the engine type to 90° V8 models.
Since the introduction of the Ford Cosworth DFV, an engine in a F1 car is a stressed member of the chassis, meaning that it is an integral part of the car. Before that idea, a chassis was built as a tube frame with the engine placed in it afterwards, while now a chassis would fall apart if no engine was fitted. A current engine is bolted in between the monocoque at the front and the gearbox in the back of the car. A boxer engine's dimensions and the lack of strength would compromise the weight of the chassis and limit possibilities for the aerodynamicists to design an optimal body. The same goes for the inline engines as they are small and long.

As a result every manufacturer moved to a V-angle engine, even before it was set as a requirement in the regulations. It is however vital that the precise angle is chosen wisely in order to build a powerful engine. The size of the V angle has to do with firing sequence and primary balance. A circle has 360 degrees and the (included V angle x the number of cylinders) must be a function of 720 (one rotation of the crankshaft is 360 degrees and every combustion cycle takes two turns - intake and combustion phase) in order to achieve evenly spaced cylinder firing and primary balance. That is why a boxer engine is an ideal layout. The cylinders are opposed at 180 degrees so having 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 or 10 or 12 isn't that big a deal. Perfect primary balance is easy to achieve, as long as the reciprocating and rotating parts are in balance and, the firing order is always evenly spaced. A few examples make it clear why several specific angles have been very popular in F1 engine design:

As mentioned earlier, Ferrari have used a 60° V12 or 120° V12 engine. As for the first option, divide 720° by 12 cylinders and you get 60. You get 120° when you imagine a V12 as two aligned V6 engines.
Renault's extremely successful 72° V10 engines share the same thoughts. It is the perfect bank angle for any V10 engine if a boxer is not an option. One cylinder is fired every time the cranckshaft has completed 72° so that after 2 turns every single piston has gone through one complete cycle.
Currently every team runs 90° V8 engines but not only because the regulations prescribe so. Also this is a perfect angle and meets the size requirements set by the aerodynamicists.
Contrary to these optimal choices, there have also been unusual uses. For instance the 2005 90° V10 engines that everyone but Renault were using. While they may have been more interesting for other reasons, it's performance could theoretically not beat Renault's RS25 that was a 72° V10. The 90° V10 engines hence had either offset crankpins or a funny firing order.
Before their RS25 Renault was trying a revolutionary design as they designed a 112° V10. Although the engine evolved from RS21 to RS23 and was beneficial in terms of the centre of gravity it was finally abandoned. The engine could not reach competitively high rpms since the uneven firing order introduced unwanted vibrations in the engine.



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By Irv the Swerve
#5110
Tonio Liuzzi has been re-signed for the season but SS doesn't know yet if he is going to be driving this year. Who do you think will be the driver to replace him? I think it's Tiago.

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