Bootstrap Framework 3.3.6

[acosmichippo]

that's where the missiles come out. with the EBD gone, they had to come up with some other advantage.

[racechick]

Here's what Andrew Benson(answering questions on twitter from Jerez) has said to a concern about McLaren not having the stepped nose.

"There is a certain amount of anxiety among fans of McLaren that their car is the only one so far not to feature a stepped 'platypus' nose. There is a rumour going around that this is all part of a cunning plan. The lower nose regulation was originally planned for 2011, but was delayed by a year. The rumour goes that McLaren built their 2011 chassis and crash structure to conform to the stepped nose regs and were effectively running it all last year - which would make McLaren months ahead of their rivals in optimising the aerodynamics of the new rules. I ran this by an experienced F1 engineer, and the response was: 'Sounds like a good story to cover up a bit of a screw-up.' Time will tell."

[bud]

I don't see why theres the anxiety? Its pretty simple really McLaren haven't lowered their nose they kept it the same. The teams with the stepped nose HAVE lowered their nose to conform to the new regs. If anything they will lose some flow to the underside compared to last season Mclaren won't lose anything.

[racechick]

Gary Anderson's contribution.

"This is a test car - as McLaren have been saying fairly loudly - and there will be developments coming along, but at the moment nothing stands out as a concept other teams would struggle to match. But McLaren have had difficulties early on in the last two seasons, so maybe they want to have a solid base to start from. Right now, though, there is nothing on this car that would make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up."

[andrew]

None of these ugly creations make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! 2012 - the year of the really ugly F1 cars.

[darwin dali]

None of these ugly creations make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up! 2012 - the year of the really ugly F1 cars.

They all have been ugly for a couple years now!

[bud]

this image you can see they have had to lower the top of the nose ahead of the bulkhead, while the bulkhead is pretty much the same.



here you can see both the 26 and 27 have a lower bulk head than Redbull and haven't needed the bump as they have a lower front nose. Now to all those people claiming McLaren have it wrong then why were they competitive last year? the flow underneath the nose is what all the fuss is about and its relatively the same as last year for all teams.

[bigpat]

this image you can see they have had to lower the top of the nose ahead of the bulkhead, while the bulkhead is pretty much the same.



here you can see both the 26 and 27 have a lower bulk head than Redbull and haven't needed the bump as they have a lower front nose. Now to all those people claiming McLaren have it wrong then why were they competitive last year? the flow underneath the nose is what all the fuss is about and its relatively the same as last year for all teams.

Good pics, clear to see the 27 nose is just an evolution of the 26...... not some radical departure in concept from other cars.

The duct on the RB 8 is for driver and electronics cooling. Adrian Newey said with the narrow nose tip, is was just easier to mount the duct further aft, and use the step for something useful. Makes sense to use a small high pressure region there to place it after alll.

And would wholeheartedly believe him, that it's that simple. People are over analysing these bumps waaaaay too much........

The big thing this year is how best to optimise the diffuser now that the EBD ban has stopped the teams forming a fluidic skirt under the sides of the diffuser, that "sealed" them from lateral leakage of air. The optimisation of the concept is what allowed the RB 7 (which was specifically designed around it) to run so much rear ride height, while not losing efficiency. More rear ride height means more chassis rake, lowering and increasing efficiency of the front wing, and having the rear wing in a higher position relative to others.

Referencing off rear-end pictures of the RB 7, and new RB 8, showed a static height in the 100-120 mm region, measuring relative to rim height. That is huge, as when we ran flat bottom F3000 cars we only ran 40-50mm rear ride height, with 20-25mm rake. Just shows how softly sprung F1 cars are nowadays....

[bud]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97431

Interview with Paddy Lowe about the path McLarens gone.

[madbrad]

The more I examine these platypuss noses, the more they seem vestigal and unneeded. Looks now like there's no need for a nose at all, that they serve only to have a place to hang the wing, and also a crash structure obviously.

[bud]

[Big Azza]

It's interesting from that picture I think I can see the point of the bump in the nose. It seems it's to direct air flow to the rear wing.

McLaren still have the "bump" but they put it beside the driver's head.

[bigpat]

The bump would have a VERY minimal effect on flow to the rear wing. The flow around the drivers helmet is a bigger factor.

The other 'bumps' are the lateral helmet headrests. the McLaren's ones do appear 40-50mm higher. Again their effect on the rear wing is negligible. It's what happens behind them that is of more consequence....

[scotty]

That photo is slightly out of perspective cause the cockpit side protection is the same height on all cars...

[bud]

Yeah I think the photos aren't exactly in perspective, I saw this photo on twitter thought it was interesting as you can see the difference in concepts with the floor and keel of Ferrari clearly visible. People shouldn't be looking on top of the nose the importance is underneath. The bump itself carries no significance for aero.