Cutting an F1 Car in Half [VIDEO]

[b^3]

Just something I came across

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_Wn1EFLa2C8#!

The Sauber F1 team took an '08 version of their car, and literally cut it in half, revealing all the intricacies of the inside. It goes to show that there really isn't much room left for the driver himself (or herself, in the next couple of years).

We hardly ever get to see the technology of this on this level, its normally always packed and hidden away under layers of carbon fibre and kept secret by the teams (although the gearbox/rear transmission isn't looked at in the vid).

And this comment will stay with me for years to come
To Perez (the driver)

"You're, you're just another component to us, ...."

I knew that it was tightly packed underneath all those layers, but this is just insane!

[86]

It's frightening how close the driver's back is to the fuel tank..

Man, all that carbon fiber is making me wet

[b^3]

I knew the fuel tank was close (well in that ball park anyway), can't get over how tight the pedal box is aswell as the gearbox cogs/casing, it's like a swiss watch!

[TrueTears]

i sense massive procrastination before exams

[Dominatorrr]

It's actually quite amazing how close they sit to the ground

[b^3]

It's actually quite amazing how close they sit to the ground

And thats just at a standstill, the gap gets smaller at higher speeds, as aerodynamic effects start playing a role, hence why the skid block underneath the cars were introduced a while back. They used to run a fair bit lower before that was introduced, skimming the ground at times (well they still do at certain points, but just not as often).

[Dominatorrr]

Is that because of the downforce through the corners?

[JinXi]

Is that because of the downforce through the corners?

A simple reasoning of this would be to take an anology of an aeroplane. A formula 1 car is built aerodynamically opposite to an aeroplane, in that it has "upside down" wings that creates downward forces instead of upwards forces, to ensure that the car doesn't lift off the ground.

[b^3]

Is that because of the downforce through the corners?

Basically yes, the amount of downforce increases with the square of velocity (or there abouts anyway). So as you go faster, the amount of downfore pushing the car and tyres in the ground increases. Now if the suspension was realtively soft, then this downforce would just push the chassis into the ground, and not transfer most of the load to the tyres. This is one reason why most race cars have hard suspension, so that the load is transfered into the tyres to increase the contact patch (and thus "grip", and allowing it to corner at higher speeds, without tangenting off in a straight line), and that after travelling over bumps and kerbs, the tyres are pushed back into the ground as quickly as possible. Although this occurs, a lot of the suspension travel of an F1 car is in the sidewall of the tyre, (remember seeing or hearing something like 40% or 50% of the suspension travel, but don't hold me to that).

But yeh as JinXi said above, it basically the "wings" (upside down to the conventional ones that are found on planes) that create the downforce, although they aren't the only devices on the car that do it, A fair bit of the overall downforce on the car is generated from the undertray and the rear diffuser via ground effect. The amount of overall downforce that is generated at top speed is something like the ratio of downforce to weight is 2:1 or 3:1. Hence the old tale that the teams always say, that an F1 car "could" drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel, as it would have enough downforce (now acting upwards) to push it to the roof of the tunnel without falling off. .....No one is silly enough to try it out, even if they had an engine that would work upsidedown.

Lets hope all of what I've said is correct, and that there isn't any common misconceptions in there, pick me up on them if there is

[Dominatorrr]

Is that because of the downforce through the corners?

Lets hope all of what I've said is correct, and that there isn't any common misconceptions in there, pick me up on them if there is

Even if there was one I wouldn't have the knowledge to pick up on it xD. Cheers guys, really interesting stuff.