Efficiency: Formula One engines in 2014

[Jakins]

ha its still exciting. i liked it better when manufacturers had the choice of how many cylinders to have and valves and all that stuff, only limited by displacement.

i went last weekend to the austrailian v8 super cars at circuit of Americas. now that was exciting! 10 times cooler then the F1 in my opinion. the cool thing about them is there are 4 manufacturers, nissan, Holden, ford, and Mercedes. all 5 liter, limited at 7,500 rpm, 630 hp i think. each of them made a very distinct sound. the Merc sounded just like a and F1 car, and the nissan sounded really nice too. and the others sounded burly. but they are all factory engine blocks just built up. de-tuned in some cases. i got to go into the garage and talk to some of the drivers and crew. (me being a huge nissan fan i was biased towards the altimas) but man it was a great experience.

sorry to get off topic haha. the KERS is sick and even with the 2 super long straights in austin i think 20 seconds. mmmm... may or may not be to much. i cant imagine it being useful coming out of turns in second gear. but hey ive never driven one. they probably make enough traction to hold it down. but from where i was sitting on turn 19 they were just ripping the tires off coming out of the turns it was nuts!!! bouncing off the rev limmiter... ahh ill shut up now

[mechman600]

Originally Posted by tjts1

Too bad the technology is more exciting than the racing.

Really?

Sure, Monaco was lame as it always is. But most other races have been quite exciting.

[niky]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

KERS already takes over a bunch of the braking duties- if they don't discharge it fully, their brakes won't perform as needed because they're depending on the added drag of the recharging. Why anyone would be dumb enough to leave that power sitting on the table every lap is beynd me, but every once in a while there's a radio transmission reminding a driver to fully discharge it.

It's easy to lose track. KERS is completely manually activated, and sometimes a driver might lose track of how much he's used, or might have saved it up for a move on the next lap which didn't materialize. Most drivers nowadays use it at set points over the lap and make sure to drain it fully down the main start-finish straight if there's some left over, unless they're in an attacking or defending position.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by mechman600

Really?

Sure, Monaco was lame as it always is.

Really? I think Monaco is a tremendous venue, and that the F1 race there is exciting even when the cars are sitting still. Yes this year's race could be described as a procession, but only if you discount Hamilton's move, Massa's mishap, Maldonado's inevitable messup, and so on. And let's not even talk about qualifying! Or any of the Monaco races that have taken place in the rain.

I'm sorry but "lame" is not a word I ever associate with the Monaco GP. Now, if you want to use that word to describe some of the other races that run the same day...

But most other races have been quite exciting.

I can agree with that With the removal of most of the electronic driving aids, and especially the advent of KERS and DRS, the racing has become quite a bit more exciting.

TERS looks pretty cool. It is definitely converting heat to electricity. I'm looking forward to learning more details.

[Fat Charlie]

Not draining KERS every lap (unless you're Red Bull and it's acting up) is dumb. These guys live and die by thousandths of a second, and even if you've been saving it for tactical reasons you should always be pressing it coming out of the last corner- because that help you've been saving disappears at the start/finish line and you're full up again.

Monaco is an incredibly exciting track even if there's only one car on it, in the same way that the Taconic Parkway is when you've got a minivan and a camper in rush hour.

[mechman600]

Originally Posted by wdb

I think Monaco is a tremendous venue, and that the F1 race there is exciting even when the cars are sitting still. Yes this year's race could be described as a procession, but only if you discount Hamilton's move, Massa's mishap, Maldonado's inevitable messup, and so on. And let's not even talk about qualifying! Or any of the Monaco races that have taken place in the rain.

Ok, I will rephrase. Sure, there is little passing in Monaco but the passes are amazing when they happen. The race itself too boring, but they were sandbagging to save tires the entire time and that's what bugged me. Near the end Vettel blasted a lap 2 seconds quicker than everyone just to prove this, and of course his team gave him crap over the radio for it.

I wonder why they do this at Monaco, and I have some theories:
1. Gentlemen's agreement between teams to do a 1 stop race.
2. Safer, less chance of accidents on a track where the probability is already high.
2. Avoid the chance of lapped traffic which would be nearly impossible to get around.

Just theories.

[NeilBlanchard]

I agree ^^^. I like hilly and long tracks, like Spa-Francorchamps and Austin and Suzuka. And yes, the lack of passing is the most frustrating part of F1.

[pgfpro]

Wow the new rules for 2014 F1 are getting the OEM manufacturers interested again.
Report links Ford with F1 turbo era return | YallaF1.com

[Jakins]

HOLLY CRAP, super off topic, but i met the circuit of the America dudes at the skate park 2 days ago because they are campaigning to get the X-Games there next year and i may have convinced them to film me drifting my V8 240sx on the F1 track!!!!!

[niky]

Originally Posted by mechman600

I wonder why they do this at Monaco, and I have some theories:
1. Gentlemen's agreement between teams to do a 1 stop race.
2. Safer, less chance of accidents on a track where the probability is already high.
2. Avoid the chance of lapped traffic which would be nearly impossible to get around.

Just theories.

Monaco is impossible to overtake on. Well... as a clarifier, it's impossible to overtake another car whose tires, brakes and fuel are at the same level/condition as yours, and whose natural pace is similar to yours, and whose driver has not fallen completely asleep at the wheel, allowing you to do a sneaky overtake on one of the ultra-low-speed chicanes or hairpins.

An "undercut" (pitting early to get fresher tires for the overtake) would work if the race leaders weren't sandbagging to bunch up the field. Since Mercedes kept the field bunched up, the first front-runners to blink would automatically be sent to the back of the pack. Overtaking Caterhams to get back up a few spots is not an issue, but overtaking cars like the Force India, McLarens or even the Toro Rossos is.

In the end, the gaps between the front cars were only there because, as Lewis Hamilton showed, sitting right on someone's bumper, even on a slow track like this, and attempting futile overtakes will grain your front tires in short order. Red Bull got lucky that the safety car interfered with Mercedes's pit strategy, otherwise Hamilton would have gotten second. As it is, only three drivers made any real headway through on-track overtakes, Adrian Sutil, who played a few drivers for chumps in the hairpins, Kimi Raikkonen, who was forced to pit really late for a puncture, and managed to overtake several cars in the last few laps for one measly point, and Sergio Perez, who tried to bully everyone off at the chicane and eventually smashed out of the race.

The scene at Monaco is lovely. A lap around Monaco is exhilirating. Actual wheel-to-wheel action is about as rare as an NHL game without fisticuffs.