Mercedes W13 Speculation Thread

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[cplchanb]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FIRldRrXMAM ... name=large

theyre just trolling us with their fake car at this point lol

[cplchanb]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FINAwMTXEAE ... =4096x4096
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FINAwMSXoAE ... =4096x4096

great renders! though just as a minor detail note, the wheel covers will be spinning with the wheel so the cutouts that are shown at the bottom wont work.

Also Epson is no longer a sponsor this year.

[Holm86]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FINAwMTXEAE ... =4096x4096
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FINAwMSXoAE ... =4096x4096

The worst thing about renders like these are, that guys on the internet does way better jobs than the teams themselves

[jjn9128]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FINAwMTXEAE ... =4096x4096
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FINAwMSXoAE ... =4096x4096

The worst thing about renders like these are, that guys on the internet does way better jobs than the teams themselves

Guys on the internet don't have the corporate types standing over them to do things a certain way.

[CMSMJ1]

I'm struck when looking at these cars (and the last few series to be fair) just how much upper floor space there is and how small the sidepods are.

We all have a moan about long cars - perhaps there should be (as I am sure there used to be) a regulation to ensure that the sidepods are as big as the floor - and perhaps bring into the sides of the car some of the ancillary items that cause it to be so long.

We'd have more squat cars - shorter and with more individual looks to them...

[Stu]

I'm struck when looking at these cars (and the last few series to be fair) just how much upper floor space there is and how small the sidepods are.

We all have a moan about long cars - perhaps there should be (as I am sure there used to be) a regulation to ensure that the sidepods are as big as the floor - and perhaps bring into the sides of the car some of the ancillary items that cause it to be so long.

We'd have more squat cars - shorter and with more individual looks to them...

There was regulations around this previously, I think that someone pointed out to me that it got scrapped during the 2009 regulation change.
The chimneys and winglets that were prevalent for a few years before that ‘shadowed’ the floor (or vice-versa), the chimneys were often ‘blind’ one one side or the other.
When the cars went to 2000mm wide, the rules even mandated a widening of the floor beyond the bodywork.
As you say there is a lot of available ‘real estate’ that would allow wheelbases to be shortened.

[cooken]

The sidepods have almost nothing to do with the length of the current cars. In the vicinity of the sidepods, we have the fuel tank, PU, and gearbox predominantly, and it is the length of these items that constrains the length of the floor in this region. None of these can really be moved off axis, so mandating wider sidepods would do little to nothing to combat car length in my opinion.

[CMSMJ1]

The sidepods have almost nothing to do with the length of the current cars. In the vicinity of the sidepods, we have the fuel tank, PU, and gearbox predominantly, and it is the length of these items that constrains the length of the floor in this region. None of these can really be moved off axis, so mandating wider sidepods would do little to nothing to combat car length in my opinion.

I see what you are saying.

Imagine that the floor had a regulation stating that "from the rear of survival cell to (pick a spot ahead of the rear wheels) - the floor cannot be viewed from above" Floor limit remains 2m

That perhaps a really harsh view - but that would drive the widening of the sidepods to cover the floor. If they want to persist in a long car and with thin sidepods as it is today - then the floor area is reduced and probably, performance.

I think the floor visibility regs would encourage wider sidepods and with that, more space to package things in them in a width-ways alignment, rather than length-ways?

So, cars would become shorter to ensure they had as bif a plan area of floor.

Not saying it would be a reg we'll see - but it used to be the case...so maybe?

[jjn9128]

I'm struck when looking at these cars (and the last few series to be fair) just how much upper floor space there is and how small the sidepods are.

We all have a moan about long cars - perhaps there should be (as I am sure there used to be) a regulation to ensure that the sidepods are as big as the floor - and perhaps bring into the sides of the car some of the ancillary items that cause it to be so long.

We'd have more squat cars - shorter and with more individual looks to them...

seeing as the point of the sidepod undercut is to encourage outwash i'd say that forcing no undercut over the first x distance of the sidepod might not be a bad idea.

[SiLo]

The sidepods have almost nothing to do with the length of the current cars. In the vicinity of the sidepods, we have the fuel tank, PU, and gearbox predominantly, and it is the length of these items that constrains the length of the floor in this region. None of these can really be moved off axis, so mandating wider sidepods would do little to nothing to combat car length in my opinion.

They still could be a lot shorter. They have huge distances at the rear of the car that are not needed.

[jjn9128]

The sidepods have almost nothing to do with the length of the current cars. In the vicinity of the sidepods, we have the fuel tank, PU, and gearbox predominantly, and it is the length of these items that constrains the length of the floor in this region. None of these can really be moved off axis, so mandating wider sidepods would do little to nothing to combat car length in my opinion.

They still could be a lot shorter. They have huge distances at the rear of the car that are not needed.

Well they are and they aren't. Aerodynamically you could say it's needed to lower the Cx of the car. For the Pirelli weight bias you could say the length is a necessity to move masses aboout. They could very easily cope though were the maximum wheelbase 3200mm rather than 3600mm.

[SiLo]

The sidepods have almost nothing to do with the length of the current cars. In the vicinity of the sidepods, we have the fuel tank, PU, and gearbox predominantly, and it is the length of these items that constrains the length of the floor in this region. None of these can really be moved off axis, so mandating wider sidepods would do little to nothing to combat car length in my opinion.

They still could be a lot shorter. They have huge distances at the rear of the car that are not needed.

Well they are and they aren't. Aerodynamically you could say it's needed to lower the Cx of the car. For the Pirelli weight bias you could say the length is a necessity to move masses aboout. They could very easily cope though were the maximum wheelbase 3200mm rather than 3600mm.

Agreed, even at the current length they could still be a good bit shorter. Would lose a lot of performance aerodynamically though with a shorter underfloor.

[TimW]

The bulge is still there.