yinlad wrote: ↑20 Jul 2022, 14:38
I'm curious how others are getting on towards achieving 1.5m/s per side because I've yet to achieve it over 5 separate cooling layouts.
I am trying to make a traditional sidepod package which I know tends not to be the 'meta' way of doing things in MVRC, but I still think the flow across the radiator is too restrictive. I think we'd see much more varied and creative designs if the size and orientation of the radiators was more free (in the sense that to stand any chance of hitting the cooling targets there is a small window of viable options)
I agree, it's definitely too restrictive (even though i don't think that any change should be made for the 1st race).
My realistic and FIA-legal sidepods couldn't really get past 1m3/s per side. Nothing stalled or received bad flow. All seemed good.
Maybe i could have pulled off the required 1.5m3/s somehow, but only after:
A - spending too much time on that, or
B - making the design bulky and unrealistic
I'm still trying to keep the design realistic and close to FIA legality, but i'm now forced to use large exhaust gills which compromise performance. Going for a crazy design (like last year) would definitely make my life easier.
I'm not saying that the requirements are unrealistic. The point is that F1 teams have much more design freedom than we do. They can place radiators in tandem or behind the airbox, they can afford to optimize and micromanage every detail.
This situation encourages creative design on our side, but also discourages realism.