McLaren MCL38

[Hoffman900]

I don't really understand what you guys mean when you say the rod being under tension invalidates the concept.

The reason that the rod is under tension can be for 2 reasons

1) Engineered preload in static conditions (a turnbuckle connection to allow preloading against the stiffness of the floor)
2) Diffuser suction at speed draws the connection at the diffuser downwards. This creates more tension. No different to loading a suspension bridge with cars on the roadway.


If the rod gets longer due to thermal expansion, the diffuser can go down more when the car is on the track.

Doubling down on a theory that is technically implausible and downvoting comments proving you why.

This is why anyone with any technical chops left here.

Besides being implausible, you don’t even know why you want to do what you’re proposing. If you want to read how modern floors work, buy this SAE paper:
viewtopic.php?f=6&p=1224870#p1224870

[AR3-GP]

I meant legality wise, not literally.

The stay is there to stop the diffuser losing volume and also for durability. They have stiffeners on the side walls of the diffuser because they have a tendency to bend inwards from the suction.

The floor takes 100s of kgs of load and it's most weight efficient to use wire stays to resolve that load to the chassis than it is to add titanium or carbon stiffeners.

I'm not suggesting that the diffuser stay is not there to support the diffuser. That is its primary purpose. I agree. It is more mass efficient than thickening the diffuser by several kgs.

It just shouldn't be overlooked that from an engineering point of view, there are side effects that may be allowed by design choices. Whether those side effects are measurable or inconsequential, there is still a mechanism for what was described.

[hollus]

Hmmm. Looking at that, no, no way heat gets transferred to the diffuser that way. And expansion of the stays... I'll go with small, if small helps anything in this case is above my pay grade.

But perhaps more interesting, isn't that suspending the diffuser from a cantilever? And wouldn't a cantilever that is a metal cylinder be able to flex more when hot? I'd imagine that the cantilever give will be more than the stay expansion due to a bit of heat in one of its ends.
This is coming dangerously close to movable aero, isn't it?

Or perhaps I missed the obvious clips that make the exhaust completely immobile?

[Henk_v]

My take; why make a reinforced mounting point for a stay on the crash structure while the exhaust mounting bracket is very close to it and can take the load. Probably better angle for the stay too.

Mounting to the bracket makes the entire structure in tension (low weight) and exerts only a compressive load on the mounting (on top of the crash structure). A structure designer for compressive loads.

Just smart engineering.

[Emag]

My take; why make a reinforced mounting point for a stay on the crash structure while the exhaust mounting bracket is very close to it and can take the load. Probably better angle for the stay too.

Mounting to the bracket makes the entire structure in tension (low weight) and exerts only a compressive load on the mounting (on top of the crash structure). A structure designer for compressive loads.

Just smart engineering.

I agree.

I love the sport for the small details like these, but lets not make a mountain out of a molehill here. The expansion under heat is an interesting idea in theory, but I don't think it's applicable on this particular scale.

[AR3-GP]

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/for ... dung-tape/

The rules are clear on this point. The FIA will allow teams to mount sensors in the brake drums to collect data in Friday's free practice sessions. From Saturday, the holes must either disappear or be covered. In addition to McLaren, a second team is reportedly doing this.

According to Red Bull's observations, however, the holes are said to have been open at some races. After a complaint, the FIA took a closer look. At the last two Grands Prix, the sensor access was closed, as required by the rules. McLaren simply put a tape on it. Since McLaren's advantage in tyre wear has not been so clear recently, the opposing camp is of course of the opinion that it could have helped in the past.

[mwillems]

Open because they were never covered or open because the tape came off?

Seems like Mclaren aren't doing anything wrong and this will go nowhere, except for perhaps a clarification from the FIA on the coverings.

[AR3-GP]

Open because they were never covered or open because the tape came off?

Seems like Mclaren aren't doing anything wrong and this will go nowhere, except for perhaps a clarification from the FIA on the coverings.

It sounds like it was clarified 2 races ago. It looks like they are reporting old news.

[Darth-Piekus]

Any news about some good upgrades to the car? While we might have gained the upper hand from Red Bull on occasion, we now face pressure from Mercedes.

[_cerber1]

By OHAD_BARK

[CjC]

By OHAD_BARK

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GSi83LhXsAA ... ame=medium

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GSi8342XgAE ... ame=medium

Was this from the Silverstone race or the filming day?

[_cerber1]

Was this from the Silverstone race or the filming day?

It's hard to say, I think it's been since the beginning of the season.

[mclaren111]

Old



New




New DRS Mechanism...

[M840TR]

Old

https://i.ibb.co/23CrQBr/Old.jpg

New

https://i.ibb.co/k6KcQdN/New.jpg


New DRS Mechanism...

Looks like exact same DRS but attached to different upper flaps

[mclaren111]

Old

https://i.ibb.co/23CrQBr/Old.jpg

New

https://i.ibb.co/k6KcQdN/New.jpg


New DRS Mechanism...

Looks like exact same DRS but attached to different upper flaps

New one angles downwards...