Renault R31

[madly]

Is it me, or R31 has MUCH shorter nose in Barcelona test?

Barcelona:







Jarez:

[HampusA]

I think it´s just you. the pictures you provided for Barcelona is at a different angle then the profile shot.

The front wing ends 1000mm from the front wheel centre so the difference would be just the nosecone which i can´t see any difference in.

EDIT: I´ll take that back, sorry.

I think it is a new nosecone. Look at the sponsor and you will see it sits slightly different compared to Jerez.

On another note: Man that car is sexy looking.

[Blackout]

Are you serious madly ? it's obviously the angle...

[HampusA]

Well if it´s the angle then they have changed the positioning of the sponsor.

Have a look and see for yourself.

Jerez:


Barcelona:

[marekk]

Some have suggested the heating from the radiators will expand the air to force it out the back at a higher pressure, kind of like a combustion chamber, but notwithstanding the definite heating of air and a corresponding expansion (0.035% per degree if this source is correct: http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/air-p ... d_156.html), I don't think this would create a significant blowing effect.

I don't buy this ramming trick, but there might be some of it going on. Possibly, like in last years' Red Bull, there is a bit of a lot of things going on.
But anyway, and to keep the discussion on track, make that expansion more like 0.35% (roughly 1/300 as ambient temp is about 300K). To give a more visual example, it would take heating that air to 327C (from 300K to 600K) to double its volume/pressure.

But we get 17% volume expansion (and speedup) with just 50K+, which is in my opinion perfectly doable. And we are talking about F1 car, not a rocket to the moon Last years lap time differences in qualy between 1st and 10th were usually significantly under 1%. Renault is looking for some 0.6% speedup of the car relative to competitors, and this speedup is coming from several places, not just this ramming trick.

[Carlo's]

Is it me or they have new endplates?

[Hangaku]

Well if it´s the angle then they have changed the positioning of the sponsor.

Have a look and see for yourself.

Jerez:

Barcelona:

No, the logo is in the same place, it's the angle of the car that the photo was taken at. The oly thing that is changed, is your perspective.

[Hangaku]

Is it me or they have new endplates?

I think so - there is definitely an overlap in the Barcelona photo, not in Jerez. Unless the Jerez photo is of Petrov, and the end plate is different due to one of his many offs

[marcush.]

forget this ramming thing.You got a significant pressure drop through this duct even without a radiator.And the pressure drop will not go away by making the inlet bigger.
At a certain point of necking down the pressure drop will just cancel out the pressure you got available to drive the system and air speed at the exit will simply be equal to the surrounding one.that 17% volume expansion ....is not even enough to fill the void cut into the air stream by the radiator which occupies surely more than 17% of the crossection of the duct at the start of the exit duct.It will help to fill the volume but not much more.

[BreezyRacer]

Is it me or they have new endplates?

It looks like a totally new front wing to me ..

[madly]

Still I'm not sure IF nose has changed. IF it's shorter, then NOT MUCH as in 2nd photo, which has very strange perspective, possibly it was taken with wide angle lens.

[Blackout]

The only thing that changed, IMO, is the sticker, like Hampusa said.
And yes, the endplates look different...

...

This photo confirms that the steering mechanism is placed very low in R31's nose, like the R30. But what the hell is that black box ? Sutton says :
McLaren electronics... I thought the ECU is triangular...

[Richard]

That second picture does look mighty strange.

The leading edge of the front wing is mandated to be 1000m ahead of the front wheel centre line. You can see that edge aligns in all 3 pics. So one has to conclude they are testing a short nose, just like the Williams.

viewtopic.php?p=226319#p226319

[Twaddle]

That second picture does look mighty strange.

The leading edge of the front wing is mandated to be 1000m ahead of the front wheel centre line. You can see that edge aligns in all 3 pics. So one has to conclude they are testing a short nose, just like the Williams.

viewtopic.php?p=226319#p226319

There's definitely an issue with the angle. Just look at the position of the top of the tyre on the far side.

[FrukostScones]