Renault R31

[timbo]

Question: Why does the Renault have such good traction out of the corners?

Front Exit Exhaust is the answer

Umm, I don;t think so.
At least not entirely.
They were really good in that respect last year too without FEE.

[TURU]

Thanks. It looked from the TV shots that Petrov had a "solid" wing, and Lotus Renault also stated that Petrov was using an old wing. Was the first picture taken in practice or in the race itself?

Both were taken during the race. Renault was testing a new rear wing on Friday (a bit RBR style), but apparently decided not to race it.

[piast9]

As far as I remember, Renault had great traction out of corners last year too, so I think they just know how to do it. FEE may help but it is not the whole story.

[Lindz]

Why do people seem to ignore all the parts of an F1 car? IT's not just exhaust and aerodynamics. Renault obviously have people that know how to set up a rear suspension. The car has great mechanical grip. It's good suspension tuning.

[ringo]

i dont think the r31s going to live up to expectations especially now kubicas gone

Is that so?

[govind112]

i dont think the r31s going to live up to expectations especially now kubicas gone

Is that so?

yes its almost a second of the maccas and redbulls in quali pace. but the traction of corners and the start is very good

[willga]

Why do people seem to ignore all the parts of an F1 car? IT's not just exhaust and aerodynamics. Renault obviously have people that know how to set up a rear suspension. The car has great mechanical grip. It's good suspension tuning.

Indeed, Renault were noted for their high traction and good starts during the Alonso-Renault years - it was felt to be down to their mass-damper.
Now, most teams are running some sort of mass or inertia damper, but Renault are probably still a bit ahead on their setup.

[Donuts]

Why do people seem to ignore all the parts of an F1 car? IT's not just exhaust and aerodynamics. Renault obviously have people that know how to set up a rear suspension. The car has great mechanical grip. It's good suspension tuning.

Indeed, Renault were noted for their high traction and good starts during the Alonso-Renault years - it was felt to be down to their mass-damper.
Now, most teams are running some sort of mass or inertia damper, but Renault are probably still a bit ahead on their setup.

FYI

Renault F1 introduced mass dampers in 2005, in 2007 it was banned.

[raymondu999]

It was always very good with traction from superslow corners too, didn't they use to have a far-back weight bias? When the car has no downforce, added weight on the rear tyres would increase the normal force and thus the friction.

[Alexgtt]

Slow corner exit, launches and general traction has been a Renault strong point for many years. They obviously have a system of rear suspension/geometry development that is perfected and improved each year, because that is pure mechanical grip aided by very good engine management and no doubt contributed to by blown floor/FEE, etc. They have a fundamental understanding of this and no-one has yet caught up.

If they only had Robert this year it would be developed into serious championship material. I love the inovation of this team.

[raymondu999]

Just a question. Renault's mechanical grip advantage started before the mass damper saga if I remember correctly. All most people talk about is the aero changes in 2009. But did the mechanical regs differ much? I mean, surely if they didn't change much then old solutions for good mechanical grip would stay?

[Alexgtt]

Just a question. Renault's mechanical grip advantage started before the mass damper saga if I remember correctly. All most people talk about is the aero changes in 2009. But did the mechanical regs differ much? I mean, surely if they didn't change much then old solutions for good mechanical grip would stay?

Indeed. And if 2011 reg to for standard weight distribution hasn't changed much, it's not that either. They've got something in their rear suspension development and geo that gives them the mechanical traction advantage.

If not that, maybe there's something in the engine firing order that smooths out low speed traction? But, they obviously can't mess with engine internals in the big freeze. There's loads of developments in this area of Motogp engines. They are messing around with firing orders/sequences and various planed cranks all the time. But all the other Renault engine users would benefit as well if it was this.

[raymondu999]

You mean kind of a "traction control" that basically has the engine's torque curve matched up to the car's mechanical traction curve?

[Alexgtt]

Yes, sort of. A bit like Motogp big bang engines and the like where they start to stagger crank pins to various un-even degrees and run altered firing orders. Lots of good info on this in various Race Engine Technology articles over the years.

[godlameroso]

Now they need some mass dampers and they're all set for next year, oh wait!