Toro Rosso STR7 Ferrari

[turbof1]

Its a DRW (deployable rear wing). After the last corner on the last lap, the driver ejects the rear wing to gain an advantage in the race to the finish line.

Could be strategically used to take out the chasing car

[Nando]

2012 car design has been halted now according to Autosport Magazine.
Aerodynamically it sure looks like they have the best sidepods but it seems aero is one of the weak points on the car.

Bit weird as we all know this truly is the fourth fastest car on the grid

[astracrazy]

To me it looks like last years car except nose and exhaust, where is the progress ?

there's an argument they have gone backwards

[Robbobnob]

2012 car design has been halted now according to Autosport Magazine.
Aerodynamically it sure looks like they have the best sidepods but it seems aero is one of the weak points on the car.

Bit weird as we all know this truly is the fourth fastest car on the grid

It is hard to draw conclusions about the relative aerodynamic proficiency about the midfield cars this year with the effect of the cars setup on tyre degradation and performance being so dramatic, actual car performance is being out shadowed by teams which can get their car "in the window".

Also having novice drivers who have come from series where having ultimate pace payed more dividends rather than consistency and a controlled attitude to how their weekend will pan out being in much slower machines, they are on a steep learning curve.

Regarding their side pods, I believe they have got the concept right however they are hampered by the continuing exhaust exploitation.

[wesley123]

I dont think they have it right, they have it too much.

They now have a huge undercut gaining efficiency of the diffuser which, compared to last year, has reduced performance and a bit less importance. Thus the efficiency gain with it is theoretically much smaller.
Also the undercut was made significantly larger, to achieve this the rad was raised even more, hurting the CoG.

Then, due to the large undercut the rear cant be as tight as on the regular cars. This makes the beam wing less reachable, certainly compared to other cars on the grid.

I certainly do believe they went backwards compared to last year.

[Nando]

I don´t think they have it right. It doesn´t seem like this type of sidepods actually work better then "regular" ones.

If it really truly was the best solution you would have seen teams long ago mold their cars in this direction.
But we have seen this solution now for 2 years and they are still the only team with it and now they confess themselves that the aero department needs work.

Looks beautiful but i doubt it really is the best solution overall. Aero wise maybe but perhaps not CoG wise.
If i´m not mistaken i remember they really had to strengthen that area because of the "double-floor" or what it´s called.

[raymondu999]

Another point (brought up by Willem Toet) is that there will be quite a few boundary layers to contend with; because of the increased number of surfaces.

[Nando]

Another point (brought up by Willem Toet) is that there will be quite a few boundary layers to contend with; because of the increased number of surfaces.

Could you expand what you mean more? It´s probably just the language barrier that keeps me from fully understanding your post.

Basically they have too much surface on the car which the air then interacts with which in turn gives some cons?

[mx_tifoso]

In that too many boundary layers disturb the flow and ultimately cause drag? But an example of this particular "problem" from this car would be nice. Raymond...

[wesley123]

I think it is an side effect created by it, but I do not think that is the only problem with it, and I believe it is only a neglectable small problem of it.

If you look at the car front the rear you can see how much the beam wing is covered by the sidepod. This isnt the case with any other team, and I believe they are lacking a lot of df by that.

Also they had to raise the rads even higher compared to last year, increasing coG. Also to create enough stiffness they have to increase the weight of the body, this reduces the amount of ballast and also raises the CoG

Then they have an larger undercut for the floor. With the lesser exhaust blowing and such, the floor is much less efficient and generates less df. Compared to last year what STR is doing just has a little less effect.

[marcush.]

I have heard those claims with weight increase and cof g heights and the surface drag but really I don´t buy all this .
The sidepod total height over ground is no different to any other car so ít´s not like the whole radiator is mounted 100 mm higher than anybody elses..
increased weight ? on what basis ? how are the radiators fixed to the tub usually? I ´m not aware of any team using the floor to carry the rads ,it´s more the inlet duct that´s doing the work and the duct is monted to the tub methinks.

Leaves us with the increase in surface drag methinks and less crossection for the sidepod itself -which may be responsible for less flow through the rads ,which also have to lie down more than in a conventional package -causing more weight ?

[Nando]

The area STR has "carved out" is a place other teams put electronics etc.

So if that area doesn´t exist on the STR it probably means everything has moved up.
Which probably means higher CoG.

Unless you counter-act it in other ways but what stops other teams doing that with an already better CoG (theoretically)

[marcush.]

well let´s assume it´´s 5kg worth of electronics you would need to relocate 100mm higher up in a car wich certainly has it´s cofG below wheel centre line ... that´s hardly a massive influence.Those 5 kg would make an impact placed on top of the rollhoop no question but this low the C0f G height is mainly influenced by building the car as light as possible and having the luxury problem of having to find room for ballast...

[Nando]

well let´s assume it´´s 5kg worth of electronics you would need to relocate 100mm higher up in a car wich certainly has it´s cofG below wheel centre line ... that´s hardly a massive influence.Those 5 kg would make an impact placed on top of the rollhoop no question but this low the C0f G height is mainly influenced by building the car as light as possible and having the luxury problem of having to find room for ballast...

thanks, good stuff.

But surely there must be more then 5kg´s, if we assume electronics is 5kg´s.

Would you not have to strengthen it massively? All other teams i presume builds from the ground and up in the sidepod area.
STR has to build horizontally.
Like building a house normally then trying to build it fixed to a wall.

I understand Carbon fiber weighs nothing but let´s say another 5kg´s? 10kg´s? Still won´t make much of a difference?

[wesley123]

I think you can rather say it is 40kg of stuff that is located in the sidepod shoulder, and I am quite sure that makes a huge difference to locate that 5cm higher up