Vodafone McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes

[beelsebob]

that front wing has had elements removed. and they still picked up downforce! WTF.the new wing looks much more simple. yet Hamilton Smashed that last race. goes to show 20 element front wings are not as important. can anyone tell me why removing those elements gave them more D/F

A lot of assumptions you make though.
The FW very likely has LESS downforce.
There might be a NET downforce gain, down the car OR... same down-force but more aero-efficiency so they can turn up the the rear wing. Only Paddy Lowe can tell you.

I would bet heavily that the front wing produces about the same amount of downforce, but in using fewer elements, and fewer cascades, also allows them to provide a cleaner flow of air, and increase downforce down the car.

In other words, the net effect would be that the ballance will have gone rearwards, but that that's not because of losing front downforce.

[tok-tokkie]

Like these wonderful aircraft that went on to sweep everything else from the sky:


Philips 1904


1907 after some more development.


1911 refining the idea.

Full story here: http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/phillips.html

[beelsebob]

Like these wonderful aircraft that went on to sweep everything else from the sky:

Hehe, exactly, these were my inspiration for my amazing front wing above.

Notably, modern airliners do still have a mode in which they just pile on as many wing elements as they can – it's exactly when they don't care about the amount of drag they're producing, as they're coming in to land:

[Caito]

Like these wonderful aircraft that went on to sweep everything else from the sky:

Hehe, exactly, these were my inspiration for my amazing front wing above.

Notably, modern airliners do still have a mode in which they just pile on as many wing elements as they can – it's exactly when they don't care about the amount of drag they're producing, as they're coming in to land:

Many actual airplanes also have leading edge slats(look wiki).

There are many flap positions in a regular airliner. The most extreme one, as seen in the pic(for landing) is actually made to generate a lot of drag. That way the airplane can have lower landing speeds. You could never take off with such a configuration.


That does not apply to F1 ( I think) creating downforce regardless of drag, that would be too easy.

[RB7ate9]

I, too, was greatly amazed by the performance had with the Lotus-style FW. Even Button was able to get the pace through in the race.

It makes you really wonder about the Lotus chassis what they could do if they had a bit more straight-line speed with a Mercedes or Ferrari chassis. They used that FW style all year and Raikkonen is 3rd in the championship! On his first season back!

Is there a FW comparison thread per season?

[Just_a_fan]

I would bet heavily that the front wing produces about the same amount of downforce, but in using fewer elements, and fewer cascades, also allows them to provide a cleaner flow of air, and increase downforce down the car.

In other words, the net effect would be that the ballance will have gone rearwards, but that that's not because of losing front downforce.

I agree. The cascades are less about front wing downforce and more to do with conditioning the flow to the rest of the car. The outer cascades are still there and are probably dealing with how the air flows around the front tyre.

[beelsebob]

That does not apply to F1 ( I think) creating downforce regardless of drag, that would be too easy.

There's one time it does – Monaco. The rules are so restricted though that they no longer do really crazy things even there.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

I agree. The cascades are less about front wing downforce and more to do with conditioning the flow to the rest of the car. The outer cascades are still there and are probably dealing with how the air flows around the front tyre.

+1

And it obviously worked well. It seems Lotus, RB & McLaren are onto something. It seems the slight upturn of the FW main(upper)element(common on all 3 cars) is providing the necessary vortex and taking place of the R-shaped cascade, at least on the MaCa.

[Crucial_Xtreme]

New McLaren FW
In the United States, McLaren have introduced a new front wing, as shown in the lower drawing (upper drawing shows previous wing), which was evaluated at the young driver test in Abu Dhabi earlier this month. The main profile features a more curved central section (1), whilst the double cascade flaps (2) have been replaced by a vertical fin (2), similar in style to that on the Lotus. The endplate has also been modified. The small inside addition has been removed (4) and the endplate's shape is more rounded near the tyres (5).

[Coefficient]

Yeah, the last Heath Robinson Downforce appendage I recall at Monaco was on the Arrows and Jordan in practice 2001. I think Bernie wanted them removed because they looked silly but did it on safety grounds so the teams couldn't argue.

http://www.f1wolf.com/2008/11/are-reall ... these.html

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Gary Anderson's Analysis of the new McLaren FW


Via AutoSport

[turbof1]

That does not apply to F1 ( I think) creating downforce regardless of drag, that would be too easy.

There's one time it does – Monaco. The rules are so restricted though that they no longer do really crazy things even there.

I think that goes as well for Singapore and perhaps even Hungary.

I do think the new FW is producing less DF (with same flap angle). They have also increased the curves in the main plane, a sign they are sacrificing front downforce to redirect the air better to the rear to gain rear downforce. Probably they just compensate this with more FW flap angle. Overall, the new solution would be more aero efficient over the complete car, but the aero efficiency shifts a bit more to the back, sacrificing aero efficiency at the front (bigger flap angle) and adding better aero efficiency at the back (better air to the diffuser, which adds more downforce with very little drag penalty).

[PlatinumZealot]

Gary Anderson's Analysis of the new McLaren FW
Via AutoSport

Great explanation by GA. The right man for the job.

[stefan_]

Brazil:





via C. Malbranque

[beelsebob]

Interesting... old front wings.