Honda Power Unit Hardware & Software

[dren]

Honda believes at this point their ICE is equal in terms of power output with Merc if not superior.

If true than that would be impressive. Also from a fuel perspective. Mercedes-Petronas and Ferrari-Shell have had 2 seasons of development, and substancial performance has been found in that period of time. For Honda-Mobil1 to already catch up on ICE performance, well, good job.

Wasn't Mobil 1 working with Mclaren when they used the Mercedes PU in 2014 on the fuel side, or did they run the Petronas fuel?

[dren]

I also believe that McLaren is committed to the "size 0" packaging and of course Honda must work within that packaging.

Mclaren has to give in some if they want the returns unless Honda really pulled some magic with the recovery redesign.

[GoranF1]

Is it allowed for Honda to put 2016 PU in 2015 chassis,during Pirelli wet test in January?

[gianluca.mateo]

Is it allowed for Honda to put 2016 PU in 2015 chassis,during Pirelli wet test in January?

no new parts allowed

[Wazari]

Possibly smaller diameter piston pins and main journals to reduce friction?

Improved piston crown.
Improved injector spray pattern.
Higher flow ports.
Interior coated exhaust runners...

A lot can be changed because tokens only buy the change itself not the amount of it.

I don't know about all of the above but piston crown and combustion chamber designs I believe are new, as well as both intake and exhaust ports.

[Wazari]

I also believe that McLaren is committed to the "size 0" packaging and of course Honda must work within that packaging.

Mclaren has to give in some if they want the returns unless Honda really pulled some magic with the recovery redesign.

I am led to believe that McLaren will not give a millimeter to the size 0 package and PP wants to shrink it even more in the back end.

[ringo]

If that's the case they must share the responsibility of any weakness with reliability.
Reliability and size usually go hand in hand if we ignore material choice and surface treatment.
I hope they really get a handle on the reliability aspect, because i believe giving Honda more room to design with would make life easier.

Aside from hardware, i wonder if they have learned a lot more on the energy management side of things?
Is it possible for teams to study how another team uses their energy around the track?
It was mentioned before that Williams performance at Monaco, despite having a Mercedes engine, was pretty poor because of their energy management strategy.

[Wazari]

If that's the case they must share the responsibility of any weakness with reliability.
Reliability and size usually go hand in hand if we ignore material choice and surface treatment.
I hope they really get a handle on the reliability aspect, because i believe giving Honda more room to design with would make life easier.

Aside from hardware, i wonder if they have learned a lot more on the energy management side of things?
Is it possible for teams to study how another team uses their energy around the track?
It was mentioned before that Williams performance at Monaco, despite having a Mercedes engine, was pretty poor because of their energy management strategy.

Again from my understanding, McLaren is committed to the "size 0" concept and this one area where they do not want to make any compromises. From my brief interaction with PP, I gather he is very strong-willed in what he wants and has RD's support, 100%.

I don't exactly how much Honda has learned about energy management but I think they have a firm grip on their issues and the solutions for these issues. Initially overheating of the MGU-H was the biggest issue and the domino effect it had on other components. Two the amount of energy from the turbocharger to the MGU-H was severely hampered by layout/turbo design and thus the amount of energy from the MGU-H to K unit under generating mode was severely lacking compared to others. I speculate that Honda has resolved these issues (at least from an engineering viewpoint) for the new PU.

I think Williams' issue at Monaco with regards to energy management strategy was a result of their overall aero concept for 2015. They chose to go with a low down force high top speed concept and I'm sure their EMS was geared around that. Unfortunately not conducive to tracks such as Monaco where low speed handling is at a premium and overall top speed is not.

[PlatinumZealot]

Honda believes at this point their ICE is equal in terms of power output with Merc if not superior.

If true than that would be impressive. Also from a fuel perspective. Mercedes-Petronas and Ferrari-Shell have had 2 seasons of development, and substancial performance has been found in that period of time. For Honda-Mobil1 to already catch up on ICE performance, well, good job.

Wasn't Mobil 1 working with Mclaren when they used the Mercedes PU in 2014 on the fuel side, or did they run the Petronas fuel?

It was confirmed by a Mobil 1 representative to be Mobil 1 fuel in 2014. I thought it was petronas too. I can't find that interview now though.

[diffuser]

If that's the case they must share the responsibility of any weakness with reliability.
Reliability and size usually go hand in hand if we ignore material choice and surface treatment.
I hope they really get a handle on the reliability aspect, because i believe giving Honda more room to design with would make life easier.

Aside from hardware, i wonder if they have learned a lot more on the energy management side of things?
Is it possible for teams to study how another team uses their energy around the track?
It was mentioned before that Williams performance at Monaco, despite having a Mercedes engine, was pretty poor because of their energy management strategy.

I believe that the reliability issues were as a result that they started so poorly. That was further irritated by the multitude of changes they were making during the season to correct the issues. Anytime you introduce change, you risk reliability issues.

I'm expecting them to be below average on reliability this year and incur penalties but nowhere near last year. The severity will depend how well they start with regards to how reliable they are and how much improved the performance is.

[Skippon]

It was confirmed by a Mobil 1 representative to be Mobil 1 fuel in 2014. I thought it was petronas too. I can't find that interview now though.[/quote]

That HPP did all their dyno development and integration with Petronas fuel was the reason McLaren couldn't match Merc, Williams, or at time Force India in 2014......

[hemichromis]

Is their anything stopping them fitting, in one weekend an engine for each practice then one for qualifying? sacrificing one weekend for 4 spare engines?

[mkable1370]

Is their anything stopping them fitting, in one weekend an engine for each practice then one for qualifying? sacrificing one weekend for 4 spare engines?

I wondered the same question earlier this past season. It would seem a radical idea to gain the team extra engines while minimizing penalties. I'm sure it would b frowned upon by many, as it doesn't follow the spirit of the rules. Aside from that, the team would then be stuck with those engines as-is, which for the remainder of the season they could not upgrade with tokens or other "reliability" upgrades.

[wuzak]

Is their anything stopping them fitting, in one weekend an engine for each practice then one for qualifying? sacrificing one weekend for 4 spare engines?

That's what they, and Red Bull, did a few times in 2015. Except they only added a couple of engines to the pool.

Red Bull did it at Monza, IIRC, and McLaren at Spa, both knowing these would be difficult weekends for their teams in any case.

[Edis]

That HPP did all their dyno development and integration with Petronas fuel was the reason McLaren couldn't match Merc, Williams, or at time Force India in 2014......

No, HPP did the engine optimization with both fuels with different staff for each fuel.