Mercedes AMG F1 W09 EQ Power+

[f1316]

Lets have a bit of fun

Is the wheelbase shorter?

I`m going to go with slightly shorter, it looks the same from the airbox to the front axel but a tad shorter airbox to rear.
My guess is the wheelbase is 55mm shorter than last year, closest wins a cookie....

Back to the car. The barge board area is rediculously complex, I know a lot af pure aero guys like all these wings, flaps and vortex generators but personally i think it makes the cars look too messy in that area. There seems to be 3 side pod flow conditioners, umpteen air channels and them rows of ginger snaps [painted black] some half eaten.
Really like what they`ve done with the suspension, looks a nice car which there seems to be many of this year!

As has already been said, Wolf said it's not shorter.

That said, I also felt like a bit of fun so did another non-scientific estimation based on the best image we have:



Unlikely to be completely accurate, but note that with the same method I got 3465 for the Haas (which may be the same as the Ferrari); imo they're both skewing slightly shorter than reality but indicative of relative lengths. I think we're in for another year of highly different concepts.

[F1Fan2018]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... al-the-w09

What's different on the new Mercedes?
In addition to a tightly-packaged rear, the W09 features a slightly higher rake than last year, a change that could help the team cure some of the deficiencies last year's W08 - famously dubbed 'a diva' by team chief Toto Wolff - had on certain circuits.

But technical director James Allison confirmed: "The wheelbase is the same this year as it was last year. The wheelbase was something that brought us advantage over the season, so we are retaining it as a strength for this year.

"There will still be a bit of a diva in the new car because no one has ever produced a car that doesn't have foibles. We hope that we have made some inroads into that...we have tried to create a car that is a little more regular this year."

And Wolff added: "We've tried to preserve what we had in terms of speed in the car and find more drivability."

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Not a bad guess!

forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26696&hilit= ... 75#p720169

[Restomaniac]

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... al-the-w09

What's different on the new Mercedes?
In addition to a tightly-packaged rear, the W09 features a slightly higher rake than last year, a change that could help the team cure some of the deficiencies last year's W08 - famously dubbed 'a diva' by team chief Toto Wolff - had on certain circuits.

But technical director James Allison confirmed: "The wheelbase is the same this year as it was last year. The wheelbase was something that brought us advantage over the season, so we are retaining it as a strength for this year.

"There will still be a bit of a diva in the new car because no one has ever produced a car that doesn't have foibles. We hope that we have made some inroads into that...we have tried to create a car that is a little more regular this year."

And Wolff added: "We've tried to preserve what we had in terms of speed in the car and find more drivability."

This is all interesting.
Ferrari increase length (and rake) and Mercedes don't decrease length but increase rake.

There seems to be convergence going on here.

[Restomaniac]

Not a bad guess!

forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26696&hilit= ... 75#p720169
https://s17.postimg.org/qsewmma9r/Capture.png

I have already admitted my error.
However I doubt anyone would have guessed that there was more chance of Ferrari lengething over Mercedes shortening.

[Shrieker]

I'm getting used to the halo, which surprises me. In fact, the old cars without them now look strange to me, instead of the other way round...

[cplchanb]

https://twitter.com/ImanHansra/status/9 ... 0518208512

4) IMO thats more of a mini monkey seat based on what is allowed in the regs than a t wing. its mounted on the supports and not on the cover itself
like all the twings as of late

[PhillipM]

That looks like they've gone for very long rear wishbones to stabilise the geometery - the uppers look like they meet in the middle under the exhaust.

[ALO_Power]

[foxmulder_ms]

Front suspension is the most interesting for me right now. Sidepods on these cars are getting really small. It might be an illusion of wider cars too though. Anyhow, good looking car.

[f1316]

That looks like they've gone for very long rear wishbones to stabilise the geometery - the uppers look like they meet in the middle under the exhaust.

Which explains the curved exhaust we saw a few weeks back! Suddenly it all becomes clear

[roon]

I agree, it's what scarbs, myself and others were suggesting. https://i.imgur.com/rT7qK7w.jpg (Ignore the shape of the arm )

The rear bodywork is very narrow. It is barely wider than the exhaust pipe diameter through the upper section. The wastegate pipes have an exposed bend outside of the engine cover.

[dans79]

I wonder if some of the issues last year where related to flow over the diffuser. That might explain the high rear suspension mounts.

[roon]

Might also have to do with optimizing flow through the radiator outlet; preferencing that over external flow. And the suspension arms will necessarily become more exposed as engine cover volume reduces.

[PhillipM]

Looking at them I'd say they more for tyre wear/setup issues than diffuser flow - much longer arms, lower rollcentres, front end has much less mechanical trail with the arms mounted further back and the toe-link taking more load.

All points to a lot of work gone into the kinematics to make up for what they lost with their suspension system being banned at the beginning of last year, and something that's less sensitive to different ride heights/setups.