Virtual Gravel Trap

[theblackangus]

Gravel traps are simply better for slowing the car down if you are out of control. If not, then tarmac works better. Which one would you rather have if you were a driver?

No, they are not. That's why they're gone.

The only time tarmac doesn't work well is if the wheels are already not on the car.

Or when you have some other type of brake failure.

Seems to boil down to this:
Where is help needed more?
1. Because a driver over drove or was driven off track by an opponent?
2. Because there has been in incident which is causing the driver to not be able to stop sufficiently because of brake or wheel/tire damage?

Seems like the latter is where the driver would be in more danger most of the time.

[Andres125sx]

Gravel traps are simply better for slowing the car down if you are out of control. If not, then tarmac works better. Which one would you rather have if you were a driver?

If you ask Alonso or Vettel, tarmac, if you ask Maldonado, probabaly gravel

[Andres125sx]

I´ve just realiced about something..... are run-off areas really necessary?

What´s the worst posible scenario?

Crashing at the end of a straight?

And loosing the brakes because of the damage?

And doing so on a track with no run-off areas?

And going straigth into a perpendicular wall at the end of the track?


Maybe something like this then


Or like this


With current Tec-Pro barriers run-off areas are not that important, drivers can crash at 200km/h straight into a wall, and get out of the car by theirselves, as both STR drivers proved this season.

So I´d say, use some meters of grass before the tarmac and let them race as wide as they want

[SiLo]

Gravel traps are simply better for slowing the car down if you are out of control. If not, then tarmac works better. Which one would you rather have if you were a driver?

No, they are not. That's why they're gone.

The only time tarmac doesn't work well is if the wheels are already not on the car.

Or when you have some other type of brake failure.

Seems to boil down to this:
Where is help needed more?
1. Because a driver over drove or was driven off track by an opponent?
2. Because there has been in incident which is causing the driver to not be able to stop sufficiently because of brake or wheel/tire damage?

Seems like the latter is where the driver would be in more danger most of the time.

That's what I was getting at. As soon as traction is broken between tyre and tarmac, it is nowhere near as effective at stopping a car as a gravel trap.

[Moose]

That's what I was getting at. As soon as traction is broken between tyre and tarmac, it is nowhere near as effective at stopping a car as a gravel trap.

In the circumstances where this is true, tarmac is completely useless, and a gravel trap is 99% useless - you're well into the "the car just skims over the gravel" case. That's a very poor case to optimise for.

In the case where you actually can prevent the heavy impact, tarmac is much much better than gravel at slowing the car down.