Weird Race Cars ......

[cegerer]

[cegerer]

[cegerer]

[singpilot]

Why does the fan and carb inlets position look familiar?

[oldE]

No wonder that one didn't work. Everyone knows air-cooled engines are best if they're mounted BEHIND the rear wheels!
Les

[cegerer]

That's actually got one engine in front and another in the rear! Still didn't work very well, but he get's an A for effort.

[cegerer]

And those 2- and 3-seater F1/CART/IRL cars that have been out for a few years? Nothing new there, of course ...... check this out, Dr. Porsche apparently beat them to it!

[cegerer]

[Z-man]

Great stuff!!

Thanks for posting these pics!
-Z-man.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Great pics!

Can someone explain the reasoning behind the six-wheelers? More traction, sure, but also more mass, more unsprung weight, more friction....

[Z-man]

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
Great pics!

Can someone explain the reasoning behind the six-wheelers? More traction, sure, but also more mass, more unsprung weight, more friction....

More traction, but lower profile! Therefore, less aerodynamic drag.
I'm sure there are other reasons, but that's what I was told was the biggest reason for 6-wheelers.

-Z.

[cegerer]

Yup, aerodynamics. Seems like the complexity and added mass would pretty much cancel it out .... and I think it did. Cool looking though!

[cegerer]

Here's one more attempt at 6 wheels (an F3 car, I think):




OTOH, ya just KNOW if 6 wheels are better, somebody's going to try EIGHT!!

This is 79 World Champion Jody Scheckter in an 8-wheel kart.

[tchanson]

Actually, tire sourcing problems aside, the Tyrell P34 was pretty successful for a brief time until the ground effects era negated any multi wheel advantage.

And I think the FIA made the issue moot after the Williams experiment shown above, outlawing more than four wheels.

Ferrari also briefly toyed with the 6 wheel concept, but with two wheels in tandem per side on a single axle. Another idea lifted from the mighty Auto Unions...



Tim

[cegerer]

Cool - thanks Tim.

[MFAFF]

Of the F! cars that actually ran with six wheels the Tyrell used 4 small fronts to do two things, get a greater contact patch on the road, which would provide a better turn in on corners as well as a reduction in the frontal area of the car....opps they seem to have forgotten about the rear wheels..

It worked pretty well but as they were the only team using thq 10inch tyres they lagged behind in development...so the car was effectively running the previous season's rubber. Not good.

Ronnie Peterson did mamage to win a race or two I recall.

The six wheel Williams was an attempt to get some serious frontal area reduction. The additional weight was less of an issue because the rears are very much larger and weighter than the fronts, needing far stronger suspension etc etc. worked pretty well, but the tyre scrub out of low speed corners wasn't too helpful, nor were the FIA who quickly tock a dim view, as the did with theBrahbam fan car and the Lotus twin chassied 88

Did some one say innovative and cutting edge?

[cegerer]

Another one: a Williams FW07 F1 car disguised in some body work. An attempt to beat the Porsche 956's in the Interserie in 1986. Finished 5th, behind the Porsches.

[ronin]

some of these pics invoke within me that certain overwhelming notion of "what the hell were they thinking?"

[URY914]

The 6 wheel Tyrells..

[URY914]

Here are some others...