Trulli says F1 cars are too fast

[motion]

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/10372

I say, if you can't hang with the big dogs, then get off the porch. One reason I love F1 is because I watch those guys on Speed, with the long camera lenses, and they are going so bloody fast, my jaw drops.

Should they slow em down? If they reduce engine capacity or add more drag, they seem to make it up with tires right away. The only solution, it seems, is to go to a spec tire. When that happens, the manuf makes the tire harder, which increases lap times. Makes for more tail-wagging, too

Personally, I'm sick of all the rules to make the cars slower. That's why I LOVE MotoGP (even if its not two-strokes anymore).

[nostatic]

isn't the point to go faster than the other guy?

[WhiteRaven530]

F1 cars are getting to the point that the human mind and body cant keep up with the speed and the g-forces associated with F1. This is evident with some of the parts of F1,...like the paddle shifters, but then in other parts you ask yourself why they dont have anti-lock brakes,...at 220 mph if your brakes lock up your pretty much good for dead. No anti-lock brakes would increase safety,...and possibly increase the speeds.


Another interesting side note - None of the F1 cars use 8-piston calipers,..they all use 6-piston. Now im not sure if they are restricted to 6 but it would seem stupid to me if they could use 8 but dont.



- '80 931
- Mitsu Eclipse

[jyl]

I have a very interesting book called The Technology of F1 or something like that, written by a former F1 car designer.

One chapter discusses banned technologies and what F1 cars would be like if those technologies were not banned.

I came away fairly convinced that truly unlimited technology would make F1 less interesting. Think full active suspension, variable aerodynamic aids, two-way telemetry and commands, unconstrained tires, unlimited forced induction, etc. The cars would be so fast and pull such g-forces that the drivers would be struggling to stay conscious, and the competition would increasingly be between the software engineers.

Then we'd all stop watching F1 and go to our local PCA races.

Analogy: if aerial combat were a spectator sport, I'd rather watch WWII and Korean War dogfighting than an F14 firing a Phoenix missile to knock down a MIG25 nearly 400 miles away.

[ronin]

Originally posted by WhiteRaven530
F1 cars are getting to the point that the human mind and body cant keep up with the speed and the g-forces associated with F1.

not quite. the ground-effects turbo cars of the 80s were much more demanding

[greglepore]

Hmmm, doesn't seem to be a problem for Schuey.

When the technology increases to the point that it becomes an pure engineering battle, the racing gets dull. The turbo wagens were cool because they had more power than any amt of downforce could harness. Maybe the solution is to unregulate the engines, but that drives costs nuts. I'm for limiting aero, I think Milt was on to something in the earlier thread.

Moto GP is a different animal because nobody has yet figured out how to use downforce with any major effect on a moto-which more or less makes the case, I guess.

[MFAFF]

Limiting the aero, back to slicks and on something other than the stupid 13inch rims....

You could always limit the engines to 8 cylinders to avoid the 19,000rpm limits as well.

But they'd get back up there PDQ, forcing a new set of rules.

Loved the turbo era....Keke Rosberg's 160mph average lap of Silverstone.....you shoulda seen him shaking like a leaf when he got out....nothing like that happens anymore.

[ronin]

yep, or when Patrese nearly collapsed on the rostrum after winning. those cars would take everything out of you

[motion]

I only started watching F1 in 1993. You're telling me that the turbo cars were faster than today's cars? Cmon.... I was at the Indy F1 race a couple of years ago. They had about 15-20 old F1 cars there... 70s, 80s. Beside each car was a placard describing the history along with the specs. The horsepower was laughable. 300 horsepower back in those days. I guess a 160mph lap is possible without all the bull$hit chicanes that we have these days.

[ronin]

300hp? not quite. here are some examples:

1977 ferrari 312B - 520 hp (non-turbo)
1981 Ferrari 126C - 550 hp (turbo)
1984 Ferrari 126C - 660 hp (turbo)
1985 Alfa Romeo 415 - 860 hp (turbo) this was pretty much the height of the turbo era

[ronin]

almost forgot. some of the engines at the height of the turbo era were able to produce as much as 1200 hp on maximum boost. talk about a wild ride

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Kind of the way it is with military aircraft - the design of the airframes far exceeds the human pilot's body's ability to handle it. We can only handle about 9 G's briefly before loss of consciousness - and only about 2 negative G's without exploding all the blood vessels in our eyes (and other nasty physiological effects), but we could build a combat aircraft that can pull over 12 G's positive OR negative. . . It's a battle of balancing all the factors of performance, how it is utilized, weaponry, etc. It IS partially a battle of software engineering too.

[ronin]

the limits that humans are willing to stretch themselves to, and the machines that they create to help get them there are simply mindboggling. ain't life grand!

[dd74]

Very interesting thread. Since I don't get Speedvision, I'm regulated to boring old NASCAR.

But I do sometimes wonder how fast those boats could go if they didn't have restricter plates on them. Some have said 220 mph around big tracks like Daytona, Talladega, Indy, etc.

Speaking of g-forces, I think it was the CART series or a version of racing similar to CART, that said it would not race at the Texas Speedway because after 240 mph, the drivers were losing consciousness and vomitting.

I think the end result was a lawsuit of the racing series against the Texas Speedway.

[ronin]

Originally posted by dd74
Very interesting thread. Since I don't get Speedvision, I'm regulated to boring old NASCAR.

not to worry. that's all that Speedchannel shows these days anyway