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Posted: 7/31/2016 5:25:41 PM EDT
[#1]
HYDRO send me a PM. You are the leader going into the summer break and a BFL sticker is ALL YOURS!
I think the real story is RBR getting both drivers on the podium! |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 5:52:39 PM EDT
[#2]
Red Bull ahead of Ferrari.
Rosberg chokes. |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 6:52:33 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted: When is someone going to kick this troll off here once and for all? Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Just wanted to add a big "fuck Mercedes" and "fuck Hamilton" before I leave again.  When is someone going to kick this troll off here once and for all? Oh be quiet. I don't hate Lewis Hamilton because he's from the UK -- I hate him because my life sucks compared to his. Quit being so butthurt. |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 7:01:15 PM EDT
[#4]
Nico shall from now on be Nico Desperateberg
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Posted: 7/31/2016 7:01:39 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Oh be quiet. I don't hate Lewis Hamilton because he's from the UK -- I hate him because my life sucks compared to his. Quit being so butthurt. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Just wanted to add a big "fuck Mercedes" and "fuck Hamilton" before I leave again.
When is someone going to kick this troll off here once and for all? Oh be quiet. I don't hate Lewis Hamilton because he's from the UK -- I hate him because my life sucks compared to his. Quit being so butthurt. I hate him cause he's a whiney bitch 
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Posted: 7/31/2016 7:02:22 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Nico shall from now on be Nico Desperateberg Nico Foldingberg 
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Posted: 7/31/2016 7:02:31 PM EDT
[#7]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Nico shall from now on be Nico Desperateberg I've always been partial to Secondberg. |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 7:24:24 PM EDT
[#8]
Probably the most boring race of the year.
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Posted: 7/31/2016 7:28:52 PM EDT
[#9]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I hate him cause he's a whiney bitch Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Just wanted to add a big "fuck Mercedes" and "fuck Hamilton" before I leave again.
When is someone going to kick this troll off here once and for all? Oh be quiet. I don't hate Lewis Hamilton because he's from the UK -- I hate him because my life sucks compared to his. Quit being so butthurt. I hate him cause he's a whiney bitch Damn, took the words off my keyboard. ROS has made him look really good. |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 11:06:13 PM EDT
[#10]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I hate him cause he's a whiney bitch Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Just wanted to add a big "fuck Mercedes" and "fuck Hamilton" before I leave again.
When is someone going to kick this troll off here once and for all? Oh be quiet. I don't hate Lewis Hamilton because he's from the UK -- I hate him because my life sucks compared to his. Quit being so butthurt. I hate him cause he's a whiney bitch A whiney arrogant bitch. |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 11:07:28 PM EDT
[#11]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
A whiney arrogant bitch. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Just wanted to add a big "fuck Mercedes" and "fuck Hamilton" before I leave again.
When is someone going to kick this troll off here once and for all? Oh be quiet. I don't hate Lewis Hamilton because he's from the UK -- I hate him because my life sucks compared to his. Quit being so butthurt. I hate him cause he's a whiney bitch A whiney arrogant bitch. Same same |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 11:20:35 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted: A whiney arrogant bitch. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Just wanted to add a big "fuck Mercedes" and "fuck Hamilton" before I leave again. When is someone going to kick this troll off here once and for all? Oh be quiet. I don't hate Lewis Hamilton because he's from the UK -- I hate him because my life sucks compared to his. Quit being so butthurt. I hate him cause he's a whiney bitch A whiney arrogant bitch. Yep. |
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Posted: 7/31/2016 11:59:45 PM EDT
[#13]
The race today was ponderous. You can tell when the program director focuses on the battle for P10 most of the time. After Button said that he was saving fuel the whole race Steve Matchett basically said F1 needed to unfuck themselves. It's true.
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Posted: 8/1/2016 1:01:12 AM EDT
[#14]
Meanwhile, the 24 Hours of Spa was quite a good race to behold.
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Posted: 8/1/2016 1:18:45 AM EDT
[#15]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
The race today was ponderous. You can tell when the program director focuses on the battle for P10 most of the time. After Button said that he was saving fuel the whole race Steve Matchett basically said F1 needed to unfuck themselves. It's true. Yeah. I've been watching F1 with my dad since the mid 90s and we both feel like we're wasting our time anymore. It's really bad now. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 5:35:42 AM EDT
[#16]
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Posted: 8/1/2016 7:05:54 AM EDT
[#17]
Quote HistoryI've been saying that they should go with wider tires for years. Give them more mechanical grip and remove more of the aerodynamic grip. Maybe then we'll see more action in traffic. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 7:29:37 AM EDT
[#18]
They should also get rid of their wide front wing
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Posted: 8/1/2016 7:49:10 AM EDT
[#19]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've been saying that they should go with wider tires for years. Give them more mechanical grip and remove more of the aerodynamic grip. Maybe then we'll see more action in traffic. Quote HistoryQuoted:
I've been saying that they should go with wider tires for years. Give them more mechanical grip and remove more of the aerodynamic grip. Maybe then we'll see more action in traffic. I've been wanting more mechanical, less aero for years as well, better racing that way. The cars can run closer together. However, less aero limits for qualy would be cool, really show what they can do. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 7:50:40 AM EDT
[#20]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Yeah. I've been watching F1 with my dad since the mid 90s and we both feel like we're wasting our time anymore. It's really bad now. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
The race today was ponderous. You can tell when the program director focuses on the battle for P10 most of the time. After Button said that he was saving fuel the whole race Steve Matchett basically said F1 needed to unfuck themselves. It's true. Yeah. I've been watching F1 with my dad since the mid 90s and we both feel like we're wasting our time anymore. It's really bad now. I don't know that i'd say it's really bad, but the no refueling thing just irritates the piss out of me. EVERYONE else does it, F1 is the only ones who somehow see this as a HUGE safety issue. As if squatting on the ground as cars go zipping by within a couple feet or as your own car comes barreling in for a stop is somehow "safe". Yes, problems happen sometimes, but i just think it's dumb. I think the reality is, though, that the biggest impediment is that the current rules are forcing this era of only one team can ever win. The rules aren't really made to benefit Mercedes, they just happen to be setup so that who ever is in front, development wise, keeps a large advantage that others have a really tough time overcoming, and it's continuing to get worse. At least in the years of RB dominance, it felt like sometimes others had a chance to win (and did). Now it's only possible when Mercedes (or their drivers) colossally fuck something up. And that's not because F1 wants them to (or at least i don't think so) it's because they figured out the rules the best, and the rules are so tight that no one else can catch up. Love or hate the inconsistency of it, at least endurance racing has a set of standards in place to account for over-dominance by a certain manufacturer and bring them back to the field. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 10:58:20 AM EDT
[#21]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I think the reality is, though, that the biggest impediment is that the current rules are forcing this era of only one team can ever win. The rules aren't really made to benefit Mercedes, they just happen to be setup so that who ever is in front, development wise, keeps a large advantage that others have a really tough time overcoming, and it's continuing to get worse. You hit it on the head. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 11:14:00 AM EDT
[#22]
Quote HistoryCar looks bad ass. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 12:15:50 PM EDT
[#23]
Quote HistoryQuoted: Car looks bad ass. Quote HistoryQuoted: Car looks bad ass. It has some modifications to simulate 2017s downforce levels. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 5:36:21 PM EDT
[#24]
Quote HistoryAre they really worth four seconds a lap as predicted? |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 6:09:26 PM EDT
[#25]
Quote HistoryQuoted: They should also get rid of their wide front wing ...and also get rid of those 13" rims. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 6:56:43 PM EDT
[#26]
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Posted: 8/1/2016 8:38:35 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I don't know that i'd say it's really bad, but the no refueling thing just irritates the piss out of me. EVERYONE else does it, F1 is the only ones who somehow see this as a HUGE safety issue. As if squatting on the ground as cars go zipping by within a couple feet or as your own car comes barreling in for a stop is somehow "safe". Yes, problems happen sometimes, but i just think it's dumb. I think the reality is, though, that the biggest impediment is that the current rules are forcing this era of only one team can ever win. The rules aren't really made to benefit Mercedes, they just happen to be setup so that who ever is in front, development wise, keeps a large advantage that others have a really tough time overcoming, and it's continuing to get worse. At least in the years of RB dominance, it felt like sometimes others had a chance to win (and did). Now it's only possible when Mercedes (or their drivers) colossally fuck something up. And that's not because F1 wants them to (or at least i don't think so) it's because they figured out the rules the best, and the rules are so tight that no one else can catch up. Love or hate the inconsistency of it, at least endurance racing has a set of standards in place to account for over-dominance by a certain manufacturer and bring them back to the field. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
The race today was ponderous. You can tell when the program director focuses on the battle for P10 most of the time. After Button said that he was saving fuel the whole race Steve Matchett basically said F1 needed to unfuck themselves. It's true. Yeah. I've been watching F1 with my dad since the mid 90s and we both feel like we're wasting our time anymore. It's really bad now. I don't know that i'd say it's really bad, but the no refueling thing just irritates the piss out of me. EVERYONE else does it, F1 is the only ones who somehow see this as a HUGE safety issue. As if squatting on the ground as cars go zipping by within a couple feet or as your own car comes barreling in for a stop is somehow "safe". Yes, problems happen sometimes, but i just think it's dumb. I think the reality is, though, that the biggest impediment is that the current rules are forcing this era of only one team can ever win. The rules aren't really made to benefit Mercedes, they just happen to be setup so that who ever is in front, development wise, keeps a large advantage that others have a really tough time overcoming, and it's continuing to get worse. At least in the years of RB dominance, it felt like sometimes others had a chance to win (and did). Now it's only possible when Mercedes (or their drivers) colossally fuck something up. And that's not because F1 wants them to (or at least i don't think so) it's because they figured out the rules the best, and the rules are so tight that no one else can catch up. Love or hate the inconsistency of it, at least endurance racing has a set of standards in place to account for over-dominance by a certain manufacturer and bring them back to the field. I agree....a couple of bad breaks in those years went against Alonzo and Ferrari. They easily could have had 2 more championships. |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 9:55:16 PM EDT
[#28]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Probably the most boring race of the year. Just finished watching on the DVR. Just brutal. I should've checked here first and just elected to pass on wasting my two hours. Also, thank God for DVR!!! Cause F1 coverage is as bad as NFL coverage anymore regarding commercial breaks. Gotta sell the shit out of everything because of so much money involved. BORING!!!! |
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Posted: 8/1/2016 9:58:31 PM EDT
[#29]
Btw.. i used to hate summer break, because i had F1 withdrawals. But now it'll be a nice break from wasting time and dozing in the recliner. Should call it Formula B [oring]!!! |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 12:52:51 AM EDT
[#30]
Quote HistoryImagine the lap times in that car with those tires and more downforce. Those cars would probably be 15% or 20% faster than they already are. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 3:34:55 AM EDT
[#31]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Imagine the lap times in that car with those tires and more downforce. Those cars would probably be 15% or 20% faster than they already are. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Imagine the lap times in that car with those tires and more downforce. Those cars would probably be 15% or 20% faster than they already are. I want whatever the 2017 version of this is. 
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Posted: 8/2/2016 3:55:50 AM EDT
[#32]
Quote HistoryQuote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: Imagine the lap times in that car with those tires and more downforce. Those cars would probably be 15% or 20% faster than they already are. I want whatever the 2017 version of this is.  https://youtu.be/YqYPU3MNqHwHamilton would be pissing his panties driving the same car |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 10:43:31 AM EDT
[#33]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
You hit it on the head. Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
I think the reality is, though, that the biggest impediment is that the current rules are forcing this era of only one team can ever win. The rules aren't really made to benefit Mercedes, they just happen to be setup so that who ever is in front, development wise, keeps a large advantage that others have a really tough time overcoming, and it's continuing to get worse. You hit it on the head. Case in point http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-nowhere-near-engine-limit-in-german-gp-804739/ German Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton has revealed he was “nowhere near” the limit of his Mercedes powerplant at Hockenheim, and only needed to turn up its performance twice.
Hamilton scored a 7s victory in Germany on Sunday over Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, recording his fourth win on the trot. He explained that he had his engine’s power settings turned down for the majority of the race, despite his dominant performance, in a bid to prolong the power unit’s life. “Honestly, there’s a quota that you’re able to use with the engine, and I was nowhere near it,” said Hamilton. “I’d turned down the engine from the second or third lap, I think it was. Very early on, and then I was able to maintain. “When [his engineer Pete Bonnington] said ‘Hammer time’ I was able to switch it back on [when Ricciardo] cut the gap when he did. “I only needed to turn it up in that last stint, when [the Red Bulls] started doing 18.4s, and I’d been taking it easy on my tyres for four or five laps. "The gap shrunk pretty quickly. I was like ‘OK, six [seconds] is enough’. So then I went back to normal race mode, I was able to match and then pull it out a little.” This isn't racing. It's like running a 911 against a grid full of VW Beetles. Sure, Hamilton is a good driver but he isn't really being tested. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 11:09:19 AM EDT
[#34]
At most of the tracks this year, Merc has "unloaded" (during the first practice) a car that is 1 second faster than everybody else. As the practices go on, the gap gets smaller.
That is strange enough to easily suggest that they are working backwards, producing only enough speed/power to win and make it appear as if there is some sort of competition going on. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 12:48:47 PM EDT
[#35]
Quote HistoryQuoted: This isn't racing. It's like running a 911 against a grid full of VW Beetles. Sure, Hamilton is a good driver but he isn't really being tested. It's like playing Forza in the easiest modes, unless you really screw up everything you won't lose. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 12:50:22 PM EDT
[#36]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
At most of the tracks this year, Merc has "unloaded" (during the first practice) a car that is 1 second faster than everybody else. As the practices go on, the gap gets smaller. That is strange enough to easily suggest that they are working backwards, producing only enough speed/power to win and make it appear as if there is some sort of competition going on. This is the feeling that I've been getting for a while now. It almost feels scripted at times. Like "reality" TV. Just enough competition to keep viewers hanging on. But if that's the case, then they're not being successful, as I'm damn near giving-up on F1... at least for the remainder of 2016. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 12:53:06 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
This isn't racing. It's like running a 911 against a grid full of VW Beetles. Sure, Hamilton is a good driver but he isn't really being tested. Agreed. I'm not sure I'd had revealed that if I was Lewis... as pointing-out how strong the Merc power plant is takes a bit away from his dominance as a driver. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 1:09:26 PM EDT
[#38]
I'm going to be in Houston in late October and I'm going to catch the US Grand Prix. I was wondering if any of you guys had ever attended a race and if you had any tips or tricks for making an enjoyable weekend out of it.
Where would I want to sit? Pregame because booze is $14 a pint? What to expect in general? I've only been into F1 since the beginning of 2015, so I'm a total newb, and I've never attended any type of big race. I'm from UT for crying out loud. Appreciate any advice guys. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 1:58:37 PM EDT
[#39]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I'm going to be in Houston in late October and I'm going to catch the US Grand Prix. I was wondering if any of you guys had ever attended a race and if you had any tips or tricks for making an enjoyable weekend out of it. Where would I want to sit? Pregame because booze is $14 a pint? What to expect in general? I've only been into F1 since the beginning of 2015, so I'm a total newb, and I've never attended any type of big race. I'm from UT for crying out loud. Appreciate any advice guys. I've never been to an F1 event but have been to IndyCar races. They're a damn good time. There really isn't much that you can 'prepare' for ahead of time, just bring cash with you and eat/drink before or after as it can get costly. The practice sessions are usually pretty lame, so I spent lots of time just walking around and checking out the entire event. If they offer pit/paddock passes I'd look into getting one -- there's lots of interesting stuff going on in there. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 2:37:08 PM EDT
[#40]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I'm going to be in Houston in late October and I'm going to catch the US Grand Prix. I was wondering if any of you guys had ever attended a race and if you had any tips or tricks for making an enjoyable weekend out of it. Where would I want to sit? Pregame because booze is $14 a pint? What to expect in general? I've only been into F1 since the beginning of 2015, so I'm a total newb, and I've never attended any type of big race. I'm from UT for crying out loud. Appreciate any advice guys. The last race I went to was the first race in Austin and during the V8 era (which might change things a bit). - With the V8s you couldn't hear the track announcer so you absolutely needed some other form of narration. If they have the rental portable track tv things, get one. - The above is important because you can only see (at most) one quarter of the track from each spot. All in all, it is more about the spectacle and seeing the cars live than watching/comprehending a race. Once you remove any spectacle, it isn't massively awesome and often underwhelming. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 3:29:24 PM EDT
[#41]
Thanks Gents, I know it's not the greatest season, but I'm still pretty stoked.
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Posted: 8/2/2016 4:36:51 PM EDT
[#42]
you guys are in luck. you get to read my next blog post before it's posted.
 It has been a long while. Mostly due to family emergencies, life in general, and personal projects. I have found time to make this post. I will delve into one of the problem areas in the Haas VF-16.
First, we have to understand the areas where the lack of performance is hurting the car. The car suffers from understeer in slow speed corners and inconsistent tire performance. The causes of this can be a multitude of things including but not limited to front down force, suspension setup, too much rear down force, tire pressures, tire temperatures, suspension geometry, suspension combination (dampers, springs, etc). The overall downforce on the car is not bad. Not great but not terrible. The commentators dubbed the VF-16 the 'default car' for the 2016 season during testing. Not a terrible moniker for a first year team. The team has scored 28 points through the first half of the season but the performance deficit is putting them in their middle field place with finishes usually around 13th and 14th. Romain Grosjean seems to be more able to deal with the quirks of the car more so than Esteban Gutierrez.
Second, we have to pinpoint the design flaws that are causing the lack of performance. In the case of the VF-16 the front pushrods (the piece going through the center of the A-arms) look to be at a steeper angle and longer than other teams. The hump on the nose also tends to hint that the damper and heave elements are mounted higher up on the chassis than most. The longer and more highly angled towards the vertical pushrod changes the efficiency and loading of the entire front suspension. It is inefficient to have the pushrod have to move through the vertical and horizontal to load the bell crank and ultimately the damper. This may very well be the cause of the inconsistent nature of the front end's mechanical grip.
Another entirely possible cause is amount of caster. Too much caster and the car will understeer. Too little and the car will have nasty oversteer characteristics. Caster is the position of the top of the damper, pushrod, or strut relative to the spindle with vertical being 0 degrees and towards the passenger cell being positive from a view of the car in silhouette. The caster directly effects dynamic camber (camber: the angle of the wheels in degrees when viewed from the front of the car) available to the wheels as the car turns into and out of corners. As the driver turns the steering wheel; the wheel on the outside of the corner gains more negative camber while the inside corner gains positive camber. This 'fits' the tires better to the turn and ultimately increases cornering speed. Haas' constant camber fiddling tends to point to caster being an issue as does the feeling of the tires not working correctly at the pressures they have. A third addition to the design flaws could be the mounting of the upper control arms. This again directly relates to the available dynamic camber. Dynamic camber is same as static camber but is directly influenced by suspension travel and steering angle. The angle of the upper control arms of the VF-16 look to be very close to parallel with the lowers. This ultimately leads to the lack of dynamic camber available as the car enters and exits corners. It also determines where the instant center and ultimately the roll center of the front end of the car is. The instant center is the theoretical pivot point of the car in yaw. It is determined by drawing lines straight through the upper and lower control arms and the center of the tire contact patch. The roll center of a car is the theoretical designed pivot points of the front and rear suspensions. The roll center is the intersection of the line from the center of the tires' contact patches to the instant centers. Too low a front and too high a rear RC leads to the understeer condition seen by the VF16.
If we were to compare the VF-16's front suspension geometry to that of the SF-16H fielded by Scuderia Ferrari Corsa. The first difference as one can see is the carbon fiber forward bulkhead. Other differences include a shorter pushrod and with it a shallower pushrod angle. Another slight difference is the angle of the upper control arm on the Ferrari. Along with what I believe is the lower mounting point for the torsion spring, damper, and heave spring it provides the SF-16H with better handling characteristics that the Haas in slower speed corners. At this point the method to use to fix is to evaluate the possibilities to permanently fix these issues that have been found through thorough experimentation, testing, and analysis. The way to go about this is to determine which aspect or combination of would yield the greatest gain and use that to provide a foundation to correct the rest of the issues. Of course, determining which avenue is best depends on the mountain of data provided over twelve races to the engineers.
One possibility is lowering the mounting point of the dampers and heave elements. Lowering those pieces will make the pushrod shallower and shorter. The effect of which would be more efficient transmission of the loads throughout the arc of suspension travel to the bell crank and consequently to the entirety of the front suspension. Doing that would allow the damper to work more efficiently and more precisely. A bi-product of the lower mounting point would be the lack of the now famous bump on the nose meaning ever so slightly better aerodynamic characteristics.
An equally plausible fix would be to lower the chassis mounting point of the upper control arm lower. While it would change the instant center, the lowered mounting would change the roll center a rather negligible amount. It would however add a significant amount of dynamic camber. A secondary result of lowering chassis mounting points of the upper control arms and the damper/spring set would be the lowering of the center of gravity of the car albeit a small amount. While the proposed solutions to the problems may be viable ones, they are labor and material intensive. If the technical rules for the chassis and aerodynamics were going to remain identical for the 2017 season it would be worth bringing a 'B' chassis to Spa for the second half of the season with modifications to all the points mentioned. However, due to the drastic changes in tires, aero, and chassis; it would make more monetary not to mention technical sense to simply take all the lessons learned and apply them to the new car. It is possible that Haas could come out in 2017 and give Sahara Force India a run for fastest midfield car. Until then there are eight more races to run, more points to score, and most importantly: More data to collect. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 4:54:20 PM EDT
[#43]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The last race I went to was the first race in Austin and during the V8 era (which might change things a bit). - With the V8s you couldn't hear the track announcer so you absolutely needed some other form of narration. If they have the rental portable track tv things, get one. - The above is important because you can only see (at most) one quarter of the track from each spot. All in all, it is more about the spectacle and seeing the cars live than watching/comprehending a race. Once you remove any spectacle, it isn't massively awesome and often underwhelming. Quote HistoryQuoted: Quoted: I'm going to be in Houston in late October and I'm going to catch the US Grand Prix. I was wondering if any of you guys had ever attended a race and if you had any tips or tricks for making an enjoyable weekend out of it. Where would I want to sit? Pregame because booze is $14 a pint? What to expect in general? I've only been into F1 since the beginning of 2015, so I'm a total newb, and I've never attended any type of big race. I'm from UT for crying out loud. Appreciate any advice guys. The last race I went to was the first race in Austin and during the V8 era (which might change things a bit). - With the V8s you couldn't hear the track announcer so you absolutely needed some other form of narration. If they have the rental portable track tv things, get one. - The above is important because you can only see (at most) one quarter of the track from each spot. All in all, it is more about the spectacle and seeing the cars live than watching/comprehending a race. Once you remove any spectacle, it isn't massively awesome and often underwhelming. Also to add, spend at least a week beforehand drinking as much water as you possibly can, and have plenty on hand with you... Dehydration has probably hurt and/or killed more spectators at races than anything else. I know when I was working trackside, it was not uncommon to be drinking 8 liters or more of water a day during a weekend and still not urinating hardly at all. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 5:39:06 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
you guys are in luck. you get to read my next blog post before it's posted.
It has been a long while. Mostly due to family emergencies, life in general, and personal projects. I have found time to make this post. I will delve into one of the problem areas in the Haas VF-16.
First, we have to understand the areas where the lack of performance is hurting the car. The car suffers from understeer in slow speed corners and inconsistent tire performance. The causes of this can be a multitude of things including but not limited to front down force, suspension setup, too much rear down force, tire pressures, tire temperatures, suspension geometry, suspension combination (dampers, springs, etc). The overall downforce on the car is not bad. Not great but not terrible. The commentators dubbed the VF-16 the 'default car' for the 2016 season during testing. Not a terrible moniker for a first year team. The team has scored 28 points through the first half of the season but the performance deficit is putting them in their middle field place with finishes usually around 13th and 14th. Romain Grosjean seems to be more able to deal with the quirks of the car more so than Esteban Gutierrez.
Second, we have to pinpoint the design flaws that are causing the lack of performance. In the case of the VF-16 the front pushrods (the piece going through the center of the A-arms) look to be at a steeper angle and longer than other teams. The hump on the nose also tends to hint that the damper and heave elements are mounted higher up on the chassis than most. The longer and more highly angled towards the vertical pushrod changes the efficiency and loading of the entire front suspension. It is inefficient to have the pushrod have to move through the vertical and horizontal to load the bell crank and ultimately the damper. This may very well be the cause of the inconsistent nature of the front end's mechanical grip.
Another entirely possible cause is amount of caster. Too much caster and the car will understeer. Too little and the car will have nasty oversteer characteristics. Caster is the position of the top of the damper, pushrod, or strut relative to the spindle with vertical being 0 degrees and towards the passenger cell being positive from a view of the car in silhouette. The caster directly effects dynamic camber (camber: the angle of the wheels in degrees when viewed from the front of the car) available to the wheels as the car turns into and out of corners. As the driver turns the steering wheel; the wheel on the outside of the corner gains more negative camber while the inside corner gains positive camber. This 'fits' the tires better to the turn and ultimately increases cornering speed. Haas' constant camber fiddling tends to point to caster being an issue as does the feeling of the tires not working correctly at the pressures they have. A third addition to the design flaws could be the mounting of the upper control arms. This again directly relates to the available dynamic camber. Dynamic camber is same as static camber but is directly influenced by suspension travel and steering angle. The angle of the upper control arms of the VF-16 look to be very close to parallel with the lowers. This ultimately leads to the lack of dynamic camber available as the car enters and exits corners. It also determines where the instant center and ultimately the roll center of the front end of the car is. The instant center is the theoretical pivot point of the car in yaw. It is determined by drawing lines straight through the upper and lower control arms and the center of the tire contact patch. The roll center of a car is the theoretical designed pivot points of the front and rear suspensions. The roll center is the intersection of the line from the center of the tires' contact patches to the instant centers. Too low a front and too high a rear RC leads to the understeer condition seen by the VF16.
At this point the method to use to fix is to evaluate the possibilities to permanently fix these issues that have been found through thorough experimentation, testing, and analysis. The way to go about this is to determine which aspect or combination of would yield the greatest gain and use that to provide a foundation to correct the rest of the issues. Of course, determining which avenue is best depends on the mountain of data provided over twelve races to the engineers.
One possibility is lowering the mounting point of the dampers and heave elements. Lowering those pieces will make the pushrod shallower and shorter. The effect of which would be more efficient transmission of the loads throughout the arc of suspension travel to the bell crank and consequently to the entirety of the front suspension. Doing that would allow the damper to work more efficiently and more precisely. A bi-product of the lower mounting point would be the lack of the now famous bump on the nose meaning ever so slightly better aerodynamic characteristics.
While the proposed solutions to the problems may be viable ones, they are labor and material intensive. If the technical rules for the chassis and aerodynamics were going to remain identical for the 2017 season it would be worth bringing a 'B' chassis to Spa for the second half of the season with modifications to all the points mentioned. However, due to the drastic changes in tires, aero, and chassis; it would make more monetary not to mention technical sense to simply take all the lessons learned and apply them to the new car. It is possible that Haas could come out in 2017 and give Sahara Force India a run for fastest midfield car. Until then there are eight more races to run, more points to score, and most importantly: More data to collect. Thanks for the insight. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 6:11:31 PM EDT
[#45]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
I'm going to be in Houston in late October and I'm going to catch the US Grand Prix. I was wondering if any of you guys had ever attended a race and if you had any tips or tricks for making an enjoyable weekend out of it. Where would I want to sit? Pregame because booze is $14 a pint? What to expect in general? I've only been into F1 since the beginning of 2015, so I'm a total newb, and I've never attended any type of big race. I'm from UT for crying out loud. Appreciate any advice guys. I was in Austin last year but it was during the monsoon, so it was wet and windy. I would say that you need to Uber to and from the race, because that was an absolute lifesaver for my group, but I think Uber is still down in Austin. If it's up by then, don't drive to the track. Booze wasn't too expensive but on-par with normal event prices. There were lots of awesome food options but we were mostly focused on booze so I didn't eat much. Explore track food options and be prepared to pay for them. Go up in the tower! We timed it perfectly and were able to watch the last ~15 laps from the tower which was incredible. It's an awesome view, makes awesome pictures, and is worth the cost. I'd pay for a seat and not just get general admission. The GA stuff seemed to be pretty packed and not the best view. I would get like a Saturday/Sunday pass with a confirmed seat. Saturday do your wandering around during the practice/quali. Sunday I'd stay in my seat most of the race unless going into the tower. Merchandise is expensive. If you want current merchandise it'll cost you, but last year there were quite a few vendors selling previous season merch. I got a BrawnGP hat for like $15 and that's perfect because I've always wanted one. Even in October, if it's normal Texas weather, bring sunscreen, sunglasses, stay hydrated, and I'd recommend a hat. Hats are available at the track, but see above. Bring earplugs or muffs. They cars might not scream like the V8's but they're still loud. My trip was planned last-minute and we Air BnB'd our overnight accommodations which saved a TON of cash and our hostess was our age and she threw us a party Sunday night, which was awesome. I'm 90% sure she ended up not even charging us. Whenever the concert is, GO TO IT. It's T-Swift this year? So what if you don't like her, see it and party with a bunch of Europeans and Mexicans and have a good time. Elton John last year was fantastic. The race is much harder to take in when watching in=person. There are a lot of video screens set up but it's hard to catch every detail. If there's an off on the other side of the track sometimes it'll be hard to know what even happened. I don't know if the track has local radio broadcasting to hear what's going on like some tracks do but I'd look into it. If you can get earmuffs with built-in radio it might work awesome. The cars are much brighter in person. It's weird, but Ferrari red isn't nearly as dark in person as it looks on TV. I'm kinda rambling but I hope this helps. I might be there this year but currently don't have any definite plans. |
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Posted: 8/2/2016 10:23:29 PM EDT
[#46]
Something for the intermission.
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Posted: 8/3/2016 1:25:09 AM EDT
[#47]
Quote HistoryI like this. Sumer break madness is setting in, let's post F1 things that have nothing to do with the 2016 season. MADNESS 
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Posted: 8/3/2016 9:59:30 AM EDT
[#48]
Quote HistoryQuoted: I like this. Sumer break madness is setting in, let's post F1 things that have nothing to do with the 2016 season. MADNESS https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rpFvRgruwHM/maxresdefault.jpg Quote HistoryQuoted: I like this. Sumer break madness is setting in, let's post F1 things that have nothing to do with the 2016 season. MADNESS https://i.ytimg.com/vi/rpFvRgruwHM/maxresdefault.jpg That race (Hungary 2006) is one of those races that I will never forget. JB took everyone, including Schumacher, to school that day with regards to driving in changeable conditions. He's truly an amazing driver that I don't think he gets enough credit.... Hell, he took it to the reigning world champion for a couple of years when they were on the same team. |
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Posted: 8/3/2016 10:15:15 AM EDT
[#49]
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Posted: 8/4/2016 12:58:02 AM EDT
[#50]
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