Benedict Redgrove - Renault F1 V10
TAG Porsche Formula 1 Turbo V6
Used in the McLaren MP4/2 and MP4/3
ZF Sachs Race Clutches
Top: Formula 1
Bottom: VW Touareg Dakar
F1 Disaster: Life Racing Engines L190 W12
A beautiful but hopelessly underperforming engine in an uncompetitive car.
Life was a Formula One constructor from Modena, Italy. The company was named for its founder, Ernesto Vita (“Vita” is Italian for “Life”). Life first emerged on the Formula One scene in 1990, trying to market their unconventional W12 3.5 litre engine.
The team had a disastrous single season, and failed to make the grid in all 14 attempted starts during the 1990 season, often clocking in laps many seconds slower than its next competitor
When the 1990 season came, the situation was ridiculous: One chassis, one engine, few if any spare parts, and no hope for success. The W12 turned out to be the least powerful engine of the year: its output was 480 hp while others did 600 to 700 hp. On the other hand, the ex-First L190 chassis was one of the heaviest cars in the field at 530 kg. Handling was bad, reliability was poor. As a result, the Life was no faster than a Formula 3 car. Even in Formula 3000, it would have been outclassed, much less Formula One.
Source: Wikipedia
B.E. presents Legendary Racing Lore: The Fan Wheel
Image 1,2,3: BBS. Image 4: Mugen CF48. Image 5: BMW M-System I. Image 6: Formula 1 McLaren 2008. Image 7: Audi A1 Clubsport
Fan wheel covers have one purpose: to move air across hot brake rotors to cool them.
Although a full article on them is hard to find, I can tell you this: they were very popular in the 80s and 90s on the racing cars of German make - BMW, Audi, and Porsche. Because of their use in racing, there were HORDES of aftermarket fan designs from European and Japanese wheel-makers. They have fallen out of fashion in recent years, but the 2008-09 F1 seasons did give them another chance before they were banned.
The wheel fan concept will always be relevant to performance cars. Old-style fan covers don’t look particularly attractive to the non-enthusiast, so automakers eventually learned to integrate the air-moving power of the fan into much more attractive wheel designs. Porsche Turbo ‘Twists’, C4 Corvette ‘Turbines’, and recently BMW has given the turbine style another go with the new ‘Turbine’ wheels on the 2012+ 3-series ‘Design Line’.
Another recent example are the wheels on the Audi A1 Clubsport Concept car.
Do you have a favorite aftermarket fan wheel? Photo Reply!
B.E. Presents: Active Suspension in Formula 1
Introduced in 1987 with the Lotus 99T, Active Suspension was arguably the most significant F1 technology since the utilization of aerodynamics. A.S. was developed to its highest point in 1991 with the Williams FW14, but was banned in 1994 (along with other driver aids such as traction control and ABS) on the grounds that it made driver skill nearly irrelevant.
Quite simply, active suspension serves two purposes:
- To keep tires in their maximum contact patch with the road under all G-conditions; cornering, braking, and acceleration.
- To keep the ride height of the car constant under all G-conditions, to preserve optimum aerodynamics.
Video:
- Lotus 99T Active Susupension Demonstration
- Williams FW14B Active Suspension Demonstration
- Williams FW14B Documentary Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
The Renault Espace F1 is Beautifully Engineered
In 1995, Renault displayed a show car called the Espace F1 (created by Matra) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Espace and Renault’s involvement in Formula One racing. Though it resembled an Espace with substantial bodywork changes, the vehicle had more in common with a Formula One car.
The vehicle used a lightweight carbon fibre F1-style chassis in combination a carbon-fibre reinforce Espace J63-series body (as opposed to fibreglass on the standard model. Powering the Espace F1 was an 800 hp (upgraded from its original rating of 700 hp), 3.5-litre, 40-valve Renault RS5 V10 engine as used in the 1993 Williams-Renault FW15C. As with an F1 car, the V10 engine is mid-engined (as opposed to the conventional front-engined layout) and the power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a 6-speed semi-automatic gearbox, also used in the FW15C.
The engine and transmission allowed the Espace F1 to accelerate from 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 2.8 seconds, 0–200 km/h (0–124 mph) in 6.9 seconds and carry on accelerating to a top speed of 312 km/h (194 mph). With the use of carbon-ceramic brakes, the Espace F1’s deceleration was no less impressive that its acceleration - it could accelerate from 0–270 km/h (0–168 mph) and brake to a complete halt in under 600 metres (1,969 ft).
This version of the Espace was featured in the driving simulator, Gran Turismo 2. Frank Williams was a noted passenger of the Espace F1, being chauffeured by David Coulthard.
Source: Wikipedia
BBS Wheels are Beautifully Engineered
BBS Kraftfahrzeugtechnik AG (English: BBS Automotive Technology AG) is a high performance automobile wheel design company headquartered in Schiltach, Germany. BBS serves North America through BBS of America, located in Braselton, Georgia, adjacent to the Road Atlanta Racetrack. BBS produces wheels for motorsport, OEM, and aftermarket applications.
In 1972 BBS pioneered the development of a three-piece racing wheel, a revolution in motorsport design. Most recently BBS has engineered the Air Inside Technology (AIT) where hollow chambers are created within the wheel structure to compensate for the small air volume in modern ultra-low-profile tyres, reduce unsprung weight, improve handling dynamics, and increase fuel efficiency without sacrificing strength and rigidity.
The cross-spoke design, which superficially resembles a wire wheel, is extremely common on sports cars produced from the 1980s to the early 1990s, and is light in weight compared to many other styles.
One of the most notable wheels of them all they have produced was the three-piece RS, released in 1977 and became a popular after-market features as well as being replicated by other manufacturers. Another wheel that has since become a popular design as well as being replicated by numerous companies is the RG, the company’s first wheel produced, known as Rennsport, a competition use only wheel has been copied by Speed Star Racing for its Formula Mesh series.
The company also supplies motorsports applications and is also the largest supplier of wheels for Indy Racing League Series and the main supplier of Formula One teams.
Source: Wikipedia
A Racecar that you can buy - Meisel Motorsport Hillclimb 190E w/ F1 3.5l Judd V8
In my Youtube subscription list today was an amazing video of a fully race-prepared 190E screaming up the Reitnau hillclimb.
Apparently it’s for sale. Who’s got 100K Euro and a pair of balls?
-B.E.
“Build on purpose for international hill climb championship and time attack racing, overall weight 825kg! 3-times german hillclimb-champion and 1 swiss title.
- Chassis: tubular space frame built by Leuko/Switzerland. high down force, all body panels in carbon, closed floor with big front and rear diffuser. shape and wheelbase equal to 190evo.
- Engine: ex F1 Brabham Judd CV 3.5l. 564HP@9900rpm. 440NM torque. 135kilo. Motec M800 ECU, CDI-8 ignition and ADL datarecording. tractioncontrol,
- Gearbox: Hewland transaxle, 6-speed sequential
- Clutch: 5.5“ Sachs racing 3 plate carbon
- Suspension: modified 5-Link Mercedes DTM rear axle. McPherson struts at the front. all on K&W 3-way competition shocks fine tuned at K&W 4-post Rig. adjustable ARB`s at front and rear.
- Wheels: 10x BBS forged rims. 12xBBS three piece design.10x18 and 10.5x18 on 275/650 R18 and 285/650 R18
- Brakes: AP 6-pot at the front, 4-pot at the rear. ATE (Teves) race ABS, AP-paddlebox
- 0-100kmh in 2.7 seconds”
The Caparo T1 is Beautifully Engineered
”To demonstrate our understanding of these fundamental vehicle engineering issues we set out to design an optimum package for delivering 1,000bhp-per-tonne,” says Caparo co-founder Ben Scott-Geddes. ”Interestingly, the sweet spot on the curve that satisfies many of these issues is 500 horsepower in a vehicle with a mass of 500kg.”
The Caparo T1 is a British mid-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat automobile built by Caparo Vehicle Technologies, founded by design director Ben Scott-Geddes and engineering director Graham Halstead, engineers formerly involved in the development of the McLaren F1. The T1 was inspired by Formula One design, and intended as a relatively affordable street legal race car. The T1 was scheduled for production in mid-2007 for a price of GB£235,000 (approx. US$480,000 or €328,000, c.2007), with approximately 25 cars per year built.
The exterior of the T1 closely resembles that of a racing prototype or Formula One racing car. It features a carbon fibre aerodynamic low drag body design, composed of individual sections, with an adjustable twin element front wing, single element rear wing, and fowler flaps, and a ground effect diffuser, allowing it to create 875 kilograms (1,930 lb) of downforce at 240 kilometres per hour (150 mph). The wings are replaceable with road and track variations.
The chassis of the T1 is composed of a carbon fibre and aluminium honeycomb monocoque with a front composite crash structure and a rear tubular space frame construction. The suspension is of a double wishbone design with tunable anti-roll bars, front and rear, and five-way adjustable race dampers. The braking system is composed of 355-millimetre (14.0 in) steel brake discs, with six-piston and four-piston callipers front and rear, respectively. The brake bias pedal box is fully adjustable and brake pads are available in various compounds.
The T1 sports a 116-kilogram (260 lb), 32-valve, 3,496-cubic centimetre (3.5 L), all-aluminium, naturally aspirated, Menard V8 engine with cylinder banks mounted at 90° and lubricated via a dry sump oil system. The engine has gone through several designs, previously including a smaller 2.4-litre supercharged unit. The production design generates a maximum power of 575 horsepower (429 kW; 583 PS) at 10,500 revolutions per minute and a maximum torque of 310 pound-feet (420 N·m) at 9,000 revolutions per minute, giving the car a power-to-weight ratio of 1,223 horsepower per tonne (912.8 kW/t). In addition, the engine has been reported to successfully reach 700 horsepower (520 kW; 710 PS) of power on methanol fuel. The engine is controlled via a fully tunable Pectel SQ6 engine control unit and the throttle is controlled via a throttle-by-wire system.
The T1’s gearbox is a 6-speed sequential made of a magnesium and carbon construction that has a variety of available gear ratios and utilizes a pneumatic actuator to shift, able to upshift in 60 milliseconds and downshift in 30 milliseconds. Furthermore, the drivetrain incorporates a limited slip differential and equal length hollow tripod driveshafts.
The T1 has an estimated maximum speed of 205 miles per hour (330 km/h) on a low downforce setup. From a standing start, it has an estimated 0–100 kilometres per hour (0–62 mph) time under 2.5 seconds and onto 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) in 4.9 seconds, depending on tyre setup. It is also capable of an estimated lateral acceleration of up to 3 g and braking deceleration of 3 g, depending on tire setup.
Drivetrain:
- engine Caparo Aluminum V8 w/Dym Sump Lubrication
- valvetrain DOHC, 4 Valves per Cyl
- fuel feed Electronic Fuel Injection
- displacement 3500 cc / 213.6 in³
- bore 93 mm / 3.66 in
- stroke 64.3 mm / 2.53 in
- power 428.8 kw / 575 bhp @ 10500 rpm
- specific output 164.29 bhp per litre
- torque 420 nm / 309.8 ft lbs @ 9000 rpm
- transmission 6-Speed Sequential
Chassis/Suspension:
- body / frame Carbon Fiber & Aluminum Monocoque
- driven wheels RWD w/LSD
- front brakes Discs w/6-Piston Calipers
- rear brakes Discs w/4-Piston Calipers
- steering Magnesium Cased Rack
- f suspension Double Wishbones
- r suspension Double Wishbones
- weight 672 kg / 1482 lbs
Performance:
- top speed ~329.84 kph / 205 mph
- 0 - 60 mph ~2.5 seconds
- 0 - 100 mph ~5.7 seconds
