No TC as of 2008!!!

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Tom
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Joined: 13 Jan 2006, 00:24
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I think you might be getting a bit confused. The idea of ABS is not to provide better braking (a popular misconception which causes many crashes) but just stops the wheels locking and allowing steering in a hard braking scenario. Where ordinerally heavy braking would lock the wheels and cause the car to carry on straight regardless of the steering wheel ABS allows less force to be applied to the pads keeping the wheels turning and letting the steering work.
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G-Rock
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Joined: 27 Jul 2006, 20:05
Location: Ridgetown, ON

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I beg to differ Tom.
I think you might be getting a bit confused. The idea of ABS is not to provide better braking (a popular misconception which causes many crashes) but just stops the wheels locking and allowing steering in a hard braking scenario. Where ordinerally heavy braking would lock the wheels and cause the car to carry on straight regardless of the steering wheel ABS allows less force to be applied to the pads keeping the wheels turning and letting the steering work.
ABS WILL increase braking performance under racing conditions, in the wet in the dry, everywhere.
The key is braking into a corner. A driver can brake later, so late that he can brake into a corner which even the best sorted non ABS car couldn't do. As a car enters a corner, the inside front tire loses grip due to weight transfer and would normally lock up. Without ABS, a driver couldn't brake that deep without flat spotting a tire. The ABS keeps the tires with the least grip from locking up thereby increasing a drivers brake zone.

A properly sorted ABS system would probably shave a half a second off a non ABS F1 car. That's what I remember from 1993. By properly sorted I mean a system that cycles many times per second, keeping the tire on the threshold of adhesion at all speeds.

It's true however that a road car without ABS could outbrake an ABS system but that is because most cars (especially economy ones) only cycle their pads 4-8 times per second which isn't enough if your wheel is turning 5 or more revolutions per second at speed.
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mx_tifoso
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Joined: 30 Nov 2006, 05:01
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http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5938/772.html

Read the 7th question going up from the bottom. Talking about no TC as of '08, most interestingly Hamilton's response, seems to me that will help him greatly next season.

And a brief thought, Imagine Massa racing in the RAIN without TC !!!!!
Kind of scary once you think about it
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Tom
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Q: Heikki, I’ll start with you. Obviously you were very pleased to score your first world championship last weekend in Malaysia, but has the car been cured of its problems?
Did I miss something?
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checkered
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Joined: 02 Mar 2007, 14:32

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Mx_tifosi, I think

Lewis might indeed gain some benefit from banning the TC ... I was listening to the 5Live post-Malaysia podcast the other day, and Hamilton's late-braking ability was almost universally praised. Apparently, concerning braking, he had been taken by a positive surprise at Melbourne already and had commented quite matter-of-factly (surprised even) to some journalist that most of the field had braked very "early" to corners.

They also recounted in the program how in Lewis's kart days, his father used to stand at the braking points of the corners while he was practicing, telling him not to brake any sooner. They had gradually shortened the distance, again and again. Obviously this exercise has born fruit and I can only imagine this ability, this feel for "the spot" to benefit him even more in 2008.

DaveKillens
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Joined: 20 Jan 2005, 04:02

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One by-product of banning TC will be engine modifications to the powerband. The engineers will have to smooth out the torque to avoid catching the driver unawares. Most likely peak power will be reduced to give a more gradual delivery of torque.
Or will they? Will traction responsibility be forced on the drivers? The best funded teams will be willing to hire drivers who can deal with maximum power engines. If you don't have that required skill, the ability to anticipate and back off the gas to avoid spinning out, then the driver will be replaced.
Will some try a "big bang" engine, despite the rules for powerplant reliability?

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joseff
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Joined: 24 Sep 2002, 11:53

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Interesting idea Dave, but...

1. Big bang means modifications to the camshaft. Is that allowed? Come to think of it, has there ever been big bang F1 engines?
2. Would there be traction benefits? The Ducati big bang pairs 2 cylinders, running up to 16krpm, meaning 267 powerstrokes/second. If you pair each 2 cylinders in an F1 V8, you get 633 powerstrokes/second. Is that good enough?

If you have to group each engine bank (4 cylinders) I'd imagine the whole car would shake itself to pieces. Remember that in MotoGP the engines aren't a stressed structural member.

mx_tifoso
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I'm not sure each team is going to specify in their search for a driver that they must be properly skilled at controlling a car without TC. Take my comment about Massa being a bad driver in the wet, especially without TC, do you think that Ferrari is going to outright replace him as soon as they come to realize that he's horrible without TC? And as far as I believe, the ban on TC is going to be here for a while (hope so). But then again we will all see the reality as soon as winter testing commences, when they start to test the cars for '08.
But I do believe Hamilton will have a certain advantage over much of the field when it comes to not having TC to help you out in controlling wheel spin, and overall car control as well.
Lets just hope* that Ferrari and its drivers,whomever they may be, can cope well without TC and continue delivering positive results.

*By this I mean Ferrari fans. 8)
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