2017 F1 Car: Design Project

[Tozza Mazza]

Why not venturi tunnels on the underside and skirts ? + wider tyres.

I am keeping this design as close to the proposed regulations for 2017 based on what we know and what is rumoured.

Venturi tunnels and skirts are not proposed so I will not be incorporating them. Sorry!

Would just have been interesting how much faster or how much less wing you must put on if venturi tunnels and skirts were permitted. Shame actually since I think allowing full groundeffect, less front / rear wing would have F1 much more interesting

Ok,

Let's not rule it out, lets develop the car and get an understanding of how it works first and then at some point we can potentially look at the effect of a different floor system on the car.

Hopefully I'll have some CFD images and information to share very soon (I've been very busy as of late but finally have some time!

Then I will spend som me time getting the car in to a release state (few amendments to basic parts based on new info about 2017 regulations) and the addition of a gearbox, engine exhaust, mirrors and a neatenjng up the floor.

I plan on keeping the car simple so as to use it as a learning tool and gradually modify and develop it in to a more complicated design based on what we learn.

[toraabe]

Perfect. Something like the Lotus 125 in which has underfloor tunnels

[Tozza Mazza]

Hi all,

tonight I have managed to revise my model for 2017 regulations.

The front wing is now 1850mm wide, rear wing 950mm wide and I have fixed up a ride height issue which I believe has been the last hurdle with CFD analysis (the solution runs but with no meaningful results thus far).

Here are some images, to give a taster as to what to expect in 2017.







Personally I'm a big fan of the proportions of the big wings, cars look good!
TM.

[LVDH]

The wheels look huge.

Maybe you could round the corners a bit more, not only for CFD purposes but they might look a bit more realistic.

I am wondering if the cars would be aerodynamically less affected by a leading car if the front wing could only go so low towards the ground.
Do you think you will be able to run simulations with two cars?

[Vortex347]

Awesome idea man (nice sketches too)

F1 cars are around 8 seconds a lap slower than they were in 2004 (give or take a second or two depending on the circuit). A large part of this difference in lap time is due to changes in engine regulations, with 3.0 litre V10 engines used in 2004 and 1.6 litre V6 turbo power units used today. Other major changes include a change in weight close to around 100kg and massive restrictions on the cars aerodynamically.

They run narrower front tyres now so they are slightly more aerodynamic then the 04 cars. On top of that, further body refinement and what not would probably make the current cars slightly more aerodynamic then the 2004 models. The larger tyres in width and diameter would increase their drag no?

Making the back tyres slightly wider (400mm) would be beneficial for their speed I suppose.

Current tyres are 245mm wide at the front and 325mm wider at the rear.

I reckon they should keep that front tyre width.


The car is being made 0.2m wider, has a bigger back wing and getting larger tyres? How is the weight meant to be reduced by 80kg?

Also how are they meant to make a wider car more aerodynamic? Or are they just counting on the wing changes to compensate for the aerodynamics loss?

This could easily be achieved if they scrap KERS and DRS and the electric engine (with KERS I suppose). Regardless, electronics are currently too heavy to be effectively utilised by f1 in a positive way for the performance of the cars (mainly because of weight addition).

Bring back the 3 litre v10's and cap them at 21000rpm limiter I reckon (from 2004). The cars will probably be 11-13 seconds quicker than they are now and about 4 seconds faster than 2004 cars. And they will sound a million times better than the current cars. Then you will be able to see, hear and feel formula 1 racing which is how it should be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOeCmNCqzng

[Tozza Mazza]

Hi,

Thanks for the praise.

I will work on the detail of the tyres soon, I think I have set them too wide so it will take a little bit of work, and I will round the corners off too!

Realistically any change in formula is not going to be too drastic. We're going to keep the hybrid engine formula (which personally I am a big fan of, it pushes the sport in to a new direction and the power units are more powerful than they have been for years).

As far as I understand it, the increased width of the card to 2m will give the car a boost to the mechanical grip. Pairing this with wider tyres too makes the cars mechanically faster. Also boosting the wheel diameter to 18in from 13in will see an increase in speed (I read this in an article with Michelin). These changes alone could give a boost in lap time of around 2-4 seconds a lap.

Whilst the increase in tyre width and car width will increase the frontal area of the car, it will not be by a great magnitude, and unless the tyres increase by 100mm in width each the tyres will now be further away from the bodywork, reducing the effect they have in disturbing the airflow of the car.

Aerodynamically speaking now, downforce will be increased by increasing the width of the front and rear wings and increasing the height of the diffuser. There is talk of bringing back the beam wing too.

As for weight reduction, I'm in favour of scrapping the limit so as to allow designs to push in this area (although the problem with this is that it leads to stick insect drivers)....I'm a bit stuck as to how this weight could be reduced.

[RicME85]

I have the tyres from the F1 KVRC rulebook if you want to use them, they have proper rounded edges, would just need to adjust the size

[Tozza Mazza]

I have the tyres from the F1 KVRC rulebook if you want to use them, they have proper rounded edges, would just need to adjust the size

I will modify my own, they fit the 18in wheel rims.

[Tozza Mazza]

Hi all,

I have made the modifications to the tyre and wheel areas so we can now get a clearer perspective of how the cars may look in 2017...

Here is the car with the changes (300mm wide front tyres, 400mm wide rear tyres with the 2000mm full car width).

[RicME85]

If they actually have front wings like in 09 that would be great but we all know Red Bull will have their way and the wings will stay as crazy as they are currently

[Tozza Mazza]

If they actually have front wings like in 09 that would be great but we all know Red Bull will have their way and the wings will stay as crazy as they are currently

It'd be the change that keeps the work of the overtaking working group.

Remember Red Bull don't even have an engine. They may not be in such a strong position to negotiate these changes anymore!

[graham.reeds]

You need a driver in there.

[Tozza Mazza]

Hi all,

I have delved a bit deeper in to the 2017 regulations proposals and 'mocked up' another design iteration.
Another brief for 2017 was to make the cars look more aggressive and modern.
Whilst there was a push for retro looking cars this will not be the case.

A current proposal being discussed is as follows and has the following features:
Swept Front Wing
Swept Floor Leading Edge
Swept Sidepod Turning Vanes
Swept Rear Wing Endplates
Return of the Beam Wing

I have put the car in to a current livery (no prizes for guessing which), so we can see what a 2017 F1 car could potentially look like in its racing colours. The swept front wing looks distinctive, but I am not sure at all on the rear wing look. The rest of the changes are fairly minor cosmetically, definitely an evolutionary step rather than revolutionary.