Mclaren MP4-29 Pre-launch Speculation

[turbof1]

This is the speculation thread about the 2014 car. Rumors, articles, ideas and fantasies about the car can be posted here. Once the car gets officially launched, this thread will be closed and discussion continues in the official thread.

Engine speculation has its own thread; unless it directly involves the 2014 Mclaren contender, please keep any speculation here: http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... ead#unread

For other 2014 topics, please check here

A few topic suggestions:
-Mclaren kept developing and putting effort in the 2013 car, claiming that learning to understand the car would help to the 2014 one. What could be taken over?

-Will they continue with front pull rod?

-Do they run their own gearbox/ers systems?

[Holm86]

Read somewhere that they would not keep the front pull rod. They would switch to push rod at the front and have something "revolutionary" at the back.

[Shakeman]

ATM_Andy "It's very... Different..." "You'll be able to tell before the drapes come off."

My spider sense says ugly nose but hey, the car should look different even with drapes.

Is ATM_Andy a reliable source? Dunno, the Autosport forum seem to think so not that there is any real info.

[Dyanxx]

ATM_Andy "It's very... Different..." "You'll be able to tell before the drapes come off."

My spider sense says ugly nose but hey, the car should look different even with drapes.

Is ATM_Andy a reliable source? Dunno, the Autosport forum seem to think so not that there is any real info.

I don't think he is, I think he might be involved in F1, but definitely not a Mclaren employee, the only time he posts is at the end of the season to try and get people hyped.

[wesley123]

ATM_Andy "It's very... Different..." "You'll be able to tell before the drapes come off."

My spider sense says ugly nose but hey, the car should look different even with drapes.

Is ATM_Andy a reliable source? Dunno, the Autosport forum seem to think so not that there is any real info.

I don't think he is, I think he might be involved in F1, but definitely not a Mclaren employee, the only time he posts is at the end of the season to try and get people hyped.

Sounds exactly like what McLaren would do.

[Javert]

Think their MP4-27 chassis suit chassis height regulations

It should be no problem to start from old data, even if almost meaningless

[Owen.C93]

Is ATM_Andy a reliable source? Dunno, the Autosport forum seem to think so not that there is any real info.

I don't think he is, I think he might be involved in F1, but definitely not a Mclaren employee, the only time he posts is at the end of the season to try and get people hyped.

Someone at McLaren told me that he is not on any race team and is probably unrelated to the team. I think I know who he is and he most likely has friends in the team is all.

[tuj]

Read somewhere that they would not keep the front pull rod. They would switch to push rod at the front and have something "revolutionary" at the back.

What could this be at the back? Multi-link design? I would think with the minimal suspension travel that anything other than dual a-arms mounted in either push or pull configurations would not be worthwhile. Certainly they could have a T-bar (sway) and 3rd member (heave) but that's not revolutionary at all.

[Holm86]

Read somewhere that they would not keep the front pull rod. They would switch to push rod at the front and have something "revolutionary" at the back.

What could this be at the back? Multi-link design? I would think with the minimal suspension travel that anything other than dual a-arms mounted in either push or pull configurations would not be worthwhile. Certainly they could have a T-bar (sway) and 3rd member (heave) but that's not revolutionary at all.

I was thinking something like a single a-arm?? Think that could be possible.

[trinidefender]

I can't help but wonder if they will use some sort of multi-link setup at the rear. A few reasons I personally think they will go this way are:
1. No beam wing which means clean airflow to that section isn't as important as before.
2. The suspension can be tailored easier to track conditions.
3. It is my understanding that multilink can be made more compliant under high torque loads that will be created by the new power units.

As for the front I wouldn't be surprised if hey stick to the pullrod. Seems towards the end of this season they were able to sort out the problem of the bouncy ride.

The nose design I don't have the slightest clue what they will use.

Sidepods, I think they will start with an undercut at the front how cars are now and move to something looking the like the rb7 sidepods at the back. Let's see what everyone else's predictions are and see who is right when the season starts

[Just_a_fan]

This is McLaren. Whatever they design / build will be fabulously detailed and superbly made but it will be too complicated or it will be just plain wrong. They've probably designed a rear suspension system that mimics RedBull's sidepod tunnel but which is so complicated they can't set it up correctly. It'll be mid-season before the thing shows real benefits and by then RedBull et al will have done a better job of it.

[PhillipM]

With the lower bulkhead it makes even more sense to continue with the pullrod front tbh.

[KingHamilton01]

I think McLaren will try and go down the red bull tunnel route with the sidepods I agree with that. There is no doubt there is a risk that McLaren in trying to claw back ground and trying new idea's that it could go wrong. I think McLaren are looking at the bigger picture though, 2014 with new design and trying to make there idea's work ready for an assault on both championship's when Honda return's.

I think if you asked McLaren if they would be happy with a few win's and fighting for podium's in 2014 they will be happy with that. This is considering this year they have been so poor, I think McLaren will come up with an interest concept for the nose and front wing design.

[trinidefender]

I think McLaren will try and go down the red bull tunnel route with the sidepods I agree with that. There is no doubt there is a risk that McLaren in trying to claw back ground and trying new idea's that it could go wrong. I think McLaren are looking at the bigger picture though, 2014 with new design and trying to make there idea's work ready for an assault on both championship's when Honda return's.

I think if you asked McLaren if they would be happy with a few win's and fighting for podium's in 2014 they will be happy with that. This is considering this year they have been so poor, I think McLaren will come up with an interest concept for the nose and front wing design.

I'll be VERY surprised if any team comes with sidepod tunnels next year. The reason for the tunnels used by some teams and heavy undercuts used by others is for the purpose of moving the high velocity airflow away from where the exhaust stream hits the floor. The less interference that was there, the more stable the exhaust stream would be and the easier it would be to predict. Since there are no more coanda exhausts of any sort next year there is no need for a sidepod tunnel. If anything you may see a heavy undercut design by some teams, maybe McLaren. This is to maximise floor space to feed the rear diffuser top area. The reason a tunnel probably won't be used is that is simply cannot move that much mass flow of air compared to a heavy undercut. The only reason for the tunnel's existence was more as a bridge for the exhaust gasses going over the top all the way to the floor.

[trinidefender]

scarbs wrote:
"No the tunnel is still there for good reason, if you use the top surface of the sidepod to run vortices along from the VGs at the front, you can get a high pressure at the diffusers trailing edge. This, like EBD leaves the issue of the cross flow from the sidepod undercut. Thus the tunnel exists to duct the crossflow to the starter motor hole"

However my personal reason of why I don't think you'll see that is that by keeping the large flat sidepods that have a lot of surface area all the way to the back you create a very large wing (read low pressure) area over the sidepods. This will create tons of lift. Before they needed all this airflow to get the exhaust stream down to the ground, now it is not needed in that way.