2007 wheelbases

mika vs michael · Post 27 Jan 2007, 01:42

I have read that F2007's wheelbase is 8,5cm longer than its predecesor...Is there any article relative with the wheelbases of the rest F1 2007 cars?

wazojugs · Post 27 Jan 2007, 01:59

if you are in the uk read this weks autosport Mark Hughes has written a good article explaining the possible reasons for ferraris change to a longer whel base car

its maainly down to being able to move more ballast towards the front of the car, due to the nature of the bridgestone tyres

mika vs michael · Post 27 Jan 2007, 02:45

After a quick investigation, I've come up with those infos on 2007's wheelbases.

2006 2007 difference
Ferrari 3050mm 3135mm +085mm

Renault 3100mm 3100mm 000mm

McLaren ----- ------

Toyota 3090mm 3090mm 000mm

BMW 3110mm 3110mm 000mm

Honda 3140mm

Redbull

The general trend is to retain the wheelbase from 2006. Only Ferrari opted for longer wheelbase...I do not know if longer wheelbase means more flexibility with weight distribution, but for sure adds more kgs on the overall weight of the car...If you combine that with the fact that Ferrari have moved the centre of gravity backwards, as I have read, I'm curious to see how they will cure the excessive wear of/on the sensitive Potenza rear tyres...I think they opted to maximise aero-efficiency (zero keel) instead of mechanical grip...(sorry for my mediocre language level, not living in the UK)

wazojugs · Post 27 Jan 2007, 02:56

the benifits of a long wheel base car are better aero flow as the distance between the wheels and the cockpit.

but its mainly down to the behavior of the tyres, the bridgestone tyres are the same construction as the 20o4 generation and ferrari dominated in that season so mabe they have an advantage in understanding how the tyres will perform.

can anyone scan the autosport column?

mika vs michael · Post 27 Jan 2007, 03:04

Ι think that Ferrari's strong key for 2007 championship is that they probably had information from Bridgestone about the 2007 spec tyres long time ago...But I remember how the F2003-GA with the long wheelbase struggled in circuits with tight corners...
(this week's autosport will be here by Sunday, don't mind about scanning the article, I'll buy it)

benjabulle · Post 27 Jan 2007, 11:50

Interesting to learn this longer wheelbase for the Ferrari and only for them, why do they need to add weight on the front this year ? Michelin cars were said to need more weight on the front than Bridg, maybe they already had the right weight distribution. It reminds me 1998 when McLaren with the MP4/13 had this very long wheelbase that everybody copied during the season. With the narrower front track all the teams had shorten their wheelbase to have the same ratio wheelbase/track but Newey had understood (helped by a 30 Kg ballast on the Mp4/13, much less or even no ballast for the other cars) that they had to calm the rear end. Wright had done a very interesting article about that in an old Racecar engineering issue.

RH1300S · Post 27 Jan 2007, 16:19

Just an idea - I already posted in the F1-2007 thread.

With a longer wheelbase you can get less dynamic weight transfer. If the rear Bridgestones are sensitive to wear perhaps this will give them an easier time under power. Not to mention the alleged aero benefits - which may well give the rears and easier time in faster corners.

Rearward weight bias might recover some of the traction lost with less dynamic weight transfer.

One thing strikes me is that Ferrari probably committed to that layout before it was generally known about the charateristics of the Bridgestones - perhpas they already knew what to expect.

I guess we will just have to wait and see..............

BreezyRacer · Post 27 Jan 2007, 18:51

It appears the total span from shortest to longest is only 50 mm. I would say this is primarily a packaging issue since they are all so close.

allan · Post 27 Jan 2007, 19:58

[img:1076:449]http://marvin.kset.org/~sepa/f1/2007/co ... ri_top.jpg[/img]
i guess it's obvious how ferrari moved of the body mass to the back, isn't it?
special thanks to manchild

Tom · Post 27 Jan 2007, 20:06

Be very careful what you read from that picture, if you look closely the cars are compared from a reference point at the tip of the nose, a better example would have had the cars together from the centers of each respectively.

Tp · Post 27 Jan 2007, 20:53

Well I've heard, that because the rear tyres have easier time if strong rear grip prevents sliding, there has to be an increase in rear downforce. But because there are restrictions with the volume of air in the diffuser, the only way to claw back downforce is to increase the speed of the air, the longer wheelbase enables this.

Venom · Post 27 Jan 2007, 23:01

Tp wrote:Well I've heard, that because the rear tyres have easier time if strong rear grip prevents sliding, there has to be an increase in rear downforce. But because there are restrictions with the volume of air in the diffuser, the only way to claw back downforce is to increase the speed of the air, the longer wheelbase enables this.

Doesn't that refer back to the driving style?

Schumi likes the rear to slide, whereas Alonso likes it stable.

manchild · Post 27 Jan 2007, 23:03

That pic where cars are compared is totally wrong. Ferrari has 35mm longer wheel span than Renault and pic is made by lining up chassis' not axles so it looks like that cars have identical length.

I've made these two pics based on identical position of cars relative to rear axle. On lover transparent pic you can check that rear wheels are 1 on 1 as well as max bodywork width (1400mm as FIA reg impose). My pic might not be accurate in mm but I don't think it is wrong more than 2 cm.

[img:1076:850]http://f1manchild.googlepages.com/compare.jpg[/img]

allan · Post 28 Jan 2007, 00:13

i understand what u're saying guys, but what i ment is that even though the rear axle is almost on the exact same line, u can notice that the cockpit on the ferrari is much more to the back (even in manchild's new pic)...
now, i've heared that the renault had that design in the previous years, and that gave the car an amazing rear grip, especially on the starting grid, but now i see that ferrari took it even further, is that right?

manchild · Post 28 Jan 2007, 00:39

When you compare position of rear wishbones or exhaust outlet than it is clear that Ferrari's gearbox isn't shorter but that their fuel tank is either smaller or shorter than Renault's because it is wider.

Any of those two could be the reason for cockpit being moved backwards (I'd say approximately 100 mm, not more than 150mm).