Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road tires?

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myurr
myurr
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Joined: 20 Mar 2008, 21:58

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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I don't think so. It's more likely the different track surface produced a different result from the tyres - a good thing in my view as it's much more likely to produce variations in pace between all the cars.

Richard
Richard
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Joined: 15 Apr 2009, 14:41
Location: UK

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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The difference between a cold EU circuit in winter and an Australian circuit in summer probably had a part to play too. Just a hunch ;)

I thought the tyres did well. Strategies ranged from a singe stop to 3 stops. I'm all for the smaller teams being able to use tyre conservation to make up for outright speed of the bigger teams.

RacingManiac
RacingManiac
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Joined: 22 Nov 2004, 02:29

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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Wasn't Australian race colder than expected?

Richard
Richard
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Joined: 15 Apr 2009, 14:41
Location: UK

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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Melbourne was cooler than normal, but track temperature was 20C rather than the 10C in winter testing this year.

There were also other events on track in Melbourne which would help get rubber on the racing line and remove the winter "green".

G-Rock
G-Rock
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Joined: 27 Jul 2006, 20:05
Location: Ridgetown, ON

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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I've got to hand it to Pirelli. They did a great job under the circumstances!

The other gimmicks left me cold however. I was a great proponent of Kers (the first time around) but now i'm yearnings for a purer form of F1 again.
I don't like the rear adjustable wing (if everyone has one, how will it help passing?)
I don't like how Kers affects handling when it is fully charged vs charging.
Also, if everyone has Kers than there really isn't much of an advantage either.
--------------------------------------------------------

Sayshina
Sayshina
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Joined: 04 Mar 2011, 21:58

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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Jersey Tom wrote:The beef I have is that you've made a number of generalized and blanket statements without anything to back it up.

As a professional "race tire and suspension [dynamics] guy," that raises red flags for me.
Yes I have, as I have never raced a F1 car nor worked on a GP pit crew. All of my knowledge of them comes from things read over the past few decades. But before I go into my own faults might I point out one of yours?

The beef I have is that you've made a number of pronouncements. You step into various threads and pronounce this guy "correct" or that guy wrong. You don't as a rule back anything up, but rather act as some sort of referee or socratic instructor.

As a guy active in the industry I would assume at least some of your knowledge is covered by a NDA, and therefore you might not always be allowed to explain your reasons fully. But there would still be scope for you to at least give a few specifics.

I've asked you in this thread to go into some specifics as to why you disagree with me and you have not. I went into specific personal experience in another thread as to why I disagreed with you and you have not responded.

I once had a Lit. prof make a pronouncement about Hemmingway that I disagreed with. As a hunter and former military guy, I claimed that Hemmingway, a hunter and somewhat former military guy, could not have made a mistake like that. Irrelevant I was told, no explanation given.

I'm a racer, not an engineer. I dropped out of the Aero program after 2 years when I decided a girl was more important. I raced bikes, and at the risk of sounding like Brundle ("I beat Senna when we were kids"), I was possibly good enough to have had a career professionally if things had worked out. I also raced cars occasionally, but never seriously. Finally, I was briefly on a pit crew for a midfield GTO car.

So that's what I bring to the table. Ringo or some of the others around here can and do bring more math to the argument, as I haven't had a need for calculus since college. But I bring the personal knowledge of what it feels like when you've gone too deep into a corner and you're trying to figure out in 1/10 of a second how to save it. I happen to believe there is at least a small value in that knowledge.

In this particular thread, right here, I've been just about exactly as general as you have. I have no inside information on what F1 teams want from their tires, I have only the occasional comment made in the press, which is of course subject to misinterpretation by some random journalist. I do however have 30 years of said comments.

As I mentioned above, I cannot recall a single person over the last 3 decades EVER make the comment that F1 tires are constructed the way the currently are on merrit. I have read many comments to the contrary. If you, how DOES claim to have inside knowledge, can disprove the above, then by all means please do. But please, please, no more pronouncements.

Jersey Tom
Jersey Tom
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Joined: 29 May 2006, 20:49
Location: Huntersville, NC

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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You are correct that the vast majority of detailed / interesting information is covered by NDA, both by my current and former employer. The general rule of thumb is, "If in doubt, don't discuss it."

So until I'm retired and can write a book, I'll state as much or as little as I damn well please :) Take it for what its worth. Doesn't bother me if anyone believes it, questions it, or says its BS. The main point of this, is that I don't think I've EVER seen a single instance of something being clear cut, absolutely, globally better to go in one direction. E.g.: "Shorter sidewall is better for handling!" (I can think of instances where it's God-awful, particularly with very wide tires and poor kinematics - Corvette). Or, "pull rod is always the best solution, no reason to ever run a push rod!". Or, "adding air pressure makes tires more responsive," or "lowering air pressure gives more grip." Yatta yatta yatta.

That said, I haven't seen your specific questions. Feel free to repost them.
Grip is a four letter word. All opinions are my own and not those of current or previous employers.

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Tim.Wright
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Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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RacingManiac wrote:Wasn't Australian race colder than expected?
It pretty hard to expect anything with melbourne weather. Its typically very "dynamic"
Not the engineer at Force India

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strad
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Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 01:57

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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Image
To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”
Sir Stirling Moss

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Ciro Pabón
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Joined: 11 May 2005, 00:31

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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Jersey Tom and Sayshina wrote:... Yatta yatta yatta.
I, for one, am happy with the current arrangement, where some racers give us general information about tyre behaviour and some technicians and engineers give us ideas. In the middle, as always, a few technical followers throw me a bone or two that includes numbers.

I think the idea in this kind of discussions, and in this forum, is not for one person to be right or another to be wrong, but to establish some principles. Some people will get them, other won't.

I guess most of you already knew many of the things I've learned here during the last six years, but for me, things like:

- learning more or less precisely what a stiff angle is
- how do a tyre behave under load and what are the structural principles of it working\
- what are Pacejka curves
- how can you learn which are the approximate spring constants for tyres
- what are the different modes of wear
- how can you guess drag
- how do you choose an apex
- how can you get a better measure of temperature
- what part of bumps is adsorbed by tyres and what by the rest of suspension
- how the angles of suspension work
- what is Ackerman steering
- how to manage a scrub angle

and many more have been very inspiring, enlightening and entertaining.

For all that, thanks.

I know it is hard to find you are in error or worse yet, not be totally convinced of your errors or how to evaluate mistakes of others.

As long as you give humility some leeway, as long as you point out what others can learn when opportunities arise, you two will keep me happy.

So, please, do not concentrate on what could have been misunderstood by others or on what others definitely will not understand until they race like you've done or done the studies and lab tests you've done. Most of us will never race at your level nor will develop the things you've developed, but we are enjoying your "technical friendship and help".

Now, please, concentrate on the issue at hand. How good are Pirelli tyres and are they really not consistent? Will it help the brand or not?

Those are quite general questions, I like to talk about them, I'll make mistakes talking and at least, I am not alone in this world having to learn all the subtleties by myself. I can count on you, can I?

I apologize if this sounds too "moderator-ish", my intention is for everybody to feel better after they come and go.

I need for Strad to explain what's the funny part of Melbourne weather, I did not get it.
Ciro

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Tim.Wright
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Joined: 13 Feb 2009, 06:29

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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I didnt get it either.

anyway Ciro, you forgot one thing in your list;
- discovering a pull rod rear axle is the only design alternative that should ever be considered for anything ever.

I didnt know that a year ago.

Tim
Not the engineer at Force India

DaveW
DaveW
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Joined: 14 Apr 2009, 12:27

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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For what they are worth, my "observations" from Melbourne were:
- Tyre performance was not dramatically different from the 2010 Bridgestones.
- Tyre longevity was probably less than one stop worse than the 2010 Bridgestones.
- Both performance & longevity seemed to be a surprise to drivers, to teams & to Pirelli.
- DRS appeared to be a waste of time (but did provide the occasional comical incident).

Did Pirelli modify constructions for Melbourne? Probably.
Were teams informed of the construction changes (if any)? Probably not.
Did teams modify set-up to help longevity? Possibly some did & may have suffered as a result.
Did teams "prepare" tyres to help longevity? Some did.
Did drivers modify technique to help longevity? Probably some did.

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strad
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Joined: 02 Jan 2010, 01:57

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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Dave said:
Did teams "prepare" tyres to help longevity? Some did.
How did they do that Dave? Besides being against the rules to doctor the tires, I believe they are sequestered prior to the race.
To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster.”
Sir Stirling Moss

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747heavy
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Joined: 06 Jul 2010, 21:45

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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scrub them in (before us in the race) or putting them through heat cycles with heating blankets, could be a option (not sure that is what they do).

Pat Symonds said in a race Tech article:

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Last edited by 747heavy on 29 Mar 2011, 16:45, edited 1 time in total.
"Make the suspension adjustable and they will adjust it wrong ......
look what they can do to a carburetor in just a few moments of stupidity with a screwdriver."
- Colin Chapman

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo da Vinci

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JohnsonsEvilTwin
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Joined: 29 Jan 2010, 11:51
Location: SU 419113

Re: Pirelli's poor consistancy a reflection of their road ti

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DaveW wrote: - DRS appeared to be a waste of time (but did provide the occasional comical incident).
Agree with most your post dave, but I think you will see the DRS being a big factor in later races and on more condusive tracks....
More could have been done.
David Purley