Renault R26 Breaks Cover!

[ginsu]

I noticed the front nose earilier, thinking that it was very similar to the Midland car. Looks almost like a hammerhead in the overall shape. It must generate some downforce, vs. the old sharper nose.

[manchild]

...I compared noses from the previous year's car, and it appears that since the lines are relatively straight from nose to sidepods, the entire front chassis has been widened a bit.

Chassis of R26 hasn't been widened compared to one used up to several days ago - only the nose is different.

BTW, did anyone noticed than since tyre regulations have returned to 2004, both Mcalren and Renault have now switched to noses they had in 2004 (Renault wide again, Mclaren narrow again)?




Can it be that it had something to do with tyre regs?

[blackpebel]

I noticed the front nose earilier, thinking that it was very similar to the Midland car. Looks almost like a hammerhead in the overall shape. It must generate some downforce, vs. the old sharper nose.

They had also developed a moveabale front wing whatever happend to that, it will be realy usefull for them to use that technology, does some one have to coment on that front wing?

[DaveKillens]

FIA regulation 3.15 states that any speficid part of the car influencing it's aerodynamic performance must be rigidly secured and must remain immobile.
So there's no way wings can be made to move. The only caveat is that the teams can make a quick adjustment of the wing angle, which is used during pit stops to alter the downforce slightly.
It's a great idea to have the wings move based on speed and downforce requirements, they have been tried and used successfully in the past. But these days, it's a no no.

[wkdtk]

That doesn't stop them from playing with the flexing properties of carbon fiber by using specific weaves and thicknesses to allow for considerable movement.

This can be seen on some onboard footage at highspeed tracks like Indy, where the front wing flaps clearly flex to a less agressive stance on the straights (where drag is an enemy) and recoil back under braking where maximum downforce is needed for cornering.

Do not think for a second that these things aren't thought over in great detail on the windtunnel.

As for the rules, you are correct. But as always, interpretation (or concealment) is the key.

[ginsu]

With the reduced cooling needs of the new V8, the R26 has narrower sidepods than its predecessor. It features wider flip-ups and gone are the R25's distinctive venting gills. The winglet (magnified) now has its supporting pillar (1) connected to its inner edge rather than centrally mounted as last year. This is to remove the pillar from the path of airflow passing towards the flip-up. The exhaust position (2) is much closer to the engine, with the exit now rearward, rather than outward, facing. The rear wing uses a central, inclined supporting pillar (3) and the main profile is now lower at its extremities than in the centre (4). Another tiny change is the endplates on the flip-ups (5) which are now no more than a small, vertical lip, reducing the drag generated by this element.

[ginsu]

Obviously, no rotary dampers. Great shot of the torsion bar though.

Interesting winding on the spring coils, looks to be progressive on both ends. The pushrod doesn't look like Carbon Fiber, strange. Although, it could be wrapped in something.



I really like the fairing around the driveshafts, it should reduce drag significantly. Also, the lower wishbones look incredibly strange with the aero profile at the outboard ends. There must be alot of air moving through there.

[kkobayash]

I saw the R26 in paris at some show that Renault were putting on there. It looked pretty neat.

Just wondering bout the flickups towards the rear of the sidepods tho. When i felt them, they seemed flex quite abit, and i felt that i could snap them off if i tried. Are these considered 'downfrce generating' elements?? The rear and front wings were so stiff tho, hard to imagine they would flex a significant amount due to generated downforce.

[manchild]

Renault has kept same rear suspension as on R25. I also think that pushrods are made of titanium

[ginsu]

Interestingly, they changed the front mounting point of the rear upper wishbone for this year. I was just commenting on how the RB2 looked like it did not have a good design on the upper wishbone mounting.

You can notice from comparing manchild's pic to the R26 pics that the upper wishbones now mount to a bracket on the side of the transmission case instead of being held by bolts on the top. This should feed the loads more directly into the case instead of going through the bolts. Although, RB2 has only two bolts to R25's three, so the RB2 is even worse off.

I really wonder why the pushrods are Ti instead of Carbon. It must be related to being powered.

[kilcoo316]

I really wonder why the pushrods are Ti instead of Carbon. It must be related to being powered.

Could be for heat reasons?

[ginsu]

That would make sense, but the wishbones are carbon fiber. But the pushrods would see higher loads, so would be more sensitive to it? Then again, the exhaust isn't exactly blowing on them either. I'm not so sure if heat is the answer.

It doesn't make that much sense material wise because carbon has a higher tensile strength under the kind of loading that the pushrod is under. It has to be something related to the power of the engine. Maybe Renault picked up
on some kind of torsional stiffness aspect of the rear suspension. Maybe the Ti acts a bit springy. But that just doesn't make that much sense either. Renault are known for their fast starts though.

[zac510]

I really wonder why the pushrods are Ti instead of Carbon. It must be related to being powered.

I believe Renault switched back to Ti after Trulli's crash at Silverstone.

[manchild]

I believe Renault switched back to Ti after Trulli's crash at Silverstone.

I think so too. They had rear pushrods made of CF on R23 while all of the pics I've seen of R24, R25 and R26 show Ti pushrods.

R23B

[zac510]

I read that they changed back to Ti in Piola's excellent book.