2017 F1 engine dream configs

[PhillipM]

Here is 80kg of fuel for the race. You may not use or add any external energy source other than that fuel. You may however both recover and store energy generated by that fuel during the race. Toxic materials are still banned, the fancier MMC's are not. Power may be deployed through all 4 wheels or via any other medium you can effect. (Lets see your puny exhaust blown diffusers vs one blown with a turbines reheat system for qualifying )

Have fun with your ERS/KERS/Shaft Turbine hybrid system versus someone's electric supercharged V10 2-stroke.

[ian_s]

- keep the fuel flow limit - means a soft limit on HP and encourages more efficient engines
- all cars start the race with the same weight of fuel, which should me more than necessary to complete the race distance - means no fuel saving, drivers able to push harder all race
- fuel must be the same as is freely available in the fuel suppliers main market country. - no fancy fuels
- engines can be any size, configuration and no RPM limit, NA or turbo

-energy recovery and deployment allowed through 2 wheels either front OR rear, deployment limit rising year on year, but unlimited recovery
-single MGU-h allowed, unlimited recovery - doesn't have to be linked to a compressor, just the turbine
-physical size and weight limit on energy storage
-fixed single exhaust outlet - no exhaust blown trickery

set cost for customer teams. not per engine, but per season. the back end of the grid wont worry about blowing an engine costing them money

[Andres125sx]

Engine rules:

- Max 1000hp
- Max 30 Million per engine
- Max 100kg fuel per race, this limit will go down season by season to encourage ERS development


That´s it, no need for more restrictions, let the teams decide what´s the best posible config. Engineers battles are exciting, at least we´d see some battle in F1

Hmmm....how are you going to enforce a maximum 1000hp?

The fuel flow limit will do far more to encourage ERS development than the race fuel allowance because it directly affects power.

That´s true, it would be much better with a fuel flow limit as they could increase power if they manage to increase efficiency, agree. So my engine rules will be

- Max 30 M per engine and season
- Max 100kg/h fuel flow

No more restrictions, let see what engine config is really more eficient, I don´t bother if it´s a turbo 4L or a atmospheric V10, 4T or 2T, traditional or rotary engine... Whatever they can imagine, they can use it if they don´t use more than the limited fuel rate and don´t invest more than the limited money

That would be exciting from the engineering point of view. And if someone is going to say that could make some team dominate too much, please tell me what´s the difference with last 6 seasons when they all have been using the same engine config. If there´s no battle on track, at least let the engineers have some fun and we´ll see some interesting differences and developments

[thedutchguy]

Maybe not a dream config, but someting that would be sensible, with regards to the investments made in the current technology:

Keep the basic configuration as we have them right now, but:

-Remove the fuel flow limit
-Remove the RPM limiter or up it to 18 or 20K rpm
-Allow refueling (I hate how slow the cars are at the beginning of the races since refueling got banned)
-Keep a sensible maximum fuel amount. Maybe 150 KG's? This is the total amount per race, even with refuelling. Would make for interesting strategies.


To save money: drop the expensive ERS technologie, except for some limited energy storage which can be used with an MGU-H to keep the turbo's spooled up.
If saving money is not an objective: Keep the ERS and drop all limits regarding energy harvesting and deployment.

[CBeck113]

Don't be so complex with this, that is why F1 is in its current decline.

Rule 1: tanks for 100kg fuel must be in the car, refueling via shoulder tank (NASCAR) is allowed.

Let'em go at it...you'll see how quickly the teams find a balance between power and efficiency.

[Sebp]

Don't be so complex with this, that is why F1 is in its current decline.

Rule 1: tanks for 100kg fuel must be in the car, refueling via shoulder tank (NASCAR) is allowed.

Let'em go at it...you'll see how quickly the teams find a balance between power and efficiency.

I'm completely with you on this one with one addition. Some kind of cost cap should be implemented. How about for every buck you spend too much you have to integrate penalty weight into your design?

[hurril]

- Keep the flow limit or up it ever so slightly but increase the maximum allowed allocation.
- Remove the, in my opinion, overly specific and unnecessary limitations on: number of turbos, where it has to be, precise engine layout and the like. Allow a "hot inside" layout for instance. There are plain old "civilian" cars that employ that.
- Remove the CoG-specifics.
- Allow variable cams

[ESPImperium]

Keep architecture of the engine at the moment broadly the same. But id introduce these key points:

* Make crankshaft different to allow it to achieve the 1,000hp
* Bring back twin turbos
* Up-Rate the ERS systems to 8Mj from 4Mj
* Ditch the fuel flow limiter
* Cars must start the race with 100kilos of fuel for the 305+ km of the race
* Limit telemetry streams from the car to the pits, only allow the teams to monitor 50 streams of information in total, black box downloads available after the race for more data.
* Engine budget, including trackside and customer factory support at a maximum of €20m (Est £15m/$22.5m) a year.
* Engines/power-train cannot be used concurrently, once they are shelved for another part they can't be used again in the season. Reliability as well as power must be tested.
* Engine manufacturer must be placed on the engine over of customer cars, more Powered By...
* Standardised source code so that all engines have to run with so that customer teams have the same software as the manufacturer.
* Based on what can be upgraded on the 2015 token method, each engine builder can use 25 tokens in a calendar year. This figure is reduced to 10 after 3 years.
* Allow VVTI and and stop/start tech for the cars for when they pit.
* If a car needs a 20kilo top up of fuel during the race, it can do so, but this must be taken with an appropriate fuel only pit stop that incurs a 10second stop/go at the end of the fuel stop. With this a team must announce notice to pit for fuel on the race direction page.
* Engines/power train parts are limited to 5 per year. Every new part carries a 10 place grid drop for the first race and 5 for the second race used. Full power trains carry a pit lane start 60 seconds after the start of the race for the first race, second race will carry a 10 place grid drop.

[PlatinumZealot]

ENGINE TYPE AND LAYOUT
Fuel flow limit: 220kg/hr

How much power do you think they need?

As much as you need to win the race with the tyres Pirelli gives you.

I am expecting around 1500 hp with the 220kg limit. The excess fuel is used for cooling, in the case a competitor shows up with a turbo-shaft engine or something.

Oh yeah.. Exhaust must be through the regulated exhaust pipe, (six inches maximum diameter). And must be proven not to throw up debris.

[PlatinumZealot]

Engine rules:

- Max 1000hp
- Max 30 Million per engine
- Max 100kg fuel per race, this limit will go down season by season to encourage ERS development


That´s it, no need for more restrictions, let the teams decide what´s the best posible config. Engineers battles are exciting, at least we´d see some battle in F1

What? More power allowed but the same fuel limit? Viewers prepare for cruising and granny shifting half way through the race!

[PlatinumZealot]

Hmmm....how are you going to enforce a maximum 1000hp?

You simply measure the torque and rpm at the driveshafts with standardised sensors, as it's done in WEC for the balance of performance.

There is no way to reliably measure the power directly of an engine in a running car. lol. Unless you plan to stick on a few load cells and hope they don't fall off the drive-shaft.
Where is the fun in everybody having the same exact horsepower. God, no one passes on the straights! lol

[SectorOne]

I don´t care how they go about doing this but from reading the latest reports, F1 has great times ahead.

More downforce
More power
Wider rear tires

I honestly can´t wait to see these new regulations come into place.

[gruntguru]

I see a lot of replies arguing for lots more horsepower. The current regs are fine regards horsepower especially if Mercedes has another 10% in 2015. In a few seasons the FIA will have to reduce the 100kg/hr to reign-in the power.

I think the current formula is fine. Incrementally increase the hybrid power, energy and storage limits (say 5% per season) while reducing the fuel flow limit (say 3% per season.)

Development costs and PU production costs will come down as teams converge towards an optimum solution. Give it 5 to 10 years before it all gets boring and the formula needs a total shakeup.

[wuzak]

Bernie called for 1000hp.

I supose he's expecting that to make them harder to drive - but it won't without more downforce to make the cars more physical to drive.

[Andres125sx]

Engine rules:

- Max 1000hp
- Max 30 Million per engine
- Max 100kg fuel per race, this limit will go down season by season to encourage ERS development


That´s it, no need for more restrictions, let the teams decide what´s the best posible config. Engineers battles are exciting, at least we´d see some battle in F1

What? More power allowed but the same fuel limit? Viewers prepare for cruising and granny shifting half way through the race!

Who said all the power must come from the ICE?

The point is increasing power of the hibrid part to decrease fuel needs while keeping same power levels

Hmmm....how are you going to enforce a maximum 1000hp?

You simply measure the torque and rpm at the driveshafts with standardised sensors, as it's done in WEC for the balance of performance.

There is no way to reliably measure the power directly of an engine in a running car. lol. Unless you plan to stick on a few load cells and hope they don't fall off the drive-shaft.
Where is the fun in everybody having the same exact horsepower. God, no one passes on the straights! lol

So only reason for overtaking is power differences, aerodynamics have no influence, different gear ratios have no iinfluence.... After all, spec series like GP2, GP3, FE, or karting are boring series with no overtakings, no battles... oh wait...