F1technical.net

Guest wrote:I don't see the benefit of this steep back. Wouldn't it cause swirl or counter the downforce? Why didn't they shorten the wheelbase?

Ideal back would be pointy one - like the raindrop tail, so Williams is going in right direction. Shortening the wheelsbase would ruin aerodynamic and cause worse stability (sometimes teams even add special parts between the engine and gearbox to get longer wheelbase, especially on fast circuits).

BTW, looks like that it could be some new Weismann gearbox as zac510 suggested

http://www.weismann.net/quickshifts.html

Blimey. what a great looking car. The rear end is indeed very tight. Will be interesting.
Thed nose looks nohing like Ferrari or McLaren.
The car seems very tidy (not sure if that is because of the colours). A very well though out and optimised peice of kit.
May be worth a flutter for a podium.

Has anybody noticed that the floor and the barge boards appear to be connected by one piece to create a large piece of floor? It is hard to tell but I think it might be.

Is this legal or is it a very innovative interpretation of the rules?

zac510 wrote:Has anybody noticed that the floor and the barge boards appear to be connected by one piece to create a large piece of floor? It is hard to tell but I think it might be.

Is this legal or is it a very innovative interpretation of the rules?

Actually McLaren did the same thing, so I am sure it's quite legal.
Wouldn't that be a benefit to create more downforce as the underfloor now reaches over a bigger area? Or does the generated downforce only get spread over the area?

Yeah it would make more underbody downforce.
I hadn't noticed it on the McLaren either!

I read in F1Racing this month that the FW28 was meant to be "Aerodynamically, pretty special" and it looks as though that is the case. With regards the MP4-20 look-a-like debate, i dont see it that much. I guess yeah the triple element wing looks the same...but you can hardly say the zero-keel is a copy, the teams have all been trying to get something like that to work since the twin-keel concept first started. No-One heard people saying "Mclaren are copying Sauber!" when they made the MP4-17 with a twin-keel....so why now with Williams? The sidepods have an undercut...well wow isnt that unusual for a modern F1 car?!

But i have got to admit, it looks good. I hope that cossie V8 is something special. Then we may see Williams getting back to where they belong.

I like it. But I wanted to see the Walrus back in action too, so kinda disappointed.

What exactly do they mean by "decambered tips" in relation to the rear wing? I've never heard of that before

Williams seems to have gotten rid of the side winglets (seen above on the BMW sauber) that were used in winter testing, is this just for the launch or due to the triple element front wing?

Bender wrote:What exactly do they mean by "decambered tips" in relation to the rear wing? I've never heard of that before

In simple terms camber is the curvature of the wing. The term 'decambered tips' refers to the rear wings having less camber on the outer edges of the wing.

This seams to be Williams secret weapon (as Scarbs pointed out)



http://www.zeroshift.com/flash/sequence.swf

Zeroshift System Animation
Shift Sequence: Neutral – Gear 1 – Gear 2
Bullets in Neutral
Bullets in gear 1 position – giving minimal backlash
Bullets requested to move across (spring mounted), only the overdrive/ gear 2 acceleration bullet is free to move (red)
Gear 2 acceleration bullet (red) in position, Gear 1 acceleration bullet (blue) is held in under load due to retention angle on the dog
Second gear picks up drive.
Second gear overdrives first gear.
First gear acceleration/ second gear overdrive bullet (blue) shifts under spring preload.
Second gear overdrive bullet (blue) in position – giving minimal backlash.

Transmission Technology
Zeroshift Ltd’s Transmission Technology working under the Patented Zeroshift Principle is able to transfer power from the engine to the driven wheels without interrupting torque during changes of gear ratio.

This is not the same as the Weismann, the Weismann has no room for the bullets. The Weismann is ultra compact, which, I think is why the rear end is so small on the Williams

Anonymous wrote:This is not the same as the Weismann, the Weismann has no room for the bullets. The Weismann is ultra compact, which, I think is why the rear end is so small on the Williams

It doesn't actually say it uses the weismann anywhere.... thats an assumption/suggestion made by someone earlier.

That pic is from gearbox tested by Coulthard while he was in Williams... who knows what they've come up with now?

about the zero-shift you talked about Manchild....didn't somebody (possibly yourself?) post here on the forum about "zero-shift" a while back?

Oh, and does anybody know if the gearbox IS actuallythis "zero-shift" concept...or is it a different idea?

I think it was Honda that were supposed to be using some strange gearbox tech that was borderline legal.

you can probably dig up the thread if you felt like it