F1technical.net

Hello All,
Can anyone pls tel me if F1 Cars are Four Wheel Drives or Two Wheel Drives?
Thanks

f1 cars are rear wheel drive cars

FIA F1 Technical Regulation 9.1
"9.1 Transmission types:
No transmission may permit more than two wheels to be driven."
http://www.fia.com/resources/documents/ ... ATIONS.pdf

That's true. Of course, this could change with regenerative system or "surge power units", as this "FIA sponsored" article I already mentioned points out:

http://www.fia.com/automotive/issue5/sp ... cle10.html

2. The FIA has indicated it would be quite happy to see surge power units driving the front wheels... Could engine power also be supplied to the front wheels...?

cerebraljl wrote:f1 cars are rear wheel drive cars

I HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY FOREVER

mx_tifosi wrote: I HOPE IT STAYS THAT WAY FOREVER

Ya ..me too.. one cannot possibly ask for more grip with 4wd than there already is with rwd..

IMO, you could squeeze out more performance by going 4WD. But of course it would add a lot more parts and mass to the drivetrain, driving team's budgets even higher. And I don't know if I'm ready to see open wheel cars with the front wheels as large or larger than the rears.

ya..and drastic changes in the front section, one helluva complicated mess

wonder how the car would look if its a four wheel ... where would the gear box and the differential n all be ..

http://www.4wdonline.com/ClassicCars/Racing.html

http://www.f1technical.net/f1db/cars/246

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_63

Back in the group B rally days, all the top teams save Audi thought 4wd was a waste of time; too heavy and complicated. After Audi introduced its 4wd car, the other teams saw the fallacy of their logic.

So I think someone in F1 could make it work. There's extra acceleration to be had at the front wheels if the TC is cutting because the back is out of traction.

Audi proved 4WD can be applied to road racing. In 1988 they competed in the Trans Am series with their Audi 200 turbo quattro and won 8 out of 13 races. Pretty well dominated against RWD.
Getting all four wheels to drive is an advantage, balanced against the added weight and mechanical complexity.

I remember a few years back, Benneton didn't use 4 wheel drive, but they did employ a pair of drive shafts and differential to connect the two front wheels. Supposedly, it improved traction under braking, side-to-side at the front end. They dropped it after one season, so I don't know if it really helped.

riff_raff wrote:I remember a few years back, Benneton didn't use 4 wheel drive, but they did employ a pair of drive shafts and differential to connect the two front wheels. Supposedly, it improved traction under braking, side-to-side at the front end. They dropped it after one season, so I don't know if it really helped.

I believe BAR Honda tried the same thing in 2004 for a couple of races; but they stopped using it to avoid having to deal with possible arguments from all teams. I also heard that once there was an effective "ban" on the system, it would prevent other teams from developing the same, if not better, technology.