2012 Car Launches thread

[Captain Hammer]

bbc are now reporting the caterham images were leaked onto the internet.... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/16727904.stm

The image in that article was released by Caterham. However, the other images - particularly the ones I posted - were leaked. They were pictures of the magazine taken with a mobile phone camera and uploaded online.

[DanielPT]

DanielPT wrote:
That probably means you like your women blonde, complex, tall and chubby.

Brunette, short, independant and curvy actually

Oh... I was pretty sure to have had unveiled a correlation between different car tastes and taste for women. Nevertheless I nailed half of those predictions! Independent does not exclude complex and curvy, according to the urban dictionary, is now a euphemism for chubby!

[AdrianSutil]

DanielPT wrote:
That probably means you like your women blonde, complex, tall and chubby.

Brunette, short, independant and curvy actually

Oh... I was pretty sure to have had unveiled a correlation between different car tastes and taste for women. Nevertheless I nailed half of those predictions! Independent does not exclude complex and curvy, according to the urban dictionary, is now a euphemism for chubby!

No no. 'curvy' is what fat people describe themselves on Internet dating sites. Like 'good sense of humour' (or GSOH) means 'I won't shut up chattering on about pointless crap'.

Not that I ever went on an Internet dating site...

[East Londoner]

And just when I thought the forum had overcome the worst of this F1 Deprivation outbreak, it flairs up again

[mario]

And just when I thought the forum had overcome the worst of this F1 Deprivation outbreak, it flairs up again

And most of the more desperate comments haven't even been coming from the expected quarters...

The worst part is that the pictures from Caterham will be the only sustenance that we shall have until McLaren launch their car on Feb 1st. I just hope that the brief flashes of a new car haven't simply aggravated the symptoms of F1 Deprivation (although it is almost turning into F1 Depravity)...

[DanielPT]

And just when I thought the forum had overcome the worst of this F1 Deprivation outbreak, it flairs up again

And most of the more desperate comments haven't even been coming from the expected quarters...

Can't decide if I find this sentence insulting or praising...

The worst part is that the pictures from Caterham will be the only sustenance that we shall have until McLaren launch their car on Feb 1st. I just hope that the brief flashes of a new car haven't simply aggravated the symptoms of F1 Deprivation (although it is almost turning into F1 Depravity)...

Let me see... What did I do after cleaning the vomit from my monitor and keyboard? Oh yeah... I posted on this forum! A connection might exist between both actions and its consequences...

Curiously it was green...

Oh... I was pretty sure to have had unveiled a correlation between different car tastes and taste for women. Nevertheless I nailed half of those predictions! Independent does not exclude complex and curvy, according to the urban dictionary, is now a euphemism for chubby!

I've got that wrong then!

No no. 'curvy' is what fat people describe themselves on Internet dating sites. Like 'good sense of humour' (or GSOH) means 'I won't shut up chattering on about pointless crap'.

Not that I ever went on an Internet dating site...

Regardless, I would say your post denotes a certain experience on the subject...

[AdrianSutil]

Yes. I do admit. About 6 years ago I gave it a go on a 18-30 site. It was defienetly 'trial and error'.

As in, trialed it for 5 minutes and realised it was a massive error



And you only have to read my sig to understand how badly no F1 is affecting me.

[DanielPT]

Yes. I do admit. About 6 years ago I gave it a go on a 18-30 site. It was defienetly 'trial and error'.

As in, trialed it for 5 minutes and realised it was a massive error

So, you have never gone ahead and did a real date then. Can't say that is a lot of time experience although those 5 minutes might have been worth a lot, I imagine!

[Minardi Man]

That Caterham looks sick and wrong.
At the front.
At the back it's quite attractive indeed, yum yum.

[AdrianSutil]

Yes. I do admit. About 6 years ago I gave it a go on a 18-30 site. It was defienetly 'trial and error'.

As in, trialed it for 5 minutes and realised it was a massive error

So, you have never gone ahead and did a real date then. Can't say that is a lot of time experience although those 5 minutes might have been worth a lot, I imagine!

That's because every woman on the site was adverising herself as 'curvy' with a 'good sense of humour'

anyway, that's enough thread deviation for today. Back to the 'curvy' Caterham...

[dr-baker]

And just when I thought the forum had overcome the worst of this F1 Deprivation outbreak, it flairs up again

And most of the more desperate comments haven't even been coming from the expected quarters...

Haven't had a chance to be here, what with going bowling yesterday with a group of guys from church and being on placement etc., otherwise...

[lostpin]

My eyes are melting! Kill it, kill it while you can!

Kill it with Fire!

Thou infernal creation, the Fire King himself shall bring the end upon thee!

[AndreaModa]

the Fire King himself

Pedro Diniz?

[AdrianSutil]

the Fire King himself

Pedro Diniz?

Plamen Kralev. I think...

[mario]

Moving on to other teams, Lotus have confirmed that they have fired up their new car and conducted the first systems checks - in the process, they have taken some photos which give a vague indication of what the new car looks like:

Not a great deal that can be inferred from that picture, apart from the possibility that the additional intakes that the R31 had either side of the airbox for cooling the ancillaries appears to be absent (though that could be integrated into the engine cowling instead of around the airbox).

[dinizintheoven]

Not a great deal that can be inferred from that picture, apart from the possibility that the additional intakes that the R31 had either side of the airbox for cooling the ancillaries appears to be absent (though that could be integrated into the engine cowling instead of around the airbox).

They haven't shown us the nose shape yet...

[Waris]

Seems like the sidepods on the new "Lotus" (urggh) will be pretty high?

[mario]

Not a great deal that can be inferred from that picture, apart from the possibility that the additional intakes that the R31 had either side of the airbox for cooling the ancillaries appears to be absent (though that could be integrated into the engine cowling instead of around the airbox).

They haven't shown us the nose shape yet...

For now they are (literally) keeping that under wraps - it is possible that the teams further up the grid will have more optimised nose cones with a smoother transition than the CT-01 (the team have admitted that only part of the design of the car - mainly the front suspension configuration and the rear bodywork - has been reasonably well optimised, with other parts of the car still to be refined due to budgetary constraints).

Seems like the sidepods on the new "Lotus" (urggh) will be pretty high?

Maybe - it is possible that they are following the trend set by Toro Rosso last year for effectively forming a double floor through careful sculpting of the underside of the sidepods, though without the bodywork in place it is hard to judge.

[dnhrudi]

Between a bunch of these things and the Dallara, not sensing an iconic year for motorsport photography.... eyechronic maybe........

[dinizintheoven]

For now they are (literally) keeping that under wraps - it is possible that the teams further up the grid will have more optimised nose cones with a smoother transition than the CT-01 (the team have admitted that only part of the design of the car - mainly the front suspension configuration and the rear bodywork - has been reasonably well optimised, with other parts of the car still to be refined due to budgetary constraints)

Here's a thought - if Caterham discover that the hideous step in the CT-01's nose acts like a barrier and the air slamming into the step at 180-odd mph loses them a tenth of a second or two per sector, are they stuck with it with these homologations rules we (apparently) have now? The Virgin VR-01 did have something of a duck's beak shape to it, but at least it was a lot smoother - not that it worked particularly well, but it was mentioned earlier in the thread that other low-nosed cars might have a similar shape, and presumably a team with a larger budget would be able to optimise Virgin's crude CFD simulation to what it should always have been.

I'd thought that these new "low nose" rules meant the cars would end up looking a bit more like an early 90s model at the front, at least one that wasn't a Tyrrell or a Benetton.

[AndreaModa]

Boullier's been telling Adam Cooper that the new Lotus car will be called...the E20!

http://adamcooperf1.com/2012/01/27/new-lotus-to-be-called-e20/

[mario]

For now they are (literally) keeping that under wraps - it is possible that the teams further up the grid will have more optimised nose cones with a smoother transition than the CT-01 (the team have admitted that only part of the design of the car - mainly the front suspension configuration and the rear bodywork - has been reasonably well optimised, with other parts of the car still to be refined due to budgetary constraints)

Here's a thought - if Caterham discover that the hideous step in the CT-01's nose acts like a barrier and the air slamming into the step at 180-odd mph loses them a tenth of a second or two per sector, are they stuck with it with these homologations rules we (apparently) have now? The Virgin VR-01 did have something of a duck's beak shape to it, but at least it was a lot smoother - not that it worked particularly well, but it was mentioned earlier in the thread that other low-nosed cars might have a similar shape, and presumably a team with a larger budget would be able to optimise Virgin's crude CFD simulation to what it should always have been.

I'd thought that these new "low nose" rules meant the cars would end up looking a bit more like an early 90s model at the front, at least one that wasn't a Tyrrell or a Benetton.

Probably not, or at least not without difficulty - the only way to smooth the transition would be to modify the monocoque slightly by lowering it, but that would then probably impinge on the front section of the drivers survival cell (which has to extend a minimum of 300mm in front of the drivers feet). Given that the survival cell is a homologated component, the only way that they could modify that would be on safety grounds; the team might be able to change the design between now and the first race, but after the first race they are effectively locked into that design (remember that Mercedes had to resort to changing the front suspension pick up points to lengthen the wheelbase in 2010 because they couldn't produce a longer monocoque?)
Admittedly, when you inspect that area a little closer, you realise that the team have thought about that problem to some extent (they've used the permitted minimum bodywork radii to try to smooth out the transition a bit). Still, it's probably going to be a reasonably common theme, especially amongst the smaller teams, since the benefits of greater airflow under the nose and floor of the car outweighs the penalty of less efficient airflow over the nose of the car, and this sort of design is one of the quicker and easier ways to meet the FIA's requirements.

As for the low nose rules, whilst the intention of the FIA was to move the rules towards something akin to the BGP001, most of the teams were diametrically opposed to that proposal because it'd decrease the airflow under the car (potentially leading to another significant cut in rear downforce on top of the cut resulting from the blown diffuser ban). So, the only compromise the FIA could bring in was to lower the nose tip to the same level as the lowest height of the side crash protection (55cm, since the FIA was also getting worried that the tip of the nose could pass over the cockpit side protection padding); in the longer term, it is likely that the FIA will force the noses down further, but most teams are likely to resist the move if possible.

[Minardi Man]

For now they are (literally) keeping that under wraps - it is possible that the teams further up the grid will have more optimised nose cones with a smoother transition than the CT-01 (the team have admitted that only part of the design of the car - mainly the front suspension configuration and the rear bodywork - has been reasonably well optimised, with other parts of the car still to be refined due to budgetary constraints)

Here's a thought - if Caterham discover that the hideous step in the CT-01's nose acts like a barrier and the air slamming into the step at 180-odd mph loses them a tenth of a second or two per sector, are they stuck with it with these homologations rules we (apparently) have now? The Virgin VR-01 did have something of a duck's beak shape to it, but at least it was a lot smoother - not that it worked particularly well, but it was mentioned earlier in the thread that other low-nosed cars might have a similar shape, and presumably a team with a larger budget would be able to optimise Virgin's crude CFD simulation to what it should always have been.

I'd thought that these new "low nose" rules meant the cars would end up looking a bit more like an early 90s model at the front, at least one that wasn't a Tyrrell or a Benetton.

As for the low nose rules, whilst the intention of the FIA was to move the rules towards something akin to the BGP001, most of the teams were diametrically opposed to that proposal because it'd decrease the airflow under the car (potentially leading to another significant cut in rear downforce on top of the cut resulting from the blown diffuser ban). So, the only compromise the FIA could bring in was to lower the nose tip to the same level as the lowest height of the side crash protection (55cm, since the FIA was also getting worried that the tip of the nose could pass over the cockpit side protection padding); in the longer term, it is likely that the FIA will force the noses down further, but most teams are likely to resist the move if possible.

I hope we do see designs like the brawn again personally, I thought it was the best looking car in years, I love the look of low noses, much better than the straight nosed cars.

[mario]

Few more shots coming through from Lotus's press packs, mostly of the drivers carrying out their seat fittings.



Sadly, right now all it seems to confirm is that there have been some minor revisions to the airbox design (as I mentioned before, they seem to have dropped the twin ducts either side of the airbox for good), but they seem to still be covering up the section where the nose meets the monocoque.

[dnhrudi]

I.... hehe

[AdrianSutil]

I think we're going to see a few different designs for the new front soon. We've seen how Caterham have done it. I can imagine the Ferrari one will be pretty bad, especially as they've already called it 'ugly'.

[razta]

Mclaren are up next on the 1st of Feb

[Minardi Man]

Mclaren are up next on the 1st of Feb

If even mclaren have an ugly front as well, god help us.

[mario]

Mclaren are up next on the 1st of Feb

If even mclaren have an ugly front as well, god help us.

Out of the current top teams, McLaren are probably one of the less likely to follow Caterham since they have generally stuck to a relatively low nose design under the current aero rules (they have had a similar nose design from the MP4-24 to the 26 and the indication so far is that the MP4-27 will be an evolution of the MP4-26).
What could be interesting is how Red Bull react - I expect that Newey would not want an awkward kink in the nose, but given that he was the one pushing the high nose concept in recent times it would be a noticeable change in direction for Red Bull to go down the same route as McLaren.

[Peter]

Another thing worth noting is that HRT already had a very low nose on the F111, so they fortunately may not have to do too much redesigning of the car on the front of the car, if at all.

[cbbcisace]

Its a brand new car for the F112, Im expecting it too look different.

[East Londoner]

The new Group Bahar car will be called the E20, as 20 years have passed since the team set up it's Enstone base.

[AdrianSutil]

The new Group Bahar car will be called the E20, as 20 years have passed since the team set up it's Enstone base.

I honestly don't know why, but it just sounds... tacky. E20. Sounds like a crap London nightclub...

[nome66]

Mclaren are up next on the 1st of Feb

If even mclaren have an ugly front as well, god help us.

let's all hope they dropped the Moose antler sidepods

[Peter]

The new Group Bahar car will be called the E20, as 20 years have passed since the team set up it's Enstone base.

I honestly don't know why, but it just sounds... tacky. E20. Sounds like a crap London nightclub...

Sounds like a type of fuel you'd put in a car.

Mclaren are up next on the 1st of Feb

If even mclaren have an ugly front as well, god help us.

let's all hope they dropped the Moose antler sidepods

Don't bring your hopes up, those sidepods really help to clear up airflow to the rear ,and they will need that even more now.

Am I the only person that thinks that aerodynamically, the MP4-26 was the best car? I think it had the best aerodynamics, but was unable to really use the exhaust blown diffuser to the extent that Red Bull was able to, and did not have the mechanical grip that either the Red Bull or Ferrari had.

[tommykl]

The new Group Bahar car will be called the E20, as 20 years have passed since the team set up it's Enstone base.

I honestly don't know why, but it just sounds... tacky. E20. Sounds like a crap London nightclub...

Are you sure? To me, it sounds more like a highway from Shannon to St. Petersburg...

[dr-baker]

The new Group Bahar car will be called the E20, as 20 years have passed since the team set up it's Enstone base.

I honestly don't know why, but it just sounds... tacky. E20. Sounds like a crap London nightclub...

Are you sure? To me, it sounds more like a highway from Shannon to St. Petersburg...

It's making me think that it may be a follow-on from E4...

Oh, and AdrianSutil has a point. The post code allocation for Eastenders and the London Olympic venues is E20...

[Stramala]

Oh, and AdrianSutil has a point. The post code allocation for Eastenders and the London Olympic venues is E20...

Does this mean Phil Mitchell will be doing the 100 metres final while Usain Bolt guest starts on Britain's favourite soap?

[nome66]

i hope to god that Marussia's efforts don't look like two cars welded together.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... hoto01.jpg

[Stramala]

i hope to god that Marussia's efforts don't look like two cars welded together.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... hoto01.jpg

Two cars welded together made me think of this instead.