2012 Car Launches thread

The place for speaking your mind on current goings-on in F1

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby dnhrudi » 04 Feb 2012, 15:13

If ever there was a year to listen to Grand Prix on the radio, then this is it. Still, anything to screw over Rupert Murdoch......
User avatar
dnhrudi
 
Posts: 177
Joined: 14 May 2011, 13:41
Location: Cambodia

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby dnhrudi » 04 Feb 2012, 16:00

I just thought, if the rules for 12 had included that all cars had to carry a 12'' imitation paper staple just before the front wheels.. they could re-name them formula centerfolds. After all, cars have looked like this in the racing mags for years...There you go... a little lateral thinking can calm the mind hehe
User avatar
dnhrudi
 
Posts: 177
Joined: 14 May 2011, 13:41
Location: Cambodia

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby solarcold » 04 Feb 2012, 22:40

I predict: the only cars with classic nose along with McLaren will be Merc and Williams
"Here's your car. Go nuts."
Dallara, 2010
User avatar
solarcold
 
Posts: 319
Joined: 01 Apr 2011, 00:06
Location: Russia

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby 14 Hundred Hours » 04 Feb 2012, 22:43

mario wrote:
14 Hundred Hours wrote:I saw the Force India stepped nose over the summer when they were testing in the windtunnel- I thought it was a mistake or they'd forgotten to put an extra part on! I was also surprised when I was told most teams were expected to have something similar, and hoped they were wrong. So much for hoping...

Interesting - how did that come about? Were you being given a tour of the facilities at the time?


They gave me work experience and I spent a couple of days in the wind tunnel. I thought they'd have sworn me to secrecy about their new designs but they didn't seem too bothered!
Timo Glock für Bürgermeister. (He'll need a job if Marussia drop him)
Also I'm a girl. Maybe I shoulda made this clear waaay back to avoid confusion!
14 Hundred Hours
 
Posts: 196
Joined: 28 Aug 2011, 02:36
Location: Up north where it's boring and slow. In England.

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Jocke1 » 05 Feb 2012, 21:03

Image
Daniel Pedrosa: "I'm prisoner of my fans."
HWNSNBM: "I always liked fuel."
Milka Duno: "Drive car is very difficult. It's not something just gas and brake. You need to work very hard with the engineer people."
User avatar
Jocke1
 
Posts: 835
Joined: 31 Dec 2010, 10:13
Location: coconut county

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Pointrox » 06 Feb 2012, 02:22

Just 10 minutes left to the presentation of Lotus E20...

EDIT 16:59
Woah, the site is loading very slowly now... and 504 Gateway Timeout popped out!

EDIT 17:02
The website is pretty much down. Well done, Lotus! :lol:

EDIT 17:04
The website is back, but the front page is still sporting the teaser.

EDIT 17:08
The website is down again - this time with 503 Service Unavailable. However, the photos of E20 are circulating :D
Image
And the presentation video is now up... uploaded 4 hours before the launch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjgSaYQ_GeY
It's hard to tell, but it looks pretty much like the R31 with a new nose. And a good-looking one, too!
"Not even Deletraz knows, why Deletraz does what Deletraz does"
Ayuda HRT!
User avatar
Pointrox
 
Posts: 1080
Joined: 15 Mar 2010, 08:30
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby 14 Hundred Hours » 06 Feb 2012, 02:23

Jocke1 wrote:Image


These look better than the actual cars!
Timo Glock für Bürgermeister. (He'll need a job if Marussia drop him)
Also I'm a girl. Maybe I shoulda made this clear waaay back to avoid confusion!
14 Hundred Hours
 
Posts: 196
Joined: 28 Aug 2011, 02:36
Location: Up north where it's boring and slow. In England.

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby AndreaModa » 06 Feb 2012, 02:31

It's not bad, but it's hardly the sort of adventurous car they need to get them back to the front. I don't see anything on there that made me think it was anything special, like for example the McLaren exhaust exits and smooth nose, or Ferrari's sidepods, and their exhausts too.

We'll have to wait until there's a bit more technical info on it I guess before making any accurate judgement though.
That's right Eddie, that was me with the banner, Spanish GP, 2002. This pile of legal forms won't fill itself in you know...

Please have a look at some of my photos on my improved Flickr page! :)
User avatar
AndreaModa
 
Posts: 3889
Joined: 31 Mar 2009, 03:51
Location: Bristol, UK

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Stramala » 06 Feb 2012, 04:02

Without a doubt the best looking stepped-nose car so far. Doesn't bulge like the Caterham, doesn't look like it was smashed into place by a chisel and hammer.
I O . S O N O . I N T E R I S T A

2013 IBR TITLES:
INDYCAR (Team/Driver) // REJECTS OF LFS (Team/Driver) // F2RWRS (Team/Manufacturer)
PROST GP (Team/Driver) // SUPER TOURING CUP (Team/Driver) // F1RMGP WEC (Team)
User avatar
Stramala
 
Posts: 8863
Joined: 17 Aug 2009, 19:30
Location: No. 16 Bus Shelter

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby seleucid23 » 06 Feb 2012, 04:12

Are we experiencing anti-publicocrap? Teams aren't exactly thinking big...

Lotus Renault - We're targeting fourth!

Force India - We're targeting fifth!
"He has sat on the fence so long that the iron has entered his soul."
User avatar
seleucid23
 
Posts: 30
Joined: 18 Oct 2011, 06:33

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby JeremyMcClean » 06 Feb 2012, 05:52

seleucid23 wrote:Are we experiencing anti-publicocrap? Teams aren't exactly thinking big...

Lotus Renault - We're targeting fourth!

Force India - We're targeting fifth!


That's a good point there! Go big or go home, that's what I say...

Image

Meh, axe the red and that's the second best looking car so far.
What's with online releases being disastrous since the server keeps crashing?
dinizintheoven wrote:I've got one: "Reject Moments That Actually Never Happened, As Opposed To Those That Did And Which End With 'Oh, Wait!'" by the users of the F1 Rejects forum.

Trulli bad puns...
#TakiToFerrari
User avatar
JeremyMcClean
 
Posts: 3916
Joined: 23 Aug 2010, 04:58
Location: Nowhere in particular

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Pointrox » 06 Feb 2012, 06:30

JeremyMcClean wrote:What's with online releases being disastrous since the server keeps crashing?

IT guys (or whoever maintains Lotus' website) underestimated the amount of people that wanted to watch the presentation :P
"Not even Deletraz knows, why Deletraz does what Deletraz does"
Ayuda HRT!
User avatar
Pointrox
 
Posts: 1080
Joined: 15 Mar 2010, 08:30
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Minardi Man » 06 Feb 2012, 06:33

Least disgusting stepped nose car so far, although I despise total for ruining that otherwise beautiful livery!
User avatar
Minardi Man
 
Posts: 253
Joined: 25 Sep 2011, 21:52

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby the Masked Lapwing » 06 Feb 2012, 06:45

I much as I hate them right now, it is the best looking car at the moment.
Mark Beretta wrote:So is it true that you've converted about 200 grand worth of race car parts into about $1500?
Garry Rogers wrote:Well, we actually got $1900 cash, plus GST! This is a legitimate sale!
User avatar
the Masked Lapwing
 
Posts: 3528
Joined: 10 Sep 2010, 19:38
Location: Oran Park Raceway

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Stramala » 06 Feb 2012, 07:45

JeremyMcClean wrote:Image

Meh, axe the red and that's the second best looking car so far.

What happened to the Magnum and Coca Cola sponsorship?! :P
I O . S O N O . I N T E R I S T A

2013 IBR TITLES:
INDYCAR (Team/Driver) // REJECTS OF LFS (Team/Driver) // F2RWRS (Team/Manufacturer)
PROST GP (Team/Driver) // SUPER TOURING CUP (Team/Driver) // F1RMGP WEC (Team)
User avatar
Stramala
 
Posts: 8863
Joined: 17 Aug 2009, 19:30
Location: No. 16 Bus Shelter

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby nome66 » 06 Feb 2012, 08:37

meh, the stepped nose on the Bahar-Toleman isn't nearly as bad as the ferrari or the force india. the Toleman look more like HRT's chassis did last year.
anyone think they might go for two separate rear wings this year like '84?
like many American motorspotrs fans, i miss the 90's but now all we have is this
I believe in German BARawnda-Tyrrell-Simca
also check these guys out
User avatar
nome66
 
Posts: 1252
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 08:42
Location: Central Marlyland, USA

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby dinizintheoven » 06 Feb 2012, 08:47

nome66 wrote:anyone think they might go for two separate rear wings this year like '84?

Careful... don't shout "two separate rear wings" too loud, or we might end up with this instead, the CDG wing that was nearly introduced for the 2007 season...

Image

...incidentally, was this idea ever actually tried on a hack car, or was it just the result of a few CFD experiments?

Meanwhile, I am imagining a the Ferrari F2012 with the CDG wing on the back, and I am trying desperately to keep my dinner down.
Join the campaign to bring to the world of F1 Rejects racing, the unpleasant log laid by British Leyland after communism crept, like an itchy red blanket, over the shop floor. MORRIS MARINA FOR THE REECCS!
User avatar
dinizintheoven
 
Posts: 2145
Joined: 09 Dec 2010, 11:24

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby AdrianSutil » 06 Feb 2012, 09:57

That stepped nose is still glaringly obvious, BUT it's certainly not as bad as Ferrari or Caterham. Is this supposed to be a brand new car? Apart from the nose I can't tell any differences between last years and this one.
For explanation on recent inactivity, please read 2nd post on 2nd page of 'just nipping out' thread. Thank you.
User avatar
AdrianSutil
 
Posts: 3223
Joined: 08 Jun 2011, 11:21
Location: Folkestone, Kent

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby nome66 » 06 Feb 2012, 09:59

i'm with you here other than no Lada sponsorship i can't find any differences here.
like many American motorspotrs fans, i miss the 90's but now all we have is this
I believe in German BARawnda-Tyrrell-Simca
also check these guys out
User avatar
nome66
 
Posts: 1252
Joined: 19 Dec 2010, 08:42
Location: Central Marlyland, USA

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby razta » 06 Feb 2012, 17:15

Mclaren FAKED their launch car!
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/boss- ... s/?v=2&s=1
Martin Whitmarsh has admitted that the launch version of McLaren's new MP4-27 car featured a dummy diffuser and 'plastic' exhaust exits
User avatar
razta
 
Posts: 571
Joined: 03 Apr 2009, 17:58
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby CoopsII » 06 Feb 2012, 18:25

razta wrote:Martin Whitmarsh has admitted that the launch version of McLaren's new MP4-27 car featured a dummy diffuser and 'plastic' exhaust exits

Another reason why these launches are a bit of a waste of time, even when theres a new livery to look at. I think the teams should rock up at the first test and unveil them then.

Although at least the launches arent as bloated as in days gone by, Mclaren and the Spice Girls anyone?
JAMES HUNT - 29TH AUGUST 1947 - 15TH JUNE 1993
User avatar
CoopsII
 
Posts: 1409
Joined: 15 Dec 2011, 19:33
Location: Deck 16, NCC 1701-E

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby razta » 06 Feb 2012, 19:03

CoopsII wrote:
razta wrote:Martin Whitmarsh has admitted that the launch version of McLaren's new MP4-27 car featured a dummy diffuser and 'plastic' exhaust exits

Another reason why these launches are a bit of a waste of time, even when theres a new livery to look at. I think the teams should rock up at the first test and unveil them then.

Although at least the launches arent as bloated as in days gone by, Mclaren and the Spice Girls anyone?

Oh god! :lol:
That's why agree with what Merc are doing.. just turn up to the test with the new car, and TEST IT
User avatar
razta
 
Posts: 571
Joined: 03 Apr 2009, 17:58
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby mario » 06 Feb 2012, 19:10

AndreaModa wrote:It's not bad, but it's hardly the sort of adventurous car they need to get them back to the front. I don't see anything on there that made me think it was anything special, like for example the McLaren exhaust exits and smooth nose, or Ferrari's sidepods, and their exhausts too.

We'll have to wait until there's a bit more technical info on it I guess before making any accurate judgement though.

I have to agree that, at first, the E20 doesn't look like a significant departure from the R31, or at least not as much of a departure as, for example, the F2012 or MP4-27 are from their predecessors (the front wing looks like a version used on the R31 late last season). The reaction does seem fairly muted to the car overall - Autosport, for example, have dubbed it as a "more traditional" design - although Boullier is claiming that most of the changes are smaller and not outwardly visible which might explain the slightly conservative bodywork.
Martin Brundle, on watching a replay of Grosjean spinning:
"The problem with Grosjean is that he want to take a look back at the corner he's just exited"
User avatar
mario
Moderator
 
Posts: 4621
Joined: 01 Nov 2009, 03:13

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Wizzie » 06 Feb 2012, 20:07

Image

It's very hard to screw up with black IMO but Sauber have just done it here. :|
Martin Brundle, at the 2005 San Marino GP wrote:You can sort of imagine in four or five years time talking about these guys we've got on the front two rows of the grid today, can't you? They're very much the future of Grand Prix Racing.
User avatar
Wizzie
 
Posts: 11960
Joined: 01 Apr 2009, 14:42
Location: The OTHER edge of the hole that is Penrith

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby mario » 06 Feb 2012, 20:21

Image

Well, here is another shot of the Sauber from a slightly different angle, and what is striking is that Ferrari and Sauber have both gone for a very similar nose cone shape (a very wide, thin "wedge" for lack of better words) with the transition from the nose to the front bulkhead being remarkably similar as well, albeit with a few slight changes since Sauber have a pushrod front suspension layout. The back end of the car, or at least what has been shown of it, looks much more along the lines of what Renault and McLaren have been doing rather than the undercut sidepods of Force India and (probably) Toro Rosso, or the sculpted sidepods of the F2012.
Yet again, though, we have to be careful about reading too much into this car - Sauber are already saying that this is a simplified version of the C31 which the team will use as a baseline in testing.
Martin Brundle, on watching a replay of Grosjean spinning:
"The problem with Grosjean is that he want to take a look back at the corner he's just exited"
User avatar
mario
Moderator
 
Posts: 4621
Joined: 01 Nov 2009, 03:13

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby eagleash » 06 Feb 2012, 20:24

Tend to agree; the least attractive so far..... :P

Image
kostas22 wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
User avatar
eagleash
 
Posts: 2102
Joined: 17 Nov 2009, 04:22
Location: London UK

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Ferrim » 06 Feb 2012, 20:26

My bad, Sauber manage to make each of their liveries worse than the previous one. :x

It reminds me of a Stoddart-era Minardi!
Go home, Bernie Ecclestone!

"There will be no other victory this year, I can tell you, more welcomed than this one" Bob Varsha, 1995 Canadian GP

F1 Rejects Forums – going off-topic since 2009!
User avatar
Ferrim
 
Posts: 1670
Joined: 02 Apr 2009, 07:45

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby eagleash » 06 Feb 2012, 20:35

Side on view....

Image

According to Scarbs, the exhausts exit in the top of the side-pods, near the red line & blow over the rear body work. He described them as neutral.
kostas22 wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
User avatar
eagleash
 
Posts: 2102
Joined: 17 Nov 2009, 04:22
Location: London UK

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Jocke1 » 06 Feb 2012, 20:42

razta wrote:Mclaren FAKED their launch car!
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/boss- ... s/?v=2&s=1
Martin Whitmarsh has admitted that the launch version of McLaren's new MP4-27 car featured a dummy diffuser and 'plastic' exhaust exits

the article wrote:McLaren and Ferrari will, of course, have to run real diffusers and exhausts this week at Jerez, where the first of just three pre-season tests begins on Tuesday.
Why? Just drive the cars with the plastic bits during the test. See how it goes...

Ferrim wrote:It reminds me of a Stoddart-era Minardi!
Blasphemy!
The Minardis looked good, better than this Sauber at least.
Daniel Pedrosa: "I'm prisoner of my fans."
HWNSNBM: "I always liked fuel."
Milka Duno: "Drive car is very difficult. It's not something just gas and brake. You need to work very hard with the engineer people."
User avatar
Jocke1
 
Posts: 835
Joined: 31 Dec 2010, 10:13
Location: coconut county

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby DanielPT » 06 Feb 2012, 21:11

razta wrote:Mclaren FAKED their launch car!
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/boss- ... s/?v=2&s=1
Martin Whitmarsh has admitted that the launch version of McLaren's new MP4-27 car featured a dummy diffuser and 'plastic' exhaust exits


You can't go yelling faked like that. You almost made me believe that they had presented a beautiful car only to revert to ugly nose version in testing. Don't scare me like that again dude. Obviously it is not real. The teams will not want to give away secrets too early.


Hoping for McLaren to kill them all showing that by not going ugly is the best choice. The Lotus car is the best of broken nose cars because of the livery IMHO. Sauber is the worst for the same reason. Ok, perhaps still not as bad as Ferrari...
Colin Kolles on F111, 2011 HRT challenger: The car doesn't look too bad; it looks like a modern F1 car.
User avatar
DanielPT
 
Posts: 4691
Joined: 31 Dec 2010, 04:44
Location: Porto, Portugal

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby eagleash » 06 Feb 2012, 21:13

& this is alleged to be the nose of the new STR

Image

(Via Scarbs F1)
kostas22 wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
User avatar
eagleash
 
Posts: 2102
Joined: 17 Nov 2009, 04:22
Location: London UK

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby East Londoner » 06 Feb 2012, 21:24

Oh dear me. Why can't Sauber use some Telmex blue on their liveries, rather than that horrible black. Makes it look like the front end of the car has been dipped into tar, or has been involved in a race with Ramilton and Paul Tracey...
The 1990s were better. Fact. And you bloody well know it.

Nuppiz wrote:Romain Grosjean - kids of all ages watch this you know, we don't want to see you realizing your fantasies of creating STR-Lotus babies.
User avatar
East Londoner
 
Posts: 3626
Joined: 18 Jun 2010, 04:21
Location: Hell, otherwise known as Lowestoft, Suffolk, UK

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby CoopsII » 06 Feb 2012, 22:27

I am so bored of looking at and reading about F1 nosecones.
JAMES HUNT - 29TH AUGUST 1947 - 15TH JUNE 1993
User avatar
CoopsII
 
Posts: 1409
Joined: 15 Dec 2011, 19:33
Location: Deck 16, NCC 1701-E

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby James1978 » 06 Feb 2012, 22:28

The Sauber nose looks like a cross between the 2001 Ferrari at Monza and a duck. :)
"If you don't stop pointing your finger at me, I'll snap it off and shove it up your arse". :) (David Purley to Niki Lauda, 1977)
James1978
 
Posts: 2037
Joined: 27 Jul 2010, 04:46
Location: Darlington, NE England

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby mario » 06 Feb 2012, 22:40

CoopsII wrote:I am so bored of looking at and reading about F1 nosecones.

How about a few shots of the rear of the Sauber C31 to distract you from that then?

Image
Image
Image

Looking at the car, I think I can spot a new opening beneath the airbox, plus the changes to the sidepod intakes and the fin next to it - also, according to scarbsf1 the rear of the car is quite tightly packaged as Sauber have access to the new, slimmer gearbox that Ferrari have developed for the F2012.

Added to that, there seem to be some interesting shots from HRT's garage on the F1Technical forums that seem to confirm that the team are switching to a gold and white livery:
Image
Image
Martin Brundle, on watching a replay of Grosjean spinning:
"The problem with Grosjean is that he want to take a look back at the corner he's just exited"
User avatar
mario
Moderator
 
Posts: 4621
Joined: 01 Nov 2009, 03:13

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby the Masked Lapwing » 06 Feb 2012, 22:43

I like the Sauber, the black masks the nose better than Ferrari. It just needs a bit more red.
Mark Beretta wrote:So is it true that you've converted about 200 grand worth of race car parts into about $1500?
Garry Rogers wrote:Well, we actually got $1900 cash, plus GST! This is a legitimate sale!
User avatar
the Masked Lapwing
 
Posts: 3528
Joined: 10 Sep 2010, 19:38
Location: Oran Park Raceway

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby eagleash » 06 Feb 2012, 23:09

The RB8 has been revealed with a rather un-revealing video. Prettier nose though. :)

http://www.redbullracing.com/cs/Satelli ... 3158945543
kostas22 wrote: when eagleash of all people says you've gone too far about something you just know that's when to apply the brakes and do a U-turn.
User avatar
eagleash
 
Posts: 2102
Joined: 17 Nov 2009, 04:22
Location: London UK

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby DanielPT » 06 Feb 2012, 23:21

eagleash wrote:The RB8 has been revealed with a rather un-revealing video. Prettier nose though. :)

http://www.redbullracing.com/cs/Satelli ... 3158945543


This year, we invented a scale of ugliness which goes from the "OMH I went blind!" going through "awfully ugly", "tragically ugly" and "downright ugly" until we arrive to the "nice livery but still ugly" (McLaren exempted from all this). Given your prettier nose evaluation which I concur, we shall come up with the "The fans standard is so low now that this car is almost not ugly."

Having said this I must drink a few pints before watching a race. If it works for members of the opposite sex, it should work for cars too! :lol:
Colin Kolles on F111, 2011 HRT challenger: The car doesn't look too bad; it looks like a modern F1 car.
User avatar
DanielPT
 
Posts: 4691
Joined: 31 Dec 2010, 04:44
Location: Porto, Portugal

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Collieafc » 06 Feb 2012, 23:45

The Sauber nose just looks like the front of an ironing board painted black :?
CoopsII wrote:The only keys you need to drive a Williams these days are the ones to your National bank vaults.....
User avatar
Collieafc
 
Posts: 668
Joined: 24 Oct 2009, 09:22
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland

Re: 2012 Car Launches thread

Postby Sauber010 » 06 Feb 2012, 23:47

I could be completely wrong here, but I'll point it out regardless.

Image

You can see in this image (Found on Autosport) that the nose is obviously 'stepped' up. But it looks to me that rather than being a somewhat smooth incline there is infact a 'lip' on top of the lower nose?

I'll reiterate, I'm probably wrong. :D

EDIT: That might have been close to right! Found this image on the F1 Tech. forums.

Image

Is it simply driver vent incorporated, or something more?
Last edited by Sauber010 on 06 Feb 2012, 23:54, edited 1 time in total.
Full time reader, Part time responder.
User avatar
Sauber010
 
Posts: 88
Joined: 14 Feb 2010, 16:10
Location: Australia

PreviousNext

Return to The Paul Stoddart Memorial Forum

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 4 guests