If Hyundai could get rebadged Honda engines, they wouldn't be that bad off would they? I always thought the Honda problem was horrible downforce because the designer was a moron. And if the Honda engines were so bad the FIA would surely allow them to make improvements, like Renault, wouldn't they?
They would be allowed, but there's a limit to how much they can gain - especially now that development and production ceased completely while the others keep working.
I think the aero was bad. I remember in 2005, Honda brought a V10 to China that put down 1000 horsepower (or so they claimed). Mind you, that was a few years ago, but their engines couldn't have been that bad.
The Honda V10s were decent, and more than decent: Slightly unreliable, but not weak by any means. Their traditional "Suzuka Screamers" were their extra-powerful specials for the home-race, and indeed their 2005 car produced more or less 1000HP.
However, that was V10s. With the V8s, Honda had a decent package in 2006 - but lost more than others with the homologation, and, like Renault, fell off-guard while others kept updating. The result? Their 2008 engine had 740hp - while the top teams were producing 785HP and potentially more.
I think it's kind of hard to assess the 2007 and 2008 Honda engines. The aero was so bad that any engine would have suffered in those chassis.
That's why we have professional publications like Racecar Engineering.. The 2007-2008 Honda in it's entirety was crap.
Every big international car company in F1 has done good(Toyota, Renault, Ferrari, Honda.....not as good as the others), so Hyundai should do well, and will most likely have their own engine. I'm looking forward to 2009, except the new scoring system based on most wins rather than points
First off - welcome to 2009, win-based systems are only due for next year.
Second off, again: The rules
clearly state that
no engine other than those homologated by December 2006 may compete at a GP until at least 2013. I doubt Hyundai have been secretly hiding a 2.4l 90° V8 with F1-grade internals, that just happens to be homologated.
Problem is, Honda doesn't make engines anymore. Brawn sources from Mercedes, so Hyundai can't use Hondas. They might be able to use Toyota engines, though.
Hyundai can purchase the Honda engine-factory in Japan, or the rights to the design, or the design itself, or contract them to manufacture a V8 for them. Honda's engine-department still holds a homologated design (plus a batch of spare engines from the unexpected pullout).
But would a Honda engine have yielded the same results?
Nope. Take down two-three tenths, maybe more. The McLaren engine one of the top engines in terms of power, and one of the best in terms of cooling. 40-45HP advantage translates into at least two tenths.
!).
