Red Bull RB8 Launch
- Thread starter Furinkazen
- 93 comments
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There are some rumors around the web about the RedBull stepped nose, seems that is an air intake used to stall some wings somewhere on the car. They are already calling "STEP-DUCT". The hole highlighted hole in red should be the exhaust, what are the yellow and green holes for is unknown at the moment.
the green thing is a laser that scans the temperature of the tire
- 13,827
- Down under
That nose is certainly no prettier then the Ferrari's. Which by some member's logic around here, means this car is going to be slow.
Apparently.
Apparently.
- 6,390
- Kent
- tombrookscomms
Right, are they the sort of people that look at their cornflakes in the morning and laugh?
- 171
- Bristol
- ManCity--FC
- IxMCFCxI
I really don't the new style front wing as im sure everyone else doesn't.
- 15,994
- United Kingdom
- haitch40
- Xbox?
The slit will be used for trying to get air to pass through the car and onto the diffuser I think as F-ducts are banned and you need a shark fin to make them work, its too far back to help front aero much and its too big to just be keeping the driver cool.
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
The only reason they're going to be fast is because all of the cars will be equally-ugly.
- 1,194
- New York
- XSVterror16
- xsvterror16
There are some rumors around the web about the RedBull stepped nose, seems that is an air intake used to stall some wings somewhere on the car. They are already calling "STEP-DUCT". The hole highlighted hole in red should be the exhaust, what are the yellow and green holes for is unknown at the moment.
Here's a better look at exactly where the exhaust exits. It looks as if there's some aero parts under the lower plate of the wing for the exhaust to flow over.
- 996
- Vancouver
- jcm-16
RTSolvalou
(Banned)
- 1,188
I wonder if that step duct will cause them traction problems on the front tyres, maybe if there's a strong wind on the day? or the F1 equivalent of jet-wash, if there is such a thing (unlikely to be a factor though since it would be a horizontal wind force) With a shorter nose this means just a little more weight towards the rear of the car.
- 1,194
- New York
- XSVterror16
- xsvterror16
I'm thinking the duct runs to the back of the car either for cooling, or some type of guide for extra airflow over aero at the back, and a small portion of that air is diverted into the cockpit. Hell, they may need all that air to take car of the three fingers Vettel is hoping to hold up this year.
ExigeEvan
Premium
- 17,192
It was a lot more than just a dodgy nose that made the Ferrari ugly!
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Dotini
(Banned)
- 15,742
- Seattle
- CR80_Shifty
If it's for cooling, then cooling what, other than Webber's and Vettel's red-hot nads?
It the Red Bull had a sore point last year, it was KERS reliability, possibly due to overheating. So it would be a good, sound believable idea to make KERS reliable and give it better cooling. But so far, I'm not buying it. Adrian Newey positively hates unnecessary holes in his cars, and if he's put a hole here in the nose step for KERS cooling, then he'd be the only one, and sticking out like a sore thumb in so doing. I think he's got something else in mind.
Respectfully,
Steve
Seismica
Premium
- 4,346
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Driver cooling holes are certainly not unnecessary; drivers perform best when their body retains fluid. If they are too hot they lose too much fluid. At some circuits these cooling ducts are almost essential. Theoretically it could reduce the drag created by the cockpit opening too as air will be coming from the nose out of the cockpit, reducing the vortexes just infront of the driver.
Of course, teams like Ferrari with such a flat nose no longer have a visible air intake on the nose, they had to move it elsewhere (presumably directly underneath the nose). I feel the Red Bull solution is superior as it keeps the air underneath the nose cleaner. After all, the whole point of the high nose is to get more air to the diffuser; putting an air intake there is counter productive. It is a gain, however insignificant.
- 1,194
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- XSVterror16
- xsvterror16
Enjoy.
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Yeah, I've heard he doesn't like the rule changes. I wonder how that affected his development of the car ...
- 23,800
- Philippines
Newey has said in an interview that he feels that Red Bull didn't have any advantages going into this season due to the banning of the exhaust-blown diffuser solution... and from his words, he thinks that anything coming close to blowing or ducting exhaust in strange directions will be banned by the FIA. This may well include blown rear wings... but it's a wait-and-see.
Whether he really means that or whether they've found a way to energize the rear aero indirectly, I don't know.
Whether he really means that or whether they've found a way to energize the rear aero indirectly, I don't know.
- 22,551
- Arizona
- HamiltonMP427
Adrian Newey interview on RB8 shows us some good insight on what he thinks about the new regs and the FIA doing them.
- 1,194
- New York
- XSVterror16
- xsvterror16
Blown wings is just a matter of simple exhaust placement. I doubt somthing so simple would be bannned since every team has the capability of doing fine the first shot, and it doesn't take millions of dollars to weld a piece of metal and a certain angle so it blows over the wing. The blown diffuser was a problem and too expensive to design for many teams so that's a good reason for it to not be allowed.
- 2,938
- Shrewsbury
- pezzarinho17
You can imagine the grey area the exhausts are causing, considering blowing gas anywhere towards the rear will have an affect on something. Its just a matter of aiming towards the area with the greatest positive affect...
Seismica
Premium
- 4,346
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- GTP_Seismica
Yes, there is certainly a grey area; the rule is purposefully written in such a way that means it is open to interpretation. If they try too hard with it, the FIA could rule that they are trying to use it for aerodynamic gains. Red Bull may be within the rules with their exhaust placement and angle, but they seem to have completely ignored the purpose of the rule and are once again trying to channel the air to a particular area to generate downforce. Infact, all the teams are doing it to some extent; the FIA should have been a lot stricter on exhaust placement or left it completely unrestricted like before, but just increased the restrictions on engine mapping (Even further than they have done) so that the different positioning did not have such a big impact on performance.
- 23,800
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The only way to keep exhaust from energizing the aero it's pointed at is to allow no exhaust at all.
I think, from what Red Bull are saying, that they were very conservative in following the spirit of the ruling, in the expectation that eventually, anything mixing exhaust and aero will be banned.
I think it could go either way. What if you have exhaust that doesn't point directly at the rear wing, but kicks up air into it, anyway, indirectly? or the same for the rear diffuser? As long as the exhaust stream itself doesn't touch the parts receiving the aero benefit, you'd be hard-pressed to write a rule that bans that without mandating an absolute exhaust geometry (all exhausts must exit right beside the rear tail-light... facing straight backwards... period!)
I think, from what Red Bull are saying, that they were very conservative in following the spirit of the ruling, in the expectation that eventually, anything mixing exhaust and aero will be banned.
I think it could go either way. What if you have exhaust that doesn't point directly at the rear wing, but kicks up air into it, anyway, indirectly? or the same for the rear diffuser? As long as the exhaust stream itself doesn't touch the parts receiving the aero benefit, you'd be hard-pressed to write a rule that bans that without mandating an absolute exhaust geometry (all exhausts must exit right beside the rear tail-light... facing straight backwards... period!)
