F1 Cars: What drive layout(AWD or RWD)?
- Thread starter Underground727
- Start date
Anubis
No Lifer
I would think that the best system would be AWD with an infinitly variable distribution of power from front to rear. As soon as the rear begins to lose traction distribute just enough power to the front to maintain traction in the rear. And the equivalent of a limited slip differential for both the front and rear.
But I may be completely stoned and this would never even work and is a terrible idea.
Formula 1 cars are only rear wheel drive. An all wheel drive configuration would add some serious weight to the car, and most of the time the engine's traction force is smaller than the adherence of the track. If you look at such a car, you'll see that most of the weight - so most of the traction - is on rear wheels anyway.
Look at the way those cars run - only at start they make smoke out of the tyres, and only from the rear tyres
Calin
EDIT: For a all wheel drive, the transmission axle would have to go under the driver, so the car must be taller
Look at the way those cars run - only at start they make smoke out of the tyres, and only from the rear tyres
Calin
EDIT: For a all wheel drive, the transmission axle would have to go under the driver, so the car must be taller
They don't smoke the tires at the start. They leave their Launch Control turned off for the start of the formation lap, and lay a strip of rubber down, but with Launch Control engaged, at the real start there is little or no smoke because that is rather counterproductive. Good point about the drivetrain going forward and affecting height, though.
So they have some type of software in the ECU that controls traction? What other types of software do they use to go faster?
They have extremely complicated software. Traction control and Launch control are two highly important parts of an F1 car effort. Launch control basically acts to maximize the efficiency of the start, minimizing wheelspin, and minimizes driver input. All they do is hold down a button on their steering wheel, floor the throttle, and when the lights go out, let go of the button. LC does the rest. However, it will be banned next year.
Traction control, on the other hand, will not. It works by modulating engine power based on whether it determines wheels are spinning. You can tell when it's working because the engine sounds like it's got pneumonia. Given the nature of Monaco, solid Traction control is very important, and if you watch Saturday qualifying, you should get a pretty good idea of how much work it does.
There are many, however, who wished that the FIA had followed through with its promise to eliminate Traction Control either this year or next. I count myself within this group; I think TC takes too much out of the driver's hands, just like Launch control. However, it seems teams have put too much money into it and they were understandably rather unhappy to hear that it might be banned.
Traction control, on the other hand, will not. It works by modulating engine power based on whether it determines wheels are spinning. You can tell when it's working because the engine sounds like it's got pneumonia. Given the nature of Monaco, solid Traction control is very important, and if you watch Saturday qualifying, you should get a pretty good idea of how much work it does.
There are many, however, who wished that the FIA had followed through with its promise to eliminate Traction Control either this year or next. I count myself within this group; I think TC takes too much out of the driver's hands, just like Launch control. However, it seems teams have put too much money into it and they were understandably rather unhappy to hear that it might be banned.
If all technical regulations were abandoned... i'm sure the technical directors would love to implement AWD, ground effects, active suspension... 
Last I heard, ground effects were still being used, and Lotus had an active suspension car a while back. Not sure what happened to it, but I don't think active suspension is banned either.Originally posted by: boyRacer
If all technical regulations were abandoned... i'm sure the technical directors would love to implement AWD, ground effects, active suspension...
- Mar 20, 2000
- 102,389
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didn't audi compete with quattro back a long time ago when they invented it? it got banned because it was so much of an advantage in the rain in just about every circuit they competed on. i think F1 was one of those circuits, but i could be wrong.
a few years back (maybe almost a decade) they had damn near active everything and the driver had to do almost nothing.
a few years back (maybe almost a decade) they had damn near active everything and the driver had to do almost nothing.
halik
Lifer
- Oct 10, 2000
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youre thinking of rally racing not F1,
back in early 80s audi introducted AWD and kicked everyones ass (obviously, if you ever drift an AWD car, you will know)...nowdays all WRC and SCCA rally cars are awd
i cant believe someone though open wheel f1 cars are awd...HEEHEEE
You can tell the car is rwd just by watching em drive, if they ever make a mistake it will show ( rear end would drift)
Originally posted by: Howard
Last I heard, ground effects were still being used, and Lotus had an active suspension car a while back. Not sure what happened to it, but I don't think active suspension is banned either.Originally posted by: boyRacer
If all technical regulations were abandoned... i'm sure the technical directors would love to implement AWD, ground effects, active suspension...
Both of those are now banned... traction control is only allowed because the FIA couldn't police it properly but now they can which is why they're thinking of banning it again. The best active ride car was the Williams-Renault FW14B... if they just let the teams loose on technical innovation... we would be seeing the most advanced race cars right now.
so what's the difference between a CART car and an F1? Would they be competitive on each other's circuits or is one a far higher caliber?
It's basically just the way the underbody of the car is designed... crudely explained... imagine a flat bottom with two open tunnels running fron front to back... believe it or not... that "sucks" the car to the ground... giving the cars massive grip during cornering. Sorta like how the F355, F360, F50, Enzo are designed on the bottom.
F1 is generally considered the pinnacle of open wheel racing because it's 'high-tech' and pretty damn expensive... top teams like Ferrari and McLaren spend at least $100 million a year. Manufacturers like Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Toyota are all involved. CART on the other hand has been on a downward spiral because of the split of open-wheel series here in the US. It was actually more exciting to watch because there was more passing and some races were done on ovals, whereas F1 is purely road courses. CART is trying to survive right now because they do not have the INDY500 which they used to be have. F1 is still going strong with big name manufacturers participating. F1 cars use high revving 3.0 V10s that could go up to and possibly close to 20,000 rpm. CART for this season is using a turbocharged V8 which maybe changed next season to a normally aspirated engine. F1 uses specialized chassis designed by their respective teams, like Ferrari, Toyota, Williams, McLaren, etc... CART on the other hand uses Lola and Reynard (?)... im not updated on the CART series lately as it has lost my interest.
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