Formula E

[Crotulus]

Did anyone catch the inaugural Formula E race last night? It was a decent race and should be interesting to see how the season progresses. I'm not sure if I'll ever get over the sound of these cars though. The pit stop was funny too, jump out and get in another car. They will need to get a Tesla quick change battery pack going to get a pit crew involved.

I'll keep watching. Might even get some tickets for when the series hits Los Angeles.

 

[_Rick_]

I only saw the clip of Nick Heidfeld getting taken out by Nicholas Prost, while going deep into the last turn.
I'm not sure what Prost was thinking, but that move should come with at least a one-race suspension. The cars were clearly side-by-side, Prost was way off the racing line already, and then he deems it necessary to jink to the left?

Completely unacceptable. Especially since he could have just hit the brakes, taken a late apex, and still be comfortably ahead over Heidfeld, who was coming in way too hot for his own good.

Also, it appears to me, that the racing on street circuits means overtaking is essentially impossible. For that you need wide circuits, so there's room for a move. Also, I think a silhouette series would be more fun. The cars are a tad more relatable, and the closed wheel nature allows for a bit of contact, which around such tight courses appears to be inevitable, and spices things up.

 

[Crotulus]

Yeah, that was totally a bad move by Prost. I really thought Heidfeld was going to let him have it when he chased Prost down on the way back to the pits.

The turns for the course were indeed way too tight. There were only like 4 or 5 turns that had room for two cars abreast. Maybe things will open up in the next city.

 

[Railgun]

The notion of a "fan boost" lost me for the whole series.

 

[twinrider1]

Full race on YouTube

Odd sensation. Without big engine sounds my brain doesn't register their speed the same way. They seem so slow.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i liked it! fan boost is crap, but they have decent cars and good (some very good) drivers. better inexpensive batteries (low cost spec series) will kill the car switch.

Full race on YouTube

Odd sensation. Without big engine sounds my brain doesn't register their speed the same way. They seem so slow.

i thought they looked probably faster than they really are. 275 hp in qualifying, 200 hp in the race, not tons of power but good drivers + spec series = looking very racey.

 

[mmntech]

Interesting concept. Too bad it's not airing on TV here. At least not on any channels my provider carries.

Lol, they sound like RC cars. I think my 1/10th scale Camero has a meatier sounding motor.

 

[tweakmonkey]

The formation lap was embarassing and stupid. So slow and there was no point (the tires wouldn't get warm at all going 20 MPH).

The pit stop is stupid for so many reasons - the main being that if perfected, I think a battery swap could be done in the same time as a tire swap (sure they're heavier but they could have a jack/dolley system, or a crane). Also it makes electric car battery swap options seem more viable for the street cars. The whole "jump from this car to another complete car" is just silly, and there's no way the two cars could be 100% exact so the driver would have to learn some new variations in each car.

Other than that the racing seemed okay. Slow yes, but I imagine the pace will pick up over time. I watched the first few laps then skipped to see the pit stops, then watched the end.

Hoping for a Tesla constructors team

 

[JulesMaximus]

That is pretty cool. They have some good drivers in the series and big name backing.

I'd go see one of these races.