Renault starts wind Tunnel testing new car!

S

SALEEN S7R

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Source: Autosport.com

The Renault team has already begun wind tunnel testing of its 2004 R24 challenger, despite the fact that there are still four races of the current season to run, as it bids to gain a jump on its major rivals for next season.

Following his arrival at the Enstone-based team in 2001, technical director Mike Gascoyne took the decision to split Renault's development team in two, allowing one team to concentrate on developing the current car, while the other works on next year's machine. This approach has ensured that the R24 has already reached the wind tunnel phase of its development.

"Tim Densham spent 2002 hard at work on the R23, which he has also developed this season," explained Gascoyne. "In parallel, Mark Smith began work on R24, the design of which began last December. And then, while Mark is developing the new car in 2004, Tim will begin the process again with R25."

Gascoyne is hoping to build on the strengths of Renault's current car, which has guided the team to fifth in the constructor's championship this season. "The R23 is already very aerodynamically efficient," he added. "With the R24, we hope to make another step forward. The data we have already collected is encouraging, and there are still six months available to hone the project. We are pushing ahead at full speed."

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This year the team has been one of the top teams if u ask me, up there with Mclaren at least. I wonder if next year the team could be challenging for the constructors championship, I woudnt be suprised. Id be very suprised if they didnt have more than 3 or 4 race wins next year anyway.
 
I look to see Renault do very well at Hungary but the last three races require lots of power which Renault has admitted that they lack. I would put money on Renualt for next year. It will be good to see them reclaim their title 9 years later. But even better is that we will have 4-6 teams bidding for wins next year instead of the previous ferrari dominance of last year. Toyota, and Jaguar will also make huge steps foward I believe. And of course you cannot count out BAR, because they will most likely lose Villenueve and gain 25mil for development and Jordan has talks of recieving Mercedes engines next year. We could very well have a battle of the century for the championship next year.
 
Personally next year I think we will have 4 very clear Divisions to be honest with u. Heres how I see things.

Division 1:
Ferrari, Mclaren, Willams, Renault

Division 2:
Toyota, Jaguar, Sauber (my main reason for thinking Sauber will be up there is because their new wind tunnel will be completed soon and the new car should be developed with this, coupled with the Ferrari albeit 1 spec behind should prove to be a great combination, maybe even a podium or 2).

Division 3:
BAR, Jordan, Minardi
 
My divisions:

Teams that will take GP wins:
Ferrari, McLaren, Williams, Renualt

Podium Teams:
Toyota, Jaguar

Point Scorers:
Minardi, Sauber, BAR, Jordan

2004 Constructors Title
1. Ferrari
2. Renault
3. McLaren
4. Williams
5. Toyota
6. Jaguar
7. Jordan
8. Sauber
9. BAR
10. Minardi

I choose Ferrari over Renault because of how bullet proof their engines and chassis are. This stuff is really hard to predict because of how close I think the titles will be next year. I really doubt we will know who will win what titles until the last GP next year.
 
I agree with u Bebi. I think Ferrari need to switch their tyre supplier to Michelin though if they want to stay at the top. Bridgestone just arent performing at the moment. If Ferrari do not do this then I think Willams will take the title this year, and next year providing they dont make a major mess of the new car, I also think Renault will finish 2nd overall next year, and Mclaren 3rd, and Ferrari 4th. IF either Ferrari dont change their tyre suppliers, or if they dont change and Bridgestone dont improve.

If Bridgestone do up their game once more though I can see Ferrari winning once again. The F2003 GA is the best car out there this year if u ask me, but they arent as dominant as they were last year, coupled with the fact that Willams, Renault and Mclaren are on the better tyre compound this has enabled the other 3 teams to catch up to Ferrari, mainly due to tyres. But not soley down to that of course, they have made inroads on Ferrari in terms of car performance too. So with those 2 factors thats why Willams is beating Ferrari in my eyes - just.

F1 is getting intresting again, long may it continue! :bounce:
 
Anyword if Renault is going to stick with the 111 vee on their new car?
Sauber I hope steps it up, assuming they will have 2 young new drivers it should refresh hope for their team. You guys really think BAR will go down hill that bad. I would think Button is right up there with Da Matta. Each and every week F1 gets better and better, can't wait.
 
Regarding the 111 v10 angle engine, I belive a decision was taken late last year that the team would be developing a normal 90 degree V10 for 2004. I cant give any proof of this, but Im sure there was a Intreview with one of the Renault personal on TV a while back and one of them had said this. Unfortunatly they coudnt prepare a good V10 in time for this year.

Next year I hope, and think that they will have a 90 degree V10 engine. Dont quote me on that, but im pretty sure they will, Ive heard various things over the months, just on TV and in Autosport magazine etc but I cant find anything at the moment.
 
Well Saleen, you are right. Renault has announced that they are scrapping their 111 V10 for a more normal 90 or so engine. Not saying they wont be a little wider than the competition still but they have made comments that in order to give a boost in HP, and top off an already stout race car, they will need to return to conventional ways. I hope they can get it right the first time. I would hate to see them with another great car next year, and be even more down on power.
 
FWIW this years (and I think last but not sure) Renault engine is a 108 degree V, not 111
 
Of all the block angles the 108-degrees is the worst along with the 180-degree block. Renault has never to my knowledge ever officially released the true block angle but merely called it a "wide angle" block.
The 111-degree comes from someone who diagramed it and came up with the 111-degrees. Of course it doesn’t matter if it is 111-degrees or 108-degrees it is still very bad on Secondary Shake. The Normal angles are 72 degrees or 144-degrees to stay away from the Secondary Shake. 720 degrees divided by 10 cylinders is 72-degees and 144-degees is the next angle the works without Secondary Shake. M.L. Anderson :lilangel:
 
Well you are very right about some of the things you said and I wonder where you picked all of this up since Tv coverage of this is so minimal. Leslie is a girls name correct? Glad to see a girl so interested in a very technical sport.

Now for corrections. 108 degrees isnt all that bad. You have to remember that the wider the block the better the center of gravity. Thus one of the reasons why the Renault handles so great.

72 degrees is the optimal angle for optimal lubricant performance. Now that is NOT the optimal angle for pure power though. Thats why we see teams running most normally around 90 degrees, that being about the half way mark of a reliable engine and peak power. Renualt investigated further and lost power as we see they are at least 30-50 hp down on the likes of Toyota, and Williams who are known to have the most. The wider angle you get the more the oils and lubricants are thrown away from where they need to be. Thus again creating reliability problems.

Besides the angle, many teams now run light gearbox casings as well as lighter engine blocks. If we all remember last year when the F1 circus hit Spa. The GP weekend claimed some 10 or more Honda engines. The cause came to be the high stress and flexing of the block as the car loaded going through Eu Rouge. I dont think and single honda finished that race. Now Honda still has semi-good power but have really had to scrap their ultra light engine for a heavier one, and I believe it is the heaviest among the current teams.

Anything I miss Saleen?
 
Heh Im keeping out of this! :p Im no technical boffin, I understand the basics and thats enough for me. Im more intrested in the racing, perhaps if I didnt follow so many other series other than F1 and only watched a few series I might have the inclination to study the engineering side of things more than I do. But no Bebi from what u have said u seem to be about right to me, 90 degrees is the angle that MOST teams use at the moment so I can only assume thats the optimum angle.
 
Ok thanks. Has this Leslie persone posted anymore lately? Hope I didnt scare him/her.
 
Originally posted by BebiF1@Sep 19 2003, 02:20 PM
Ok thanks. Has this Leslie persone posted anymore lately? Hope I didnt scare him/her.
Click to expand...
:lol: I hope for your sake you haven't scared him/her away. ^_^

It seems you have the knowledge on how F1 works, so don't worry...hehe.

Renault indeed will go for the normal route on engine angle to gain those crucial BHP's for next season...then we will see them really fly. :p It's gonna be very interesting next season...more teams will be up there than we really think...Sauber will most probably be using the same chassis as Ferrari next year as well...not an older version, so that could bring them into the picture again, and with Fisi & Massa you could have quite an awsome team then...Fisi is no slouch to racing a car...hehe. I'll just wanna check my inside sources to be sure on how things are developing there. ;)
 
so if 144degrees does not produce secondary shake in theory, then why don't we see team(s) do this? Yeah so they won't make the hp's but the center of gravity would be lower than ever. Have they really got it figured out or are teams just going the R&D route of the leaders. If only Porsche had an f1 car.
 
If only Porsche did get involved.... but yes in theory 144 would be good, but really lower the top end.
 
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