Judging by this 'bird's-eye' comparison to the 20122 car, Ferrari have evidently gone for a longer wheelbase. EDIT - GAH!! Will a Mod please enlarge?
lol! I think I'd almost forgotten about the existence of stickle bricks. Do they still make those I wonder? Each block was like a self contained bacterial universe.
So have Mclaren - guessing it's something to do with making the car feel more "planted" and rear downforce. ...there's a complete guess if ever I saw one.
I'm not sure if you are suggesting McLaren have gone for a longer wheelbase here Tom, but in my opinion, they're not! I believe it is shorter than before - and not before time! Ever since they unveiled their first 'straight-liner' (in the most simplistic sense, a long wheelbase is better for straight line stability but more difficult to get around corners), I have been very critical of it. Careful comparison of the 2011 and 2012 PR shots suggests to me that the new car has a slightly shorter wheelbase. Together with a steep rake, this will tend to induce more body roll at the rear whilst cornering, but this need not be an entirely bad thing since it can make the rear end more compliant and reduce tyre wear to some extent, whilst a longer wheelbase can be make more demands upon rear tyres.
Do you think it's significantly shorter Cosi? I know it's tough to tell just from looking at pictures but it doesn't look a lot different to me. My eye probably isn't as sharp when it comes to such things as maybe yours is though. Maybe the way the nose is makes it look as long as recent cars?
Hi Bhaji. Below is an excerpt from a comment I made in the McLaren thread. I hope it explains my reasoning. I believe it to be slightly shorter but that it is a significant enough departure from their previous philosophy. (I must say, I'm rather surprised we have separate threads for each car, since it is natural and desirable to make comparisons between them; and with separate threads there is a great likelihood of repetition and cross-referencing). I hasten to add that this is based entirely on comparing the photos of the 2012 car with 2011. It is a bit of a guess (to say the least!) but I believe it to be the case. Even if it is only 10cm shorter, it may well be significant; particularly with the steeper rake of the floor. I mentioned the steeply raked floor elsewhere because I am baffled how they will get their diffuser to prevent spillage of higher pressure air entering from the sides - especially towards the rear of the car where the floor sits higher. But having said all this, what they unveiled could be a deliberate attempt to baffle us!
I believe McLaren promiced a shorter wheel base this year but with the regs so tight I bet the difference between short and long is in the order of 25mm. ish
Interesting stuff. Can't wait to see the cars hit the track... Even if I will need a bucket and a bottle of Pepto Bismol to make it through.
I like the F2012 visually, Concorde had a funny nose too and that didn't stop it being the best passenger jet plane ever
I got it the wrong way round, thanks for reminding me that they've been long and went shorter. ...I'm still young enough for that to make me giggle.
Ferrari v McLaren wheelbase comparison. Please bear in mind that last year the McLaren was significantly longer than the Ferrari. For 2012, it seems Ferrari have lengthened theirs, whilst McLaren's is - in my opinion - now shorter: Click image to enlarge. P.S. I do not understand how others are making their pictures bigger and would appreciate some guidance!
Very clever the way they've managed to direct air flow down to the diffuser, despite having the exhausts at the required angle up from horizontal. It also seems it's a slightly different direction from other teams, so I'm curious to see if anyone else adopts the concept as the season goes on.
