Scotracer
27-04-2006, 12:05 PM
In recent thread I found to my horror that many people don't know the glory of the series and the amazing cars. I took it as a quest to let the people of PX360 to be clued up on Formula One.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060423/capt.xap12804231556.italy_san_marino_f1_motor_raci ng_xap128.jpg
Let me start with describing the cars. They are single-seat racers (similar to IRL or CART in the US). The are very light-weight, at 600Kg- including (!) driver and fuel. To put that into perspective; it is about a 1/3 of what most american saloon/sedan cars weigh. The aerodynamics is the main attribute of this sport. At 150mph the cars produce 3 times their own weight in downforce (so could easily drive upside down in a tunnel). This creates incredible cornering speeds (Blaunchimont corner at the Spa-Francherchamps circuit in Belgium is renowned as one of the most challenging corners in the world. It is a 90 degree left hander. A F1 car can take it at 190mph, just awesome to watch.
Now the most important part of the car in my opinion is the engine. Luckily they have beasts as powerplants. Up until the end of 2005 they were 3 litre V10 engines. These produced 1000BHP+, at over 19,000rpm (about 4 times what a regular road car revs too). These however have gone :(....sad sad day. They have been replaced with 2.4 litre V8's. These produce around 750BHP at 20,000rpm. Thats a significant drop in power but still mighty quick.
A few performance figures:
0-60mph - ~2.2 seconds.
0-100mph - 3.6 seconds
0-150mph - 7 seconds
0-100-0 - 6 seconds
Top speed - varies, depending on circuit but with V8's, around 220mph.
http://scarbsf1.com/BMW_P83/Engine02.jpg
Performance figures for 2003 V10 P83 BMW engine (shown above):
- Output of the BMW P83 is over 950 bhp.
- Maximum engine speed is 19,200 rpm.
- In a race, engine speed is limited to 19,000 rpm.
- Idle speed is 4,000 rpm.
- The engine weighs less than 90 kilograms.
- The air intake volume is 1,995 cubic metres per hour.
- Maximum piston acceleration is 10,000g.
- Piston speed peaks at 40 metres per second and averages 25 metres per second.
- Exhaust temperatures of up to 950 degrees Celsius, are reached.
- Maximum air temperature in the pneumatic system is 250 degrees.
For me the best part of Formula One is the sound of the cars. And the loudness, which is around 160dB (!).
http://members.iinet.net.au/~hoopap/bmwv10c.mp3
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20060423/capt.xap12804231556.italy_san_marino_f1_motor_raci ng_xap128.jpg
Let me start with describing the cars. They are single-seat racers (similar to IRL or CART in the US). The are very light-weight, at 600Kg- including (!) driver and fuel. To put that into perspective; it is about a 1/3 of what most american saloon/sedan cars weigh. The aerodynamics is the main attribute of this sport. At 150mph the cars produce 3 times their own weight in downforce (so could easily drive upside down in a tunnel). This creates incredible cornering speeds (Blaunchimont corner at the Spa-Francherchamps circuit in Belgium is renowned as one of the most challenging corners in the world. It is a 90 degree left hander. A F1 car can take it at 190mph, just awesome to watch.
Now the most important part of the car in my opinion is the engine. Luckily they have beasts as powerplants. Up until the end of 2005 they were 3 litre V10 engines. These produced 1000BHP+, at over 19,000rpm (about 4 times what a regular road car revs too). These however have gone :(....sad sad day. They have been replaced with 2.4 litre V8's. These produce around 750BHP at 20,000rpm. Thats a significant drop in power but still mighty quick.
A few performance figures:
0-60mph - ~2.2 seconds.
0-100mph - 3.6 seconds
0-150mph - 7 seconds
0-100-0 - 6 seconds
Top speed - varies, depending on circuit but with V8's, around 220mph.
http://scarbsf1.com/BMW_P83/Engine02.jpg
Performance figures for 2003 V10 P83 BMW engine (shown above):
- Output of the BMW P83 is over 950 bhp.
- Maximum engine speed is 19,200 rpm.
- In a race, engine speed is limited to 19,000 rpm.
- Idle speed is 4,000 rpm.
- The engine weighs less than 90 kilograms.
- The air intake volume is 1,995 cubic metres per hour.
- Maximum piston acceleration is 10,000g.
- Piston speed peaks at 40 metres per second and averages 25 metres per second.
- Exhaust temperatures of up to 950 degrees Celsius, are reached.
- Maximum air temperature in the pneumatic system is 250 degrees.
For me the best part of Formula One is the sound of the cars. And the loudness, which is around 160dB (!).
http://members.iinet.net.au/~hoopap/bmwv10c.mp3