Thought this was a cool vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P2NwR2sqI4

 

McLaren Honda confident of strong showing in 2015
http://www.espn.co.uk/mclaren/motors...ry/187829.html

Ron Dennis says the Honda engine that will power McLaren next season already has impressive performance and that the main concern will be making it reliable in the remaining time frame.

Honda has been working on its new V6 turbo hybrid power units for two years but comes into the sport one year after rivals Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault first ran theirs on track. This season Mercedes had a significant performance advantage over its rivals, but Dennis is confident Honda will not be lagging behind in that respect.

"The challenge for our partner Honda is hitting dates and reliability," he said. "The performance is pretty impressive but of course I can't share that with you."

Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai is confident McLaren Honda will be able to challenge at the very front of the grid from the first race in Australia.

"The new regulation package is very very complex," Arai said. "In Abu Dhabi we did a test and got many data and in that we were already one team as McLaren Honda. I have a strong confidence with our partnership we will win next year in Melbourne and start a new era."

Dennis said he had been most impressed by Honda's approach to designing and building the new power units at its base in Sakura, Japan.

"Going back to Sakura, it's hard to describe just how impressive Honda's motorsport R&D facilities are. The best way to describe the commitment is not to describe the actual facilities, but to share with you that the geography of Sakura is quite a long way - an hour on a high-speed train - from Tokyo, it's been built in virgin land so it's a magnificent facility, but of course that has required some of the most senior technical staff to relocate and move their families to this area. That isn't an easy decision for companies or technical people to take.

"You see that and you see the commitment and sharpness that these group of engineers have and the facilities. For example they have a very impressive mission control facility - we have one here [at McLaren] where your technical staff and back-up staff, sit, watch and participate in every aspect of the race wherever it is taking place in the world - but of course with Japan the time change is significant with most of the races. So away from mission control they have the facilities for 50 people to sleep and a restaurant to support them specifically so they can be there and be sharp when the race is taking place - this sort of detail and commitment is far more indicative of where we are going than the fact of having 30 of the latest and greatest dynamometers."

 

Nice analysis on the situation Honda is in with regard to how the FIA is treating it, apart from the other manufacturers - In a nutshell, Honda must have a homologated engine by Feb 28th and make no changes thereafter. The other manufacturers however, have 32 tokens to use that can be applied at any point during the season. In other words, Ferrari, Renault and Mercedes can homologate their engine 32 times through out the season

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/30731004

 

FIA backtracks decision on Honda engine development.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/30860212

 

Williams reveal their FW37 car for the new season

http://m.bbc.com/sport/formula1/30915475

 

http://www.speedville.com/ferrari-se...l-new-concept/

 

Love the proposed look. I think the Indy Cars have been far more aesthetically appealing than the F1 cars for a while now.

Love the proposed engine concept too. Though I thought I read that the manufacturers were limited to just 14k rpm on the engines last year to promote reliability on the new design, and that this year the rev limit would increase. Hopefully a higher rev limit will produce better sound.

 

In theory, yes they can rev to 14K. Unfortunately the fuel restrictions that the FIA has imposed force the teams to only run them to about 11K with the result being the flat unexciting sound. Probably an unintended consequence...

 

Sadly I think the high revving NA days are gone. The move to mandate "green" power through the hybrid powertrains has firmly taken hold. I am sure that engineers can get back an exciting sound and continue to get more power from less "engine" but it will take a couple of years to get there. I an glad to have been to see races in the NA v8/v10 days. I can still conjure up the chill of the sound as I approached the track for the first time!
See there was a proposal to go to 2.2 twin turbo v8s at a recent meeting but it was tabled for at least a few seasons. If there is too much grumbling from the fans the big players will eventually take notice. Let them know!

 

McLaren/Honda having teething pains in Spain.
http://autoweek.com/article/formula-...n=awdailydrive