When the cars take the track at the Indy 500 a few weeks from now, the margin of victory might be directly attributable to the person in the driver's seat. Or it might be related to an engineering detail so miniscule most spectators have never heard of it. "Sometimes the advantage comes from splitting hairs and extracting every last bit of performance out of the car," Eddie Jones, race engineer for KV Racing Technology, told us.
[Five engineers will win a free trip to the Indy 500. Enter by May 9 at Littelfuse's Speed2Design contest. ]
At Indianapolis these days, that's the only way a driver will get take the traditional swig from a bottle of milk after crossing the finish line. At this year's race, on May 27, all the teams will use the same chassis from Dallara Automobili. And they'll all employ an engine from one of three manufacturers: Chevrolet, Honda, or Lotus. Engine displacement, electronics, aerodynamics, batteries, dashboards, and countless other system configurations are spelled out for the teams in the 203-page 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series Rulebook (PDF).
"It's really not the way it used to be many years ago, where you could build your own car, choose your own engine within regulations, and then go out there and run," Jones said. "It's really changed over the last couple of decades."
Tony Kanaan drove KV Racing’s No. 11 car at the Long Beach Grand Prix and will drive it again at the Indianapolis 500.
The unititiated might be shocked to learn that the engine displacement of the 230mph Indy car might be no bigger than that of the engine in their driveway. This year, displacement is limited to 2.2 liters on a V6 design. One of the few areas of technical freedom lies in turbocharging. Honda's engine uses a single turbo, while the Chevy runs with twin turbos. "Within those constraints, the month of May will likely show that those engines are pretty evenly matched," Jones said.
Jack, I agree with you. The problem, though, is that the engine makers and the teams themselves are trying to control the costs. After Toyota spent $1 billion in five years, it seemed like all the manufacturers started backing off.
Indy used to be very exciting in the days of Offenhauser vs Ford pushrod v-8s, Chevy engines, turbines, 4 wheel drive, and the chaparal type suction systems.
To me these days, it's like watching a staged presentation put on by the racing industry. For real excitment street racing is, again, where the fun is. Sure it's illegal and dangerous but, today, absolutely everything fun is illegal.
P.S. Meet me on Pierce Road with your hot car/4wheeler/motorcycle and I'll bring my Yamaha Warrior. Loser buys the beer.
The team members I talked to concur with your assessment, William K. Even under these strict rules, they say that the team with the most resources generally wins.
There is, or at least was, a different kind of racing, called "world of outlaws", which was just about as opposite as can be from the Indy500 type of thing. Of course the cars are smaller and not as pretty and they don't go as fast. But tickets were less than $10, much cheaper than Indy now, and the racers were much closer to being human, not rich dudes.
That's what has bothered me about these races. There is no emphasis on making better and faster cars because the rules prevent any new innovation that isn't open to everybody. Maybe the racing teams need to purchase the cars as a group and then randomly select who drives what car. That will take the technical component out all together.
My somewhat limited experience on a circle track has been that handling is indeed vital, but thatvery good handling is neither simple nor cheap. But winning races takes a combination of skill, power, and handling. As one pit crew chief explained to me, "If you never have to let off on the gas, then you don't have enough power." I have been in that position, where the car was certainly "a handfull", but I could run all of the laps with the pedal to the floor and never back off. But it also meant that others with more power could pass me at times.
The conclusion is that innovations in handling may still need a bit more power to win.
I love watching a good drivers match! What's the point if one driver has a much faster car? Go to an air show if you want to see that. Imagine a football team winning just because they had superior equipment. I like the racecars, but it's really about the driver and the race teams.There is an exciting entry of drivers in this year's Indy 500.I want to see how those past F1 racers perform.It takes a great driver to win such a race with very even equipment.
I've heard many professional drivers say that handling is more important than a bit more power.If the driver can't get the car around the turns fast enough, then straightaway speed may not matter.It can be said that suspension tuning is more important than the engine.All the IndyCars will use the same chassis and suspension, with adjustments allowed within the rules.
I'm happy that the new IndyCar engine rules have been developed so that there will be three engine suppliers in this year's Indy 500. So far, Chevrolet has shown Honda it's not so easy to win a race when it's not all Honda's! I'm hoping Chevy can win so to equal Ford and Honda in all-time Indy 500 wins with eight wins each.
The claims are that these rules are to make it more a test of driver skills rather than carbuilders skills.
BUT, really, it is all about MONEY.
These rules cut the costs that would be asociated with the race being an engineering contest instead of a driving challenge. The result is that anybody with some money has a chance, and there is not the extra money spent in making cars so much better than each other. So by setting up these rules and reducing innovation quite a bit, the supporters have cut their costs. Of course the race has now become just a drivers match.
Ironically, ChasChas, Parnelli Jones' turbine car was legislated out of Indy after the car failed to win. It dominated the 1967 Indy 500 but had to drop out with a few laps to go because of a transmission bearing problem. It was legislated out of the race after 1968, I believe.
This is socialized racing that smacks of communism. I don't know how the teams can stand it. They know what they need to do, but cannot do it - this most certainly encourages "cheating". (just like in any communist country)
Remember when the turbine engine was tried at Indy? Was it too successful, too costly, or too imperialistic?
The rules should encourage broad competition, not secret slyness.
Using almost 200 light-emitting diodes in the front and back of the new 2014 CTS, Cadillac designers are showing how LEDs can change the character of a vehicle.
We looked at a number of sources to determine this year's greenest cars, from KBB to automotive trade magazines to environmental organizations. These 14 cars emerged as being great at either stretching fuel or reducing carbon footprint.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
2 
