Wings, anybody? - Brindabella Motor Sport Club

fro · 09-07-2006, 03:24 PM

http://www.rally.com.au/home/latestnews/articleid=2044

Quote:

"The Focus looks great with the new wing, but importantly for me it gives us greater confidence to attack the high-speed sections," said Guest.

Funny, I'd never heard of placebo wings before?

Quote:

"We got through a full day's testing with next to no dramas. The team made a number of suspension adjustments throughout the day and by the end we had a very fast package.”

So, it's not the wing, and it's actually suspension changes? The wing is just a good luck charm, perhaps?

Glen · 09-07-2006, 06:29 PM

Did you happen to catch the full stage that they showed of the Focus from Rally Qld on the mid-season review show today?

Just for the sake of completeness, the Focus finished 10th on that stage and was 4.2 sec/km slower than the fastest car.

Bogan · 09-07-2006, 06:31 PM

Quote:

...20 timed stages totalling 178 competitive kilometres.

What's the maximum stage length for a rallysprint again?

So does Grp N(P) have a "bling is free" condition or something?

T.

Ric Cary · 09-07-2006, 06:34 PM

I still can't find the sequential gearbox clause in N(p)

fro · 09-07-2006, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen

Did you happen to catch the full stage that they showed of the Focus from Rally Qld on the mid-season review show today?

Yeah... it actually looked really similar to most other 2WD in-car I've seen. And the noise... it sounded like it spent a lot of time going nowhere at a lot of revs.

But then, TV makes everything look slower.

Factor · 09-07-2006, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen

Did you happen to catch the full stage that they showed of the Focus from Rally Qld on the mid-season review show today?

Just for the sake of completeness, the Focus finished 10th on that stage and was 4.2 sec/km slower than the fastest car.

What stage was it - and what time did scooter do?

fro · 09-07-2006, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ric Cary

I still can't find the sequential gearbox clause in N(p)

Ric,

Check out article 8.5.2 (b) of the GroupN(P) 2WD regulations:

Quote:

Transmission casings may not be manufactured from magnesium. Sequential shift gearboxes are permitted. Gear ratios are free

.

However, I don't know how they get away with a six-speed:

Quote:

Originally Posted by 8.5.2 (a)

The source of the transmission is free. The tramission must be recognised by CAMS and noted in the Recognition Form. The transmission is limited to a maximum of five forward speeds plus reverse.
In considering the recognition of a transmission, CAMS will require costings of the parts proposed to be used in the transmission. At its sole discretion, CAMS may deem a transmission to be too costly to be compatible with the philosophy of the category.

Glen · 09-07-2006, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Factor

What stage was it - and what time did scooter do?

The stage was SS15 Bellwood 2. It was 4.94 km long.

Times were as follows:

Scott Pedder 3:12.0 (fastest)
Michael Guest 3:31.0 (10th fastest)

Scooter didn't make it to that point because of his gearbox. He did beat the Focus on the first pass through this stage the day before by 0.9 sec. In all fairness though I do think that Guest had a spin at the hairpin as you turn left onto the ridgeline if I recall correctly from the telecast.

Ric Cary · 09-07-2006, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fro

Ric,

Check out article 8.5.2 (b) of the GroupN(P) 2WD regulations:

.

However, I don't know how they get away with a six-speed:

Ah Yes 2WD doh!

scooter · 10-07-2006, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Glen

The stage was SS15 Bellwood 2. It was 4.94 km long.

Times were as follows:

Scott Pedder 3:12.0 (fastest)
Michael Guest 3:31.0 (10th fastest)

Scooter didn't make it to that point because of his gearbox. He did beat the Focus on the first pass through this stage the day before by 0.9 sec. In all fairness though I do think that Guest had a spin at the hairpin as you turn left onto the ridgeline if I recall correctly from the telecast.

Actually, the diff was what stopped us on Day Two. Interestingly, Bellwood (the old 'Woodbird' from days of yore) was the stage during which the gearbox failed on Day One. It failed about a 1.5km from the end and we coasted for about 500m before eventually finding 3rd gear for the last bit. We were pretty amazed that we still (just!) beat the Focus on that stage, to be honest, even with a spin!

I can't see the wing helping much at all on the Focus. It's got so little power that the additional downforce would be largely offset by the drag at the speeds where there's enough downforce generated to make a difference. Decent shock absorbers could be a very different story, though.

I wouldn't mind trying a wing myself. Unfortunately it's only permitted under Sched R. A decent sized V8 supercar one that actually works would help prevent a lot of oversteer on the fast (130km/h plus) stuff, I would imagine.