racecar engineering - january 2014

HowMercedesmoved to thesharpendof theFormula1grid

TRDRadicalAero development forPikes Peak contender

HyundaiWRCKoreanmanufacturer returnsto the global rally stage

United SportsCarsWeanalyse the developmentofUS prototype regulations

Leading-Edge Motorsport Technology Since 1990

January 2014 2 Vol24 No1 2 www.racecar-engineering.com 2 UK 5.50 2 US $13.50

9 7 7 0 9 6 1 1 0 9 0 9 8

0 1

THE XTREME IN RACECAR PLUMBINGTHE XTREME IN RACECAR PLUMBING

XRP, Inc. 5630 Imperial Hwy. Tel: 562.861.4765South Gate, CA 90280 Email: [email protected]

In Europe JLS Motorsport Tel: 44 (0) 121 525 5800fax: 44 (0) 121 535 4833 Email: [email protected]

THEEVOLUTION INFLUIDHORSEPOWER

XRP ProPLUS Race Hose andXRP Race Crimp Hose Ends

LEARNMOREABOUTXRP ProPLUSRaceHoseandXRPRaceCrimpHose Endsatwww.xrp.com

SEEUSATSEMAANDPRI 2013

Like us onFacebook/XRPinc

Followus onInstagram#XRPracing

SMOOTH INTERNAL TUBEFor superior flow rates, minimumpressure drops AND ease of clean-out,not possible in convoluted hoses.

YOUR CHOICE OFOUTER BRAIDSXS: Stainless SteelXM: Lightweight XtraTemp MonofilamentXK: Aramid FiberXT: Tube only for inside fuel cells

NEW XRP RACE CRIMP HOSE ENDSBlack is inand it is our standard color;Blue and Super Nickel are options. Hundreds of styles are available.Bent tube fixed, double O-Ring sealed swivels and ORB ends.Reducers and expanders in both 37 JIC and Clamshell Quick Disconnects.Your choice of full hex or lightweight turned down swivel nuts.

CRIMP COLLARS Two styles allow XRP RaceCrimp Hose Ends to be used on the ProPLUS Race

Hose, Stainless braided CPE race hose, XR-31Black Nylon braided CPE hose and some

convoluted PTFE hoses currentlyon the market. Black, Gold

and Super Nickel.

EXTERNAL CONVOLUTIONSPromotes hoop strength forvacuum resistance andsupports tight bend flexibility.

ANTI-STATIC PTFECOMPATIBLEWITH ALLAUTOMOTIVE FLUIDS AND FUELSA highly compressed, non-porous matrixthat is resistant to fuel permeation and diffusion.

A full PTFE smooth-bore hose, manufactured using a patented process that creates convolutions only on the outside of the tube wall, where theybelong for increased flexibility, not on the inside where they can impede flow. This smooth-bore race hose and crimp-on hose end system is sizedto compete directly with convoluted hose on both inside diameter and weight while allowing for a tighter bend radius and greater flow per size.Ten sizes from -4 PLUS through -20. Additional "PLUS" sizes allow for even larger inside hose diameters as an option.

WorldMags.netWorldMags.net

WorldMags.net

3January 2014 D www.racecar-engineering.com

COLUMNS

5 Ricardo DivilaAn appetite for shovelling is needed to complete the Dakar

9 Mike BlanchetCould the FIAs new Formula 4 be the missing link?

FEATURES

18 Australia V8How global giants are nding life in Aussie V8 Supercars

24 Carlsson MercedesA new European hillclimber with Pikes Peak ambitions

26 Hindsight Mercedes W154A look back at Mercedes most successful pre-war racer

32 Hyundai i20 WRCThe Korean rm went from blank canvas to a World Rally entry inless than a year (pictured) and could be ones to watch in 2015

38 Grand-AmThe TUSCC prototype testing has not gone perfectly. Grand-AmsScot Elkins guides us through the logic behind the tests

COVER STORY

10 Mercedes F1 W04The latest on the German team that showed hugepotential in qualifying, and met its targets this season

BUSINESS NEWS

80 ASI Show newsOur four-page preview to the most importantEuropean motorsport show, Autosport International,in January with the latest news on exhibitors

CONTENTS JANUARY VOLUME 24 NUMBER 1

Subscribe toRacecar Engineering nd the best offers onlinewww.racecar-engineering.com

Contact us with your comments and views on @RacecarEdor on Facebook.com/RacecarEngineering

TECHNICAL

45 The ConsultantMore on Supermodied rear ends from our chassis expert

49 DatabytesThe various ways of including torque in your data analysis

53 AerobytesContinuing our look at a prize-winning Formula Student entry

56 TRD RadicalAn international link-up which radically improved downforce

63 Data LoggersSeveral solutions to open up even more avenues of data

71 Active AeroA unique package forged by an industrious Texas university

75 SimulationThe surprising simplicity of calculating stability

84 Industry newsMarussias F1 future secured, Dallara gets new Indy Lightsdeal, plus an early look at Zyteks new LMP1 engine

90 Racecar peopleInterview with GP2s Bruno Michel, news on McLaren andHulman & Co recruitment, with the latest Race Moves

96 New productsBrand new kit from Titan, Stratsys, KA Sensors, GEMS,BJR, Cosworth, Xtrac and Greaves

98 Bump stop


WorldMags.net

Come

andus

at

thePR

I

booth#13

51

PENE

NSUL

A


WorldMags.net

Some races are a bit different,and one of my favouritesis one that harks back tothe stile at the start of motorracing, when we used to havethe great town-to-town races likethe 1894 ParisRouen.

Well, take away the tree-linedroutes, nice green elds, generalparaphernalia of civilisation and thestops at brasseries for a quick topup of andouillettes and red wine,but keep the dust and ruts, addoodles of sand, then stretch it outfor three weeks with no real sleepand you have the Paris-Dakar. Ah,and turn up the thermostat.

It originally started at theChamp de Mars in the shadow ofthe Eiffel Tower, ending at LacRose in Senegal 22,000km later,with a preliminary run throughFrance to Marseille or later toGibraltar. It ran at a leisurely pacespiked with some special stages,usually in mud or slush as theearly January start ensured wintryweather, across the Pillars ofHercules, narrow cliff-side roadsthrough the Atlas mountain rangeand an eventful traverse of theSahara desert, nishing with arun through rutted roads in Maliand Senegal, through beautifulbaobab tree forests. You crossdunes, mud, camel grass, rocks anderg under conditions that entitleyou to join Leopold Ritter vonSacher-Masochs club.

JUST DESERTSThe tour de force was reallythe desert stages, includingthe marathon stages, wheremaintenance crews were forbiddenon the overnight bivouac anddrivers had to tend to their steeds.For me as an engineer, running inthe support class meant you werein the same race, running the sameroute, with similar cars, thoughburdened with an additional 300kgof spares, driveshafts, CV joints,uprights and the tools to interveneif necessary. One year in thesupport trucks, class T4, more ofthe same but with an over 3.5ton mass to dig out of the sand.

Centrally commanded tyre pressurecontrols helped with this one, asone could inate and deate tyreson the go to increase the footprintover soft ground. You were in therst wave to depart the bivouac,being successively overtakenby the bikes, then trucks, thenthe cars, as they were releasedbehind you at staggered times,and arriving late at the nextbivouac, where the support truckswere already working on the cars,they having had a relatively easier

route on bridge stages throughmore lenient terrain.

It also meant you did not getmuch sleep, as work sometimesnished just before you had todepart for the next days stage.It did not seem to matter much being strapped into a bucket seatwith a six-point harness, helmetbungee-strapped to the wire grillebehind you gave ample snoozeseven as you bounced from tussockto tussock or leapt over ravines,while your co-driver tackled asmuch of the stage as he couldendure, relaying the steering backto you as fatigue coma approached.The periods became shorter andshorter as the day advanced, andthe only coffee available was fromvacuum asks, rapidly exhausted.That was part of the job list for

the following years, but neversatisfactorily solved.

There were other hazards also.The mined stretch of the borderwall between Western Sahara andMauritania was one; the other wasthe turd mineeld downwind fromthe bivouac every night maybebigger than the wall as theneeds of the 3500-plus people atthe bivouacs was self-catered for.Heading out into the desert nightwith a shovel and loo paper wasa grim affair. All too many headed

out without a shovel, however,the mindset of which explains theenvironmental state of the planet.Even cats are more fastidious.

Modern technology was a boonthe year I was testing infraredgoggles with view to using themon the rally itself, to spot and avoidbikers in the dust-clouds whenbarrelling on with cars. Thermal-imaging the turd eld pre-emptedhours of boot scraping when theoffending dejecta could be seenglowing greenly in the dark.

Maybe Parnelli Jones put it best:Desert racing is like an all-dayplane crash. And parts of the routehad other, non-natural drawbacks.Some bearded followers of thealso-bearded prophet would takeumbrage at the Dar al-Harb carsrumbling through their territory,

and would use the vehicles fortarget practice. Arriving at thebivouac with bullet holes in thebodywork was far from unheardof I dont think that has been anissue in any other race Ive done,although its been heard in thepaddock that the only way to beatthe Lotus 58 wing car when itappeared was to ambush it at thefar corner with a shotgun to blowits tyres. (Mmm that gives mean idea for Le Mans could oneprophesise a rash of punctures onthe Audis this June?)

The 350mm suspensionstrokes would make these 1780kgbehemoths as agile as mountaingoats, even chunking through theubiquitous camel grass moundsand landing as soft as a down-lled mattress after leaping ofthe lee side of a dune, albeit 50metres down the road. Much asnews from the antipodes, thingsseemed to be serenely happeninga long way away.

Running on Senegals red earthtrails, with a patterned washboardrut that could disassemble anymechanical component, thespeed you ran at would dene afrequency for the vibration. Thisprompted musings about whatwould be the best speed to reducethe resonance and attemptingto formulate the equations tosolve. By then we would be onthe second week practicallysleepless, and the crucial part ofthe modelling process in evaluationof whether or not a givenmathematical model describes asystem accurately would be fairlyhit or miss, but amusing. Talk aboutfuzzy logic everything was fuzzy.

The route would be mile-posted by the dropping screws,features and accessories pingingto the cars oor as you buzzedalong. Teeth would literally itch,and eyeball jiggling de rigueur.Breton, Marinetti, Ernst, Dal, Arpand Giacometti would be rightat home with the surreal visionsof writhing baobab trees in thepreternatural sunlight said jigglingwould produce. The accumulated

STRAIGHT TALK RICARDO DIVILA

GoingagainstthegrainsTerrain, tiredness and self-dug toilets the singular challenges of theParis-Dakar

January 2014 F www.racecar-engineering.com 5

Arriving at the bivouac to ndbullet holes in the bodywork

was far from unheard of

When not stuck in the sand, drivers kill their suspensions bouncing over it


WorldMags.net

SUFF

IXTO

ORD

ERTH

ISM

ATE

RIA

LIS

Z(e

.g.FR

P308

7Z)

RACE PROVENGT - TOURING CARS - FORMULA - RALLY

EQUILIBRIUMFOOORRRRRRR

Circuit Supplies (UK) Ltd, Unit 8, Eden Court, Eden Way, Leighton Buzzard, Beds LU7 4FY4EL s &AX s INFO CIRCUITSUPPLIESCOM s WWWCIRCUITSUPPLIESCOM


WorldMags.net

STRAIGHT TALK RICARDO DIVILA

January 2014 F www.racecar-engineering.com 7

Just out of shot: a gang of locals sizing up the Chevvy truck for target practice

lack of sleep, laced with strongcoffee, could accentuate thehallucinatory viewing of Dadain the Desert. Who needspsychoactive drugs? One Dakar isthe equivalent of 50 blue pills.

And we had it easy, comparedto the bikers. Why they wouldembark on this expedition alwayspuzzled me. Having to stand up onthe foot pegs for practically thewhole day, when not continuouslyfalling in soft sand, throwingchains, repairing punctures,breathing dust thrown up by thecars and trucks and being narrowlyavoided by the other, muchbigger competitors seems to mefoolhardy. The sight of one bikerarriving at the bivouac aroundmidnight, rolling into the middleof the bedouin tents erected forthe food, stopping by the coffeeurn, but just falling over as thelegs gave out before a steadyingleg could be put on ground like afallen, beetle-like medieval knightin his armour haunts me to thisday, mainly for the blank look inthe eyes, denoting no consciousthought behind them. But maybethere was none there at the start.

One of the alternate routes taken after the threat offundamentalists, necessitated theairlift of the whole caboodle overMauritania took the Dakar fromMarseilles to Sharm El-Sheikh, onthe Sinai, passing through Libya.Parts of the Libyan leg ran throughover 800 miles of absolutely at,featureless desert, the wholeuniverse consisting of a straighthorizon bisecting blue sky andwhite sand. Running on it for twohours with no referential, vibrationor sense of movement made youslip into the hallucination that youwere motionless, even thoughrunning at 170kph.

No description can convey thefeeling of awe, running throughand on 300-foot high dune eldsunder a million-star studded skywith the knowledge that therewere few other human beingsaround. These dunes took overa million years to form, windsculpting the identically-sizedsand grains painstakingly into softpillowy dunes. A lesson in timeand relative size, too often naturegets crowded out in city life. Andwe have vacuum cleaners too.

The course conditions alsochanged over time. Early morningrunning on the thinner, harder dew

crust of sand needed a given speedto practically speedboat on thesurface. Slow down and you wouldrapidly nd yourself chassis-deepin sand, bogged down in nepowder. Digging yourself out withthe obligatory shovel and usingthe sand ladders could give a verytemporary respite, as you could bogdown a mere car-length furtheron. Sisyphus redux. Reading dunetypes and sand surface conditionswas an acquired skill, to be honedafter several years of shovellingyour way across the desert.

On some stages you could ndyourself in a gaggle of bogged-

down competitors, all shovellingaway with some still-moving carwarily threading its way throughthe pan, only to nd anotherdustpan a bit further along. Ropesand sturdy nylon straps wereuseful for dragging cars out of thepans by the lucky ones on rmerground, and even if no such caseexisted one could almost envisagemaking a noose and ending it all.I will never, ever, build anothersand castle by the seaside. Otherdays you would see no-one, eitherbecause you were thoroughly lost,or out of the group because of adelay only vast expanses of sand.And sun shining on sand. Somewind sometimes, moving sand.If a strong wind, you didnt seeanything, except sand, of course.

Sand in the food, sand in thedrink, sand in the engine, sandin the minutest nook and crannyof anything you have, including

your body. I still nd sand at homeon some gear years afterwards.The sand saga was capped theyear we broke a cam on a stage,having to replace it on the leeside of a rock outcropping amida howling sandstorm, pulling thehead, replacing the offendingitem and re-timing the camswearing goggles, sand tricklingdown the back of the neck andinto the sump and internals of theengine. No need to burnish thevalve seats, everything inside theengine had a thorough scouring byabrasive particles, to no apparentimmediate harmful effect.

Navigation, even when GPSwere de rigueur, provided momentsof hilarity, when the choice ofwhich canyon to take through thebarren mountains, supposedlyrecced by satellite photos andplotted in your road-book, wasrendered moot by the sight of anopposing competitor whizzing byat 180deg to your bearing, causingquizzical looks of enquiry towardsyour navigator. Turning aroundand heading back if in doubt wouldoften bring the sight of the verysame opposition whizzing by youagain heading for your late course,as they, too, were unsure.

The drivers one had alsostood out. When the news wasannounced that I would have thegreat Colin McRae as a driver,one had a rash of commiseratingcalls from friends in rallying,predicting our early retirementthrough mechanical failure or,

euphemistically impacting anatural obstacle. The maestro hadform, as his emblematic motto Ifin doubt, at out! attested, butone other legend that pedalled mycar was characterised by a storyColin would tell: On the ManxRally, Ari Vatanen had a massiveaccident. Afterwards, FredGallagher asked his co-driver TerryHarryman: When did you knowthat it was all over and you weregoing to have a big accident? andHarryman replied, Scrutineering!

ARI KARIOn one of the Dakars, Ari retiredmy car by hitting the only tree in a500 mile radius, but my admirationfor his press-on abilities wasrecompensed by his 50th andlast Dakar stage win with us. Andany doubts about his virtuosityand coolness will be dispelledby watching the Climb Dancevideo of the Pikes Peak with theiconic Peugeot 405 T16. No ABS,automatic gearbox, EPS or guard-rails overlooking 600ft drops on agravel strewn climbing mountaindirt road. Look it up on YouTubefor 5m15 of awe-striking images,with Ari the epitome of cool as hedrives one-handed up the nalstretch shielding the eyes fromthe sun with a gauntleted hand,one wheel over the abyss.

Ari is The Man, four timesDakar winner, Rally WorldChampion and also being anaccomplished raconteur, wrylyhumorous and erstwhile EuropeanParliament member. Civilised too,being the owner of a winery inthe south of France.

My rst Dakar with McRaegave a week of all-nighters beforehe fractionally slowed down tocut down on the massive rebuildsevery night. The one-man tent Ihad in the back of my car never hadto be used, and we were breakingparts theoretically stressed to 10Gimpact loads, including his co-driverseat brackets, not gentlemanlyof his part as it implied a bit ofavoirdupois on her part. Sorry Tina!

All that, plus the healthy,spartan energy-laden food andthe continuous isometric exerciseby being shaken daily for 15hours brought you to the endof the marathon in pristinephysical shape, and looking atmy prole now, one must doanother soon. Just a shame aboutall the bloody sand.

Youdhave sand in the food, sandin theengine I still nd sandon somegear, years afterwardsWorldMags.netWorldMags.net

WorldMags.net

DOMINATE THE

TRACK.RULE TH

E STREET.

Eibach UK | Phone: 01455 285 851 | e-Mail: [email protected] eibach.com

BUMP STOPS

COIL SLEEVE

OFF ROAD

METRIC RANGE

TENDER | HELPER

IMPERIAL RANGE

ERS | Eibach Race Spring System

Over 1,300 single components main and tendersprings metric and imperial, various auxiliary racesuspension accessories, ready and in stock on 5 continentsComprehensive Program of single componentsSingle Main Springs with highest rate-linearity andlowest rate toleranceProgressive Characteristics via set-up of differentsprings serially double or even triple spring combinationsExtreme Low Weights achieved through Super Hi-Tenmaterials and manufacturing technologySmallest Solid heights, maximized spring travels andhigher maximum loads

Spring Surface Stabilization through specializedshot peeningEvery ERS Spring preset to blockBlock and Sag ResistantSmallest Tolerances and precise plane parallelism ofspring endsHigh Dynamic Durability under Motorsports conditionsHigh quality corrosion protection by phosphating andepoxy coatingSprings Printed with part-number(speaking code = rate and dimensions)Individual protective single box packaging


WorldMags.net

SIDETRACK MIKE BLANCHET

Formula4 reformedThe FIA is giving long overdue direction to junior single-seater formulae

The proliferation ofcategories over thepast couple of decadesis acknowledged as havingdiluted the size and the qualityof the numerous starting grids,muddying the waters in deningthe best way up the single-seaterladder and making it increasinglydifcult to measure the mosttalented young drivers againsttheir peers. As a result, the wrongcall may have spoiled many aworthwhile career.

According to FIA presidentJean Todt: One of the missions ofthe Single Seater Commission isto clarify the career progressionof young professionaldrivers. The rst stepwas to repositionFormula 3 at the heartof the ladder leadingto Formula 1. We thenneeded to come upwith a category thatcould bridge the gapbetween karting andF3. It is with this inmind that we have now createdFormula 4.

While the concept of a cost-restricted formula bridging leadingto F3 is hardly new, what standsout is the understanding by theFIA of the need to do more thandream up or sanction yet anothercategory. FIA F4 no relation tothe existing Formula 4 appearsto be much more than that. Theprovision and mandating by theFederation of an all-embracing setpackage or toolbox to ASNsconcentrating on the key elementsof common technical and sportingregulations, organisation styleand effective modern marketingand communications initiatives isintended to establish a consistentpattern and identity. So, throughmultiple national championshipsF4 could effectively become aworldwide brand, opening thedoors to the participation of global

commercial and media partners tocement its future. It is imaginativeand its proof that the Federationthat controls our sport andeffectively much of our industry is aware that it needs to be pro-active, engaged and practical inensuring a healthy future for bothfrom grassroots upwards. This hasnot traditionally always been thecase, and it is encouraging.

According to the regulations,each national F4 championshipmust designate a single enginepartner. However, the ASNsmay individually decide toauthorise one or more chassistypes. Therein lies a matter of

particular interest to the racecarconstructor industry and beyond.

While the philosophy ofone-make engine and chassisformulae presents a strongargument for controlling costsand providing the level playingeld on which competitors canfairly be judged, my hope is thatthe ASNs will instead look tothe massive success of F-Ford1600 in its (near 30-years!)heyday and be persuaded tofollow that same route of xed-engine but open-chassis concept.Its to be hoped that the FIAwill encourage this. But why,when categories such asF Renault have been sosuccessful, over a long period?

Well, I have expressedbefore my concerns about thelimitations of one-make chassisin developing not only young

drivers, but also designers,engineers and teams as a whole,and the long-term negative effectthis has had, typied by someof the failings of F1 as we seeit now. A counter-argument hasbeen the overall support that amajor automotive manufacturerbrings by attaching its brand tonot only the engine, but the carand series as a whole. However,if the FIA is successful in its F4gameplan and as a result viastrong commercial partners replaces the car manufacturerin this role, then the importanceof this connection is to a largeextent negated.

Driver aside, the signicantperformance elements of aracecar built to strict regulationsare tyres, engine and chassis, andthe latter is the one that permitsthe most scope without creatinga big performance differential.Therefore the remainingarguments in favour of one-makechassis are the cost savings ofvolume manufacture that can bereected in the lower price ofhardware to competitors, plus thelevel playing eld for drivers.

If the FIA is as determined tomake F4 succeed, as it appearsto be, the potential scale ofsales worldwide should createsufcient business for morethan just one car constructor,even in each individual country.Certainly enough potential tojustify nascent racecar companiesinvesting in the design of their

January 2014 ? www.racecar-engineering.com 9

Rendering of Dallaras proposal for use in the new F4 series

Achoice of chassis promotes ingenuity of theBenBowlbykind,not seenat the junior endof the sport formanyyears

own chassis and putting thisforward for homologation andinto the marketplace. Plus,any industry needs new blood,and competition is healthy indeveloping this. A choice ofchassis promotes ingenuity of theBen Bowlby kind, not seen at thisend of the sport for many years.

STANDING OUTRegarding a level playing eld,its not just sheer speed thatshould dene the best drivers.The ability to help develop andsetup a car is of equal importanceif the stated ultimate objectivefor a winning F4 driver F1 is

attained. Best to learnthis right at the startin an open chassiscategory not totallyconstricted by theregulations. Driverswringing headlineperformance out ofunfashionable chassissoon stand out.Constructors needing

to showcase their product willinevitably step forward withoffers of support a real pushup the ladder for under-nanceddrivers that never happens withone-make chassis formulae andhas been absent for far too long.

While the main aim of F4 isto nurture driving talent, itsjust as important for the FIAto encourage and protect theindustry that provides theequipment without which therewould be no racing at all and atthe same time provide opportunityfor the serious participants in anumber of vital roles.

So could this be a greatopportunity for F4 to bring backinnovation and enervation ofthe junior racing car industry, aswell as its other objectives, tothe designated cornerstone of aprofessional single-seater motorracing career? Lets hope so.


WorldMags.net

MERCEDES F1 W04

10

Superb speed, effective evolution and a run of eight poles in nine races ne ying lap form has Mercedes in condentmood for the new campaign

Eye-catchingqualicationsBY SAM COLLINS

www.racecar-engineering.com January 2014WorldMags.netWorldMags.net

WorldMags.net

January 2014 www.racecar-engineering.com 11

The Mercedes W04 was not thebest car in the 2013 Formula 1World Championship, but for asubstantial portion of the season,it was denitely the fastest. From

the Chinese Grand Prix in April to the BelgianGrand Prix in late August, there was a SilverArrow on pole position at eight out of thenine races. With three victories to their nameat the time of writing, the signs are therethat they have a very capable design thatcould with more consistency be capable ofconverting that ying lap form to get closerto Red Bull on a more regular basis.

It was rst revealed to the media justahead of pre-season testing in Jerez,Spain. The car featured most of the majormechanical details of the W03 with a visuallysimilar aerodynamic design. The suspensionretained pushrod-actuated dampers atthe front and pullrod actuation at the rear.Propulsion again came from the Mercedes-Benz 2.4-litre V8 built by the teams sistercompany based in Brixworth, England.

The W04 was an evolution of theW03 in that it did not incorporate any

groundbreaking technology, explains BobBell, technical director at Mercedes AMG F1.It was very much a case of catching upwith the other teams that had done abetter job. So the concept was really arenement of all of the areas of the car.We had a fair amount of catching up to doas the performance of the W03 was prettyabysmal at the end of the 2012 season.We had to make up a gap to the rest ofthe eld, in terms of aerodynamics,systems, weight, stiffness, tyre thermalmanagement all of those areas.

When we started the development ofthe car, we felt that there was an eye-wateringly high mountain to climb. Butwe were realistic and looked at the areasof the car where we thought the gap wascoming from. We went off and chased those and on the whole the team did a prettygood job. We got on top of, and understoodand developed, the key areas of the car for2013, which were tyre thermal managementand tyre kinematic management throughthe suspension systems. The Coandaexhaust also brought a lot.

The pace of the W04 came as a surpriseto some in the paddock, especially followingvery mixed form in pre-season testing wherea re and a crash grabbed the headlinesat the cars maiden test. It was clearly adevelopment of the W03 in 2012, whichwas a race winner but had inconsistentform. The rst two races showed that thecar offered good pace better than manyexpected but then in China the spectacularrun of qualifying results began.

I think the car was always pretty quickwhen it rst ran, certainly over a singlelap, adds Bell. Thats indicative of the carsweight, its aero performance, its stiffness all of those characteristics. It was denitelya quick car and it took a lot of the earlypole positions. Our Achilles heel in the racewas where you had to manage the tyresover a stint, and thats really where thecars performance was lacking. The reasonfor this was the over-riding centre ofattention for everyone in the rst halfof the season, and indeed much of thefocus of 2012 as well: the performancecharacteristics of the spec Pirelli tyres.

Therst two races showed that the car had reasonably good pace,but then in China a spectacular run of qualifying results began


WorldMags.net

www.racecar-engineering.com 3 January 201412

MERCEDES F1 W04

The reason for the drop-offin the races was due to a numberof things, like our understandingof what you needed to do to thetyres to make them last, as wellas the physical things you needto do to the car to make them dothat. Its a complex thing not justabout the design of the car, itsknowing what the tyres are doing,and making sure that the driversunderstand what they need to do.

There were voices raisedin various quarters that if wemanaged to make the car quickin the race, we would not be ableto make the car quick on a singlelap. People claimed that we weresetting our car up just to be quickon one lap, and not so good over astint. That was not the case weset our car up to be as good as itcould be over a stint, because youget the points for the race. It justhappened that it made the carquick over one lap as well.

Mercedes clearly did manageto make the tyres work, as the

W04 had won three races by thetime Formula 1 took its annualholiday in August. Towards theend of the season, Mercedes wasgenerally vying for best of the restwith Lotus, after the rival Red Bullteam found an as-yet-unknownway to make its car substantiallyfaster by the time the teamsreturned after the break.

We have a strong group herewith the vehicle dynamics guys,and they worked well to get ontop of the tyres, which ultimatelythey did, enthuses Bell. We dontgo backwards after the rst lap we are the quickest car out thereapart from the Red Bull. We knowwhat we need to do to look afterthe tyres. We have been able to dothat without really compromisingour qualifying performance.

The 2013 Pirelli tyres hadsome innovative features intheir construction which, withmore testing, could have provenvery interesting, but a spate ofhigh-prole tyre failures saw theItalian company revert to the2012 tyres shortly before theAugust break. This, unfortunately,came just as the Mercedesengineers felt that they hadgot a good understanding ofthe 2013 versions.

Before the tyre roll-back wedid not understand how to setupthe car to get the best out of thetyres, and once we got a handleon it, the tyres were rolled backto 2012 specication, says Bell.That reset it all, so we had togo back and start again. Butby that point the lightbulb had

come on and we had started tounderstand what we needed todo. We were able to get the bestout of both types of tyre, largelywith the capability we alreadyhad in terms of its suspensionresponse, and how it behaves. Wedid not have to go and redesignanything, there was no magicnew bit we just did a better jobwith what we had. The key toit was understanding what wasneeded for both a single lap and alonger run.

After the string of tyre failureswhich dogged the British GrandPrix, the FIA banned the practiceof tyre swapping, where teamswould mount the right-hand sidetyres on the left wheels and vice-versa, meaning that a single tyrewould get used on both sides ofthe car during its working life.

It was to do with tyrelongevity, but also performanceeven over a single lap so it wasa complex thing, adds Bell. Itgave you more opportunity for

The cars sidepods have become increasingly compact and increasingly crowded with components, as can be seen

here a result of improvements in both design software and computer hardware. Note also the curved radiator

Oncewemanaged to set-up thecar to get thebest out of the tyres,theywere rolled back to2012specWorldMags.netWorldMags.net

WorldMags.net

January 2014 : www.racecar-engineering.com 13

choice in how you wanted to usethe tyres and get the most fromthem. It was just another tuningparameter that you could apply tothe tyres that was taken away.

One of the key elementsto getting the best out of thetyres was the suspension which,famously on the MercedesW03 and W04, is hydraulicallyinterconnected, though this isnow widespread in Formula 1.

Although it is interlinked,it does not do away with the

concepts of springing, dampingand roll stiffness, says Bell.Those characteristics and howyou adjust them to change theperformance of the car still exist,but how you achieve the changesphysically on the car can bedifferent, and that can enable

you to have a system that ismore subtle and more adjustable.

However, in reality its only anenhancement of the old springs,corner dampers and roll bars itsjust that now you can extend theability of those systems to affectall of the car. Its an enhanced

tuning aid. The regulations arevery stringent on what inputs aconnection between the frontand the rear of the car can workto, and, in essence, thats limitedto the vertical inputs throughthe tyres, which really restrictswhat you can do with them. Theyare complex and expensive, butbecause of those restrictions theyonly have limited use. You stillneed a basically good car usingit will not get you out of a hole.

FURTIVE FEATURESThe suspension was not the onlyinnovative feature of the W04.Bell is enthusiastic about thegearbox of the car somethingwhich was all-new for 2013 andhe believes it gives the team anadvantage, so much so that he isreluctant to reveal exactly why.

It has some novel featureson it, which are unique, he says.I cant go into too much detailfor obvious reasons, but it allowsus to make it a little bit lighter anda little bit stiffer. It allows us tochange aspects of what it does.As these boxes are getting socomplicated with so much packedin and around them, changingthem is becoming very difcult.So it has some advantage there.Its not an evolution, it is a stepchange in technology for us.Others may be doing the same,but we are not aware of it. Itis also a little bit more robust drivers are putting a lot moredemand on the gearboxes thesedays but the fundamentalfunction of the box has notchanged. The casing is not all thatunique its just carbon bre.

One of the notable trends ofthe period between the arrivalof a new rulebook in 2009 to2013 has been the increasinglycompact sidepods evident on F1cars. A range of components, suchas heat exchangers, KERS controlboxes and in some cases thecars ECU, are contained underthe cooling duct. The W04 is notan exception to this trend, asBell reveals. There has not beena step change in technology tomake the sidepods more compact,but the engineers have justfocused on taking volume out ofthe pieces they are packaging, hesays. Can they make one piecedo the job of two? That sort ofthing. Its generally just a caseof compacting things, and all of

Top: the use of Coanda exhausts in F1 was something that Mercedes initially resisted, but

eventually had to accept to keep up with their rivals. Various iterations were run on the W04

Above: the bulkhead of the Mercedes W04 reveals no obvious torsion bars. It is rumoured

that the car has dropped the springs as part of its hydraulic suspension system

TheW04s gearboxhas somenovelfeatureswhich allowus tomake it alittle lighter anda little bit stifferWorldMags.netWorldMags.net

WorldMags.net

Are you under pressure to designworld-class racing engines andgearboxes? Would a superiorsteel give you an edge? If so, letstalk OvaX and a way to extremeperformance without remelting.

OvaX is a new family of high-performance steels that arecustomized to withstand high stress and strain. As racingenthusiasts, we understand you cant settle for second best

when machining connecting rods, camshafts, gears, driveshaftsand other components.

Now, thanks to a highly sophisticated melting and refiningprocess, we can produce steel that is chemically ultra-clean anddurable. In other words, perfect for high-performance racing.

We are committed to ensuring swift deliveries from local stocksupplies. And we would be happy to provide metallurgical adviceto eliminate fatigue, stress and wear all to improve yourcompetitive edge.

For the full range of Ovako racing steel products, visitwww.ovako.com

DONT BENDUNDER PRESSURE.WE WONT.


WorldMags.net

January 2014 9 www.racecar-engineering.com 15

MERCEDES F1 W04

that allows you to take volumeout of the sidepod to give theaerodynamicists more room towork with.

The seemingly constantlyimproving range of digital toolsis a major part of the reason thatsidepods are becoming morecompact, and improvements bothin processing speed and softwarecapabilities have seen engineersable to push the physicaltechnology incredibly hard.

We are constantly improvingthat area with FEA to stressthings closer to the limit andmake them smaller, says Bell.We use CFD through and aroundthe sidepod and studied thecooling of the radiators andelectronics boxes. The toolswe are using are getting muchbetter and thats allowing usto squeeze things in a lot more.The CAD systems allow us toincrease productivity, with allof the ne details, the wiringroutings etc and that all allowsus to nd more space andsqueeze things closer together.

BALANCING ACTWith all of these componentsmounted on the outer edge ofthe car, it seems that it would beimpossible to get the car evenlybalanced side to side, but Belldoes not believe that it matters.Teams do not worry too muchabout lateral weight distribution,he says. It would be very difcultto get the centre of gravityexactly on the centreline of thecar its always off to one side but the effect is small enoughthat we do not worry about it.We only tend to think aboutballasting fore and aft, not sideto side. I think most teams havelooked at the lateral inertia of thecar, but its simply not enough ofan effect to be an issue.

Another reason that thesidepods are crucial, especiallywith the 2012 and 2013 cars,is the exhaust layout. Despitethe largely discussed ban onblown diffusers, reports of thetechnologys demise has beenpremature. Every car on the 2013grid uses exhaust gases to sealthe diffuser from turbulent owfrom the base of the rotating

The design of the brakesystem has been criticalon all F1 cars in recentyears, and Mercedes has beenworking hard in this area to getthe best out of them.

The brakes are veryimportant, explains technicaldirector Bob Bell. Theres a lotof performance there but itsa challenge as there are alsoa lot of compromises, alwaysbetween stiffness and weight.We want to take weight outbecause it is unsprung and atthe outboard end of the car.

You need a lot of stiffness inthe suspension system outboardwith the upright, the wishbonesand so on, and as a result thewhole area is an intense trade-off. Then you have the thermaldimension traditionally thatsa case of getting the brakes upto temperature and then havingthe ability to cool them. But nowthere is the new dimension ofusing brake thermal ows toinuence tyre temperature, soyou look at all the vents in thediscs and the drums and thatsall part of it.

Some teams use adjustersto change the thermal ows.We had a look at it, but it was

something we moved awayfrom. Its just another piece ofkit that can go wrong. If you cando it without having somethingextra which will go wrong thenits better to do so.

And then there is the otherdimension of the uprightswhich have to provide thestructural connectivity betweenthe wheel and the car. Theaerodynamicists want the air topass through them, while thesuspension people want themto be stiffer. There is nothingrevolutionary there, but its an

area of intense development,and it requires a lot or effort,complex machining and veryelegant components.

The brake materials,pads and things are justgradually evolving from themanufacturers, we have usedboth Carbon Industrie andBrembo this year. But a lot ofit is down to driver preferencefor the feel. Lewis has usedCarbon Industrie for many years,while Nico is more wedded toBrembo, but they have usedboth this year.

BRAKE SYSTEM DESIGN

rear wheel the so-called blowndiffuser. This is achieved usingthe Coanda effect which helps toroute the gases to the right partof the rear oor.

We were quite vocal in ouropposition of allowing the so-called Coanda systems, saysBell. We could see the armsrace it would entail, and thatsultimately money. That said,we are quite well-placed herewith a dyno facility on site andour engine partner at Brixworthhas a lot of technologies toallow us to fully develop theCoanda systems.

But for the smaller teamsit has to be a lot harder theyeither spend a lot of money tolittle or no effect, or they dontinvest in the technology andthey go backwards. I think it

was a very costly arms race andprobably unnecessary, but wehad to do it, and I think we dida good job of developing it. Buteverything is critical on these cars if your system is not workingthen you are nowhere.

Right up to the end of theseason, teams were developingtheir Coanda exhaust systemswith seemingly endless iterationsof the designs, and not only withthe exhaust exit and bodywork.

Its hard to say how manyversions of exhaust we havehad as there is a whole chain ofthings that effect the system,says Bell. Things that inuenceits performance like the littlestrakes down on the oor ofthe car used to tune the ow and its not just the bits thatyou see. There are other aspects

that you dont. A lot of the teamsrun resonators on the exhaustsystem these are additionalpipes and they have an impacton how well the Coandasystem works.

These resonators work a bitlike a beer bottle with someoneblowing across the rim. Theair pressure inside the bottleincreases, but when blowingstops, the high pressure airinside ows out. This goes someway to giving the effect of off-throttle blowing.

The technology is irrelevantin direct terms for 2014, and ithas no benet to the outsideworld, argues Bell. Road carscertainly dont use Coandasystems like this the onlyother things that do are a fewaeroplanes and most of them are

Wewere quite vocal in our opposition of allowing Coanda systems.Wecould see the arms race it would entail and thats ultimatelymoneyWorldMags.netWorldMags.net

WorldMags.net

www.racecar-engineering.com H January 201416

MERCEDES F1 W04

Mercedes F1 W04

Chassis: Carbon bre

Engine: Mercedes-Benz FO108F,2.4-litre V8 N/A, NGK sparking plugs,Mobil 1 lubricants.

KERS: Mercedes HPP battery electric

Suspension: Double wishbonewith pushrod-actuated hydraulicallyinterconnected Penske dampers(front) and pullrod actuated (rear)

Wheels: Advanti forged magnesium

Brakes: Brembo calipers, CarbonIndustrie or Brembo carbon/carbonfriction material

Steering: Electronic power assistedrack and pinion

Electronics: McLaren ElectronicsTAG 320 ECU

Transmission: Seven speedsequential, hydraulic actuation,carbon bre case, carbon clutch

Dimensions:Length: 5094mmHeight: 950mmWidth: 1800mm

TECH SPEC

in museums. The thing that willcarry over, regardless of whatthe rules say, is the knowledgeand understanding. There is asource of high energy gas, sothere must be something thatyou can do with it to improve theaerodynamic performance of thecar. Maybe it wont happen atthe start of 2014, but people will

eventually nd a way of usingthat ow to get a benet.

One other area that willcertainly carry over into the 2014and 2015 Mercedes cars can betraced back to the double DRSrear wing stalling device. Thepure double DRS was banned atthe end of 2012, but Mercedesis one of a number of teams to

have experimented with a passiveversion still legal within the rules.It has tested the device a numberof times in practice sessions,but it is unlikely to ever be racedon the W04.

There is no doubt that thereis a lot of effort being put in tond out if there is a completelypassive way of stalling the wing

Sometimes whatever youdo, a driver is not happywith a car or its setup. Andthat was certainly the case atsome points of the 2013 seasonwith Lewis Hamilton, who joinedMercedes at the start of theyear. The English former worldchampion was open about hisstuggle to get used to the W04early in the season.

Im not quick enough, andnot on it enough, so I need toget on it, he admitted. Actually,even in winter testing I wasstruggling. The setup they haveon the car in terms of brakecylinders and the steeringwheel, its obviously verydifferent to what I experiencedbefore, and where I was verycomfortable. Id been at McLarenfor years so I was used to it, itwas always the same.

At McLaren I had 100 percent condence in the car.

Here, Ive been strugglingwith getting that condence.It means you cant brake lateenough. When youre brakingits all about feel through yourfoot, through your boot. Itsall about the stiffness of thepedals, the modulation and theretardation of the brakes. Its thereaction of the car when you hitthe brakes. There are so manydifferent things that give youcondence. What I had before,we worked on for a long time.We got it right, and it was thesame for six years.

Ive always been strong in acar Ive felt condent in. I nowhave a car I dont particularly feelcomfortable in. While its a greatcar, I cant say Ive just clickedwith it like that. I still dont feelright in the car for some reason.

Some in the motor racingindustry suggested that theissue may be down to Hamilton

being sensitive to the stability ofthe car, and lacking condencein the tyres. Indeed Hamiltonhimself raised his own theoryon what the issue was at theCanadian Grand Prix. Maybeits my seat, he said. Today Iwas doing my belts up really,really tight which I never do.Maybe Im moving around in thecar too much.

Technical director Bob Bell,however, believes that thesituation is more simple. Itsalways important to make surethat the car reacts and behavesthe way the driver would likeit to, he says. It varies fromdriver to driver. They never setthe car up identically, neverask for the same things. Nico[Rosberg], Michael [Schumacher]and now Lewis are generally nottoo far apart they are neverdiametrically opposed. Nico doesseem to be more comfortablewith the car, but that is partlybecause he has been here longerand knows the DNA of the car,and knows what to expect.

For Lewis it has been a bigtransition. It ebbs and ows and Ithink its got to do with why on aparticular track one driver is ableto get more out of the tyres thananother. Its a hallmark of the tyresituation we are in you get thisdisparity between team-mates,Look at Vettel and Webber, forexample. Webber is no slouch,but he is not on Vettels paceon these tyres. It makes it hardfor us to do much with the carto help them beyond the classicwork of more downforce, lessdrag and trying to keep the aerobalance in one place and neverlet it move. All of that will make adriver a lot happier.

HAMILTONS LACK OF COMFORT

Lewis Hamilton has struggled to get to grips with the W04, and his

engineers have worked hard to adapt the pedal feel and bite. At the

penultimate race of the year they found that there was a fracture in

the chassis, but this was not the cause of his early season discomfort

to achieve a DRS-like effect,Bell reveals. Its far from a trivialproblem. Nobody as far as wecan tell has a working systemyet including us. There is aphysical principle out there thatsays that you should be ableto do it, but nobody has beenable to do it in practice. Its avery, very challenging problem.Next years rules however paya premium for efcient carsso anything you can do to sheddrag is a benet.

Indeed, the new rules arethe focus for Mercedes and havebeen for some time. The lasttime the team faced a major rulechange (under the Brawn GPbanner), they dominated half theraces in the season and took bothworld titles.

Rumours in the paddocksuggest that the HPP powerunit is running well and seriouswork on the W05 has beenunder way for many months.If it proves to be stronger thanthe W04 relative to the restof the eld, and manages tomaintain that qualifying muscleover whole races, then it mayprove hard to beat.

A lot of effort is being put in to nd out if there is a completelypassiveway of stalling thewing to achieve a DRS-like effect

WRI2


WorldMags.net


WorldMags.net

V8 SUPERCARS

18

Global debutants have had an eventful introduction to Australian Supercars

BY STEFAN BARTHOLOMAEUS

www.racecar-engineering.com January 2014

Itmay not be racing outside ofAustralasia for the rst time in a decade,but the V8 Supercars Championship willbe more global than ever in 2014.While visits to the likes of Shanghai,

Bahrain, Yas Marina and Austin failed togarner the attention of local fans, theintroduction of newmanufacturers hascaptured a new international audience.

Engineering resources in Japan, theUnited States of America, Germany andSweden are now being directed at thechampionship following the arrival of Nissan,Mercedes-AMG and Volvo Polestar into thelong-time Ford and Holden battleground.

Erebus customer Mercedes-AMGprogramme and Volvos new-for-2014Polestar effort have involved their offshorecounterparts from the start, while Nissansinitially domestic operation is being rampedup in a major way ahead of its second season.

V8 Supercars created its Car of theFuture regulations to entice new playersinto the mix, but the challenge of developingcompetitive four-valve engines within theexisting 5-litre rule package has proven

signicant. The Holden and Ford runnershave won 30 of the rst 31 races betweenthem, while the top four-valve car theNissan Altima of Rick Kelly is just 13th inpoints heading into the nal two events.

With much of the bottom-end of theengines set, the bulk of the work forfour-valve contenders has been focused ontheir respective cylinder heads, camshaftsand inlet manifolds. For Nissan Motorsport,working with the production-based VK56DEhead has proven the biggest limiting factorin trying to match the power and economy ofthe race-bred incumbents.

Although Nismo sent existing stocksof racing parts from its previous GT1development programme to Australiain April, there would be no bolt-on xesamong them. The 5.6-litre VK56DE GT1engines had, after all, needed only to betuned to a certain point, with the SROsbalance of performance air restrictorsdoing the rest.

Nissans Australian engine team haveaggressively developed the head overthe season, introducing several differentiterations until nding a proverbial dead-end. Were really skating on thin ice at themoment with the amount of material weveremoved from it, admitted team ownerand driver Todd Kelly after suffering twofailures during Octobers Gold Coast 600.Its well and truly put a handbrake on ourdevelopment programme.

CASTING CALLThe team is now in the nal stages ofdiscussions with Nissans Tennessee,USA, casting plant to produce a batch ofheads modied to a more racing friendlyspecication. Although a costly exercise,Kelly says that the team has no choice.

When we get the new castings donewe can basically start fromwhere we arenow and put bigger valves in the head andbigger ports, he continued. Therell be a lotmore scope to change the shape of the portsand the combustion chamber. Thatll be agood power gain once we start playing

with that. Until then, theres not really a lotmore we can do with the package weve got.We may be proven wrong by Nismo, but Idoubt that theyd come back with another15bhp or anything like that.

Here Kelly refers to one of the teamsengines being despatched to Nismos globalHQ in Japan, where a technician will bededicated to the programme for two months.The move reects an internal change ofattitude at the Tokyo-based rm, whichhad initially classied V8 Supercars asa domestic programmewhere only accessto existing parts and information neededto be delivered.

The Nismo work is expected to focus onanalysis of areas such as combustion andfriction proles, utilising test equipmentand software not available to the Australianteam. Each race series has its own uniquekind of character and honestly, Nismodoesnt have enough local knowledge of V8Supercars to be able to win, notes Nismo

president Shoichi Miyatani. But we are tryingto help the areas we can, particularly on theengine side, because its our engine.

Nissan is also using its global resourcesto re-homologate the Altimas aerodynamicpackage for 2014. Its US-based directorof motorsport innovation, Ben Bowlby, isoverseeing high-level Computational FluidDynamics analysis of the cars surfaces whilethey are being redesigned in Australia.

After the engine had been the majorfocus of both internal development andmedia discussion over the rst half of theseason, the long straights of Sandown andBathurst had the team convinced that itsstraight-line performance decit wasntall about the powerplant. The Altimas hadtaken a one-two nish on the tight WintonMotor Raceway layout in August, and yetwere struggling to see the top 20 on pacethree weeks later at Sandown, where itsspeed trap gures were some 10km/hoff the fastest runners.

We could see on the speed traces thatwe were competitive until we got above200km/h, says Nissans global motorsport

manager Darren Cox, who visited OctobersBathurst 1000. Were not getting the rightairow from the boot on to the rear wing,or its detaching and the two are competingwith each other.

While Kelly admits that the problemwillnot be completely understood until offshoreCFD work is complete, part of the revised kit set to be benchmarked against the existingplayers and new Volvo S60 in January willbe an end-plate mounted rear wing.

Nissan is the only manufacturer to runa centre-mount design following Holdensmove to the end-plate xings for this season.Although Holden had been running withvarious iterations of centre-mounts for nearly20 years, the new Commodore V8 Supercardesigner Ludo Lacroix who had previouslybeen in charge of the Ford is adamant thatthe end-plate method is superior.

It (the end-plate design) gives a littlemore efciency in drag which meansthe car can actually slide a little bit more

Baptism of re

Each race series has its own unique kind of character andNismodoesnt have enough local knowledge to be able towin


WorldMags.net

January 2014 www.racecar-engineering.com 19WorldMags.netWorldMags.net

WorldMags.net


WorldMags.net

January 2014 I www.racecar-engineering.com 21

V8 SUPERCARS

without losing too much reardownforce, says the TripleEight technical director. Suchqualities are not scrutinised in V8Supercars straightline, open-air,homologation testing.

Nissans Cox has been scathingof the homologation process sincethe Altimas troubles becameapparent, describing open-airtesting as archaic and demandinga CFD-focused approach in future.While the category has not ruledout including CFD, it has heavilydefended its 200km/h aireldcoast downs.

Understanding how to workthe system, it seems, is vitallyimportant for each manufacturer.The rst iteration of the Altima needing to minimise last-minuteredesigns in order to simplymake the rst round of the 2013season ended up as a somewhatconservative design. Ensuringthat the naturally slipperybodyshape produced enoughdrag had in hindsight beentoo great a focus from both theteam and the category.

This time, the Nissan will do itsown 270km/h coast down analysison an aireld prior to attendingthe ofcial tests. Last year, its pre-homologation testing had simplysought to mimic the 200km/h runsused in the ofcial V8 Supercarstests and were completed withinthe relatively tight connes ofMelbournes Calder Park Raceway.

The biggest difference(compared to the last aero tests)is that well have high-level CFDof all of the components weretesting, says Kelly. Secondly,well be doing our testing andbaselines at a lot higher speeds. Ithink those two things will makea huge different to the result wellget and how that translates to ourspeed on the racetrack.

Nissans four drivers combinedto score 22 top 10 nishes fromthe rst 31 races of the 36 raceseason. The one-two for theAltimas of James Moffat andMichael Caruso at Winton had beenthe single true highlight, althoughthat result was somewhattarnished as it came amid a one-off trial of a new fuel blend forthe four-valve cars ahead of theendurance races.

Initially it was thought thateconomy would be a strength ofthe four-valve units against theexisting two-valve motors. Suchpredictions, however, failed totake into account the difcultyof nding power and economywithin the limits of a 5000ccdisplacement, 10:1 compressionratio and 7500rpm rev limit.

V8 Supercars did its best tomitigate the problem pre-seasonby introducing sprint race formatsthat removed fuel stops fromthe bulk of the championship.Economy disparity was still anissue, however, ahead of theSandown 500, Bathurst 1000and Gold Coast 600 enduros, witha number of different solutionstabled for the marquee races.

Trialing a 70 per cent ethanolfuel blend (in place of the regularE85) in three of the four-valve carsat Winton in August set off a stormof controversy. Although all teamshad signed off on the process,the sudden appearance of thetwo E70-propelled Altimas at thefront of the pack proved a majorbone of contention. V8 Supercarsstood by its claim that there hadbeen no performance gain, whilekey Holden representatives verypublicly disagreed.

The situation saw thealternative fuel abandoned, witha set number of compulsorypitstops instead put in placefor the Sandown and Bathurst.The Nissan and Mercedes teams

argued bitterly that they werestill being disadvantaged due toenduring longer fuel-ll time atthose compulsory stops.

A minimum fuel droprequirement was subsequentlystipulated for the nal enduranceevent the Armor All Gold Coast600. With that rule having nowbeen mandated for all fuel racesin 2014, the engine developmentfocus for Nissan, Mercedes andVolvo Polestar can now be stronglyfocused on performance.

Alongside the Nissan, theprogress of the Mercedes has beenone of the key points of interestin the inaugural Car of the Futureseason. Funded by eccentricSydney-based global propertymagnate Betty Klimenko, theteams deal with the German AMGCustomer Sports/HWA outt wasonly concluded ve months beforethe start of the new season.

RACE WRANGLINGSThe sign-off and therefore thestart of proper developmentwork had been delayed by sixweeks while internal politics weresorted. Having initially knockedback the plan on the grounds thatthe working-class category didntt its brand image, Mercedes-BenzAustralia was ultimately coercedby its German counterparts intoletting the programme run.

Klimenko has subsequentlyspent an unprecedented amountof money on the championship.

While Nissan is thought to benancing the previously KellyRacing-branded team to the tuneof $2m to $3m per season, Erebusspend is said to have quicklystretched into eight gures.

The job of turning the 6.2-litreM159 Mercedes V8 into a 5-litreV8 Supercars engine was solelyleft to HWA, with the Germanfactory also responsible fordevelopment and servicing.A decision to move servicingin-house at Erebus Queenslandshop was taken mid-year,while performance also soonbecame a more collaborativeeffort. Discussions over how theprogramme will work in its secondseason remain ongoing.

Much of the E63 V8 Supercarsearly struggles were a directfunction of the tight timeframesinvolved in getting the projectup-and-running. Despite havingonly undertaken preliminarywork prior to the Septembersign-off, the team had its rstcar on track in Australia less thanfour months later.

Its initial race outings wereplagued by driveability issuesstemming from the enginestwin-buttery intake manifold,which had been adapted fromthe SLS GT3 version of theM159. Particularly sensitive tohigh ambient temperatures, thesystem saw its drivers reportingsignicant throttle-over-run oncorner entry.

Trials of a new fuel blend in three of the four-valve cars set off a stormof controversy, as twoAltimaswere propelled to the front of the pack

The task of turning the 6.2-litre M159 Mercedes V8 into a 5-litre V8 Supercars engine was given to HWA in Germany


WorldMags.net

www.motec.comFor more information on this product visit

- Automatic start/stop

- CAN Bus integration

- Vehicle powered

- Live gauges, no postprocessing required

- 14 hours of Full HDrecording

- Field upgradable tobenet from softwareupdates

3 KEYS TO VIDEO CAPTURE

BATTERIESDIDNT PRESS

MoTeCs HD-VCS is designed for the harsh motorsportenvironment. It uses todays highest quality videocapture technology to deliver 1920x1080 Full HDfootage at 30fps, so that your personal best willlook its best.

DONT COMPROMISEYOUR NEXT PERFORMANCE MAY BE YOUR BEST

as used in:

www.sstubetechnology.comOxfordshire Tel: +44(0)1865 731 018Email: [email protected]

EXHAUST SYSTEM DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE! : $" ! THERMAL MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

VISIT USAT PRIBOOTH3462


WorldMags.net

January 2014 C www.racecar-engineering.com 23

V8 SUPERCARS

With V8 Supercars rejectingan application to move from AMGs2D to 3D throttle mapping, theproblems were eventually solvedwith a switch to an eight-butterymanifold in May. At the requestof the category, the E63s alsojoined the rest of the eld ona cable throttle as part of therevised package, having beenearlier given a waiver to runAMGs y-by-wire system.

It made absolute sensein terms of cost containment,explained V8 Supercars MarkSkaife. But it proved too difcultto make that throttle body systemwork for themwith the level ofcompetition in the pit lane.

The y-by-wire was one ofseveral freedoms given to theMercedes that went unknown torival teams until the eve of theofcial pre-season test in mid-February. The allowance for a at-plane crankshaft, which has giventhe German vehicles a signicantlyhigher note than their rivals, andelectric-assisted steering wereamong other notables.

Like the y-by-wire, theelectric steering was also soonabandoned. The tight packagingof the electric unit had too madeit sensitive to temperature, withthe teams visit to the scorchingAustin, Texas, in late May almostsingle-handedly crippled by thesystem overheating and shuttingdown. Able to rig up temporaryextra ducting for the Sunday atthe Circuit of the Americas, thecars were switched to a moretraditional mechanical setup fromthe following event.

According to Erebus CEO RyanMaddison, the team hopes thatit will eventually be able to re-introduce the higher tech y-by-wire and electric steering systems.We didnt want to lose the Car ofthe Future aspect and technologyout of the vehicle, he says. Theyare effectively AMG componentsthat are successfully used on AMGrace and passenger cars and wewould like to utilise them, but rightnowwe need to make sure we arenot compromising our programme.

With further enginerenements and consolidatedchassis work being undertaken

through the mid-season, Erebusscored a breakthrough top veresult at Septembers Sandown500. Just four top 10s had beenscored by its three drivers acrossthe rst 31 races, however, withits top driver, Lee Holdsworth,sitting 20th in points ahead of thenal two events.

The initial homologation andcontrolled development of the newtechnical packages has proven alearning process for V8 Supercarsas well as the individual teams.Having spent nearly two decadesmaking the Fords and Holdensas technically similar as possible,balancing the competitive desiresof the new players with the realityof the strength of the existingopposition has not been easy. AMGhas made signicant noises aboutpushing for an increase to thecompression ratio, but it appearsthat such a fundamental changewill not be forthcoming.

Standing to benet frommissing the rst Car of the Futureseason is Volvo, which announcedin June that it will nance amanufacturer switch for existingnon-factory backed Holden teamGarry Rogers Motorsport for 2014.Although GRMs Melbourne baseis in charge of tting the S60bodywork around the controlchassis, the engine developmentis being undertaken at PolestarsGothenberg, Sweden, HQ.

The Christian Dahl-ownedofcial performance arm ofVolvo currently runs a ve-car

Scandinavian Touring Car teamwhile also producing limited-buildroad cars. Although not on thescale of its previous C30 WorldTouring Car project, competingwith Nismo, HWA and traditionalpowerhouses such as Triple Eight,Walkinshaw Racing and FordPerformance Racing is a big ask.

Polestars starting point is the4.4-litre Volvo B8444S V8 thathas been out of production sincebeing dropped from the S80 sedanand XC90 SUV ranges. As usualwhen an engine is removed fromthe production line-up, Volvo hassignicant stocks of the block andhead in its global inventory, and iscondent that its package will bestrong enough by the start of nextseason. Unlike Nissan, of course,there can be no casting changes ifthe head isnt up to scratch.

All of the simulations wevedone show that the power isgoing to come from it, insistsVolvos director of motorsport andpowertrain specialist, Derek Crabb.A lot of that is in the formationof the head not just the air inand out but the temperatures andeverything around that. Gettingthe right driveability, power andreliability in the timeframe willbe tight, but engines are alwayscritical for a start-up.

A key distinction of the Volvoengine is its acute 60-degreebank layout, which the categoryeffectively had no choice but tonod through if it wanted Volvospresence. We thought it would

be a massive issue to be honest,but we sat down with V8Supercars and it was far easierthan we thought, says Crabb. Itwont have any impact on purepower it just changes the airowand packaging.

Polestar has spent recentmonths quietly putting its packagetogether, with dyno testing notexpected to take place untilDecember. If all runs smoothly, therst motor will be sent to Australiaand put in one of GRMs alreadycompleted new chassis beforethe end of the month. If not, theteam could be forced to completeJanuarys aero testing with itsexisting Holden engine sittingbeneath the S60 panels.

Although there is much workto do, Dahl insists that hes notworried. Everyone looking fromthe outside is scared when theysee the rst round looming, butyou do the hard work and it allcomes together in the last weeks.It was the same thing whenwe didthe C30 from scratch we didnthave a component with a monthto go, but then everything cametogether and wewent racing.

As long as you have control ofyour time schedules and suppliesyou will be ne. If youre donedeveloping a new package twomonths before the rst race thenyou didnt push hard enough tomaximise everything you could.

As Nissan and Erebus willattest, making the rst race isonly the beginning.

Balancing the competitive desires of the newplayerswith thestrength of the existing opposition has not been easy

Erebus development budget has reputedly stretched to eight gure sums to compete in the V8 series


WorldMags.net

www.racecar-engineering.com D January 201424

The German rm plans to take its new hillclimber to Europes peaks and is looking at taking a revised version to Pikes Peak in Colorado

BY SAM COLLINS

CARLSSON SLK340

Carlssons all-newcontinental climber

Mercedes-Benz hasa long historyof hillclimbing,famously enteringthe works W125s

on various major events aroundEurope complete with twin rearwheels. Today, while the worksteam is focused on Formula 1,others keep the tradition alive.

German rm Carlsson is wellknown for its range of tuningparts for the Mercedes-Benzrange, but its Swiss importer isabout to increase the brandsmotorsport presence signicantlyby tackling the worlds mostfamous hillclimb.

Reto Meisel has been aregular hillclimb competitor formore than a decade, winning theSwiss Championship in 1998 atthe wheel of an Opel Kadett. Itwas not to be his last victory.

After winning thechampionship I bought an oldDTM Mercedes 190E and won thechampionship again in 2002, heenthuses. Meisel then crossedthe border and contested thetougher German championship

and in 2007, 2009 and 2011,won the German hillclimbchampionship with the car.

But Meisel has his sightsset higher, and at the GenevaMotorshow in 2013 he took thecovers off his new machine forthe rst time the purpose-builtCarlsson SLK340. Built aroundthe standard metal monocoque ofthe Mercedes SLK (R171), the carshares very few parts with theproduction version.

We ordered two cars fromMercedes, and one of theengineers there gave us a discwith all of the CAD data on it, saysMeisel. Its a front engined car, butnow has a transaxle layout. Wewill t the Judd DB engine. Its aLe Mans engine so has a long life,its lighter, has more power thanthe older Judd engine we ran inthe 190E its the perfect engine.We do not run a restrictor andget 610bhp. In this unrestrictedform, the DB engine also producesaround 440Nm of torque andweighs roughly 115kg.

I changed to a new carpartially for safety reasons,Meisel adds. The old cars seat,pedal box and the rollcage wereall about 10 years old. On thisnew car I have a specially-madecomposite seat from Fibreworks they also provide the Audi R18seat. Mine is similar in concept,a bit like a nest and meeting thelatest WRC standards.

The rollcage is probably oneof the most sophisticated of itskind its fully integrated withthe cars base chassis and all thesuspension pick-up points are onit. So its kind of a hybrid chassis.

One of the reasons for Meiselsextra focus on safety was thedeath of Georg Plasa in 2011while at the wheel of his BMW134 Judd. Plasa was a good friendof mine, and in fact the gearboxin this car is a bit scary, it is theold one from Georgs car he wasusing when he crashed, he says.We shipped it to Hewland whochecked it, we changed the crownwheel as we have a bigger rearwheel. Then we tted it witha Megaline paddle gearshift it

will be the rst hillclimber ttedwith an electronic shift.

The Hewland TMT transaxleis mated as usual to the samerms TPT Powerow, but asthe expected performance ofthe engine slightly exceedsthe maximum recommendedtorque for the layout, the resultwill be interesting. The torqueis controlled by what I think isa masterpiece of engineering the Sachs anti-stall clutch. Itis a centrifugal force-basedworking system which allowsvery smooth starts and allcontrolled by my right foot.

The cars suspension is pureracecar. Designed in-house byMeisels engineers, the doublewishbone layout features

The Carlsson SLK 340 pictured

here was used to develop the

bodywork on the model that will

compete in European hillclimbs.

The plan is for this car to be

developed to go to Pikes PeakThe JuddDB is a long life LeMans engine, lighterandwithmore power than the older Juddweused


WorldMags.net

Carlsson SLK340

Class: E1

Chassis:modied Mercedes-Benzsheet metal, integral TIG-weldedrollcage, front and rear frames

Suspension: double wishbone,inverted three-way KW coiloverdampers, fabricated steel uprights

Engine: Judd DB 3.4-litre V8 N/A

Exhaust: Inconel 8 into 1

Gearbox: usedHewland TMT transaxleMax torque: 44g/mDifferential: Hewland TPT PowerowGearshift: Semi-auto or full manualMegaline pneumatic closed loop

Digital interface: CAN Bus

Paddles: Hall effect contactless

Clutch: Sachs automatic RPM-controlled centrifugal twin-plate clutch

Electronics: Cosworth. Display,logger, PCM and video system

Brakes: Sicom carbon bre reinforcedceramic monobloc disc, Teves ABS

Wheels: BBS 10x18 (F) 12x18 (r)

Bodywork: Flossman. Carbon bre,with front splitter, full underbody, reardiffuser, rear wing.

Weight: 780kg inc 5 litres of fuel

TECH SPECupside-down coil-over shocksfrom KW. The suspension is notnalised, but we have been usingthe data logger to record tyretemperatures and the suspensionmovement, says Meisel. Its thebest way to get the setup right.We will also ne-tune it on a F1teams seven post rig.

Uprights and a number ofother components are made here,so we can build up a second carwithout any great problem. Thebrakes are low weight carbonbre-reinforced ceramic monoblocbrake discs from Sicom, resultingin extremely low unsprung masswhich is a focus. The car is alsotted with Teves ABS.

The aerodynamic package ofthe car is fairly extreme, with asubstantial diffuser, front splitter,diveplanes and a full-widthtwin element rear wing. Therecent E1 regulations allowus, uniquely in the touring carscene, to make big changes inchassis and aerodynamics, saysMeiser. A completely removablefront, a closed under-oor, anextensive front splitter and thefront and rear diffuser completethe aerodynamic package. Thedesign is tending towards theMercedes-Benz SLS GT3 of theFIA GT3 Series. In terms of style,

our car will not rank at all behindthe factory made cars. The wingson the nal race car have beenrevised with new endplatescompared to the pictures here. Wehad no wind tunnel time, but oneof my friends has a Faro arm, anda laser system to measure thecar and make a digital model of it.So we have done some basic CFDthat way. Maybe next year whenthe car is complete we can go toa small aircraft manufacturer inSwitzerland to test it.

Instead of just preparinga single car, Meisel is actuallybuilding a pair of the SLK340s.The rst car will be used inEuropean hillclimbs, and is likelyto be rolled out, while the second pictured here was used todevelop the bodywork, but that

car will be built into somethingeven more extreme.

My goal is to go to Pikes Peakwith this car, but perhaps not withthis engine, says Meisel. 600bhpis enough, but the altitude isan issue, so you really need aturbocharged engine. When webuild the car for that, I needeither a turbo four, or a turbo V6.When the racecar is completedwe will start to build up thesecond chassis, the one you seehere, up into a car specically forPikes Peak. The reason to build asecond car is that I can ship it ona boat which is far cheaper thanying it there. I think it will beready for 2015 or 2016.

The European specicationSLK340 is expected to run forthe rst time this spring.


WorldMags.net

www.racecar-engineering.com 2 January 2014

LAT

TheMercedes W154 wasthe last of the dominantMercedes pre-warGrand Prix cars and took

Rudolf Caracciola to the 1938European title.

Prior to this, a new Grand Prixformula was agreed in October,1932, limiting weight to 750kgand the frontal width to 34in,with the rules to be stablebetween 1934 and 1937. TheGerman Government of thetime realised the potentialto demonstrate the countrysengineering excellence, deemed anecessary attribute of the

26

The quest for German excellencemeant huge investment inracecar engineering

HINDSIGHT - MERCEDES W154

The rise of theSilver Arrows

Main pic: Hermann Lang

in a W154 at Donington,

England in October 1938.

Clockwise from top left:

Rudolf Caracciola leading

in Monaco in the W25,

April 1936; Caracciola

in the W154 at Pescara,

Italy, August 1938;

leading in Reims-Gueux,

France in July 1938

Mercedes worked on reducing the drag co-

efcient with cowled wheels, although the

bodywork was still suitable for wheel changing


WorldMags.net

January 2014 = www.racecar-engineering.com 27

The engine, however,highlighted shortcomings inthe chassis department. Nibeldied in 1934 and was replacedby Hans Gustave Rohr, and underhis guidance, the car dominatedthe 1935 season.

But after a disappointing1936 season, a new design wascommissioned for the 1937season, featuring a 5.66-litre,645bhp engine in the W125chassis, which was a tubeframedesign with a wishbone frontsuspension. The car, designed bythe 30-year-old Rudolf Uhlenhaut

who could drive almost as fastas Mercedes regular drivers, wasclocked at 193mph at Spa in 1937.

Uhlenhauts W125 carried asupercharger tted downstreamof the carburettors, with theeffect that the turbocharger wasactually compressing the nalmixture. Such was the superiorityof the Mercedes Grand Prix carsthat a new set of regulations wasthought up for 1938. This replacedthe formula limited by weight withone limited by engine capacity,which meant that the W125was no longer eligible. And soMercedes engineers got to workon a new car, the W154.

TYPE M154Uhlenhaut and Wagner startedwork on a 3-litre car that waslargely based on the W125chassis, but coupled reliabilitywith a low frontal area, poweredby a short-stroke V12 enginethat developed 485bhp at8000rpm. This was developedin-house by Daimler-Benzspecialist Albert Heess.

Powerful pumps propelled 100litres of oil per minute throughthe engine, which weighedaround 260kg. Compression wasprovided by two single-stagesuperchargers, replaced in 1939with a single two-stage unit.

TheM125was clockedat193mphatSpa in1937, andsuchwas thesuperiorityof theMercedesGrandPrix cars

that anewsetof regulationswas thoughtup for1938

time given the sanctions andhardships post-World War 1.

The Government agreed toaward 500,000 Reichsmarks(approx $250,000) to companiesproducing successful GrandPrix machines. Auto Union andMercedes both produced cars although Mercedes budget wasfour times the size of the grant.

The design team led by DrHans Nibel, alongside Max Wagner who produced the MercedesType M25 created a car with asupercharged 3.36-litre enginedeveloping 354bhp. Beforethe end of 1934, the unit wasreplaced by another, of 3.99 litresdeveloping 430bhp at 5300rpm.


WorldMags.net


www.racecar-engineering.com C January 201428

First track test of the Mercedes 154, featuring a 60-degree V12 3-litre supercharged engine

Superchargerswere investigatedfortheM163,andMercedesswitchedtoatwo-stageRootstypemountedhorizontallyatthefrontoftheengine

There was considerabledifference between theracing organisationsof Mercedes-Benz andAuto Union, says a BritishIntelligence document producedin 1947 which looked at thedevelopment of GermanysGrand Prix racing cars between1934 and 1939.

The gross outlay was roughlythe same between the two around RM2.5m ($1.25m) ineach case although the statefunded roughly one fth of thistotal spend for each. In 1937,Mercedes-Benz had a largeexperimental workshop devotedentirely to the developmentof Grand Prix machines. In thesummer of that year therewere three engineers workingon the development of the TypeM154, and one engineer onchassis modication duringthe previous year for theType W125.

No draughtsmen werecarried by the experimentalworkshop components weredetailed by the main drawingofce when required.

The workshop did notmanufacture any of thecomponents for the cars, beingengaged solely on assembly and

experimental work. Absolutepriority was given to racingrequirements by the mainmachine shop of Mercedes-Benzhowever, with the result that inan emergency a new componentcould be manufactured far morequickly than in the case of AutoUnion, where all componentswere actually manufactured inthe racing workshop.

The design of the Mercedes1.5-litre M165 was carried out bythe Mercedes-Benz main designstaff, to principals already provedon the Type M163.

CAR TRANSPORTEight large diesel lorries werepermanently attached to theworkshop for transporting carsand equipment to the circuits.One of these was equipped as amobile workshop complete withlathe, borer, welding plant and ashock absorber test jig. A secondlorry was supercharged for usein transporting urgently requiredspares when necessary.

One car for each driver plusone reserve machine and severalspare engines were taken toeach event. In addition, therewas a practice machine available.This was generally used as amobile testbed for any new

design features. Auto Unionmethods contrasted sharply here.

A doctors services wereretained jointly by Mercedes-Benz and by Auto Union, and healways accompanied the teamsto any event. Also present wererepresentatives of Shell andContinental, which provided thetyres for the cars.

Auto Unions view was thatthe RM500,000 per annumwould fully cover the expense ofracing. A racing workshop wasformed at Chemnitz under OskarSiebler, and an engine researchlab at Zwickau, Saxonia, underRobert Eberan von Eberhorst.The upkeep of the two amountedto RM2.5m per annum. Thisgure was much the same asthat for the Mercedes-Benzracing workshop.

There was the fundamentaldifference, however, in that thedirectors of Auto Union regardedtheir racing workshop andlaboratory as a self-containedunit, responsible for the actualmanufacture as well as thedesign and development of theGrand Prix machines. The racingprogrammewas not, according tothe report, allowed to interferewith the normal work of the mainAuto Union workshops.

INTELLIGENCE GATHERING

Fuel was carried in a singlefuel tank in the rear of the carbetween 1934 and 1939, whenan additional tank was tted.The Mercedes engineers soughtto increase power throughincreasing the revolutions,piston area and volumetricefciency. It was undesirableto increase the piston speedabove 4000ft/min to help withreliability, and so the companyswitched from the V8 that hadpowered the cars since 1934 to the V12.

The 3-litre Mercedes produced485bhp at 8000rpm at itspeak in the French Grand Prixat Reims in 1938, where theW154 for the rst time used ave-speed gearbox.

SHOCK DEVELOPMENTSOne of Uhlenhauts rst majordecisions was to abolish theuse of all friction-type shockabsorbers, on the grounds thattheir damping characteristicswere always unstable, beingimmediately varied by thepresence of oil or water.

After the 1936 season,therefore, all cars were tted withdouble-acting piston-type shockabsorbers, which resulted inheavy damping to the downwardmovement of the wheel.

The effective spring ratesof the front and rear suspensionsystems were identical whenin their normal position. Theresult of this was that when thefuel tanks were practically empty,the natural periods of the frontand rear suspension system werethe same, and they could bedamped accordingly. When thefuel tanks were full, however,the natural period of the rearsuspension became considerablylonger than the front. This wouldtheoretically cause an increase inthe resultant pitching of the caras a whole, if the same amountof damping was employed as inthe previous case.

For this reason, the TypeW154 (and W165s) sported two-position shock absorber controls,enabling the driver to slightlymodify their characteristic as thefuel tanks became empty.


WorldMags.net

RACE CAR

Thescienceoffriction

www.apracing.com

Experience, technology and innovation go into ourRadi-CAL caliper design, resulting in reduced weight,increased strength, stiffness and improved cooling.

We apply this same approach to our whole product rangeas we constantly explore new materials, techniques andsystems in our quest for continuous improvement andrace success.

Fit AP Racing brakes and clutches for ultimate performance.

T: +44 (0) 24 7663 9595 E: [email protected]

ULTIMATEPERFORMANCEGiving supreme control to race teams all over the world.Radi-CAL only from AP Racing


WorldMags.net

www.racecar-engineering.com F January 2014


LAT

30

Mercedes W154

Engine: 60 degree V12, 2.96-litre485bhp @8000rpmCylinder block: chrome-steelbarrel with integral head ofinverted V-formValves: four poppet valves percylinder of Krupp steel, 15 per centchrome. Four overhead camshafts,gear-driven from the rear end ofthe crankshaftCon rod: one-piece nickel-chrome-steel with split big-endLubrication: dry sup of 15 to20-litre capacityCooling: 100 per cent EGmaintained at 1.5 ATA pressure.Normally run at 100degC

SuperchargerType: Roots two-stage, horizontallymounted front end of crankshaft,gear-driven through exible couplingat 1.25 x engine speedPressure: 2.3 ATAMaterials: rotors of nickel-steel,casing of Elektron alloyCarburation:multiple-chokeMB carburettor on suction sideof turbochargerIgnition: Bosch Magneto

TransmissionClutch: single plate dry 287mm

SuspensionFront: parallel wishbone links withopen vertical coil spring and doubleacting hydraulic shock absorbersRear: De Dion with torsionbar progressive action springingand double acting hydraulicshock absorbers

SteeringType: screw and nut withturning circle of 12.5m (41ft 6in)

Brakes: hydraulic two-leading showwith twin master cylindersLining: Iurid BA

DimensionsWheelbase: 2730mmTrack: 1475mm front,1310mm rearWeight distribution: 40.8 per centfront, 59.2 per cent rearTotal: 1316kg (with fuel and driver)Fuel tank size: 400 litres

TECH SPEC

RACE DEBUTThe W154 debuted at a non-championship race in Pau,France in 1938. Two cars wereentered, for Rudolf Caracciolaand Hermann Lang. Lang crashedin practice, leaving Caracciola second on the grid to start therace. He handed the car to Langmid-race, but the car developeda sparkplug problem and nishedtwo minutes behind.

The race record of the W154 inthe hands of Caracciola, Manfredvon Brauchitsch and Lang wasenviable, as they qualied andraced at the front of the gridjust about everywhere, althoughit was Englishman Richard Seamanwho won the German Grand Prixfor Mercedes-Benz that year whenVon Brauchitschs car caught re.

Post-war, Mercedes attemptedto turn the W154s into oval racerswith a view to competing atIndianapolis in 1951. Thecars were entered for two racesin Argentina that year, andattained two second-placednishes before Mercedesdiscontinued the programme.

CHARGING FORWARDIn addition to developmentof the carburettors of the V8engine family used between1934 and 1937, superchargerswere investigated for the nextgeneration engine, called the

M163. Tests carried out with aZoller, vane-type superchargerwere considered to giveunsatisfactory results, troublebeing experienced with thevanes seizing in their guidesat 5000rpm. Instead, Mercedesengineers switched to a two-stage Roots type supercharger,mounted horizontally in thefront of the Type M163 engine.The rotor housing of the rststage was longer than that ofthe second stage, and the rotorsrevolved at the same speed 1.25times that of the engine speed.Fuel was supplied by means of amultiple choke DB carburettor tothe inlet side of the rst stage.Before reaching the carburettor,however, fuel passed through asmall radiator mounted in frontof the normal coolant radiator inorder to still further increase theultimate charge density.

The 1938 Mercedes TypeM163 engine was tted to theW154 chassis with twin hydraulicmaster cylinde

racecar engineering - january 2014

Documents

hose diameters

xrp racecrimp hose

hose end system

black nylon braided

crimp collars

bent tube

tube wall

convoluted hoses