Formula 1 technology in road cars: Part 2

To be fair, motorsport’s competitiveness proves that humans have an innate need for speed. And this is perhaps more true in Formula 1 than in any other sport, where victory can be decided in fractions of a millisecond.

Here, the combination of huge egos and equally huge amounts of sponsorship means that the teams are constantly pushing each other with new and often revolutionary innovations to test the limits of the rules. race.

In part 1we explored how this competition led to advances in materials science, aerodynamics and suspension, which have filtered down to the cars seen on the road today.

However, these are not the only areas where improvements have been made. Powertrain and powertrain technology, particularly in relation to engines, transmissions and hybridisation, is another key development area that has seen certain advances translate into useful benefits. figure for road cars.

Powertrain technology

Perhaps one of the most fundamental powertrain advancements that can be attributed to Formula 1 is the development of a combination of features that form the basis of contemporary internal combustion engines.

This has been established since 1912 by the Peugeot L76 Grand Prix (above), which had a 7.6-liter inline 4-cylinder engine and won both the French Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500 race that season. .

More importantly, however, the L-76 was one of the first to demonstrate a DOHC (double overhead camshaft) design with four valves per cylinder, along with compact hemispherical combustion chambers, can dramatically improve engine performance, to the extent of many modern vehicles. Vehicles now follow the same basic layout.

In addition, the L-76 also used a dry sump lubrication system to improve engine cooling and provide a lower center of gravity – this lubrication system continues to be used in countless high-performance vehicles. high yield today.

Turbocharged engines have long been a staple of modern road cars since the 1970s, but one of the more recent developments, used specifically by Mercedes-AMG and other brands, is a ‘hot vee’ engine design whereby the turbochargers are located in the ‘vee’ of the engine.

The goal of this design is to improve responsiveness and reduce turbo lag by reducing the distance the gases produced by the engine must travel to increase turbocharger speed. Popular through models like Mercedes-AMG A45This design was actually pioneered by the Ferrari 126C, launched initially for the 1981 Formula One season, using a 1.5-litre V6 design that produced at least 417kW of power.

Electrification is becoming increasingly important as a way for car manufacturers to meet stringent upcoming Euro 6 and Euro 7 emissions targets, and mild hybrid systems are one of the approaches. to meet this challenge.

Many of today’s mild-hybrid powertrain vehicles employ a combination of regenerative braking and a 48-volt battery that allows the vehicle to capture and convert kinetic energy from braking into electrical energy stored in the battery. In turn, batteries can be used to improve performance and efficiency by assisting the engine in certain driving conditions, such as when the car is accelerating or directly powering the vehicle. auxiliary systems such as automobile air conditioners.

The latest EQ Boost system in the new version Mercedes C-Class is a good example of this, providing additional power when needed.

The mild hybrid system shares fundamental similarities with the KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) that has been used in Formula 1 since the 2009 season, while the F1 system also recovers kinetic energy from the brakes of the car. vehicle and store in a battery or supercapacitor for later use, it is more focused on performance, with the latest KERS units able to provide a temporary boost of 120kW when deployed by the driver.

Transmission

Decades ago, Formula 1 cars used a traditional manual transmission, however, the teams have sought to develop a transmission that is more compact, lighter and also allows for quicker changes that the driver can change. No need to take your hands off the steering wheel.

One of the significant innovations in this space is the introduction of a sequential manual transmission with an electronically controlled clutch (also known as a semi-automatic transmission). This transmission allows the driver to shift gears via paddles mounted on the steering wheel, and thus eliminates the need to take hands off the steering wheel to shift gears.

John Barnard at Ferrari helped develop the system for the 1989 Formula One season, with the suitably equipped Ferrari 640 driven by Nigel Mansell winning the Brazilian Grand Prix on its debut. Within the next five years, virtually all Formula 1 teams will decide to emulate this gearbox design, and manual and sequential manual transmissions are still in use today.

The use of paddle shifters offers obvious ergonomic benefits and these controls and semi-automatic transmissions, first used in a road car in 1997, are available as an option on Ferrari’s F355 supercar and named the ‘F1’ gearbox.

Other versions using the same basic principles and controls include the less complex Selespeed system, used on various Alfa Romeo and Fiat models such as the 156 and Punto respectively.

BMW has also adopted a similar, but more complex, system, with an SMG (Sequential Manual Transmission), as used on various M cars such as the E46 M3 and E60 M5. In these cars, the driver can adjust the gearshift point and speed with different preset options.

Which road car is the most similar to the current F1 racing car?

Today, there are countless vehicles that incorporate some of the technologies described above, even entry-level models that now have mild hybrid technology and paddle shifters (if not a semi-automatic transmission). widely used throughout the industry.

The Mercedes-AMG One arguably the most F1-like road car. The constantly delayed hypercar, which entered production recently (belatedly), features a 1.6-liter V6 derived from F1.

The engine has been tuned for on-road use with more endurance and 11,000 rpm lower rpm and is coupled with a KERS system that includes the MGU-K (Engine-Generator) and MGU -H (Heat-engine generator). F1-style sequential manual transmission is also used.

Mercedes claims the AMG One engine can last up to 50,000 km before requiring a factory overhaul and total system output is 782kW with a top speed in excess of 350 km/h.

THAN: Formula 1 technology in road cars: Part 1