2014 Car Launches and Testing Thread

Yeah when that Merc broke down coming out the garage, the sound of the whine-down was like jet engines on an aircraft spooling down. And some of the off-throttle "throaty" noises have been satisfyingly teste-tickling.
Might sound OK if they can run for more than a lap at a time at some point.
 
That's another thing about the last time F1 cars were turbocharged, they broke down quite often, some more than others. The BMW engine, for all it's ridiculous power, was notorious for blowing up, and was the Renault and Ferrari V6s during the first few years.
 
Yeah when that Merc broke down coming out the garage, the sound of the whine-down was like jet engines on an aircraft spooling down. And some of the off-throttle "throaty" noises have been satisfyingly teste-tickling.

Really? To me it sounds like my vacuum cleaner when I turn it off. Which goes well with their noses.
 
Best looking car of the lot.

That Caterham, what the hell were they thinking? Did their computer break and they had to knock up a clay model?
merc-w05-three-qaurter.jpg
 
I don't see the cars will break down that often as in the 80s. At least not with the 80s issues. If they do it'll be kers/ers related issues. Manufacturing and materials have come a long way since the 80s. Blown turbos may happen, but they will be a rare exepcion.
 
Don't mention "blown turbos" to Newey, otherwise he'll find a way to direct airflow over the turbo to create downforce.
 
It seems like no matter what Newey came up with this year, the Renault engines seem to have some serious reliability issues. Autosport did the maths: Rosberg alone did more laps today than all Renault-engined cars combined during the two days of testing.
 
I don't see the cars will break down that often as in the 80s. At least not with the 80s issues. If they do it'll be kers/ers related issues. Manufacturing and materials have come a long way since the 80s. Blown turbos may happen, but they will be a rare exepcion.

You do realise that the new powertrains are slightly more complex than the V8s, right? I mean, Red Bull had issues for years with the basic KERS system we had previously. This new system is way, way more complex.
 
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It seems like no matter what Newey came up with this year, the Renault engines seem to have some serious reliability issues. Autosport did the maths: Rosberg alone did more laps today than all Renault-engined cars combined during the two days of testing.

That proves nothing, i'll wait for the first race to see who gets across the finish line in one piece and who doesn't.
 
Sure. But we won't see blown turbos or engine explosions. More like retirements due to energy recovery systems failures.
 
That proves nothing, i'll wait for the first race to see who gets across the finish line in one piece and who doesn't.
I did not say it proves anything - yet. I just say that this imbalance may create problems due to lack of running meaning fewer quirks being ironed out. 11 laps in between three (or four?) teams running the Renault engine after two days of testing is pathetic and points directly at the engine being the root of the non-running, otherwise the problems would not be equally spread among teams. Maybe this will not affect RBR as much as the other Renault-powered teams because they got special Newey magic, but if I were principal of a Renault-running team, I'd be worried right now.
Sure. But we won't see blown turbos or engine explosions. More like retirements due to energy recovery systems failures.
We'll see to that, but right now it certainly looks like it.
 
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Hey, even the first race of the V8 era, there were 2 engine retirements (a Honda and a BMW).
 
Not saying there won't be any. There just won't be the retirement bonanza as in the typical 80s turbo era race.

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The RedBull sounds like a trabant:

 
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