ChrisB
02-28-03, 09:35 PM
This is just a cut+paste of one paragraph in my other V10 post, but with a few pictures. I posted a lot on this when CART was gonna do the XG 3.5L V8 last year, and I still believe it for a NA V10.
CART shouldn't lose the sleek look we all like about the Champcars, and put a big hump at the back of the cars profile. Nascar and Indy Lights (and early F1) have shown that a race engine can run just fine without the intake air being "rammed". Think about it... the airbox is most effective at high speeds like you would see on an oval... which is where they might be using an orifice restrictor. Why use a device to increase power only to need to take it away? The airbox is least effective on a road-course, paricularly braking and accelerating in turns when the speeds are lowest. There's no advantage to having an airbox if everyone also has one... it's a wash. There's also issues of whether airboxes disturbs the airflow (http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/airbox2.jpg[/url) to the rear wing. Tech reasons aside, aesthtics and differentiation are important too. Champcars, even with an NA engine, don't need airboxes. (Of course, if CART were to go to a spec chassis, they could make the intake opening over the engine whatever they want, and everyone would have the same thing)
Here's those pix I've posted before, from RACER and Racecar Engineering circa '94 when F1 was talking about eliminating their airboxes. Looking at these, I kinda wish they had.
http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/airbox2.jpg
http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/airbox3.jpg
This car needs no introduction:
http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/lotus79.jpg
CART shouldn't lose the sleek look we all like about the Champcars, and put a big hump at the back of the cars profile. Nascar and Indy Lights (and early F1) have shown that a race engine can run just fine without the intake air being "rammed". Think about it... the airbox is most effective at high speeds like you would see on an oval... which is where they might be using an orifice restrictor. Why use a device to increase power only to need to take it away? The airbox is least effective on a road-course, paricularly braking and accelerating in turns when the speeds are lowest. There's no advantage to having an airbox if everyone also has one... it's a wash. There's also issues of whether airboxes disturbs the airflow (http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/airbox2.jpg[/url) to the rear wing. Tech reasons aside, aesthtics and differentiation are important too. Champcars, even with an NA engine, don't need airboxes. (Of course, if CART were to go to a spec chassis, they could make the intake opening over the engine whatever they want, and everyone would have the same thing)
Here's those pix I've posted before, from RACER and Racecar Engineering circa '94 when F1 was talking about eliminating their airboxes. Looking at these, I kinda wish they had.
http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/airbox2.jpg
http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/airbox3.jpg
This car needs no introduction:
http://www.netaxs.com/~gg1/race/lotus79.jpg