New 2008 car renderings from Phoenix Race Works.

[ilia]

We've been working hard on building the prototype 2008 car, but are also finishing up some work on the computer. I thought I'd post the latest renderings:












These pictures effectively show one of the aspects of the new car we're most proud of- overall packaging! The body is, in our opinion, as narrow as an F1000 car can get and remain practical. The rear shot is a good example of this- you can see the bulges in the bodywork on either side, to allow clearance for the sprocket and engine on the left and right sides, respectively. The sidepods are also quite low, to further reduce the overall frontal area of the car.

The end result of all this "trimming" is the smallest possible frontal area, with the associated reduction in drag. This should substantially increase the F1K-08 car's top speed and acceleration. The low sidepods will help provide cleaner air to the rear wing.

Also noteworthy are the chimneys and louvers on the rear of the sidepods. These will evacuate air from our heat exchangers, increasing their efficiency. Not visible are our integrated cooling ducts. These are built into the bodywork of the center section of the car, and serve to tightly seal our heat exchangers within their ductwork. Proper ducting of incoming air and evacuation of outgoing air allow us to run smaller heat exchangers and sidepods, reducing weight, frontal area, etc...


Expect some more images in the near future, as we continue to run CFD testing on our bodywork and wing package.

[Matt Conrad]

And one thing Ilia (new member of our team by the way) didn't mention is that this car isn't just on the computer...it has already begun to come to life. The body plug is taking shape as I type and the chassis is already partially constructed as well. As in the past, we will be sharing info on the build process....very soon.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[Billy Wight]

The renderings look nice, but I think there's too much Armor-All on those tyres, they're kinda shiny... What's in there for side impact protection? The low sidepods certainly reduce the frontal area, but is there an adequate amount of protection on the sides?

[Lotus7]

SLICK!

what software are you using to create this?

thx

[VehDyn]

Looks great, Matt & Ilia. Definitely looks more slippery and the renderings look fantastic. It almost looks real. Like a scale windtunnel model.

[Matt Conrad]

Billy,

There's a revised tube structure (from our 2007 car) and we're going to be using Kevlar reinforcement in the side panels as the rules allow/require.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[Billy Wight]

Matt-

Sounds good, do you guys have an expected completion date for the first prototype?

[Messenger Racing]

Looks Great Matt - let me know when the free test drive program kicks off! Do you think it will accomodate a tall driver?

Jay

[Keith Carter]

Wow, Matt! I like this new prototype much better.

[dereklola]

Matt - why does the front of the underfloor (in plan view) extend forward at the outer edges? I'm sure you didn't do it just for fun.

I was down in Phoenix couple of months ago and never even thought of visiting you - shame on me - but I did have a good lunch at Roger Penske's museum which I think is in your corner of Phoenix. Like everything he does both the museum and lunch were excellent. Derek

[ghickman]

Matt - why does the front of the underfloor (in plan view) extend forward at the outer edges? I'm sure you didn't do it just for fun.

I was down in Phoenix couple of months ago and never even thought of visiting you - shame on me - but I did have a good lunch at Roger Penske's museum which I think is in your corner of Phoenix. Like everything he does both the museum and lunch were excellent. Derek

Those are most likely Vortex generators....nice work Dustin and Matt.

[Wright D]

Some how posted the same thing twice, must have clicked the button twice.

[Wright D]

Dereklola,
I think I can field your question regarding the floor design. The floor was designed with CFD as an aide in our efforts... We wanted to maximize the down force and minimize pitch sensitivity; both can be problems when you are dealing with a mostly flat bottom car. I don’t want to give away all our secrets, but we do manage these two problems by developing a pair of vortices created by the protrusions on the front of the floor. We used CFD extensively to study the effectiveness of several vortex generating devices at the front of the floor. We have moved toward the ones that worked the best, and also looked to be the most buildable and repairable, not just aerodynamically effective. We pulled the floor out to the maximum width allowed by the rules to also maximize down force. We have dramatically increased the under car down force form the f1k.07.

[Wright D]

Looks Great Matt - let me know when the free test drive program kicks off! Do you think it will accomodate a tall driver?

Jay

Jay,

We developed our new car to accomodate a 95th percential driver, ie 95 percent of all American males will be small then "Mannie the Mannequin" our dummy CAD driver model. The driver model is the same one that I developed back in my FSAE days, as the FSAE rules require that you fit a driver of that size.

Even though we can fit a large driver, we still can fit the smallest of drivers as well. We have improved the adjustable pedal assembly; with only two bolts and the whole pedal assembly can be adjusted over a 12" range. The steering column is also highly adjustable in bolth height (2") and length (6").

[Wright D]

SLICK!

what software are you using to create this?

thx

The software is Photoworks, and is an add in for SolidWorks. I have purchased a seat of SolidWorks that is truly awesome! We use it for FEA, CFD, renderings like the ones above, and all kinds of other neat tech type stuff.

Sorry for the late answer, I did not see this question; Matt had to point it out to me.

[cparsons]

BEA-U-TI-MOUS!! That is so clean it will be like running in a vacuum. The air won't even know you were there.

[SCOTTY81]

Matt and crew....

very nice...
I bet you just picked up an extra 10mph over the other guys with the small sidepod inlets.
very slick design guys.....


scotty
Taylor Race Engineering

[ilia]

Scotty, I really appreciate your vote of confidence! Dustin speaks very highly of you, and I hope we will be as fortunate as you say we will.

[SCOTTY81]

You are welcome Ilia..

And tell Dustin and Matt thanks for the buisness for me.

scotty
Taylor Race Engineering

[B17overhead]

Having seen some of the suspension also, I think this will be quite a package.

Chuck