Ferrari Mailing List: Re: Gearing For Top Speed

[Larry Turner (l02turner]

Hi Jim -
I'm sure many teams use all kinds of the latest greatest computer 
gizmo's - things we can only wonder about --  but there is still the 
basic premise regardless who does the choosing.  And there's some racing 
that is still "seat of the pants...."

I think my problem was not considering that a gear that gets a high 
speed "early" would not give a speed as high as one that continues to 
accelerate along the full straight, just reaching the redline at the end 
of the straight.

Have a nice week ya'll -
LarryT

On 12/31/2010 9:50 PM, Jim Conforti wrote:
> Larry,
>
> With no disrespect to the "classic" "old-timer" drivers, a smart driver
> today leaves the gearing selection primarily to the engineers who can
> simulate the entire race/track under differing environmental conditions
> and thus choose the right gears/etc.
>
> Even when it comes to suspension, it is best for the driver to say what
> it is NOT doing that he WANTS it to do, and leave it to the suspension
> boys to decide what to change.
>
> The amount of computing power and complex software at the disposal of
> any professional motorsport team is staggering.
>
> Bosch, for example, has a suite of software that stretches from their
> ETAS (a sub-division) INCA engine calibration software, all the way to
> full vehicle/race simulation software - all tied together if you want
> to do it that way!
>
> I've surprised a few of the Grand Am/Speed World Challenge guys by
> asking 1E6 questions, getting some datalogs, inputting their cars into
> some software, and suggesting small changes to this or that - that they
> think will make "no difference", yet shave tenths off a lap.
>
> If the input is correct (GIGO) it's quite amazing what serious race
> simulation software can do.
>
> Especially when you have a few Teraflops of compute power<grin>.
>
> Jim
>
> PS: Typing this from a workstation with ~2 Teraflops on standby.
>
> On 12/31/2010 7:41 PM, Larry T wrote:
> > I hope all will have a safe New Year and be careful when celebrating
> > tonight.
> >
> > Iâve read numerous books by current and past race drivers who were at the
> > top of the game.  Lauda, D Bell, and others.
> >
> > They said that when setting up the gearing of their car for a circuit they
> > would want the car to be accelerating in top gear and reach redline at the
> > end of the longest straight.  There's much more to it than that but that's
> > basically how they come up with a gear ratio for top gear  -  at least as a
> > starting point.
> >
> > To me, it would seem a car that accelerates earlier on the straight â even
> > if it âran out of steamâ after reaching redline part way through the
> > straight would be the faster car.   I may not be explaining this very well â
> > but I donât want to write 4 pages of email.
> >
> > ;-)
> >
> > I suspect the drivers are right to want to accelerate all the way when on a
> > straight - but I am struggling to understand how that would be the fastest
> > time.
> >
> > Comments?
> >
> > Happy New Year!!
> > LarryT
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
> > To unsubscribe or modify your subscription options, please visit:
> > http://lists.ferrarilist.com/mailman/options/ferrari/lndshrk%40xmission.com
> >
> > Sponsored by BooyahMedia.com
> > and F1 Headlines
> > http://www.F1Headlines.com/