McLaren's edge

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mancombseepgood

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http://www.f1technical.net/development/187?vo=126
McLaren have recently been using steering wheels with 4 paddles, rather than the usual two. The 'telegraph' have reported that, while the upper paddles are used for conventional up and downshifting, the additional levers allow the driver to select a different engine mapping, independently from the gear shifting.

The currently used standard engine control unit enable to teams to program a number of predefined engine mappings, optimising traction or driveability in different conditions or at different speeds. The new system enables the driver to change gears and simultaneously change to a different engine mapping by pulling the paddles at the same time. Most importantly, it looks to be allowed by current regulations as these only stipulate that engine mappings can only be changed by the driver. Any automatic change acting upon a gear shift is forbidden.

Already considered a manual traction control system, the drivers have not the ability to effectively limit wheel spin when accelerating out of slow corners while not reducing power at higher speeds. When finally considered legal by the FIA, Ferrari is likely to be quick and copy the system to recover from their current performance deficit.
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killadoob said:
o here we go again with mclaren cheating :p
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Nope - just Ferrari's lagging lol... it's a manual thing ;)

http://images.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/49039_2.jpg
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And it's just another form of engine mapping...

http://www.itv-f1.com/Feature.aspx?Type=Ted_Kravitz&id=42139
An engine map is much like a ‘sport mode’ in one of those posh German cars – it changes the throttle response and consequently the torque curve you get from your engine through the rev range.

The introduction of the common ECU has cut down on the number of engine maps the teams can use.

There used to be lots of different maps for lots of different occasions, and the drivers could change them whenever they wanted, to get the best useable power from their engine.

Now, though, there is a 90-second period from the moment you get up to speed with one map to when you can change it for another.

This was done to dissuade the drivers using a particular map for the start, which would help them get off the line in a way that might simulate the banned launch control.

The thinking was that no one would want to drive with the start map for the first lap of the race.

But guess what? Everyone is using the start map and just living with the consequences for the first minute and a half. This has contributed to some of the first-lap incidents seen so far this season.

The start map effectively ‘softens up’ the power delivery so it is more controllable. There will still be the same amount of travel in the throttle pedal, but the torque comes in more smoothly at the low revs used at the start.

Then, the fun starts. This start map has a big torque plateau where revs rise but nothing happens, then all the twisting power comes in at the top of the rev range. With no traction control, you can imagine this takes a little getting used to.

They’re all doing it because, sad as it may seem, a driver’s best chance of overtaking someone these days is at the start, and a bad start will wreck your race.
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If the other teams can't match it, they will lobby for it to get banned. :D
 
Ferrari has all the info already, it's in that 750 page technical document they got their guy to swap. They are just to scared to have it photo copied for some reason :)
 
I dont get it. Ferrari looked untouchable at the start of the season, and now are struggling to be the 2nd fastest car on tracks that have traditionally favoured them. They clearly have gone off on a tangent.
 
I had a dream last night.

It went like this:

Ferrari 1,2 with massa winning on the sharqi urban bf 2 server.
 
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