F1 so often flatters to deceive

I sometimes wonder why I continue to arrange my life around GP dates because so often, what unfurls flatters to deceive, but on this occasion, I really do feel there’s something surprising afoot as teams battle with the biggest rule changes in years.

Ferrari and McLaren are already claiming that they’re disadvantaged because they were forced to concentrate on developing their 2008 cars right up to the last race of the year while others dropped the baton and got on with dealing with the raft of changes enforced for 2009. In fairness, there is some truth in their disclaimers as McLaren in particular is struggling with a serious pace deficit in testing, but this outfit is not shy to indulge in sandbagging. 

Ferrari too is not averse to erecting a few smoke screens but right now, the BIG surprise is the testing performance of the Brawn Mercedes. In the space of just a few days, the team that once sported a Honda logo (and engine) has blown the other teams into the weeds.

Sure, there is concensus that the Benz engine is the strongest on the grid but you don’t just bolt a V8 lump into a GP car and expect it to overcome all the other elements that combine to make one car better than another. Clearly, Brawn GP has found an early advantage in terms of aerodynamic performance and mechanical grip that’s left the opposition scratching around. After all, the mighty McLaren team uses the same engine yet they’re light years slower around the same track….at the moment.

If these pre-season tests can be taken as a realistic guide, the front runners look to be Brawn, BMW, Red Bull and then Ferrari. It would be nice to see the front runners jumbled up but I’m not so sure that I’m looking forward to hearing the Brit commentators rabbiting on about Jenson Button leading a GP in a Brawn! There again, the return of the BBC may just bring about a less partisan approach to a sport which prefixes its title with the word “World” as opposed to “British”.

Aside from the broader front wing and narrower rear wing, the tyres will provide the most obvious pointer that you’re looking at a 2009 racer. This year, we’re back to slicks which means there will be no groove to feature the white “line” showing that a car is running on soft rubber.  Instead, the soft tyres will feature a green painted line running around the shoulder of the tyre. On the subject of tyres, you will be amazed, as I was, to learn just how much these components can affect the performance of a GP car. As an example, I can tell you that when McLaren switched to (as every Michelin team had to) Bridgestone rubber in 2007, they claimed their car was around one second a lap slower.  This reduction in pace was not so much a function of the grip of the tyres but rather a function of the way in which the sidewalls flexed!

Memory tells me that Bridgestones generally featured slightly harder compounds on the running surfaces and softer sidewalls which flexed a bit more than a Michelin. Believe it or not, but this flexing pattern disturbed the aerodynamics sufficiently to upset the overall balance of the car. It took a while for McLaren to introduce optimised aero bits and pieces, not least of which were the panels attached to the bodywork slightly behind the front wheels.  These panels, known as barge boards, direct the air displaced by the tyres into tunnels under the car so as to increase downforce and therefore grip.  Because of the different tyre flexing pattern, the original board design did not optimise this flow of air.

Paranoid

I absolutely abhor leaving my car in a public car park because I fear that others who don’t give a hoot will swing their doors into the sides of my car and leave ugly dents as proof of their couldn’t-care-less attitude.

It also drives me demented when I pull up at a service station and the attendant stands right up against the door so I can’t easily alight to check on his activities with the fuel hose.  Worse follows when the same attendant leans on the bodywork of the car or rests his hands on the paintwork.

My BP goes into orbit but it isn’t just pump attendants who find a need to support their body weight by leaning on cars.  Take a look at most press release pics, which I get an awful lot of, and you can be sure that if some big wig at the relevant manufacturer wants us to see his molars, he too will be resting his greasy fingers on the paintwork which some poor back room guy has spent hours polishing up.

Quite the worst thing of all though, and this crime should justify a jail sentence, is the habit some have of resting their shod feet on bumpers.  This inexcusable activity is getting increasingly difficult to indulge in as bumpers become more integrated into the overall bodywork, but it still happens far too often. Just take a look at a Total (petroleum) ad in current SA car mags and you’ll see a dood complete with a map in hand, resting his foot on the rear bumper of a Toyota Prado.  Imagine the scratches!  No prizes for guessing which fuel stations don’t get my business.

Rocketing Sales

The gloom and doom pervading every nook and cranny in the automotive world was discarded in a big way in Germany last month.  The German government offered an E2500 cash incentive to owners of older cars to get rid of them and buy a more efficient new car.  VW matched the government offer and was rewarded with all time record February sales of over 120 000 units.  Admittedly, the margins on such sales were razor thin but it kept the lines going and kept dealer staff off the streets.  It also came as an unexpected boost to VW South Africa who were commisioned to produce a few thousand LHD Polos in a hurry to make up for the German home market shortfall.

Back to Geneva

I’d made mention last week of the depression surrounding the Geneva Motor Show where emissions, or lack thereof, were more important than performance figures. In truth, the show was more notable for concept cars than for real cars which were spearheaded by VW’s mature looking new Polo and the new Merc E-Class in saloon and coupe forms. Mazda also unveiled their new 3 MPS performance version while Audi had an all new A4 Allroad and the rocket ship TT RS to make fast car buffs salivate.   Ferrari wowed the crowds with two new derivatives of their 599 and Aston Martin responded with the wild concept One-77 concept car which I think was matched by Nissan’s Infiniti Essence concept and the slightly lower key Qazana.  GM put on a brave face and showed its Opel Ampera “electric” car while struggling Volvo showed a raft of tweaked variations of existing models. 

In truth, there wasn’t as much substance to this year’s show as has normally been the case but talk of substance reminds me to tell you that early hands-on reports on the new Merc E-Class universally report a full scale return to the solid virtues that made Mercedes the envy of the motor industry.  This is good to hear as there’s no doubt that under Herr Schrempp, these values were eroded.  I can also report from much closer to home, that my wife’s A170 continues to impress with its brilliant packaging, exceptional features list and 100% exclusion of squeaks, rattles and creaks. On the negative side, the power steering is lousy around the straight ahead position and the ride is much too jiggly on uneven surfaces but I don’t think my wife notices.  She laps up the outstanding audio/phone package which I have to admit is the best I’ve ever come across once you learn how to use its endless list of features.

New Engines

I’ve been reading complaints in correspondence columns about excessive oil consumption exhibited by cars which have relatively few miles on them. While I accept that the odd rogue motor might find its way onto the road, I’m of the view that the way a car is run in is very influential when it comes to oil usage down the line. The first rule is to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations to the letter.  The second rule is to avoid slogging the engine at low revs and the third rule is to avoid full throttle. Revs per se are not the problem.  It’s the issue of load that matters and slogging a motor puts even more load on the cylinder bores than a heavy foot.

Having said that, you must allow the engine to take some load in order for parts to bed in. This means running variable engine revs while at all times avoiding any strain which can invariably be detected by your ears. Ironically, you can take it too easy with a new engine, so much so that the bores of the cylinders become glazed and offer no surface for residual oil to cling on to. The result can be excessive oil consumption and reduced power output, a problem familiar to a Honda motorcycle mechanic I spoke to the other day.  He told me that early versions of the 4-cylinder watercooled motor were often in need of an overhaul at very low mileages purely because their owners had taken it too easy while running in! Those that were treated correctly would dismiss very high mileages with utter disdain and zero oil usage.