What a weekend! After watching one of the closest Le Mans 24 finishes in recent memory as well as one of the unlikeliest finishes from the Montreal Grand Prix, maybe it’s for the best that I stay in and unwind for the night.
And nothing says “Sunday evening” better than:
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June 10, 2011 marks the end of the Isle of Man TT event and also marks the centenary of its mountain course. First held in 1907, this incredible venue is even older than the Indianapolis 500, of which only celebrated its 100th anniversary last month.
More than an event with an illustrious past, the Isle of Man TT is also an event that warmly embraces the future. In FotW #21, we take a look at the third annual Isle of Man TT Zero, the clean emission electric motorcycle race.
Arguably the most stand out team in the electric class is Portland based, two-time TT Zero winner, MotoCzysz. This year, MotoCzysz fielded their unique Segway-Czysz motorcycle to win their event and to set a new electric lap record of 99.513 average mph, thanks to their newly developed 3-phase AC motor capable of producing an equivalent of over 200hp.
Moreover, the fairings on this year’s motorcycle completely shroud its innards. Last year, the 2010 MotoCzysz E1PC’s fairings were conveniently stuck in customs, allowing fans to get a closer look of the Czysz’s brilliantly engineered battery array design.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to dig up any substantial specs on the 2011 model but I imagine it’s essentially an enhanced and refined version of their 2010 bike. Undoubtedly, the battery array is the E1PC’s party piece. The 2010 E1PC possessed a 10 individual lithium polymer cell array, each cell weighing 19.5 Lbs.
Rather than have wires connect batteries to the bike, MotoCzysz created these docks that lock the batteries into receivers integrated onto the bike’s frame, conducting the batteries and supporting the batteries’ weight at the same time. This allows for lighter weight, stronger rigidity, durability, and quicker servicing.
The TT Zero is a fantastic event that deserves it’s place in the Isle of Man program as we benefit from innovations emerging from MotoCzysz’s and their competing teams. Both batteries and electric motors will get lighter and lighter as well as better packaged within a chassis. Whether you are an advocate of alternative energy or not, the question is no longer “if”, only “when”.
>Spectators of racing often look to the past and say,”those were the golden years.” This is said for many reason including the quality of racing, lack of electronic wizardry, and the diverse personalities of the drivers. However, many drivers have paid the ultimate price over the years and it’s too easily forgotten how their sacrifices have led to the relatively safe racing that we watch today.
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Thanks to Bullitt, both Steve McQueen and the Mustang Fastback had become larger than life. Because of the immensity of the two icons, sometimes car fans forget something very important. Read this slowly and deliberately: Bullitt is only a movie.
With that in mind, and appreciating Bullitt as such, I wanted to share something with you guys this weekend. Not only did Bullitt win the Academy Award for Best Film Editing, but it was also nominated for Best Sound.
I must confess, I wasn’t taken by the Lalo Schiffrin’s score at first but now I can’t imagine any other tune that could compliment Lt. Frank Bullitt so perfectly.
Have an awesome weekend everyone!
>Alain Bublex, anybody? Alain Bublex? No?
According to fr.wikipedia, l’encyclopédie libre, Alain Bublex graduated from the Graduate School of Industrial Design in Paris to later join Renault’s design team. Unfortunately, his career did not continue for very long as Bublex says, “I wanted to make cars, they wanted to make a profit.”
Where did he turn to? Fiat. But not exactly in the way that you’d expect. FotW #20 features his project from 2002, when Alain created what is perhaps the most bizarre collection of Fiat 126′s in the world. Although these cars are all fully operable, these art pieces most likely won’t be passing inspections. For example, how does one explain to a mechanic about The humongous propeller hanging off the front?
Some may have noticed Freak of the Week has somehow become Freak of the Bi-monthly. We thank you for your patience, we’ll be returning to our regular posting frequency soon!
>I don’t even know why I’m writing a synopsis:
The three most prominent new/concept vehicles of 2011 come together at the Concorso d’Eleganza. Thank you, classicdriver, for sharing the incredible footage!
Done. Mind is blown… I’ll need a moment to collect myself.
OH, and here’s a sound bite
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For those of you who are unfamiliar with the video, 32 year old Manal al-Sharif is a women’s rights activist amongst Saudi Arabia’s hyper male dominant culture. Her most recent cause is actually something very close to my heart, and something that many of us have taken for granted– the right to get into the driver’s seat.
After watching the video, many of us would be very quick to cry injustice and criticize the culture’s antiquated thinking. But when I take a step back, I’m afraid we aren’t so different over here.
A couple of weekends ago, my friend and I were cruising along the BQE when a car cuts me off. The car wasn’t driving with the typical trademark New York City aggression, but instead, it rather carelessly drifted into my lane due to a likely failure to check its blind spot. I gave the car a warning honk and it quickly swerved back.
It’s an unnecessary habit, but I would often try to pull alongside the car that wronged me if only to just have a glance at what sort of jerk-face is sitting behind the wheel. Lo’ and behold, it was a woman. To this observation, and because this is the second woman we’ve encountered to have earned a WTF (two for two), my friend responds, “I can no longer defend my gender.”
I know I’m minority when I say this but it is possible to put an end to the “women drivers” stereotype. After all, statistically speaking, men are charged with a higher insurance premium. According to insweb.com (not the most reputable source, I’ll admit), women are almost 50 percent less likely than men to have a DUI/DWI on their driving record. Furthermore, they’re 10 percent less likely to have a moving violation on their record. So if it isn’t a gender issue, then what is it?
My theory is that women drivers are also 50% more likely to be what some call “Sunday drivers,” or drivers that only get behind the wheel on occasion. Based on a sample set of female friends and acquaintances, many simply prefer not to drive if they don’t have to and designate their boyfriend, husband, dad or brother for the task instead. Conveniently, their lower frequency behind the wheel also explains why they receive less traffic citations.
But really, it’s that infrequency in driving a car that perpetuates the issue. When I first began driving, I was very anxious behind the wheel as well. I was young, inexperienced, and I played a lot of Grand Theft Auto. I clearly did not know what I was doing. But now, after six years of practice, I’ve had to have improved. And in the end, it really is about the seat time.
Nevermind the honks you get and nevermind your backseat drivers screaming at you when you’re only getting started. No one is born to tackle Queensboro Bridge at rush hour. It’s one of the most unnatural things in existence and you will never be comfortable with it. But you can at least get used to it.
Seat time is a numbers game. As a person logs more and more driving hours, that person will more likely encounter testing moments. Drivers will learn from these experiences and naturally, their situational awareness and their ability to react to a sudden obstacle will improve. Instead of freaking out and stomping on the accelerator when trying to find the brake, an experienced driver can calmly recall an instance and use their experience to get themselves out of harm’s way.
Ladies, your notoriety for awful driving is not your fault– at least not completely. I hope Manal al-Sharif and your Saudi soul sisters who boldly rocked the boat have empowered you to go out there and actively support their cause. But more than that, and more than proving a long standing stereotype wrong, hopefully you’ll realize that you are ultimately practicing safe driving for yourself.
Have an awesome long weekend, everybody!
>In anticipation of the coming Monaco GP, let’s revisit the glory and glamour of the historic French Riviera. Notice the changes of the city and circuit, as well as the changes of the drivers, teams, and mechanics through the decades.
Happy Friday!!
>In a totally and completely unexpected turn of events, the F1 has decided that it will soon ban the most innovative break through in F1 technology. Wait a second. This isn’t unexpected at all! This is the status quo considering the “double diffuser” and “F-duct” were banned after only a single season of use. Keep reading to see what I’m on about.
At the beginning of the season, this car, Renault’s R31, appeared in full view of the public bearing nothing that resembled a conventional exhaust outlet. The general public as well as the international media were more than just a little baffled by this. In testing, the truth became very clear that Renault had an ace up its sleeve with a forward facing exhaust that is mounted just below the sidepod opening. Look closely and the split pipe arrangement can be seen above the R in Rover.
Conventional wisdom would say that this makes no sense. Expelling hot exhaust gas in front of an opening reserved for cooling electronics and radiators is a stupid idea. In addition, Formula 1 cars laugh in the face of conventional wisdom and Newtonian physics.
Seriously though, the front facing exhausts make a lot of sense. By introducing hot exhaust gas in front of the diffuser the flow is accelerated more than by just having a diffuser by itself. As the flow and velocity increase, so does the amount of downforce on the chassis.
The concept of using exhaust gasses as an integral part in the aerodynamics of an F1 car is not a new concept. It was used in the 80s and made a comeback with the banned “double diffusers” of 2009 and the single “blown diffuser” introduced in 2010 on the Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.
The key difference is the location of where the exhaust gasses are introduced. By having front facing exhausts, all the exhaust gasses are introduced to the front of the diffuser and used to accelerate air flow and downforce. By applying the exhaust gasses over the top of the diffuser element like on the RB6 in 2010, the flow of air through the diffuser is simply aided by the exhaust flow and is not as efficient.
Critically, in 2010 all the top tier teams saw how effective the blown diffuser was and copied the concept from Red Bull for their own cars. This would make people wonder why the teams, especially struggling Ferrari, wouldn’t copy this year’s Renault design. The most obvious reason is that, while Renault is faster than expected, they are not constantly on the top step of the podium like Red Bull was last year. Additionally, rerouting an exhaust system down a few inches and heat shielding components isn’t the hardest task whereas redesigning a whole car to work around forward facing exhaust requires more than a couple weeks in between grand prix weekends.
So, what’s the big deal? Recently, Colin Kolles, boss of HRT, has brought to the attention of FIA technical delegate Charlie Whiting and FIA President Jean Todt the issue of both of these components being illegal as they are adjustable pieces of aerodynamics. Taken very lightly the aerodynamic component in question would be the rear diffuser, which doesn’t move at all. The argument that is being made by the underfunded and underachieving Kolles is that the exhaust is a by-product of the motor that has moving parts like pistons, valves, etc. Controlling that motor and how it expels its exhaust is the driver’s right foot. This is his long-winded way of saying the adjustable aerodynamics are driver controlled and therefore should be banned from competition.
Really, this all seems like a case of sour grapes. HRT is the lowest on the F1 totem pole in both championship standings as well as financial backing. They failed to qualify for the Australian GP because they couldn’t run a competitive lap time within the 107% rule. Without a competitive car or driver to start with and lacking funds to develop their own blown diffuser like every other team, the logical step is to whine about the rules and make everyone take a step back as opposed to progressing their own program.
Lucky for HRT, Formula 1 is looking to push a green initiative and blown aerodynamic elements need a bit more fuel than a “normal” car. While blowing hot exhaust gasses over the elements creates additional downforce, the flow of gasses is not a constant. As stated before, the amount of gas exiting the pipe varies with the application of throttle. Considering that throttle application does not correlate favorably to the ability to turn, engineers needed to find a way to have a constant flow of exhaust gas even when the driver is off the throttle. For them it was just a matter of programming the ECU. This extra fuel that is still being burned throughout each turn equates to about a 10% increase over race distance according to Renault. Considering the size of the fuel tank is already mandated by the FIA, what’s the problem? Being innovative and developing a more efficient motor in order to save fuel to use for the diffuser doesn’t seem like an issue. Even with a ban on blown elements, the teams will push the balance between power and fuel efficiency to finish a race with nothing left in the tank.
Regardless, the FIA had already decided to ban the aerodynamic aids prior to this past week’s Spanish GP. The problem arose when no course of action could be settled upon and the ban was subsequently postponed. After all this blows over, it’s guaranteed every team’s lap times will be negatively affected. Some say the loss of downforce will account for a half second per lap. Though, this isn’t a huge set back. Somebody will push the envelope a bit further next year and gain back that half second and then some. After all, Formula 1 cars do laugh in the face of conventional wisdom
>These posts are usually undertaken by Danny Chin, our resident eBay ‘meister’. But I’ve got something pretty incredible– and an opportunity to steal a bit of Danny’s thunder is too irresistible to pass. (I love you, bro)
Behold! I was able to find not one, but two extremely rare and iconic BMW 2002s listed on eBay at the same time! If you’ve got $40k readily available, this can be your lucky day. If you’ve got the means to buy both of them, then you just made me spend the better of ten minutes trying to decide what insult to drop on you… You probably have a pencil mustache and I don’t like you. UGH.
