Tech4all group blog

To: <AimAtTheStars@yahoogroups.com>
From: "Krishnan" <itskrishnan@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 11:11:49 -0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Subject: Formula 1 cars

Here are some interesting facts about Formula 1 racing     01. An F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled     99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!     02. Formula 1 cars have over a kilometer of cable, linked to about     100 sensors and actuators which monitor and control many parts of the car.     03. An F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!!     04. F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly     before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us     for a decent 20yrs on an average and they quite faithfully     DO.... that is the extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...     05. When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences     retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving     through a BRICK wall at 300kmph !!!     06. An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one     race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures     for little over an hour (Yeah that is right!!!)     07. At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini.     08. In an F1 car the engine typically revs upto 18000 rpm,(the     piston travelling up and down 300 times a second!!) wheres cars like     the palio, maruti 800,indica rev only upto 6000 rpm at max. That is 3  times slower.     09. The brake discs in an F1 car have an operating temperature of     approximately 1000 degrees Centigrade and they attain that temp while     braking before almost every turn...that is why they r not made of steel     but of carbon fibre which is much more harder and resistant to wear    and tear and most of all has a higher melting point.     10. If a water hose were to blow off, the complete cooling system     would empty in just over a second.     11. Gear cogs or ratios are used only for one race, and are replaced     regularly to prevent failure, as they are subjected to very high degrees of stress.     12. The fit in the cockpit is so tight that the steering wheel must     be removed for the driver to get in or out of the car. A small latch     behind the wheel releases it from the column. Levers or paddles for     changing gear are located on the back of the wheel. So no gear stick!     The clutch levers are also on the steering wheel, located below the gear paddles.     13. To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and     added downforce can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds     than F1 cars travel on the track.     14. Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have     sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160     kph. They usually race at over 300 kph.     15. The amount of aerodynamic down force produced by the front and     rear wings and the car underbody is amazing. Once the car is     travelling over 160 kph, an F1 car can generate enough down force to     equal it's own weight. That means it could actually hold itself to the CEILING of a     tunnel and drive UPSIDE down!     16. In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the     down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before     the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down     to prevent this from happening!     17. The re-fuelers used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per     second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of     an average 50 liter family car.They use the same refueling rigs     used on US military helicopters today.     18. TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3     seconds. & 8 sec to read above point.     19. Race car tyres don't have air in them like normal car tyres.     Most racing tyres have nitrogen in the tyres because nitrogen has a     more consistent pressure compared to normal air. Air typically     contains varying amounts of water Vapor in it, which affects its expansion     and contraction as a function of temperature, making the tyre pressure unpredictable.     20. During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5     kg in weight due to wear.     21. Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are     designed to last 90 - 120 km (That's Khandala and back).        22. A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best   grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C.(Water   boils boils at 100C remember) At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.         A Mail From                   With Love Keep Mailing and Keep Smiling