is Freescale the powerpc offshoot of Motorola that powered Macs?

Yes, for example ballast the size of a can of red bull weighs around 6kg.

That's them!

And yes, McLaren ECU's are PowerPC based.

Something seems kinda...off about this news release. As others have said, Freescale is just the spun-off semiconductor division of Motorola. They make chips. Not batteries, or packaging, or anything mechanical. It seems like "work with" should be replaced with "get chips and support at a reduced price for doing this greenwash PR release". KERS certainly needs processing power to manage, but so does an F1 engine, and we haven't seen any "joint development projects" with a semiconductor company for the SECU.
Oh, and since this doesn't take effect until 2010, doesn't it belong in the MP4-25 thread?

Paffet in the car testing. Still haven't seen any 2009 spec wings being tested by McLaren. I think they're quite far behind?

and the timing of the FI announcement, I bet theres some major reshuffling going on atm which is gonna disrupt them.

So do they have KERS on the car this week?

EDit, KERS is on Pedros car, but car is stil 2008 spec.

Yes.

Date: Monday November 17 2008

Drivers: Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett

Location: Barcelona

Track Length: 4.655km

Weather: Dry all day. Cold in the morning but bright and sunny later.

Laps run today: 65 (Pedro), 78 (Gary)

Kilometres covered today: 666km (Pedro 303; Gary 363)

Best lap time today: Pedro - 1m21.417 at 16:13pm

Programme: Both drivers undertook pre-2009 preparation work using cars fitted with slicks and modified to simulate ’09 levels of downforce. Pedro focused on the MP4-23K - (the car with KERS installed).

Drivers for tomorrow: Gary Paffett

Duration of test: Three days (November 17-19 2008)

Theres no way they are that far behind, they are probably keeping their cards close to their chest and not gonna show any 2009 size wings until the 24 debuts.

Theres also quite a few other cars running hybrids, are they all behind;-)

McLaren should be there at the beginning of next year, maybe not top team but should be near.

Way too early to draw conclusions like that. Is Ferrari behind as well?
That BMW looks like a skelter, I just hope the 24 doesn't look remotely close to that ogre.

Edit: perhaps the 24 will have some of the looks of the 20's fat nose and the frontwing of the 19A.
That would look cool I'd say

I tink mclaren know and have faith in their aerodynamicists especially when its an odd numbered year next year and recently history shows we do go good on odd numbered years, and i think at the moment all the eggs are in the kers basket cos maybe they believe if you have kers 100% finely tuned to the cars it will be advantageous over the rest. and also i dont think mclaren want to give off ideas about their wings which is smart, cos BMW have sure shown everyone what not to make if they want the car to look half decent.

and can i just say, if mclarens car looks anything like that, i think the paint job will look horrible.

and also, can anyone see in any pics of pedro where exactly mclarens kers unit was on the car? cos i saw nothing even if there was only a few shots of the car.

btw: anyone know where to get some nice highres lewis-wdc desktop-wallpapers? should be around 1920x1200 ...

didnt macca run quite a different test program in 98?

The MP4-20 is the best of looking of the West coloured McLarens in my opinion. Such a god damn sexy looking beast.

Incorrect. The best looking Mclaren ever to race, is CLEARLY the mp4/15, the 20 is a very close second.

czech your pms

I'd forgotten how stunning the MP4/20 was.
Best looking F1 car ever for me.

Like this?
PM me your e-mail and I'll send you some

Indeed. Like a tiger, gorgeous, but will tear you to pieces in a heartbeat.

I do not have high expectations with reagrds to the design of the 24. The over the top width of the front wing just kills any design for me. Nevertheless, as long as it is blindingly fast I dont care how it looks.

Date: Tuesday November 18 2008

Drivers: Gary Paffett

Location: Barcelona

Track Length: 4.655km

Weather: Overcast and cold

Laps run today: 31 (MP4-23K); 46 (MP4-23A)

Kilometres covered today: 358km

Best lap time today: 1m21.340 at 12:07pm

Programme: Gary switched to MP4-23K - the KERS test car - but his day’s work was cut short at lunchtime when a minor oil leak prompted the team to effect a precautionary switch to the vacant MP4-23. The team spent the afternoon running aero and slick tyre evaluation runs. Gary will return to MP4-23K tomorrow.

Drivers for tomorrow: Gary Paffett

Duration of test: Three days

Greetings

I’m dying of curiosity about this sentence that PdLR said yesterday on Autosport (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72164)

“the slick tyres have a very strong front-end going into the corners and they have very good traction coming out”.

I should be grateful if someone would explain me front-end’s issue. Will this tyre’s atribute favour the drivers with more aggressive “turn-in”? Will this tyres behave as similar as Michelin ones used for example during 06 season?

Thanks in advance

Ciao

I'm not sure it will favour them. I do think though the disadvantage those drivers had on the last generation of grooved tyres will be gone.
The drivers who did suffer seemed to adjust their driving style though, Alonso for example is far more smooth on turn in that he used to be.
I think that the extra grip afforded by the slicks will see the top drivers who run right on the limit of grip really taking charge in qualifying. Getting the most out of the car when it really counts, with larger gaps between them and the other drivers than we saw in the grooved era.

Date: Wednesday November 19 2008

Drivers: Gary Paffett

Location: Barcelona

Track Length: 4.655km

Weather: Bright and warm with clear skies.

Laps run today: 81

Kilometres covered today: 377km

Best lap time today: 1m21.140 at 12:13pm

Programme: Conclusion of a very productive three-day test and Gary’s second and final day in the KERS-equipped MP4-23K. The team had no issues today and was happy with the progress it had made understanding the slick tyres and new aero configurations. It was also encouraged by its increased understanding of the KERS device and its impact on car dynamics. The test team now begins to focus on next month’s Jerez test, where the programme will continue with greater focus on the evaluation of 2009-spec aerodynamics.

Next Test: Jerez, Dec 9-11

is there any pic of that car where you can see some hints of their kers?

http://www.f1today.nl/fotos/zw74stap4.jpg
either KERS or Max is about to pay a visit

It's kinda weird but I too cannot see anything about the KERS system on the MP4/23. Today someone linked a picture in the testing thread which showed the warning patch in the engine cover. But nothing to see of the actual system. Neither bulky bodywork nor additional cooling requirements are visible. That's pretty much amazing. No other team seems to be able to put their KERS in the 08 cars without compromising the package somehow. I've got a gut feeling, that McLaren managed to develop something very sophisticated there.

thanks Hippo!

theyve probably put the stuff between the engine and the fuel tank, ie made the tank smaller..

From what I understand neither McLaren nor Ferrari run a functional Kers in Barcelona. Both had mock kers setups and mostly tried weight allocation and different mass configurations.

AFAIK it's not possible to run kers unvented btw

PS before anyone jumps on me yes I might be wrong

According to de la Rosa McLaren was sorta calibrating KERS. He said they were trying to get around the effect of KERS influencing braking too much. To me that sounds as if they indeed had an operational system.

Also, no, not every KERS needs venting. Only those that are heating up do need it.

Also ATM_Andy said the batteries are in the sidepods behind the crash structure (where's that?) so they could be well ventilated but still not that visible.

Actually i understood Andy's post as explaining were batteries could possibly be located. Do we have any confirmation they are in fact using batteries?

in a small feature shown on RTL they state that the bmw kers works with voltages up to 20kV ... i wonder how that is meant. To store that using LiPo you need about 5000 cells ....

interesting interview on the mclaren site

http://www.mclaren.com/in-depth/looking-ahead-to-2009.php

Originally posted by undersquare:

Andy, can you say anything about kers cooling? AFAIK the batteries will need quite a lot of cooling - will they be housed in the sidepods?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ATM_Andy:

Behind the crash structure, under the sidepod inlet, it is one of the few places there is space on a F1 car.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That's on this thread so I think that has to be the MP4_24. Like you I have a good feeling about Mac's kers. In fact about the whole car for some reason.

Makes sence judging by the lumps and bumps on the ferrari they have put teir kers in the same place?

Nice interviews.....thanks.

There's an AFCA post a few days ago with quite a bit of detail about the Ferrari setup, apparently it has its batteries under the fuel tank, and water cools them. The radiator must be what we can see, presumably just a temporary place for it. Interesting difference in the approach. I wonder if it means Ferrari are driving their batteries harder? No idea about the rest of the system though.

i actually have quite good feelings about next years car also, we can fit kers to the 23 without any obvious holes or alterations to the chassis, we have a proven windtunnel which produce accurate data, we have a brilliant simulator, which will be usefull with theese testing limits, our tire usage and suspension geometri has always been top notch, and apparently they have tested kers for some time now. We have a strong engine and so on.
The interesting thing will be, if someone comes up with a new brilliant idea that no other thinks of, that could upset the whole field. So at the next test we should see an 09 frontwing on the mclaren as well

That's a beautiful car... Now, let's stretch those wings a bit for 09.

Stunning car

what is that on located on the sidepod? to bad the picture is in such low resolution.

fuel filler..

The video below comes from AFCA in the KERS thread looks like BMW have put their kers inthe sidepods too...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJYmf9mlzyI

However, the schematic indicating batteries in the sidepods ALSO shows energy being collected from all FOUR wheels (not for 2009!)

While the sidepods make a logical location, I think that schematic is NOT to be relied upon absolutely.

However, (off topic) its the first real movie I've seen of the BMW - and, to me, the narrow 2009 rear wing looks even stranger in motion than in stills...


As I indicated on the Ferrari thread, their concentration on locating KERS components close to the c of g, and on the centreline, compromises cooling design, but minimises the car balance change from installing/removing the system.
And that, I'd speculate is the way you'd design things if you were going to decide on a race-by-race basis whether you were going to carry the system... (or you weren't confident of having the stuff delivered and debugged by the start of the season).

The graphics in that video are really reliable, it were just some nice pictures from the test and Heidfeld explaining about the button on the steering wheel.

Anyway, I think every team will have elements of KERS mounted in the sidepods, BMW certainly has.

I have a question: what will make a kers better than another ? Weigh ? Cooling requirement ? Progressive power delevering ?

Yes, and clever usage.

and how much it degrades over a race distance

At the moment, I think the biggest advantage a team will be able to get in the KERS department is definitely cooling and efficiency throughout the race distance. They big guys should be able to easy develop systems that generate the maximum or near maximum amount of power allowed, while, I think the smaller teams will slowly work their way up through the course of the season. Wasn't it someone from Williams who said that they are spending about 1.5 million pounds on KERS while he knew of a team spending in the region of 46 million? (The numbers are completely inaccurate and from memory, so don't take them as gospel ).