The link below is to a picture of a cart at the 2009 Uk formula Ford festival.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/sport/pi....aspx?im=296862

I say, a car but all the cars would be equally true see this pic.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/sport/pi....aspx?im=296872

The FF festival is THE big FF event of the UK calendar and so attracts all the top names and teams. My question is - does the F1 like layout with quite large side pods and push rod front suspension represent the latest optimisation of the FF design or is it simply meant to look like F3/F1 and some other shape ( e.g no side pods) would work just as well.

The cooling requirement on FF is not that severe so , on first glance, two quite large sidepods seem excessive just for cooling, they may give downforce but I do not see how. I know pushrods have the benefit of getting the front loads into a strong part of the spaceframe just ahead of the instrument hoop but I am not sure what other advantages there are. As FF has little download vertical rates are not that high so presumably nor are the required spring rates.

I am not knocking this design but in FF the best teams tend to buy the best car ( resultws wise)and so it becomes a self fulfiling prophecy in terms of the " best " design since the teams skill is very critical to sucess.

Like most "free" chassis formula the regulations decide how cars look. The side pods are a regulation and there is little in the way of interpretation that you can do to eliminate their size. The pair of radiators also help with side inpacts forming a crushable structure. Push rod suspension, using one or two dampers on the front and a pair on the rear seems to be the chosen design by many. Some place the spring damper unit up high others like Bonde on here places the dampers on his Aquila Duratec FF on the floor pan. The reason is to tidy up the airflow around the front of the nose section. Best car at the moment appears to be the Mygale and a very fine design it is.

With the introduction of FIA regulations for 2011 and the gearboxes being changed to sequential I expect fewer and fewer manufacturers will bother with the formula and it will become a single make by choice ( Mygale) formula.

It would be a terrible shame if Formula Ford becomes a de facto one-make series.

Can someone please post the exact rule verbiage about side pods? I've read that they're required (since 1997) for side impact protection, but just what do the rules say about their size and construction? Are side pods adding torsional rigidity?

Is the popularity of Mygale largely due to customer support? If Piper (from U.S.A.) found the right partner to service UK customers, could they become competitive in the UK market? Have a look at their design here: http://piperracecars.com/index.php?option=...16&Itemid=1 Their sidepods appear to be more streamlined!

15.7 Lateral Protection Structure:
15.7.1) Continuous panels whose projection on a vertical
plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the car shall be at
least 150mm high, shall extend on either side of the car, at a
minimum distance of 550mm from the car’s longitudinal
centre line between at least the transverse planes passing
through the fuel tank rear face and the frontal extremity of the
minimum cockpit opening, and at a minimum distance of
350mm from the car’s longitudinal centre line between at least
the transversal planes passing through the above extremity
and the front rollover bar hoop. These panels shall be made
from a composite material of 3000mm2 minimum cross
section with a honeycomb core in metal or Nomex giving
adequate resistance to compression. The external skins shall
be of aluminium alloy, plastic, or carbon fibre of a minimum
thickness of 0.5mm or made up of another assembly of
materials of equivalent efficiency. The panels must be
securely attached to the flat bottom and their upper extremity
to the main structure of the car in such a manner as to ensure
absorption of a lateral impact. The radiators may play the role
of protective panels or of transversal struts. The periphery of
the bodywork covering the Lateral Protection Structure, when
viewed from below, must be curved upwards with a minimum
radius of 50mm, and a maximum radius of 70mm with the
exception of air entry and exit openings into the Lateral
Protection Structure.
15.8


Full regulations here.
http://www.britishformulaford.co.uk/downlo...on_03_final.pdf

The Piper is a FF1600 car and not built to the same regulations as the Duratec cars. In British FF1600 for the last few years the championship has been won by a 1992 chassis partly because they were the last cars to be built before regulation changes on cockpit dimensions increased their size and hence their frontal area.

Brake disc, thank you for the info. Now I understand it better.

But why are they going to sequential gearboxes ? does it not just add cost? Is there some other benefit?

I was told by the co-ordinator that because the Renault and BMW formula have them and all other higher single seater series run sequential it was time for FF to catch up. A poll amongst the drivers also supported the idea. I doubt the manufactures and the team owners will be that keen because it means lots of new ratios and reworking of the bellhousing structures. Net result is going to be more costs. FF Duratec is expensive enough.