Posted 19 June 2003 - 13:25
Here is my translation of the Piola article. As usual, please excuse my total lack of technical knowledge, and the fact that I don't have an English-Italian technical dictionary...
The dampers become rotary
The magic of Monte Carlo, with open single seaters finally analyzeable in every tiny detail, has happened again: the effort to hide the rear of the F2003-GA in a sort of makeshift garage aptly set up by the mechanics has proved fruitless. They even avoided changing the engines before qualifying, since this operation would have needed to take place in front of everyone, and at Monaco there's plenty of techicians with digital cameras from various teams' racing departments camouflaged as turists, even if some of them are easily recognizeable by their backpacks marked with their travel agent's name and city of origin.
Rumours that the F2003-GA had a previously unseen scheme of rear suspension leaked before the GP, but the error of letting the news break with a simple description and without a drawing that could properly illustrate it had to be avoided. A bit like it happened last year with the famous "step in the side channels of the extracting profile" (uhu?): from the moment of the discovery in Brazil to the actual construction, 4 GPs went by, with the drawings coming out only after the Canadian GP.
This time it has been easier also because the previously unseen suspension was more easily visible, but mainly because, having noticed the number of other teams' technicians around the rear of the car, it was clear that the new element was a secret only for journalists.
Now, with the aid of a drawing, we are able to illustrate the previously unseen scheme of the real suspension. At first glance it seems that there are no dampers, also because the places where they should be in are empty. The original design entailed a suspension deriving from the F2002's, with the central dampers inside the gearbox titanium casting, like that of Minardi, who have been leading in this sector for the last 2 years.
The dampers, made by Sachs exclusively for Ferrari for the entire 2003 season, are built in a single piece with the suspension rocker arms and are practically hidden from being seen by the pushrods. They are rotary dampers with the official name of SRS (Sachs Rotation Shocks), and their movement is obviously rotary rather than telescopic, controlled by some small idraulic compartments. The rotary dampers are not a complete novelty: they have been around for years on certain lorries and military vehicles, and even in MotoGP Suzuki have tried a similar solution but without great results.
The greatest advantage in using them is the reduced space they occupy, the famous packaging that allows a cleaner and more space-efficient suspensions scheme. They are made in titanium and allow some good weight savings: it is estimated at about 15-20% less compared to conventional dampers. It has taken a long time to build them in order to overcome construction difficulties (and for this reason the gearbox on the F2003-GA was built with holes for the classic dampers), they are obviously a lot more expensive compared to the other dampers and the team is equipped with 3 separate sets for each race.
Among the advantages given by this new system there is some reduced friction and reduced sensitivity to heat (the drawing shows that the 3rd transversal damper needs cooling against high temperatures). These mini-dampers contain on their inside the place for torsion bars, allowing for a simpler suspension design and a saving on weight of over 300 grammes on the total rear suspension scheme.
The exclusive deal with Ferrari lasts only until the end of the 2003 season, and you can bet that other teams' technical departments are already developing their own, similar solution of rear suspensions with rotary dampers.
Giorgio Piola
THE CAPTION:
The F2003-GA's rear suspension hides a complete novelty: the use of a rotary damper built together with SACHS. It is a single body (1) with the suspension rocker arm, and it includes the torsion bars as shown in yellow with number (4). The bars are placed from the rear side and are stopped in front by another rocker arm (5) that can easily be manipulated to make changes to the ride height. This damper takes the place of the telescopic one, placed almost verically (see the dashed line) inside the titanium casting in two openings (2). The 3rd transversal damper (3) is unchanged, cooled by a channelling (6) that gets its air from the engine opening. In the circle you can see a detail of the damper with 2 small gas containers, half-hidden by the rocker arm (in yellow).
In fact judging by drawings of the similar looking Ohlins/Suzuki (Kayaba?) design, I suspect the modern Sachs version is a similar- albeit with much improved valving and materials no doubt- in general concept to the old Houdaille/vane-type lever dampers, which appear (
