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15 Mar 2017, 08:04 (Ref:3718725) | #401 | ||
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Let's be honest, there has never, ever been much appetite for penalising drivers for this sort of stuff.
Only if they do something utterly out of order like Mertens did a few years ago or Schanche in 92. I think there should perhaps be a penalty system so that you are allowed 3 or 4 minors, then you are given time penalties on your heat, or start at the back in the final or something. Some of the driving among this lot is awful, Bakkerud can't seem to pass anyone with ramming then gets out all smiley and everyone forgives him, Doran was guilty, but seemed to have tidied it up a bit. Heikkinen is very tough. And Hansen needs some advice from his father to understand that barging people about rarely wins you much. Kenneth never really did it much and won a bunch of titles is just as tough classes. The cars are now seemingly built with very flimsy panels that peel off very easily, makes the cars look tatty, either that or there is just a lot more contact. Also, the tracks don't help, I think IMG actively encourage action areas in joker laps etc to prompt contact aswell, which you might expect from them!! |
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15 Mar 2017, 21:03 (Ref:3718890) | #402 | ||
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Do the same ECU regs apply as last year? So lots of EuroRX drivers can't drive in WorldRX as the ECU is really expensive?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk |
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16 Mar 2017, 17:41 (Ref:3719125) | #403 | |
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16 Mar 2017, 17:47 (Ref:3719126) | #404 | ||
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Lol, easiest money anyone ever made!!
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16 Mar 2017, 17:51 (Ref:3719128) | #405 | ||
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16 Mar 2017, 18:29 (Ref:3719147) | #406 | |
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16 Mar 2017, 19:26 (Ref:3719165) | #407 | ||
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It probably is if you have to pay what you are told
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16 Mar 2017, 19:41 (Ref:3719169) | #408 | ||||
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#TeamSolberg |
16 Mar 2017, 19:54 (Ref:3719174) | #409 | ||
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17 Mar 2017, 09:50 (Ref:3719319) | #410 | ||
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I had a quick look and I can't see the exact requirements in the regulations.
Race Tech magazine had a feature on ECU/software usage a while ago, I'll find the magazine later as I'm sure that contained enough detail to ascertain a rough price. |
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17 Mar 2017, 16:08 (Ref:3719406) | #411 | |
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But if you change ECU you need also to re-tune the engine I assume.
But also assume if you have a WRX ECU you can still take part in ERX. EKS and Munnich testing in South-Africa...no wonder costs have skyrocketed. |
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17 Mar 2017, 16:13 (Ref:3719407) | #412 | ||
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Rallycross has always been expensive to run cars in, but with testing and the like now, it is being turned into a manufacturer series. Kind of a problem when most of them teams are still largely dealer based rather than actual factory based.
And also makes being private utterly pointless, wish is IMG's intention. |
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17 Mar 2017, 16:23 (Ref:3719413) | #413 | ||
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Yeah, the engine would need to be mapped on the new ECU. I'm not au fait with the specifics, but I would think there is a certain amount of commonality between ECU software, so the previous map would be copied across and then fine tuned.
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18 Mar 2017, 09:02 (Ref:3719554) | #414 | |||||
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I had a read through the Race Tech article and another look at the regulations. The Race Tech article makes for much easier reading, but all the raw information relating to ECU's and software can be found in the "Sporting Regulations for the World Rallycross Championship", here:
http://www.fia.com/regulation/category/120 (Under the "Sporting Regulation" tab) The relevant regulations can be found under Sections 10.5 and 10.6, specifically: Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Considering the above, I do wonder if some of the cost complaints that have been voiced are related to the cost of the additional data acquisition system (10.5), rather than the engine management. Of course if the ECU fitted is not homologated, then you are looking at the cost of both a replacement ECU and the data acquisition system. Notably the regulations do state that the main loom is free, so it would be a case of modifying the existing loom for a replacement ECU rather than having to rip out the old one and start again. As for rough cost, I see the MoTeC M150 is actually offered as a World Rallycross package and looks to be around the $5000 mark. That's not peanuts, but relative to the cost of a Supercar, it's not that severe, is it? |
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18 Mar 2017, 09:59 (Ref:3719559) | #415 | ||
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18 Mar 2017, 10:06 (Ref:3719562) | #416 | |
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Jesus, that's more than my Octavia VRS cost
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18 Mar 2017, 10:29 (Ref:3719568) | #417 | ||
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Exactly, for a one off piece of software. And then you will have the tie in costs of an engineer to add aswell.
For an ECU that's actually quite cheap, years back in BSB, Magneti Marelli were charging over 6 figures for a full electronics suite and engineer to look after it for you. And that figure was much more in Superbike and MotoGP. But in largely an open formula, I think really it is an unnecessary cost, there are so many variables in rallycross, limiting things like an ECU is silly when some idiot can take you out at any time or it can rain, I think it juts someones idea of getting a technical sponsor involved for the sake of it. And of course it is what other "big" formulas do, so IMG will just copy. As they do with juts about everything they have done so far. Little innovation, juts packaging. |
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18 Mar 2017, 11:01 (Ref:3719573) | #418 | |||
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A couple of years ago VW/Andretti Autosport were (very publicly) accused of cheating in the GRC and, around the same time, there was talk in the British Championship paddock about a certain driver using trick electronics. Although the latter may have purely been a malicious rumour, the VW/Andretti traction control theory was supported by many: and effective traction control could make a huge difference to car performance. With the involvement of such big teams/sponsors now, it doesn't seem beyond the realms of possibility that one of them might be tempted to pour money into developing traction or torque control systems... by introducing control to ECU selection and software though, you just prevented that from happening. As said in my previous post, the change in regulations don't require competitors to use a specific ECU manufacturer, so we're not at the "engine management sponsored by..." stage yet. Notably, if you compare the current regulations with the WRC, there is still a lot more flexibility with the selection of electronic components in rallycross. |
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18 Mar 2017, 11:08 (Ref:3719574) | #419 | |
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It's a bit of an odd thing. Because it is costly for some teams to introduce trick traction control systems the idea of a limited ECU is valid, but if the cost of this ECU's are more expensive, you just as well could prohibit launch of traction control, especially since every performance road car these days have similar
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18 Mar 2017, 13:20 (Ref:3719588) | #420 | ||
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To be honest, I would think that traction control is only useful off the line, you need wheelspin on dirt and loose surface to turn the car and position it, so having TC would inhibit that.
It would only be useful in very specific areas like the start. So really, incorporating a spec ECU just for that is slightly OTT. the others thing s you could do are change maps on the engine at certain points, so more torque in low gear bends, more power on straights. |
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18 Mar 2017, 13:38 (Ref:3719590) | #421 | |||
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With the control ECU though, there is no possibility of GPS, bluetooth or any other sort of additional input. |
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20 Mar 2017, 14:42 (Ref:3720190) | #422 | ||
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20 Mar 2017, 15:35 (Ref:3720204) | #423 | ||
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The car is based on the 2014 WRC Polo and has the same engine as the Beetle's in GRC. VW has worked along with PSRX and VW Sweden also to get the car finalised in a very short time. |
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20 Mar 2017, 16:04 (Ref:3720216) | #424 | |||
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20 Mar 2017, 16:48 (Ref:3720233) | #425 | |
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Looks good! But isn't it too width too for the regulations? The only car I can remember not using a radiator in the boot is the Astra of Evans. I also remember Bardy saying there was no need for it, but one season later it had the radiator in the boot. Wait a minute, maybe Gollops Focus too?
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