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Originally Posted by VIVA GT
I must admit that I was very surprised & disappointed at how far off the pace and how unreliable the Honda PSU has turned out to be. I expected them to do better than this and to have ironed out a lot of the problems first found in car testing with the engine on the dyno.
There is a lot said about 'the packaging in the car' but again, in this day & age surely it's not beyond the capabilities of an engineering giant combination of McLaren & Honda to replicate this for a dyno testing environment?
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It would be almost impossible to replicate a racing environment on a test bed. By just the simple virtue of the fact that the power-unit remains in a fixed position in a building means that they have to employ supplementary cooling which they couldn't do on a car on a track. There are other conditions that are also completely dissimilar.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VIVA GT
If not, why haven't Honda got the PSU installed in what looks like a sportscar on the outside, but is really a McLaren F1 underneath and have that punding around their test track 24/7 to iron out their problems?
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For the simple reason that the FIA rules and regulations do not permit it. Look at all the problems encountered by Pirelli when they wanted to test tyres. And no matter how much Honda mi98ght have tried to conceal the fact that might have been disguising a F1 car as a sports car, the FIA are not quite that stupid!
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Originally Posted by VIVA GT
Although it would double their workload it would also halve their development time if they could supply the engines to another team.
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I think that they took the decision to work with one partner so that they didn't dilute their efforts by having multiple teams all running with different installation setups. Also, they were probably aware that there was a possibility that initially things might go horribly wrong, as they have, and then their embarrassment would have been compounded. I am certain that they are not happy with themselves in Japan at the moment; this is a huge loss of face for them.
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Originally Posted by VIVA GT
I can really see the advantages for McLaren/Honda helping solve Manor's financial problems and getting them to run their engines too.
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Apart from the above, Honda are not a charity. Why should they go to the aid of a company that had just stiffed their opposition for many millions of dollars.[/quote]
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Originally Posted by VIVA GT
I am sure that McLaren Honda will sort this all out eventually, but only if everyone involved is patient enough to give them the time to do so.
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I am sure they will unless the loss of face is so great that they are forced to beat a hasty retreat, probably to never to return to F1.