Radical SR9 LMP2

[MulsanneMike]

Originally Posted by canam

It may be possible to find 25% (although I am amazed by this figure) with no drag but will you be able to balance the car from front to back? If the downforce improvement was all at the front, you will need to put drag on the rear to balance it up. This was one of the major challenges with the new LMP regs as the pushed the centre of pressure forward.

Mr Elleray??? We know you read these threads or are you 'taking the fifth' ?

Bingo...so 25% sure...but before you've rebalanced the car (and subsequently increased the drag). And as I understand MIRA, you can only run one ride height...so how will that increas translate across the true RH map?

[PeterElleray]

Bugger i thought i'd sneaked in without anyone spotting it..

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by PeterElleray

Bugger i thought i'd sneaked in without anyone spotting it..

So Peter, how many teams may we expect to see in the Radical for '07 on each side of the Atlantic??

[gwyllion]

Peter designed the Radical SR9. I don't think he is selling the car

[MulsanneMike]

And correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Peter's involvement is limited at this stage of the game...

[dj choc ice]

Originally Posted by PeterElleray

Bugger i thought i'd sneaked in without anyone spotting it..

ive been a good boy this year peter may i have SR9 for christmas j/k

i think 25% is a pretty astoninshing figure of increased downforce the SR9 is already the best handling LMP2 car all that extra downforce if it is achieved without any more drag will whoop the porsche RS spyder evo's backend!

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by dj choc ice

ive been a good boy this year peter may i have SR9 for christmas j/k

i think 25% is a pretty astoninshing figure of increased downforce the SR9 is already the best handling LMP2 car all that extra downforce if it is achieved without any more drag will whoop the porsche RS spyder evo's backend!

Who said that it is the best handeling LMP2 car ?

I reckon the best all round package LMP2 out there is certainly the RS Spyder . Its all Porsche and a complete package , with engine and gearbox . Everything else is all customer choice at presant .

[JAG]

I realise 25% appears a little optimistic, but haven't we been here before when very knowledgable people doubted the figures and pace of new reg LMP's.

Would a 15% increase in downforce for no extra drag, or 25% increase in downforce for 5% extra drag be any less impressive?

[canam]

Originally Posted by JAG

I realise 25% appears a little optimistic, but haven't we been here before when very knowledgable people doubted the figures and pace of new reg LMP's.

Would a 15% increase in downforce for no extra drag, or 25% increase in downforce for 5% extra drag be any less impressive?

All these figures would be impressive but I thought we were talking about what was said: a 25% increase in downforce with no drag.

This result, if true, would suggest that the Radical was miles away from its optimum--which is something that I struggle to believe given its performance and the abilities of Mr Elleray.

Perhaps the holy grail has been found. I suspect the result is an oddity and the car cannot be balanaced.

[MulsanneMike]

Originally Posted by canam

All these figures would be impressive but I thought we were talking about what was said: a 25% increase in downforce with no drag.

This result, if true, would suggest that the Radical was miles away from its optimum--which is something that I struggle to believe given its performance and the abilities of Mr Elleray.

Perhaps the holy grail has been found. I suspect the result is an oddity and the car cannot be balanaced.

Yes, and when you combine it with the quote from Tim Greaves that the car was well balanced to begin with...

[Truckosaurus]

On the free area on DSC is a copy of the Brochure from Rollcentre detailing their Radical for sale.

It is interesting to see the list of parts and costs associated with running such vehicles...

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi there,

I went to the general test at Donington on Thursday (23rd November) and was pleased to see the Rollcentre Radical out on track.

Martin Short was also around the paddock but I am not sure if there were any prospective buyers there to view/drive the car.

Heres a couple of pics I took: -







Regards

Tim

[AstonGeoff]

I can't imagine Shortie was running the car for fun! And the helmet colours don't look like either his or any of his regular drivers. So I can only assume that it was being run for prospective buyers to check it out! Time will tell....

[isynge]

Originally Posted by AstonGeoff

I can't imagine Shortie was running the car for fun! And the helmet colours don't look like either his or any of his regular drivers. So I can only assume that it was being run for prospective buyers to check it out! Time will tell....

Sean Balfe and Phil Keen had a run in the SR9 according to DSC. I'd imagine you could read Balfe as a prospective owner given the Saleen's for sale. As far as Keen goes - possibly a Rollcentre driver next year, or possibly connected with the Balfe deal?

[Bentley03]

I haven't asked, but it would appear from the ad on DSC that one of the cars has already been sold since the car for sale is their race car from '06 with no mention of the second car which was in build/kit form.

[Tim Dunlop]

Hi there,

Heres a picture taken directly from the Keen Motorsport site (www.keenmotorsport.net)



So it was Phil Keen driving the car in my photos above.

Regards

Tim

[Nick49]

Hello

Well considering the season that he's just had with the Saleen in the FIA GT series Shaun Balfe might well think that buying the old Rollcentre Radical SR9 would give him a good shot at the LMP2 title especially with Phil Keen on board.

Nick

[The Badger]

Question is ..... who would want to buy the Balfe Saleen ? It didnt impress at all .....

Any word on the Melchester Racing rumour ?

Is this the same Keen that raced the Taurus Lola B2K-10 a couple of years back ?

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Is this the same Keen that raced the Taurus Lola B2K-10 a couple of years back ?

No, that was Justin Keen.

[lynxlad]

Hi could anyone fill me in on what Simon Pullen
has been doing this year thanks.

[Audi R8R]

Originally Posted by lynxlad

Hi could anyone fill me in on what Simon Pullen
has been doing this year thanks.

He raced the Pilbeam at Le Mans, putting in a superb effort throughout the entire race week. He's still one of the youngsters that factory teams should be looking at I reckon.

He didn't have a full season drive in anything else though this season.

[Graham Goodwin]

Simon was busy for much of year getting established in a new 'day job' - I agree with the sentiment above - He's a very quick lad indeed.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

I haven't asked, but it would appear from the ad on DSC that one of the cars has already been sold since the car for sale is their race car from '06 with no mention of the second car which was in build/kit form.

So it seems.

http://www.rollcentre.co.uk/rollcent...20Brochure.pdf mentions "Offer for sale – 2 complete Dallara LMP900 prototypes", while http://www.rollcentre.co.uk/rollcent...20Brochure.pdf states "Offer for sale - Radical SR9 LMP2 car complete"

[Graham Goodwin]

You sure you aren't confusing Dallaras and Radicals!

[andy97]

Originally Posted by Bentley03

Very interesting Radical article on DSC.

Radical have been working in the (MIRA) windtunnel with a full-size SR9 in order to evaluate the current car (which has previously never been anywhere near a windtunnel), and to find areas where improvements can be made for the 2007 version of the car.

The results confirmed (according to Tim Greaves) just how good the original design was. But what really fascinated me was the fact that ".....with development parts, we were able to increase the level of downforce by 25% without any increase in drag.“

Now, my knowledge and understanding of the more technical aspects of racing car design is limited (to say the least!), but that figure sounds extraordinary. If there was one conclusion I drew from the many hours I spent watching the cars at Tertre Rouge this year, it was that the two prototypes which handled the corner with the least drama were the Audi R10's and the Rollcentre Radical. Both took the corner as if they were running on rails. There are of course many elements to the design and setup of a car, but I had assumed that what set these two apart was due in no small way to the bucketloads of downforce these cars were producing.

So, I'm now asking myself if, with a 25% gain in downforce without any increase in drag, Radical have found the missing ingredient which set the RS Spyder apart from 'the rest of the pack' in 2006?

(I thought I'd change the direction of this existing thread rather than start a new one)

I am absolutely astonished that in this day and age a company which wants to be a major player in the Le Mans Type sports car market has only just gone in to the wind tunnel. Perhaps if they had done that in the first place the original aero woulds have been spot on & the performance better as a result. Not that I could ever afford an SR9 but I don't think that I would spend a significant amount of money to race at this level unless I was confident that it had been designed thoroughly!