Remove lewis from your friends?
lewis0comments
lewis
The words “earth dreams” were displayed prominently on Honda’s 2008 racecar, the RA108. When cigarette advertising was banned in Formula One, Honda opted out of replacing Lucky Strike with another sponsor, and instead displayed lung cleansing messages about green technology. For two years they persevered with their green message, even if most people realised it was an arbitrary effort. A Formula One engine is given very little thought relating to efficiency in favour of performance, and flying large teams of people and cars all over the world is hard to be thought of as environmentally friendly. What it did demonstrate is that teams were at least willing to look at green technologies, even if it was for marketing purposes.
By 2009, the Global Financial Crisis played a large role in Honda pulling the plug on its Formula One program. It made little sense for the manufacturer to spend millions of dollars on two race cars when they were facing the prospect of closing factories and slashing jobs. However, had the manufacturer not opted to tighten their belt, they would have been able to deliver on their earth dream message.
The race team was bought out by their former technical director, Ross Brawn. Under a new team name and with a customer Mercedes engine, the team totally dominated the 2009 season wrapping up both titles with relative ease. It was the most significant performance turnaround of the modern era, with the team moving from 9th place in 2008, to 1st in 2009. To show the bigwigs at Honda what a mistake they had made, the team had achieved these results in spite of staff cutbacks and with very little sponsorship.
If winning the title was not enough, for 2009 Formula One allowed for its first major green technology innovation to be raced. Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) at the behest of the FIA to promote renewable energy and push-to-pass technology. Kinetic energy is recovered under braking and stored before being used as extra horsepower later on. It was by no means perfect, but it represented a paradigm shift for the sport.
KERS was abandoned in 2010 in order for the systems to be improved. It has since been re-added in 2011 and is used by all but three teams. The reintroduction coincided with the announcement of new engine rules from 2014 onwards that are geared to take the sport in a greener direction.
One of the ongoing battles off the formula one track is between safety and speed. As the cars get more advanced and faster, the sport’s governing body, the FIA, has introduced a raft of changes aimed at slowing the cars down in the name of safety. 2006 saw the last major parameter change for engine manufacturers, where3 litre V10s were replaced with 2.4 litre V8s. For 2014 the rules will change again, but this time it is not in the name of safety.
1.6 litre six cylinder turbo charged engines will be mandated alongside improved KERS systems that will double their boost power from 60kw to 120kw. The decision to make these changes is to encourage automotive manufacturers to participate in the sport. Although four cylinder engines were the original target, the capacity had increased to V6s to please the existing Formula One teams.
With V6 engines being a more relatable commodity to car manufacturers, the new regulations give the impression that a team of marketers had as much to do with the rule changes as engineers. If these changes can encourage more manufacturers to enter the sport, their objective will have been achieved, regardless of the on track success.
Green technology still has a long way to go in Formula One, even if Honda did plant the seed for the idea in 2007. The 2014 rules will not save the teams a great deal on their petrol bill, but it is an indication to the world and the manufacturers that reliance on fossil fuels is not the way forward. Efficiency is now paramount, and like turbochargers and active-suspension, KERS promises to be the next major Formula One technology breakthrough to filter down to the automotive industry.
Honda’s earth dream had been turned to a nightmare by their own beancounters in 2009. 2014 gives them and other manufactures a chance to wake up from this, and make their dreams a reality.
By 2009, the Global Financial Crisis played a large role in Honda pulling the plug on its Formula One program. It made little sense for the manufacturer to spend millions of dollars on two race cars when they were facing the prospect of closing factories and slashing jobs. However, had the manufacturer not opted to tighten their belt, they would have been able to deliver on their earth dream message.
The race team was bought out by their former technical director, Ross Brawn. Under a new team name and with a customer Mercedes engine, the team totally dominated the 2009 season wrapping up both titles with relative ease. It was the most significant performance turnaround of the modern era, with the team moving from 9th place in 2008, to 1st in 2009. To show the bigwigs at Honda what a mistake they had made, the team had achieved these results in spite of staff cutbacks and with very little sponsorship.
If winning the title was not enough, for 2009 Formula One allowed for its first major green technology innovation to be raced. Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) at the behest of the FIA to promote renewable energy and push-to-pass technology. Kinetic energy is recovered under braking and stored before being used as extra horsepower later on. It was by no means perfect, but it represented a paradigm shift for the sport.
KERS was abandoned in 2010 in order for the systems to be improved. It has since been re-added in 2011 and is used by all but three teams. The reintroduction coincided with the announcement of new engine rules from 2014 onwards that are geared to take the sport in a greener direction.
One of the ongoing battles off the formula one track is between safety and speed. As the cars get more advanced and faster, the sport’s governing body, the FIA, has introduced a raft of changes aimed at slowing the cars down in the name of safety. 2006 saw the last major parameter change for engine manufacturers, where3 litre V10s were replaced with 2.4 litre V8s. For 2014 the rules will change again, but this time it is not in the name of safety.
1.6 litre six cylinder turbo charged engines will be mandated alongside improved KERS systems that will double their boost power from 60kw to 120kw. The decision to make these changes is to encourage automotive manufacturers to participate in the sport. Although four cylinder engines were the original target, the capacity had increased to V6s to please the existing Formula One teams.
With V6 engines being a more relatable commodity to car manufacturers, the new regulations give the impression that a team of marketers had as much to do with the rule changes as engineers. If these changes can encourage more manufacturers to enter the sport, their objective will have been achieved, regardless of the on track success.
Green technology still has a long way to go in Formula One, even if Honda did plant the seed for the idea in 2007. The 2014 rules will not save the teams a great deal on their petrol bill, but it is an indication to the world and the manufacturers that reliance on fossil fuels is not the way forward. Efficiency is now paramount, and like turbochargers and active-suspension, KERS promises to be the next major Formula One technology breakthrough to filter down to the automotive industry.
Honda’s earth dream had been turned to a nightmare by their own beancounters in 2009. 2014 gives them and other manufactures a chance to wake up from this, and make their dreams a reality.
2025
Location: Wollongong, 
Australia
AustraliaBirthday: 30 November
Profile: http://www.autoviva.com/member/lewis
