2012 McLaren MP4-27

Hampus Andersson · Jul 20, 2012

Yea was hoping for a tunnel solution but this is more Ferrari like.
They just nedd the tires to click and they will win again.

ufunacaoenn · Jul 20, 2012

Does anyone know what those extra holes inside the sidepods were used for?
I kind of fell asleep in the middle of practice 1 due to the boring commentary so I never heard what they were used for.

Hampus Andersson · Jul 24, 2012

Cooling for electronics.

Got bored and decided to draw of the new Mclaren exhaust.
First time i played with highlights/shadows so it looks a bit iffy.

Hampus Andersson · Jul 24, 2012

Nice shot of the Mclaren as well!

Diego Lopez · Jul 30, 2012

wait what are those lights for? doest it give a nice flash to temporarely blind the driver staring at it

just kidding, really though, im very curious, or is it light reflection from the camera?

Metalfreaky · Jul 30, 2012

No it's some kind of measurement equipment they fitted during free practice in Hockenheim.
Don't know what exactly it is and what they tried to measure. Maybe someone else does.

Kennett Ylitalo · Jul 30, 2012

Could it be the camera that records pressure differences in the air? It has a special name and would require extra lighting..

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlieren_photography

Schlierenfoto_Mach_1-2_gerader_Fl%C3%BCgel_-_NASA.jpg

Hampus Andersson · Jul 30, 2012

Ride height sensors i believe. But Kennett might be on to something.

Metalfreaky · Jul 30, 2012

If it's a ride hight sensor based on light shouldnt the light be directed to the ground?

Kennett Ylitalo · Jul 30, 2012

Hampus Andersson said:
Ride height sensors i believe. But Kennett might be on to something.

Edited my post..

Tony Holder · Jul 31, 2012

The new McLaren ION drive.

Hampus Andersson · Jul 31, 2012

Someone asked Mclaren over twitter but it does seem they miss-understood the question.

""The light under the car, what is it?" It's a fluoro sighting strip - to help with placing the rear jack."

Hampus Andersson · Jul 31, 2012

I also asked now in the F1T forum and gave you credit for it Kennett, i think you might have nailed this one.

Hampus Andersson · Jul 31, 2012

And it was wrong

Nope, that doesn't work.

First, you would have massive noise by environmental light (sun, reflections...).
Second, as a shadowgraph projects to 2D parallel to the flow, you lose information (the interesting stuff is 3D or at least perpendicular to the flow).
Third, the speeds should be too low for a shadow graph, the density gradients would be too flat (after all Schlieren was developed for supersonic visualisation).