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McLaren's using a form of traction control

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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 02:19 AM
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Default McLaren's using a form of traction control

Mclaren have been using a form of traction control via a clever exploitation of a loophole in the regulations. Mclaren, who in the past had come up with "solutions" such as differential braking using a separate brake pedal, have engineered something in the same spirit which is giving them the "unfair advantage" over the competition ....



Put a limitation in front of designers and you can be sure someone will read every single line of the rules and find some loophole... Mclaren have figured out how to limit wheelspin out of slow corners by, essentially, circumventing the rules.





Mark Hughes writes in the Telegraph:

McLaren's steering wheel features four paddle levers rather than the usual two. The upper two are conventional gear-change paddles, one for upshifting, one for down. The lower two allow different engine torque settings to be chosen. Using two fingers at the same time allows the car always to have the most favourable engine torque setting for each gear, thus giving the driver a tool for limiting wheelspin out of slow corners without then suffering a reduction in power in the higher gears, where wheelspin is not an issue. The rules stipulate that any change in torque settings cannot be triggered by the same driver input as a gear change. Having two separate levers gets around that rule, while still allowing the change of gear and torque setting to take place simultaneously. This is part of McLaren's current performance superiority over Ferrari.


http://axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/2008/0...on-control.html

Clever or unfair advantage?
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 04:40 AM
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Originally Posted by S2k007,Jul 23 2008, 02:19 AM
Clever or unfair advantage?
both. while it is indeed clever to find away around the rules, i think it is also unfair and should be banned. Renault's mass dampers weren't technically against the rules either but they were banned. i think this should have the same fate.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 05:25 AM
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Well for sure I will have to say it is clever as hell!

And second I would have to say I don't think it is in keeping with the spirtit of the rules. The FIA wanted these cars to not have TC, thus forcing the drivers to deal with all that power by managing their use of the gas pedal. This little twist on technology is basically offering up a system where the drivers can be much less sensative with the throttle, because the technology will indeed limit the torque. In many ways I do actually see it as a form of TC.

Great post S2k007!
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 06:48 AM
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i'm suprised there haven't been a complaint or two against McLaren. but maybe the teams will forgive if they can come up with their own system.

can you really look at LH's performance in the last two races (and HK's pole) as being great anymore...knowing that he is running with TC and others are not?
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:16 AM
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Very clever. Maybe the rule needs to change. Maybe not. It is clearly not a single control. We can start splitting hairs -- do two controls absolutely need to be operated by separate fingers? My next example isn't an F1 issue but how it is different than heel-toe pedal work?
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:48 AM
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Tim I'm thinking as this becomes more public info the complaints may indeed start up.

We have heard on Speed, read in the news, and read it here "McLaren seems to have really come to terms with their setup as of late". Well, I think it is safe to say, we now know why.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 07:53 AM
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The "unfair" advantage came from the cleverness. I don't see anything wrong with it. Everyone reads the same rulebook and one organization just happen to have read it better than anyone else.

Exploiting the rules to the limit is what racers do. Every team has done it, so this isn't new.

I wonder however how legitimate this claim is.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 08:37 AM
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Originally Posted by timrocks311,Jul 23 2008, 05:40 AM
both. while it is indeed clever to find away around the rules, i think it is also unfair and should be banned.
That's traditional in auto racing. I'm sure that's what will happen, unless enough of the other teams manage to duplicate it fast enough.
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 08:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Borbor,Jul 23 2008, 07:53 AM
The "unfair" advantage came from the cleverness. I don't see anything wrong with it. Everyone reads the same rulebook and one organization just happen to have read it better than anyone else.

Exploiting the rules to the limit is what racers do. Every team has done it, so this isn't new.

I wonder however how legitimate this claim is.
no matter how you look at it it's still an unfair advantage ,i mean the other teams don't have it . yes it's TECHNICLY legal but it's still cheating on my book
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Old Jul 23, 2008 | 09:05 AM
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Originally Posted by beanseff,Jul 23 2008, 09:50 AM
no matter how you look at it it's still an unfair advantage
So? All auto racing -- all racing, really -- is about getting as much legal yet unfair advantage that you can get.

Mark Donohue
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