INDYCAR DW12
Clearly, there’s much work still to be done on the DW12, but the problems are not insurmountable. It’s just time to achieve them that is in short supply…
comes into play, the DW12’s testers have commented on the car going even further down the undesirable ‘too much downforce / not enough power’ path that plagued the IR07.
INCREDIBLY RESPONSIVE With such a significant jump in downforce, similar weight, comparable power (thought to be 600-650bhp on street and road courses) and a fundamental change in how that power is delivered, something as routine as spinning the tyres out of tight corners has reportedly been a challenge with the turbocharged DW12s. However, the 2.2-litre engines (Honda uses a single Borg Warner turbo, while Chevrolet and Lotus use twin BW units) have proved to be incredibly responsive, with drivers applauding the lack of turbo lag, though noticing the reduced amounts of initial torque on offer, compared to their 3.5-litre predecessors. Granted, the DW12 has been
marginally faster than the IR07 in recent road course tests and will continue to go faster as the chassis and engine evolve, but the wicked bursts of acceleration some were hoping for isn’t currently on offer. If IndyCar wants to hold more exciting shows, raising peak horsepower levels through an increase in boost and / or revs is the most
obvious choice but, before doing so, financial considerations must be taken into account. Especially as the initial performance / cost targets were a big ask in the first place. ‘We’re not anticipating any big changes,’ said Phillips. ‘One of the topics we are looking at is confirmation of the boost levels at all the circuits. It’s always been in there as a guideline, and we need to underline that and say, “now that’s it”. But it’s one of those topics that keep coming back up each time the IndyCar
affects the durability or the engine pool size, for example, it doesn’t happen without a cost somewhere along the line. And we have to be very careful of managing that.’ Honda Performance technical
director, Roger Griffiths: ‘There are many different ways to approach this [but] there are a couple of things of immediate concern. [HPD] has signed up to provide engines at $695,000 (£448,500) and, if we need to add a sixth or seventh engine
“an increase in boost and / or revs is the most obvious choice“
Engine Committee meets.’ With most teams sitting on
engine contracts for the fixed sum of $695,000 (£448,500) for a pool of five engines and 10,000 miles of service, asking engine providers to dial up the power to compensate for errors in the power, weight, downforce, drag, grip and balance calculations is growing more and more likely. ‘It’s a topic that’s been
raised and something we’d have to discuss with all the manufacturers,’ acknowledges Phillips. ‘That’s the compromise we have to be mindful of. There’s a fixed price for the engine leases and, if something significant changes that
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www.racecar-engineering.com • February 2012
per lease because we’re pushing things harder, or have to alter the rebuild life, we’ll have to take a serious look at the financial impact and go from there. ‘It’s not something [IndyCar]
has asked us to do yet, but obviously, we’d be foolish to think we can just do nothing. We all want this to be a success, and we all need to work together. No one can afford to sit on the sidelines and refuse to be a part of the solution.’
As the partners who are spending more than anyone to be involved – something north of $10 million apiece for Chevrolet and Honda, and a lesser sum for Lotus – it won’t be a surprise
if the engine manufacturers volunteer to take the hit in order to ensure their greater investment pays off.
CONCLUSION Provided the roots of what led the DW12 to miss its marks are thoroughly researched, documented and used to avoid similar problems with its future replacement, the short-term obstacles facing those involved with the 2012 Indy car should be nothing more than a historical footnote. On a positive note, after being conceived while IndyCar lacked a robust technical department, Phillips has now brought the checks and balances to the programme that were missing during the DW12’s gestation period and this can only have benefits in the long term. Though the problems
are numerous, none are insurmountable and the solutions required are achievable before the 2012 season gets under way. That’s not meant to diminish the workload for everyone involved with the DW12, nor should IndyCar let Dallara off the hook for delivering a car that met so few of its targets, but for now, Phillips has his team focused on the only thing that matters – fixing the cars so teams can conduct meaningful tests before the season opener at St Petersburg in March.
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