Formula 1 freezes engine dev

[The PIT]

I've often wondered whether it would be fun to have an Fn race where the only imposed restriction is to have, say, 5 litres of fuel for every 100 km of track. THAT would be a challenge for both constructors and drivers and, at the same time, be applicable to reducing fuel consumption on road cars.

Agreed it would be a good idea. You never know it may bring about a town car that could 100 mpg plus.

[The PIT]

Who cares about reducing fuel consumption for road cars?
Honestly want to reduce fuel consumption? Use public transportation.

Except in most cases it suxs. Actually there are moves to increase fares on Trains in the UK to force people of them.

[MultimediaMan]

I would challenge the notion that current F1 engine technology will make it to the street. At 19,000 RPM, I doubt that there is any seriously "new" engine technology which will make it to the street in a meaningful way.

ICEs are essentially just pumps: the faster you can pump a volume of gas through it, the more power it will generate.

Nowhere has a good idea: why not limit the Displacement and the Peak RPM of the engine? You then have essentially a peak horsepower cap using all of the old formulas: thermal and mechanical efficiency are the main paradigm-shifters. The differences in usable power produced will be through the reduction of drag through the engine and the driveline and the efficiency of the combustion chamber: more "driveable" engines will be easier to cut faster laps with. These are three areas of ICE development which have always been the most difficult to engineer, historically speaking.

One thing is certain: they have to put real fixed limits on the fuels used in F1. In years past, there was a trend towards using very exotic fuel chemistry, making the "gasoline" nearly hypergolic. Everyone should be getting their gas from the same pump. $40-$100/gallon "designer" fuel which magically meets the chemical properties specified in the rules is not what F1 should be about.

[Kooldino]

Ugh.

I heard they were considering hybrids too.

But serously, 10 years? That's an eternity.