Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Zip Ties #7
Copyright | Sam Whitehead | Used with permission.
Basics | Flywheel
A rather simple device that has three uses; the flywheel helps start the car, smoothing out speed and store momentum.
The flywheel is located between the engine and the transmission. It is a large wheel of considerable weight by design. At the engine end it is attached with bolts to the crankshaft. On the other side lies the clutch. The outer rim of the flywheel acts as a gear with teeth cut into it. The teeth of the starter motor engage the flywheel teeth and spin it to crank the engine.
Once the engine has started, the flywheel has two more jobs to carry out. As you accelerate, or free rev the engine, the flywheel smooths out the rotational movement of the crankshaft and stores energy. When people say the flywheel stores energy they really mean that it absorbs and returns energy with each combustion cycle. During the power stroke, the crankshaft is being twisted (pushed by the piston) and during the compression stroke the crankshaft is doing the twisting (pushing the piston). The flywheel absorbs the energy when the crankshaft is being pushed and returns it when the crankshaft is pushing. The faster the engine is turning over (high rpm), the more energy is being stored by the flywheel.
When selecting a weight for the flywheel, car manufacturers need to consider (among other things); engine acceleration (a lighter flywheel will build speed quicker than a heavy one, but drop revs too quickly) and inertia (a heavier flywheel carries speed further, but is harder to slow down than a light one). It’s a balancing act and production cars strike this balance well for their intended use. Also, the larger the car, the heavier the flywheel required.
A race car on the other hand is usually very light and does not need to concern itself with going to the shops to pick up milk and cookies. A lighter flywheel, within reason, is used to reach the redline quicker and to control the revs with greater precision throughout the range. Many weekend warriors buy lightened flywheels for their cars and nearly all video game racers have at some stage purchased the ‘lightened flywheel stage 1 kit’ which adds at least 35kw to their car. In reality, the weight of the flywheel is more of a preference thing and does not add power to your car.
If you accept that you will accelerate faster with a lighter flywheel, you also have to accept that you will lose speed faster and have to work harder (more frequent input) to maintain your momentum. There isn’t any power increase in the scheme of things, just a change in the rate of rotational momentum and the storage efficiency of this momentum.
Winding Road #13
Copyright | Tim Schmidt | Used with permission.
Grand Prix (1966)
Woke up this morning to the first proper drenching of the coming winter. All I wanted to do was stay home, make a big bowl of popcorn for breakfast and watch Grand Prix. An hour later I was at work.
Ten hours later though, I sat down to watch the movie less the popcorn. It was shot during the glory days of F1 in the sixties and follows a race car driver who has an accident and seriously injures his team mate. His team lets him go so the only thing to do is join another one and get involved with his team mates estranged wife. Naturally. All this while his main rivals are also chasing girls, partying before and after races and living up to stereotypes.
A quote from the injured driver, Scott Stoddard, talking to his wife who no longer wishes to be with him: “Y’know one of the most beautiful things about a car? If it isn’t working properly, you can strip the skin off, expose the insides, find out exactly where the trouble is, take out the faulty part and replace it with a new one. If only we could do that with people!”
It’s a bit of a soap opera and the plot leaves a lot to be desired but you should forgive these shortfalls to witness the sport the way it was before commercial interests, aerodynamics and electronics took over. It is also very interesting to see the lack of safety surrounding the sport. There are people running across the track mid race, drivers pulling over to talk to their pit crew who walk out on the track and just general disregard for safety as far as us cotton-wrapped-current-day-racers are concerned.
The cinematography was ground breaking, if not all successful, with on board cameras and real life stunts unlike the CGI we’re used to today. You get to witness some racing on tracks that no longer see F1 cars. Spa, Monza and Zandvoort of old all make an appearance and of course, the opening race is Monaco. Some of the techniques used, like the multi screens, did not appeal to me at all. I found them rather annoying if I’m honest.
Another effect however, the soft dreamy music overlaid on intense racing action, was interesting even if it was considered a failure and never really caught on. I guess it appealed to me because my favourite scene involved one of these soft musical scores. It’s race day and the F1 cars are rolling up and down the track. A man watches the race which you see in the reflection of his glasses. Branches of a tree fill the screen and softly bounce around as you see the cars zooming past in the background. A couple kissing pause for a moment to watch the race. Friends dine by the side of the track and women in white gloves with binoculars cheer on their favourite racer. It’s a beautiful portrayal of a sport long lost to advertising and a safety conscious world.
Zip Ties #6
The cool kids are matching their fluoro wheels with their fluoro zip tie repairs.
The Dangers of Racing
Warning: Explicit language
Car Battle #3
The astute observers among you will notice that the title of this post and the video are not related. What? Cars now come with two wheels? It’s like the interwebs are broken.
There are 5 laps to go in the 2009 Catalunya Moto GP and Rossi is battling it out with Lorenzo. Watch as two riders in identical bikes at the top of their game entertain the fans the best way they know how. Truly one of the best finishes I have seen. This video always gives me goose bumps and makes me want to run down to the park to play with the wooden motorbike on the spring.
Winding Road #12
Taken by Gerard Sasso who sadly passed away last Thursday night.
Banner Surprises!
Pow!
You feed readers need to click here now. Go go go! I have a little surprise for you.
Now that you’ve clicked on that link, look above you. It’s a brand new banner! Now click here. Weee…
Yes, I thought I would liven up the place a bit with a rotating banner featuring a host of cool images related to car culture. Each image is a link to an old post so you can use them to discover old content randomly. Others, most deviously, link you away from this site and on to a road of discovery elsewhere on the interwebs.
Enjoy :)