Grand Prix Rejects

Not sure if I'm at the right place, but Google turned up nothing this time...

I've come across mention of an unusual 8-wheeler Ferrari project, but can't find anything more about it. Can anybody point to a website with pix? Thx!

the only car with more than six wheels that come to my mind is the Lion Gran Prix concept.

stewartstirling wrote:Not sure if I'm at the right place, but Google turned up nothing this time...

I've come across mention of an unusual 8-wheeler Ferrari project, but can't find anything more about it. Can anybody point to a website with pix? Thx!

This mocked-up Ferrari 312T8. Copyright www.aerogi.be

what in the name of all that is holy....



EDIT::there are more undiscovered oddballs...
both of these are lotus chassis

There are more =)
*BRM Sixwheeler 1877


*March-Cosworth 2-4-0 1977
Six-wheeler with two rear axles that was singlehandedly created by March engineer Wayne Eckersley to drum up sponsorship for the 1978 season. All in vain. Tested by Howden Ganley. First run with a regular gearbox casing caused embarrassment in front of assembled press. Second demonstration was done with a driveless most rearward axle. Today, the car is on show in the Louwman Museum in The Hague

*Lion GP 1980




Williams-Cosworth FW07D
Williams-Cosworth FW08D

http://forix.autosport.com/8w/sixwheelers.html

Enrique Scalabroni penned this design about twenty years ago.

the lion gp car could easily win monaco........if it were a "look how badly i puked on the design board" contest!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmaokoen/5988813357/in/photostream



I made a Lego version of it about a month ago



Williams FW 08B



March 2-4-0

nome66 wrote:the lion gp car could easily win monaco........if it were a "look how badly i puked on the design board" contest!

The car was to complicated.
if i'm right it would have a Jet engine in his back !!!! with 7600HP, the wheels where complicated connectect to eachother.
And damn poor Pitcrew for changing the tyres

other than the now infamous multi-wheeled developments between '70-'89, i have heard that one of our favorite teams has tried something one would normally hear from with large american 4x4s. 4 wheel steering. i think about a month ago i came across a rumor that Benetton back in '92-'93 had tried it. any more info or pictures?

nome66 wrote:other than the now infamous multi-wheeled developments between '70-'89, i have heard that one of our favorite teams has tried something one would normally hear from with large american 4x4s. 4 wheel steering. i think about a month ago i came across a rumor that Benetton back in '92-'93 had tried it. any more info or pictures?

I seem to remember hearing they tried it, i think it had some electric steering system the same way some road cars have.....

WeirdKerr wrote:

nome66 wrote:other than the now infamous multi-wheeled developments between '70-'89, i have heard that one of our favorite teams has tried something one would normally hear from with large american 4x4s. 4 wheel steering. i think about a month ago i came across a rumor that Benetton back in '92-'93 had tried it. any more info or pictures?

I seem to remember hearing they tried it, i think it had some electric steering system the same way some road cars have.....

That'll be the Benetton B193B in its final specification at the end of 1993. Active suspension, traction control, ABS and four wheel steer. The 'talking dog' car as described to me by Pat Symmonds. Without a doubt the most advanced Formula 1 car. It was tested but never raced. I had a nice close look at it in the test held the week after the race. It's hard to tell from photos if the system is in use, because the steer angle on the rear wheels was quite small, 4 degrees.
Check this out:

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2007/03/22/b ... -steering/

I think one of the most interesting projects in the last 20 years was CVT. Williams' experiments with CVT were very interesting and they went as far as to build an FW15 with the system fitted. They tested it in the prototype car even after it was banned, presumably just in case it was ever allowed again. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3UpBKXMRto

Listen to the engine note.

cretoxyrhina wrote:

stewartstirling wrote:Not sure if I'm at the right place, but Google turned up nothing this time...

I've come across mention of an unusual 8-wheeler Ferrari project, but can't find anything more about it. Can anybody point to a website with pix? Thx!

This mocked-up Ferrari 312T8. Copyright http://www.aerogi.be

This is the one I saw. Thanx!

midgrid wrote:Enrique Scalabroni penned this design about twenty years ago.

I really like this one, too.

stewartstirling wrote:

cretoxyrhina wrote:

stewartstirling wrote:Not sure if I'm at the right place, but Google turned up nothing this time...

I've come across mention of an unusual 8-wheeler Ferrari project, but can't find anything more about it. Can anybody point to a website with pix? Thx!

This mocked-up Ferrari 312T8. Copyright http://www.aerogi.be

This is the one I saw. Thanx!

The thing is, that design only ever existed in the minds of a one or two engineers and the journalists of the time. It was just a hypothetical design exercise that never even came remotely close to being a fully fledged design, and was little more than a few exploratory sketches by an engineer exercising his imagination.

That said, Ferrari did once test a car, called the 312T6, which had four tyres at the rear, but unlike the March 2-4-0 or the Williams FW08D the extra wheels at the rear were not added in line but simply bolted onto the existing wheels, much like the pre-WW2 Auto Union cars in hill climbing specification.


In the case of Ferrari, Forix postulate that they were trying to reduce tyre deformation at the rear of the car, which is why their car used two front tyres at the rear (instead of two rear tyres, as was the case for the other efforts) since they were structurally much stiffer than the large rear tyres in use at the time. However, according to Reutemann, when he tested the car at Fiorano the rear suspension was unable to cope with the higher loading and repeatedly collapsed (the first time it happened, it threw him into a barrier, whilst the second time he was able to limp back to the pits).

However, Ferrari never tried to race the 312T6 - it was never even formally submitted to the authorities - as the additional rear tyres made the car too wide for it to be race legal.

Faustus wrote:I think one of the most interesting projects in the last 20 years was CVT. Williams' experiments with CVT were very interesting and they went as far as to build an FW15 with the system fitted. They tested it in the prototype car even after it was banned, presumably just in case it was ever allowed again. Here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3UpBKXMRto

Listen to the engine note.

It is interesting to postulate what might have been had the FIA not banned CVT transmissions, even though it is strange to listen to for an audience used to hearing the engine rpm climb and fall as the driver changes gear. Thinking about it, it makes you wonder whether, had a suitable CVT transmission been available to Chapman, whether the Lotus 56B might have become a workable proposal? At the very least a CVT would have enabled the engine to work at constant load (the most efficient configuration for a turbine engine) and reduced the handling imbalances and problems of a car that Fittipaldi once described as the worst he had ever driven by a long way.