Lotus Renault GP R31

[Rhys Gardiner]

First picture of the new car:

 

[Omer Said]

Oops sorry Rhys, i posted it aswell after you...Really sorry all

The car looks like gorgeous with the Legendary Lotus colors.. I hope they will be podium contenders

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

If you want my personal opinion, I think the JPS livery should be left in the past. To me, it feels smeared on with a trowel here. The lines are too thick, they don't follow the chassis lines in the same way as the old JPS Lotuses, and the Total red sponsorship clashes with the whole thing. No doubt that black and gold complement each other well, but it doesn't feel right in this day and age and considering the circumstances the livery was created in.

 

[Sérgio Marques]

I love it and I think even the red area looks nice there and "Total" will always have my support! Trip to Belgium GP, oblige!

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

partly agree with Rhys and also the fact we now have two Team Lotus both powered by Renault is a marketer's nightmare, isn't it?Don't see why they didn't go for something French, e.g. Ligier or Talbot, blue and white.

 

[Hannu Karesola]

Kubicas's view about how much of Lotus their team is atm. Quoted from Autosport interview:

The Pole also played down the significance of the Lotus brand reappearing in his team's name.
"I think Lotus is our sponsor. At least from what I know it is a sponsor," he said when asked if he dreamt to drive for Lotus.
"So I could also say it is my dream to drive for Total. I think it would be different if Lotus owned the team and were fully involved into the team. It's a good partner to have and they have high ambitions. It looks promising."

So is it Lada, Renault or Lotus or little bit of everything? :tongue:
Anyway it can still be fast on track whatever it is called.

 

[ufunacaoenn]

The car looks good but I want a front view too.

 

[James Johnson]

One other thing you would notice is that the exhaust's are not visible.


http://hopkinsonf1.wordpress.com/2011/01/31/renaults-exhaust-blown-front-diffuser/

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

I've heard that the exhausts exit around/behind the front wheels to blow through a sort of "front diffuser". Whether that theory has any grounds is yet to be seen... if it's true then it's very smart.

 

[Chris Rees]

I hold my hands up, ive now gone from disliking the livery to thinking its the best so far ive seen of 2011. Its all come together better on this new chassis. Thumbs up for the Lada Renault Total Lotus team.

 

[Rhys Gardiner]

Turns out that the theory about the front exhausts was right. They exit out of the front of the sidepods - apparently this means that at speed, the hot exhaust gases will be directed underneath the car to improve the effectiveness of the diffuser.

http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/02/01/renault-r31-front-exit-exhausts-fee-explained/

Jury's out on whether it works or not, but if it does... Clever buggers!

 

[Adam Eggbeer]

If it does work, everyone else will have it on their cars by Monaco.

 

[Sérgio Marques]

A few images of the exhaust-system:

More here:
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/f1/renaults-radical-r31-exhaust-system/

 

[Erik Tveit]

I can't say I like it..

 

[James Chant]

Can't see tht working, surely at high speed there will be issues of air moving backwards into the exhaust?

 

[kalniel]

Can't see tht working, surely at high speed there will be issues of air moving backwards into the exhaust?

Well the exhausts fire sideways to the airflow, so even if the exhaust gases weren't strong enough to push against it (which they are) the high speed airflow would actually draw gasses out of the exhaust, which might have it's own benefits.

 

[James Chant]

Well the exhausts fire sideways to the airflow, so even if the exhaust gases weren't strong enough to push against it (which they are) the high speed airflow would actually draw gasses out of the exhaust, which might have it's own benefits.

Ah, i couldnt see that from the pictures. I guess that "chimney effect" would draw it out . Interesting.

 

[Xosé Estrada]

Maybe Hulkemberg's car now?

 

[Péter Bártfai]

Maybe Hulkemberg's car now?

I just read on f1hirek.hu that Senna, Liuzzi or Heidfeld are the 3 guys they're thinking about.

 

[Adam Eggbeer]

Anthony Davidson has revealed he is officially out of the running and will definitely drive for Peugeot in the Le Mans Series. He felt that the driver to take over had to be a championship challenger though, which in my opinion, rules out every other available driver on this planet.