mkay
Are you an engineer or sth? If pullrod are so advantageous why nobody uses it?

Newey has said the RB6 will have pushrod, as it is better for the DDD

What I find really interesting is the 'no photographs please' sign. They put their brand new car out on the display and seriously expect people NOT TO take pictures of any detail they find curious?

the mp4/25 looks very sleek.im hoping its v fast 2

Main advantage it brings is that it lowers the centre of gravity. However, it puts components in the way of where the DDD will be. The lowering of COG doesn't bring as much in terms of performance as an optimised diffuser.

That's kinda the whole point of the joke ... it's tongue in cheek, it's being ironic ... the blanking plate already covers anything of note, so it is an amusing touch for exactly the reason you state, rolling a car out in front of the world's media, and having a carefully stencilled polite request for "No Photos" is amusing.



I hope they keep the chrome wheels for 2010, and they aren't just display models. Really nice rim on them, looks like 70's cali hot rods.

Beats me.

And I think its hideous, to be honest. Last year's car looked so much better.

they had the same confidence at the 2009 presentation...now how did that turn out

Damn. I missed the streaming launch because of a snowstorm...Oh well, at least there are pictures!

I love how it looks. Hopefully it's also fast.

there is a no photographs sign on the McLaren in the London museum of science too. Sure didn't stop me! ;)

I bet it did to you Ferrari fans

They say the better it looks, the better it goes. Not a fan of the shark fin, but needs must I guess. Lets hope that's the exception to the rule!

I sincerely doubt that McLaren have a major flaw in their concept 2 years running, especially as it was one of the fastest cars by the end of the season. Lessons learnt and all that.

They really didn't look for yourself:

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?show...5037&st=400

Lots of people seeming rather underwhelmed, calling it 'chunky' etc...

+1

However, looks and speed are oftentimes uncorrelated.

all these new mclaren fans jeez why you getting so excited that it "looks fast". We had this previous years to! also remember last season car everyone was saying what a great car etc and look at what happened! wait until after qualy in bahrain then we know for sure.

If Ferrari have knowingly NOT exploited the diffusor rules after last years ruling, then they are a bunch of idiots, seriously.

I think it was a joke.

Behind the scenes today.
http://www.mclaren.com/f1season/2010/press...campaign=NL2010

I remember the 2004 McLaren looking fast as well.......

Is that not a vacum-based conclusion?!

What about the consideration that pullrod+compromised DD could be better than no pullrod and optimised DD?????

Often? They are pretty much never 'correlated' except by chance. Unless, in hindsight, you see a car that you know is fast and that makes it 'good looking' in your eyes.

You simply cant look at a car and tell how fast its gonna be, no matter how much we want to be able to. We can look at ideas and new concepts, but unless you're an aerodynamics expert, you really cant tell whether its gonna be a big success, a mediocre acheivement, a null change, or something that actually turns out pretty horrible.

If making a car fast was as simple as making a pretty looking car, we'd have F1 artists instead of designers and engineers.

Lets all wait before gloating, and I'm talking about from all sides. Mclaren fans, Ferrari fans, Williams' fans, etc etc. We've seen countless of examples of people on this board looking pretty foolish proclaiming that their team's car is gonna be special, or that another team's car isn't going to be and then being 100% wrong. Hell, one person in this thread alone seems to be doing the same thing after making a right donkey of himself last year.

I think I can sum the MP4-25 up in 1 emoticon:

I actually agreed with you. I don't think we can tell if one team is going to rock the boat with its design.

Let's reserve our judgment for Monday's test and beyond. Right now we can only comment about the looks.

just to set it straight, all, people are doing is enjoying a nice and agressive design, no one speculates how fast it will be, it looks like a nice concept with nice features, thats it! And for the last time, far from, all mclaren fans were positive when they saw the new car at the 2009 launch!
This is actually more about ferrari fans getting defensive, because of their own design i think

Looks fast ... lol j/k j/k

But i blame Ol' nigel! didnt he once say at a car launch something along the lines of "if it goes as fast as it looks were in trouble"?

or was that a dream i once had?


So ... i blame nigel mansell for all the "looks fast" comments

http://www.mclaren.com/photographic/plogge...68-_mg_4435.jpg

"i don't care..."

Downforce from the diffuser is almost 'free', though, with little to no added drag. Its not an area where you want to compromise.

Absolutely. At McLaren we appear to have a revolution. At Ferrari an evolution. Which is faster? Who could say.
But the 25 is beautiful to my biased eye and it's a dramatic and noteworthy change. No apologies for highlighting that.

Nah. I see plenty of people talking about how this Mclaren is gonna dominate and whatnot. Just read the posts.

This isn't about Ferrari fans getting defensive, its about them being realistic.

Everybody wants their team's car to be the best, but we really need to wait until Bahrain before starting with the, "Ferrari fans should be quaking in their boots!" sorts of comments, ya know? And thats from either side. I'm not trying to say that you Mclaren fans are the only ones guilty of it, cuz you're certainly not. I've spent time on the Ferrari board saying the same sorts of things.

You were right, it was worth it!

I'm sneaking onto the forums to check it out on this tiny screen but I absolutely love it!

What a beast

bring on the.... Test session

thats a myth, last year the car reception was pretty lukewarm

someone even posted this





http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?show...5037&st=400

Been at School all day and after seeing the pictures, I have to say I'm suitably impressed by what the guys have produced. Suprisingly looks like a much more radical departure than the F10. From what I can see totally new Front Wing/Nose Philosophy from what we ended the season with, new Front Suspension lay out, new sidepods design and cooling arrangement, when Lewis said it's a different car he meant it. The funny thing is, the MP4-25 still looks much thinner at the rear than the MP4-24 which might be a consequence of the Longer Wheel Base.

The keys this year will be Tyre Wear,Fuel Consumption and the manipulation of air flow to unlock the Diffuser's potential. Last season we started with Vanessa Feltz, this year looks more like Kim Kardashian with the bulky but in a good way rear end and we all know how important the rear end is...of the car of course.

After last year I doubt think it would be appropriate to make any sweeping statements about the car's performance based on it's looks, so all I'm going to say is I can't wait to see this beaut(for me it's beauty comes in it's intricacy much like the RB5) on track.

yes i agree, but still i dont see that many in here claming it will beat the crap out of every other car. They enjoy the agressive design.
Here is my total personal take on things as they look from my armchair. Feel free to hang me.
Like someone already mentioned. This looks like a make or break design. Last year Mclaren developed a car that was to conservative, this year they made it very agressive. This means it will either be very good i think or very bad. What gives me confidence however is Mclaren used all last season to find their mistakes, solve them as good as possible and gain knowledge. Ferrari did the opposite, why i will never understand, because of the current testing regulations. Ferrari choose to start all over. Still they produced a car that looks more conservative, note im not saying slow. If i were a ferrari fan i would sit with the same feeling i was sitting with last year as a mclaren fan, that the car my favourite team launched looks a bit outdated. It was horrible last year to see how every single car beeing presented looked more thin, and developed then the one from my own team.
BUT!!! which will be fast this year. I have no idea.

I agree with this sentiment, especially the bolded part

I agree. Seeing Lewis and Jenson stood next to the car you really get a sense of how long it is. It's like a boat! Who knows how it'll handle the tight, twisty circuits - it makes the 24 look like a go kart.

Totally, one of the engineers said ('off the record' obviously) that according to their mighty simulator quickest way of going through particularly tight corners is by using the reverse gear for line change and then accelerate out of it. Madness.

McLaren have done what you describe for years with every dog they built with minor success, last year has little relevance on this year if you take their recent history into account which has been poor, last decade Ferrari 6 McLaren 1, as too looks it looks like a mix between Force India, Toyota and BMW so if we want to throw around the it looks like it must be so facts, it looks as outdated as the Ferrari if one accepts that being outdated.

Now enough with that hogwash, if anything is to be taken away from the designs its length which gives some clue to thoughts on weight distribution etc, and that's about it really.

see the sec channel, the rear beamwing works as a big extension of sec diffuser channel

ok if thats what you think then ok,

bye the way who are you trying to convince me or you

well enough of that

Yep, looks interesting.

About as much as your trying to convince yourself its not, all relevant to the observer as to the racing results they are facts and McLarens response to dog cars is what they did year after year.

On a team point they've got pitstops down to 2.5 seconds in practice, Neale says

Hahaha where *is* Luky, he must be nearly intelligible by now.

BTT:
After some time contemplating todays pics I think there is a "bulky" area beneath the shark fin. Just below the MOBIL lettering. Do my eyes fail me?
Because if they placed something bulky high up there it would raise the center of gravity.

Striking looking car. I wonder if it will turn out to be as fast as it looks...... Can't wait to see what Red Bull and Newey have up their sleeve.

Interesting,... but recently the devil is in the floor, where armchair engineers cannot see a thing...

I recall them saying that the COG is actually lower with this car than with the old car. It does look bulky though. They are channeling air through that shark fin to some electrical components at the rear of the car though find it hard to believe they'd place that right on top of the engine.

It is the floor we need to look at... I doubt if they have double floor with hidden air channes open to the DDD, wth sucking points spread over the undersdie of the floor

Darth comes home from work, shoves Moving Pictures in the CD player, turns it up, reaches in the fridge for a cold one.
Retrieves laptop from under the sofa, plops it on the table, opens it up to the strains of Tom Sawyer.
Takes a long pull.
Firefox > Favourites > Autosport > http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81116
Jaw drops. Grins. Says out load; "Feck me, that's beautiful."

The Silver Donkey becomes the Sleek and Sexy Silver Swan. On Speed.