2010C Car Review

Engines

All three engines and all three inductions were used, so we still have wide variety in the power department.  However, Ottodyn has displaced GRID as the preferred engine in number of designs.  But this is not the whole story.  The huge growth of SDL combined with the still strong RAC, both using Velocotech, it is likely more Velocotech engines will see use than any other engine.  This is all interesting because it was in fact the GRID engine that won both the TC and DC.

Wing Analysis

Looking at the choices of wing is an interesting clue into each chassis' design philosophy.  An A/A (front/rear) choice indicates the thinking that the car needs more efficiency at high downforce, which indicates the team is thinking they lean more towards higher downforce setups.  A B/B choice indicates the opposite.  An A/B choice indicates a thinking that setups will often be medium downforce with the front wing set higher than the rear.  A B/A choice indicates that setups will also be in the middle, but the rear wing will often be higher than the front.

MP-10C (M-Sport) -- Evolution

The DC championship car for 2010B seems to have only gone through minor changes to adapt to the new formula.  This is probably wise.  Why fix it if it ain't broke.  The result is a car that a balanced choice.

Given that, there is not a whole lot to say about this car, as it is pretty much a known.  It even took the most common wing configuration, which is B/B, which is a lean towards lower downforce setups.

CJ10C-A (RAC) -- "6"

Six speeds.  This is the only design to try it, and is wisely matched with somewhat peaky by powerful velocotech engine with airbox.  This is a relatively high bling car, inclucing nanotech brakes, high pit tech, and the highest mass mobility of any car.  Like a lot of other cars, it is a B/B wing car.  It also sports one of the lower CGs.

So what does all this bling cost?  Well, as it turns out, both mass and drag.  Even though the CJ10C-A has a low CG, it has a little extra ballast bolted on to enhance the mass mobility.  It is the highest drag car, being 7% higher in base drag than average.

MRDC10C (MRDC) -- Only 4 pit guys

In the tradition of the team charter, this car favors fun and drivability over raw time.  In this case basically no resources were invested in pit technology, and everything was dumped into the car.  The only other cars with this primitive pit technology are the customer cars, which is the default car and from that, the Redman car.

So where does it rock then, with all of those tech points saved?  Everywhere, just a little.  They spread the benefit across the whole car.  It has low drag, but not the lowest (it is 2nd).  It has low CG, but not the lowest (it is 2nd).  It has good mass mobility (3rd).  And it has some bling, such as a medium diffusor and nanotech brakes.

The only item that is any sort of on-track compromise at all is the lack of seamless shifting, as the RB5 gearbox was selected.

rusyn-10c (Rusyn) -- Spring, Spring, Spring

One again, the trademark of the Rusyn entry is the inclusion of the third spring.  However, this season, the Rusyn is the only team car to include it.  While not the most extreme car, the Rusyn does have the lowest CG by a small margin and therefore has good mass mobility.  It is also the only car to choose the A/B wing combination, indicating a preference to use more front rear than rear at medium downforce levels.

The main weakness of the Rusyn is that it is one of the higher drag cars, with 4% more drag than average, and does not have one of the high peak power engines to compensate.  Instead, it is the only car to use scoop induction to maybe stop the bleeding.

Hyundai10C (Litchfield) -- Back to the Front

The Hyundai10C is a mostly moderate and reserved design, with the exception that it has moved the mass more forward than any other car.  The Litchfield also appears to be designed for downforce, according to its A/A wing configuration.  So while in the big picture the Litchfield car seems moderate, for this team this is a dramatic change from their roots.  Historically, Litchfield setups have been very low drag and their cars have had mass placed more aft than most.

The basics of this car are reliable choices: nanotech brakes, medium diffusor, and mid level pit tech.  One spot where the Hyundai cut a corner to keep the price down is the gearbox, where the seamless shift was dropped in the form of the RB5.

Another interesting note about the Hyundai, which is a trait from past Litchfield cars, is that it has a wider track than average.  Although this season it does not even come close to the having the widest track.

Jezebel (SDL) -- Drag King

This car is probably the boldest design of the lot, as it is the most extreme in many categories, and is done so in a way that makes a lot of sense.

The SDL entry is the other car besides the Litchfield designed for downforce, using the A/A wing configuration, but gives this a double punch by also having the lowest drag at only 94% of the average.  The Jezebel also sports the best pit tech fielded, along with several other designs.  This entry does not cut corners on the gearbox either, and uses the popular RS5.

None of this is free, and where the Jezebel pays the price is in mass.  It is the heaviest team designed car.  Only the default car is heavier, by  4kg.  And it has all this mass sitting up high at 240mm, leaving no flexibility to adjust mass.  This is combined with the furthest back CG at 0.59.  But this car seems designed for that --  the Jezebel has the widest footprint as well, maxing out at 1800mm, so in spite of the high CG, the Jezebel will likely also have some of the most even tire wear and nimble handling.  Of course the price of this could be longitudinal stability.  We'll see.

default-10c (GMWC Default) -- MRDC with bling

The default car is B/A just to reuse the skin, so that doesn't really show anything philosophy-wise.  Other than that, the default car is the MRDC car with a third spring and brake bias control added.  Since the MRDC was already heavy due to some ballast enhancement, this makes the default car the heaviest car of all, although not uncompetitively so.  It is still one of the lower drag cars, and due to supply issues uses the GRID engine, so in a long straight line is probably faster than its parent, the MRDC.

Ant3333 (indie -- Anthony) -- Gamepad Optimized

The Ant3333 is the only car sitting on B/A by design, which guess what...makes sense.  This car is a custom gamepad indie, and gamepads need as much front end twitch forgiveness as they can get.  I am not a gamepad driver, so I'm not sure what else to say about the mostly balanced design of this car, other than to say it was designed overall by a fast gamepadder.

The one interesting note is that this is the first car by design, for racing, to mate an airbox with the Ottodyn engine.  This is probably a style thing, since Anthony tends to run fewer gears than most, but likes high top speed, so he took the fat power curve and made it as fast as he could.  I'm actually a little surprised he didn't choose a 4 speed, but that could simply be because he still wants good starts off the grid.

Redman10C (indie -- Mike) -- MRDC in Antares clothing

This is another MRDC lineage car, mainly with wing and bodywork changes to reuse Mike's skin.  His main use is to use it to preview tracks, although he may race it, so from a design point of view, it is basically a MRDC.