BLUEPRINT
OR REDPRINT: VY vs BA
By March 2003, the VX and AU
will have gone from the hands of the front runners. In are the new
VY Commodore and BA Falcon, and Project Blueprint is here to provide
virtual parity. There's still guesswork involved in the parity
discussions, but the aim is to have the cars sitting on the same
wheelbase, with the same engine placement, the same suspension and
the same aerodynamic downforce.
Rear Wing
Both the cars now use the same huge rear wing. It is straight and
stretches to the widest reaches of the car.
Holden retains its central mounting position as much for differentiation
as for ease of adjustment. The car's sharper tail has given a 3
percent reduction in drag on the road car, so expect similar gains
on the track. AVESCO is still finalising the exact location of the
wing, with aero testing slotted into the calendar for mid-December.
Front Spoiler
The undertray is the same on both cars, as is the relativity to
the wheels of the cars. The aim here is to get the same downforce on
the front of each car, which is not as easy as it sounds. All air
intakes are the same size and location regardless of optical
illusions.
Body
The Commodore has new quarter panels front and rear, but that is
the extent of the changes.
Front Suspension
The Holden guys talk about this as the AVESCO suspension, and it
is essentially the double wishbone unit of the Falcon. The lower arm
is fixed, but the upper arm has some flexibility and scope for teams
to be clever and find an edge. Mastering this is one of the very bid
challenges facing the Holden teams.
Rear Suspension
Ford picks up the trailing arm off the Commodore, which
Marsden says will help get the power to the ground. The shockers
have also been repositioned in-line with the Commodore's; this,
combined with more downforce on the nose, will provide some pretty
significant changes to the balance and setup of the Falcon.
Engine Location
The Holden's engine has been moved back to match the Ford's.
This will give the Commodore slightly better weight distribution by
shifting some of the car's mass rearward.
Engine Spec
A bit more power can be expected out of the Chev units in the
Holden, bringing them lineball with the Falcons.
Summary
Commodore - There is much greater visual alignment between the
race car and the road car for Holden, with the new racing front and
rear bumpers mirroring the cut lines of the road car. Essentially
the VY is a facelift, and a race car can be simulated by swapping
the quarter panels.
What is big in terms of change is the front suspension, engine spec
and engine location. The front suspension will challenge a few -
Allan Heaphy said earlier this year it took the 00 Motorsport team a
good 12 months to get a handle on it.
Richard Hollway from HRT says this is about some major engineering
changes rather than just building new cars. It is, he adds, a big
job!
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