German Car Zone

That's true, but back then, people were, as Phil Hill put it, "dying center left and right".

Even more, the power-to-weight ratio was at best less then half when compared to the 2009 cars.

In 2009 hopefully they'll be just crashing center, left and right.

Just a comparison:


~ 1700 kg max. downforce 2004 F1 car
~ 1500 kg max. downforce 2005-2008 F1 car
~ 750 kg max. downforce 2009 F1 car
~ 800 kg max. downforce Caparo T1
~ 2500 kg max. downforce DP01 Champ Car
~ 4500 kg max. downforce Group C/IMSA GTP prototypes





This is Jaguar xjr14, a car that produced 3 times more downforce than a current F1 car and 6 times more downforce than a 2009 F1 car.

Compared to the turbo era, the present cars are meek. Faster yes, but scarier, hell no.

>
^
The scary part about the turbos (besides the much lower safety standards) was their violent burst and top speeds on the Monza straight.

On most corners they weren't really scary animals as they didn't really have power.

The early 70s turbos had as little as 130 hp in the corners/slow parts (acordint to Renault F1's official site), while in the 80s that went to 300 to 400 horses (Rosberg said ~350 hp) while pouring 1500 hp on the Monza straight.
Senna was modulating the throttle (on the turbos) to keep the valve opened to have some decent amount of power in the corners, not to deal with excesive amounts of power. And that's why Lancia used a supercharged-turbocharged solution on their S4 rally car.

The 2005 V10s were really the ultimate power animals, as they put 700 to 1000 horses in the corners, and that's a lot more than 130 to 350/400 of the turbos. That's why Ralf had those nasty shunts.

The 2003 F1 cars were quite good, and all they would have needed were slicks and maybe active suspensions.

Totally off-topic, but Imhotep spoke about Senna modulating the throttle to keep the turbo active...Here is the perfect example of that.

Look at that video if you want to see something really astonishing...

He makes 1463 moves per second with his feets...
Compared to him, the new F430 Scuderia has a very slow gearchange
He turns the wheel totally decontracted
He had an Audi Quattro...
He is faster than anybody else...
He drifts like a King...
Now he is as old as your grandpa but much much faster...
Now, he drives Porsche...
Guess who he is?

No serious, look at that footwork, stunning. And what a speed...What a control...What a driver!!

His excellence, Mr. Walter Rohrl.

He's unbelievably fast but I don't think he's that fast. Otherwise he could continue his career as undeniably the fastest tap dancer in the world after his current career at Porsche comes to an end.

A tap dancer, Walter Röhrl...Would want to see it! Tap maybe, but dancer...

BTW I corrected it. 1463 moves per second.

Considering at 19000rpm, the piston inside an F1 engine moves up and down the cylinder 633 times per sec, if Walter Rohrl can make 1463 moves per second with his feet, we can use him to power all sorts of things.

thats one helluva mad video! thanks for sharing!