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IndyCar
INDYCAR: It’s A Fun Car, Encourages You To Attack—Wheldon
With its first proper road course and oval tests completed, Dan Wheldon updates SPEED.com on how the 2012 Dallara Indy car is coming along.
Dan Wheldon pulls out of pit lane at Indy on Tuesday for the Dallara IR12's first laps on the 2.5-mile oval. (LAT)
Dallara’s new 2012 Indy car chassis still has plenty of testing to do, including its first run on the oval at Indianapolis on Tuesday, but the IR12 chassis has proved to be a pleasure to drive from the outset, according to its chief test pilot, Dan Wheldon.
With his Indy 500-winning Bryan Herta Autosport team running the car, and 2012 Project Manager Tony Cotman and INDYCAR VP of Technology Will Phillips crafting the testing plans, the 2005 series champion was enthused after putting the IR12 through its paces on the 2.6-mile Indianapolis road course in early September, and again up last week during a solid two-day run on the tricky .875-mile oval at Iowa.
“We had a really good test at Indianapolis on the F1 track,” he said. “We did 400 miles on the day, and that was really a success, I feel. Tony Cotman and Will Phillips have a very structured goal for each test, and they stick to it. They evaluate everything that happens before moving to the next step, and that kind of development process is just what the car needs.”
A variety of issues limited the car’s running during its maiden outing at Mid-Ohio in August, but with a number of fixes made for the Indy road course test, Wheldon says the series chose to run hard, rather than take baby steps.
“We’ve been leaning on it for sure. When it comes to going for it, at this point we’re going relatively hard. You need to push so you can sort out its tendencies at the limit, and I’d think people know that’s the only place I’m comfortable driving. Overall, the car’s quite good. It reacts very nicely to changes, and, for me, it’s really fun to drive.”
In road course trim, Wheldon says he feels the biggest handling difference between engine packages--the current 3.5-liter V8-powered Dallara IR07 and the 2.2-liter turbocharged V6-powered Dallara in the IR12.
“You notice the weight change--where the weight is located makes the car feel different. It’s nothing people don’t already know. Compared to the new motors, which are smaller and much more compact, the current [V8] motors are heavier, they’re higher and the center of gravity is obviously higher, too. That has changed physically in the new car, and where the weight is now, it makes the car handle differently. The smaller engine and the improvement to the weight distribution and center of gravity allows you to now attack on corner entry. You can’t really do that with the current car.”
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: 2012 Dallara-Honda Testing Images.
The IR12 test car, powered by Honda’s new, compact single-turbo V6 engine, comes in at approximately 50 pounds lighter than the current V8 in use (roughly 220 pounds for the 2.2L to 275 pounds for the 3.4L), and with the weight sitting lower in the car, Wheldon says the IR12 feels like a proper road racing car. Compared to the IR07, which was designed for oval racing and was later pressed into double-duty as a road racer starting in 2005, the IR12 was tailor-made for both types of circuits.
“The improved handling, at least from my perspective, is mostly down to the different engines, compared to aero or other aspects of the new car,” he continued. “With the bigger engine in the current chassis, it feels like a pendulum swinging the car a bit, but you don’t have that now—and I’m just talking road courses because that’s where it’s most noticeable. We’re doing things with the current car it was never meant to do, but it has been adapted to road and street tracks quite nicely, but you know when you’re driving it that there are some limitations you can’t get past. The new Dallara feels much more nimble and reacts well. It’s a fun car to drive. It encourages you to really attack.”
Shifting to Iowa, Wheldon says the nature of the new-car tests have changed significantly. If the test at Mid-Ohio was mostly about making sure the car and its systems worked correctly, the test at Indy and later at Iowa was centered on advanced testing and development plans.
“The biggest thing with the last few tests is things are progressing really quickly. You’re able to do a lot of miles, and yet you start to work on a lot of setup stuff and making sure that the stuff you’d expect to work when you make a change actually does work. Yeah, it’s a new race car, but most stuff should be the same. When you soften the rear anti-roll bar, you should get more rear grip… It’s trivial stuff, but you still need to verify everything. Once we get past those things, we run just like a normal test.”
With the advent of simulation software, Dallara and the series head into each test with the IR12 with a solid baseline setup and a reasonable expectation for the speeds and performance the car will achieve.
“Dallara has a lot of faith in its [simulation] program, and right away, the car felt good,” said Wheldon. “The car actually seems to have a very reasonable setup from the get-go. For me, it was the first time testing something completely new at a tough place like Iowa. Honestly, from the second run I did, I was flat out. There were some things I felt needed to be improved, but I have very similar feelings to what I expected. There was stuff I felt that was better than the current car at Iowa, and there were areas for us to keep working on. For a two-day test, it was very productive.”
Wheldon was also pleased with the venue and the conditions for the IR12’s first oval run.
“For being a first oval test, Iowa was a perfect place to go,” he said. “The car, in general, can’t be on-edge there, plus it was really cold and the wind was gusting. It was up to 30 mph at one point. It was great, though. For me, a good indicator of the kind of car you have on an oval comes when you have wind like that. If you can find a good balance, the wind doesn’t play a huge part. You have to be mindful of it, but if the car’s right and the balance is good, it won’t upset things too much and that’s what we achieved at Iowa.”
With his Indy 500-winning Bryan Herta Autosport team running the car, and 2012 Project Manager Tony Cotman and INDYCAR VP of Technology Will Phillips crafting the testing plans, the 2005 series champion was enthused after putting the IR12 through its paces on the 2.6-mile Indianapolis road course in early September, and again up last week during a solid two-day run on the tricky .875-mile oval at Iowa.
“We had a really good test at Indianapolis on the F1 track,” he said. “We did 400 miles on the day, and that was really a success, I feel. Tony Cotman and Will Phillips have a very structured goal for each test, and they stick to it. They evaluate everything that happens before moving to the next step, and that kind of development process is just what the car needs.”
A variety of issues limited the car’s running during its maiden outing at Mid-Ohio in August, but with a number of fixes made for the Indy road course test, Wheldon says the series chose to run hard, rather than take baby steps.
“We’ve been leaning on it for sure. When it comes to going for it, at this point we’re going relatively hard. You need to push so you can sort out its tendencies at the limit, and I’d think people know that’s the only place I’m comfortable driving. Overall, the car’s quite good. It reacts very nicely to changes, and, for me, it’s really fun to drive.”
In road course trim, Wheldon says he feels the biggest handling difference between engine packages--the current 3.5-liter V8-powered Dallara IR07 and the 2.2-liter turbocharged V6-powered Dallara in the IR12.
“You notice the weight change--where the weight is located makes the car feel different. It’s nothing people don’t already know. Compared to the new motors, which are smaller and much more compact, the current [V8] motors are heavier, they’re higher and the center of gravity is obviously higher, too. That has changed physically in the new car, and where the weight is now, it makes the car handle differently. The smaller engine and the improvement to the weight distribution and center of gravity allows you to now attack on corner entry. You can’t really do that with the current car.”
PHOTOS: Click Here or on the image below to view INDYCAR: 2012 Dallara-Honda Testing Images.
The IR12 test car, powered by Honda’s new, compact single-turbo V6 engine, comes in at approximately 50 pounds lighter than the current V8 in use (roughly 220 pounds for the 2.2L to 275 pounds for the 3.4L), and with the weight sitting lower in the car, Wheldon says the IR12 feels like a proper road racing car. Compared to the IR07, which was designed for oval racing and was later pressed into double-duty as a road racer starting in 2005, the IR12 was tailor-made for both types of circuits.
“The improved handling, at least from my perspective, is mostly down to the different engines, compared to aero or other aspects of the new car,” he continued. “With the bigger engine in the current chassis, it feels like a pendulum swinging the car a bit, but you don’t have that now—and I’m just talking road courses because that’s where it’s most noticeable. We’re doing things with the current car it was never meant to do, but it has been adapted to road and street tracks quite nicely, but you know when you’re driving it that there are some limitations you can’t get past. The new Dallara feels much more nimble and reacts well. It’s a fun car to drive. It encourages you to really attack.”
Shifting to Iowa, Wheldon says the nature of the new-car tests have changed significantly. If the test at Mid-Ohio was mostly about making sure the car and its systems worked correctly, the test at Indy and later at Iowa was centered on advanced testing and development plans.
“The biggest thing with the last few tests is things are progressing really quickly. You’re able to do a lot of miles, and yet you start to work on a lot of setup stuff and making sure that the stuff you’d expect to work when you make a change actually does work. Yeah, it’s a new race car, but most stuff should be the same. When you soften the rear anti-roll bar, you should get more rear grip… It’s trivial stuff, but you still need to verify everything. Once we get past those things, we run just like a normal test.”
With the advent of simulation software, Dallara and the series head into each test with the IR12 with a solid baseline setup and a reasonable expectation for the speeds and performance the car will achieve.
“Dallara has a lot of faith in its [simulation] program, and right away, the car felt good,” said Wheldon. “The car actually seems to have a very reasonable setup from the get-go. For me, it was the first time testing something completely new at a tough place like Iowa. Honestly, from the second run I did, I was flat out. There were some things I felt needed to be improved, but I have very similar feelings to what I expected. There was stuff I felt that was better than the current car at Iowa, and there were areas for us to keep working on. For a two-day test, it was very productive.”
Wheldon was also pleased with the venue and the conditions for the IR12’s first oval run.
“For being a first oval test, Iowa was a perfect place to go,” he said. “The car, in general, can’t be on-edge there, plus it was really cold and the wind was gusting. It was up to 30 mph at one point. It was great, though. For me, a good indicator of the kind of car you have on an oval comes when you have wind like that. If you can find a good balance, the wind doesn’t play a huge part. You have to be mindful of it, but if the car’s right and the balance is good, it won’t upset things too much and that’s what we achieved at Iowa.”
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