Indycar Dallara DW12 Specifications

**pitwall3** · 03-23-2012 11:44 PM

From Marshall Pruett. . Everthing you need to know about the new car technical specs.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...pecifications/

**ramberg** · 03-24-2012 12:04 AM

Can someone tell me what the pushrod does in the suspensions? Ive never known what they actually do...

**Hitokiri** · 03-24-2012 12:29 AM

Originally Posted by ramberg

Can someone tell me what the pushrod does in the suspensions? Ive never known what they actually do...

I'm not the most elegant person at explaining things but I'll try. Imagine you're driving a car and you turn you probably want the car to turn as smooth as possible and that means have both your steering tires turning at the same angles. Sometimes on our cars the turn angle between the two tires are not the same and that take more time to turn and the efficiency of the turn itself is not maximized. The pushrods allows you to adjust the angle of which the suspension is turning so that both tires are turning at the same angle or whatever angle you want them to be. The pushrods also balance the suspension of the car by "pushing" or "see sawing" each other back in forth keeping the balance of the car optimal. I'm not sure if that made any sense but I tried. Look...someone is going to come in and call me wrong anyways. :P

**sabin_24** · 03-24-2012 02:32 AM

Originally Posted by ramberg

Can someone tell me what the pushrod does in the suspensions? Ive never known what they actually do...

The pushrod connects the upright to the damper (spring) via a rocker. When the wheel goes over a bump, it pushes on the pushrod, which in turn pushes the rocker, which pushes on the damper, absorbing the shock of the bump. The last chassis used a pullrod suspension, which acted in the exact opposite manner of a pushrod. When the wheel goes over a bump, it pulls the pullrod up, which pulls on the rocker, which pushes on the damper.

**BADGER** · 03-24-2012 10:54 AM

Stick with Sabin 24's explanation, the other one seem like he confused the purpose of a pushrods with Ackerman steering.

**andy5446** · 03-24-2012 11:16 AM

Does this mean we might see a DW12 on rFactor soon?

**JMFVET** · 03-24-2012 11:19 AM

Great explanation of pushrods and pull rods here, http://www.f1technical.net/articles/39

**Spike** · 03-24-2012 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by Hitokiri

Imagine you're driving a car and you turn you probably want the car to turn as smooth as possible and that means have both your steering tires turning at the same angles. Sometimes on our cars the turn angle between the two tires are not the same and that take more time to turn and the efficiency of the turn itself is not maximized. The pushrods allows you to...

Wow. And, no. You may be thinking of "tie rods." Pushrods, in the context of this thread, have nothing to do with steering.

Originally Posted by Hitokiri

The pushrods also balance the suspension of the car by "pushing" or "see sawing" each other back in forth keeping the balance of the car optimal. I'm not sure if that made any sense but I tried. Look...someone is going to come in and call me wrong anyways.

Creative, I suppose, but completely wrong.

The main reason pushrod suspension came into use is that it allows the coilover spring/shock units to be moved out of the airstream to reduce aerodynamic drag and provide cleaner, less turbulent airflow to side pod air intakes and the undertray. Other benefits include reduction of unsprung weight and improved handling by moving the weight of the coilover units towards the centerline of the car. Further, by selecting different pickup points on the rocker arm (which alters the ratio of suspension travel to spring/shock travel), you can quickly make changes in the damping and spring rates.

**ramberg** · 03-25-2012 12:00 AM

Thanks a million guys...

**aaron5572** · 03-25-2012 12:30 AM

Originally Posted by andy5446

Does this mean we might see a DW12 on rFactor soon?

yeah they're already designing it, I saw it on another site, looked real good

**Gomer Simpson** · 03-25-2012 12:37 AM

How did the weight end up exactly back to where it was on the IR07? Where did it end up heavy? That's substantially higher than what it was supposed to weigh.

**sabin_24** · 03-25-2012 01:16 AM

Originally Posted by Gomer Simpson

How did the weight end up exactly back to where it was on the IR07? Where did it end up heavy? That's substantially higher than what it was supposed to weigh.

It was a combination of a lot of things. A few components that I remember hearing about that were heavier than anticipated were the side intrusion panels, rear wheel guards, and the gear box. I'm sure there are other components which added to the overall weight, too. I guess one positive is that with the fuel cell mistake, they'll be carrying half a gallon less fuel, which saves them about 3 lbs with a full load.