Revealed what limits the speed of the RB17 supercar | Business

As new details emerge, the supercar’s creator shared details of the machine on the Talking Bulls podcast.

Like other developers of machines of a similar class, Red Bull Advanced technologists had to forcibly reduce the car’s maximum speed to 370 km/h. for safety reasons, the most important thing is that the load on the tires does not exceed the limits.

Adrian Newey: “The tires are one of the aspects that had to be given special attention. At an early stage in the development of the machine, we signed a contract with Michelin to develop special tires for the RB17. But even with the special tires, we had to reduce the level of downforce at speeds that exceed 240 km/h.

It is understood that we are talking about the total loads on the tires, that is the weight of the car plus the downforce generated by the aerodynamics. This was one of the reasons that forced us to keep the weight of the machine as low as possible, because we realized in advance that the speed of the RB17 would be limited by the capabilities of the tires.

During the development of the supercar, many versions of it were created. From the very beginning, it was thought that we would build a 4×4 transmission, that is, we would install an electric motor on the front axle. But the calculations showed that the car will be faster if we make it lighter and limit ourselves to rear-wheel drive.

From the very beginning, we had the idea of ​​installing a V8 engine with two turbos, of course we wanted it to be without a turbo system. But the question arose: how to make an atmospheric engine powerful enough for its compact dimensions, so that its size and weight meet the set parameters.

It turned out to be quite a difficult task, our motorists proposed various solutions until finally the V10 naturally aspirated engine was produced.

We wanted to create a car that even a person with no racing experience could drive. Such people will be able to appreciate that this machine forgives mistakes, does not have too much steering, and it is not very difficult to drive.

As our experience increases, the machine will gradually adapt to the driving style – you will be able to adjust it, set it, choose different levels of downforce, choose different tires, etc. And in the hands of professional racers, the RB17 will be able to complete a lap of the track in a time similar to the capabilities of a Formula 1 car.

Recently, one of our clients worked in our simulator (not a professional), but a rather passionate amateur. And behind the wheel of the RB17, he set a time that would allow him to take pole at Silverstone by one second.”