Racing Tecnology: Trickle down vs trickle up?

"magman007" (magman007)
08/06/2013 at 10:42 • Filed to: racing technology

For years the engineering purpose of racing was to test new products and new ideas in the harsh conditions of racing to find their benefit (if any) and durability to see if the product could have a place in the companies portfolio of road cars. We all know many of the advancements found in our road cars that have a direct lineage to racing. From disk brakes to dual clutch gear boxes, there is a lot of technology derived from racing that we use in our daily lives without even thinking about it.

But what about technologies which have been used in our boring pedestrian road cars that are finding their way into racing? One example I can think of was showcased on the Tommy Milner video of Sebring, in which the corvette team used a very effective, if not crude form of blind spot monitoring and rear view cameras to alert the driver of passing traffic. To my knowledge, this technology was not derived from racing, and was a rather rare instance of trickle up versus trickle down. What other technologies are coming from road car development and ending up in racing programs?

DISCUSSION (12)

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > magman007
08/06/2013 at 10:45

Windshields in F1? :D

Casper > magman007
08/06/2013 at 10:54

My guess for other trickle ups would be things like windshield wipers, headlights, tail lights, etc. I'm sure AC and heater systems qualify as well.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > magman007
08/06/2013 at 11:37

That wasn't really a "crude" blind spot monitoring system. They were using the camera and radar to track the cars behind, figure out what class they were in and determine how fast the car was closing to let the driver know if he should defend his position or let a faster car through. Wired has a good article on the system complete with video of it in action. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/0…

magman007 > You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much
08/06/2013 at 12:16

I stand corrected. Crude more in terms of implementation versus what we see in the commercial world.

Bakkster, touring car driver > magman007
08/06/2013 at 12:59

This is far more advanced in implementation than commercial systems. I can't think of any commercial blind spot monitors that provide active overlays, usually they're just some LEDs on the mirrors.

bozla > magman007
08/06/2013 at 14:02

Not sure about passenger cars but here's a good one. AMB transponders going from model car racing to full sized motorsport.

magman007 > Bakkster, touring car driver
08/06/2013 at 14:05

Sorry, I am not communicating well today, the end product is "rougher" than the commercial product, less refined in terms of integration. Big ugly yellow arrow flashes on the screen versus something a bit more refined. Its definitely a more advanced system, in which will eventually trickle back down, its interesting because its a trickle up product.

Bakkster, touring car driver > magman007
08/06/2013 at 14:12

They're big and ugly because they want the driver to see them. Fancy icons would make the system less useful.

magman007 > Bakkster, touring car driver
08/06/2013 at 16:13

I get that, I also know there is a cleaner way to implement the technology than the way it was rigged up for the race. not talking down on the system, just speaking in general. It was a prototype system. Clearly it will become more refined in the future, heck look at ferrari f1 a few years ago and how much they decided to fiddle with the "lollpop" system to try and get an advantage. After so much fiddling and issues caused by the system they decided the stick with stop on it was effective enough.

magman007 > Bakkster, touring car driver
08/06/2013 at 16:13

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines…

sneakers > magman007
08/06/2013 at 18:08

Easy, Hybrid tech. Audi R18 and the Toyota TS030. All started with the very unracey Honda Insight and Toyota Prius.

magman007 > sneakers
08/07/2013 at 09:55

Good One!