To an outsider, Indy cars and F1 cars look alike. What are the differences in the cars, technology, etc?

Question

Are the two circuits comparable in technology? Talent?

I'm not looking for an endorsement of one over the other. I just would like to know more than I do about each.

Answer 1

at a quick glance they might look the same, but on closer inspection they are compleatly diffrent, irl cars sit lower, rpm is limated to about 12,000, and are more desgined for safety and stability at sustained high speeds, the wings are the same as every irl car aswell as the body and engine

f1 sit a little higher and the front wing is even higher still, they have a shorter wheel base, the rpm is limated to 19,000, but each f1 car is desgined by each team (mostly) each team desgines its own wings their own body shape, and usually has its own engine, an f1 car is desgined to do the fastest lap around a road corse (notice i didnt say racing)

up untill the mid to late 90 these cars would have been a good race, but that isnt the case anymore, with the irl going to a spec series to constrain costs, and f1 making huge leaps in breaks aerodynamics and exotic materials, the gaps between the two couldnt be bigger, but if your a bigger fan of oval racing that wont matter as f1 doesnt race ovals

Answer 2

Once every decade or so, the formulas change. From turbocharger to fuel injection, from 12 cylinders to 8, from exotic fuels to gasoline. The science of aerodynamics has made the cars look the way they do.

To get to the bottom of this question, we can look back to the separation of CART and IRL. Racing is a business. Open wheel racing in America is not good business, as NASCAR is. In IRL, because Tony George wants to keep all the money, the cost of racing has brought the level of technology down to a more affordable level.

If there were no formula, or list of specifications, open wheel cars would race at 275 MPH and somebody would be killed every weekend.

Another contributing factor that is never talked about is the cost of insurance. In the U.S., this all changed when that wheel and axle flipped over the fence at Michigan MS and killed some people. The same kind of wheels (3 of them) that came off of Kubica's car last Sunday, the same kind of wheel and axle that killed Senna. I guarantee that everyone in the F1 business office is looking at that this week.

In the end, F1 cars are better and faster now because the money is there to make them that way. The rest of the world use to look to Indianapolis for glimpses of the future. Now, they don't care so much about what America does on the race track.

Answer 3

Well, in a nutshell; it used to be that an entire IndyCar cost $400,000 while the steering wheel on a Formula 1 car cost $90,000.

Formula 1 has much much higher engine technology. Far beyond anything in other racing series today.

They do not use gaskets, the tolerances are laser point accurate.
Last year their engines revved up to 20,000RPM , thats even higher than motorcycles.
Airplane turbines rev at 30,000 RPM?

The cars are completely shaved of excess weight. There is not one single ounce on that car that is extra. Not even one single ounce.


INDY has less technology in everything : the engines, the chassis, the suspension, the brakes, the transmission. Less technology is good for smaller teams who still have lots of good talent that should be showcased to the TV audiences.

Answer 4

F1, palms down. The automobiles are fairly greater useful and function lots greater downforce. On a great oval, you will possibly could set up the F1 automobile diverse than huge-unfold yet that they had nonetheless win. the version is the regulations. Indy automobiles have very restrictive regulations so as that greater human beings could have adequate money to run a team and that many could have a great gamble to win. F1 regulations are greater huge open. It expenses a extensive quantity of money (hundreds of tens of millions a twelve months) to run a team. very few communities have a great gamble to win. EDIT (consistent with posts under): An F1 automobile has approximately 750HP, IRL approximately seven hundred. The F1 automobile has lots greater efficient aerodynamics, inclusive of much less drag for a given quantity of downforce. the reason the F1 automobiles submit slower precise speeds is they're setup for many of downforce for the corners. As I stated, on an oval you will possibly set it up in any different case, with much less downforce. With a similar quantity of downforce as an IRL automobile the F1 automobile might have much less drag and pass swifter, it would beat the IRL automobile. A Champ automobile could be nearer (greater HP) yet i think of the F1 automobile might nonetheless win.

Answer 5

I could go on with this answer forever..but..IRL is mostly oval tracks, so you are better of comparing Champ cars and F1. F1 is top class, that is what all open wheelers want to be. F1 is different manufacturers competing as well as drivers. IRL and Champ car is about team and drivers. Champ cars are ford engines were as IRL is Honda's and Chevy's. The other main difference in all the cars has to be the arrow dynamics. I could go on and on but just watch all three series like me and you will understand. plus its fun.

Answer 6

The IRL has almost become a spec series. The same engine, chassis, and tires. F1 allows for more aerodynamic engineering. Every make has its own unique chassis. If you check www.F1.com you can see the adjustments the teams make on a weekly basis. The engineers make F1 much more advanced. They have some of the brightest aerospace engineers designing cars.

Answer 7

No. Not comparitable. Indy cars do ovals. F1 cars do road tracks. Difference in tech? About a million bucks a car.

Indy cars never slow down or shift very little. F1 shift all the time and go from start to speed hundreds of times per race.

Answer 8

Although it's a bit out of date, this website explains the differences between Formula One and Indy cars:
http://www.indymotorspeedway.com/500vs.htm

To correct "sweetirsh" Indycars race on ovals, street courses and road courses. Five of the IRL/Indycar series races on the 2007 calendar will be run on either street or road courses - St. Petersburg, Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Infineon Raceway and Belle Isle

Answer 9

F1 cars are more powerful, faster and i think they are lighter 2

Answer 10

look it up on google..or even better www.wikipedia.com