Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

Throughout September 2009, China's automobile industry was turned upside down by Geely Automobile's acquisition of Volvo.

The media from all walks of life can be said to have had a comfortable month with great enthusiasm.

However, Cao Yang was at the Xingchen Automotive Research Institute, following the general technicians working on the F1 car.

F1 is the holy land in every man's heart, where there are countless legends, flowers and champagne, and most importantly, the fastest racing car in the world.

Whether it is body or power, these F1 racing cars are very different from ordinary civilian cars.

Therefore, although Xingchen Automobile has been researching for more than half a year, there are some technical bottlenecks that still require continuous breakthroughs.

At this time, it was natural for Cao Yang to take action personally.

"We divide the airflow inlet into two channels, upper and lower. In the lower channel, the flowing air is used to cool the gearbox radiator."

"The hot air is discharged along the grooves through the lower spar wings and air diffuser outlets."

"The upper channel sends the air through the tail and into the air duct of the wing."

"These two processes combine to reduce aerodynamic drag and increase the car's straight-line speed."

“Then the lower wishbone height of the rear suspension is slightly lowered, and the result of this is to increase the efficiency of the side channel exhaust of the rear diffuser.”

For F1 cars, aerodynamic layout is a very critical item.

For ordinary cars, when everyone talks about the drag coefficient, in many cases it actually doesn't mean much.

Regardless of whether it's good or bad, it's just that the fuel consumption is a little worse.

But in an F1 race, when driving at super high speeds, if your wind resistance is too great, then even if the engine is very powerful, you will have no chance of winning the race in the end.

After all, engine technology has developed to this day, and the gap between everyone is no longer particularly big.

Your slight power advantage is completely meaningless in terms of aerodynamic layout disadvantages.

At this time, the wind tunnel laboratory managed by Lingnan University of Technology was fully functional.

Since the design started last year, Xingchen Motors has produced two batches of prototypes for its F1 racing car for testing, which can be said to have cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Next, Cao Yang will further optimize the currently designed model in all aspects.

Whether it’s aerodynamic layout, fine-tuning of the engine, or changes to the body structure.

There is still room for improvement in these.

"Mr. Cao, these modifications don't take a long time. The main thing now is to further improve the structural strength of the carbon fiber body and the engine. Only then can we be confident that the car will have an advantage over other teams."

Rao Yongxiang also squatted in the laboratory with Cao Yang to run in the F1 car.

Before designing the home's products, the team has fully analyzed the performance of other teams' racing cars.

Whether it's Ferrari's car, McLaren's car, or Red Bull's car, each has its own advantages.

If Xingchen Motors wants to completely surpass its opponents, it still has to work hard.

"In terms of engine weight, there is not much difference between us, but we can make a fuss about the carbon fiber monocoque and make full use of our advantages in carbon fiber technology."

"Currently, most of the carbon fiber used by other teams is T300 and T400 materials, and a small number of them use T600 and T700 materials."

"We can upgrade the carbon fiber monocoque to T800, and use T1100 carbon fiber directly in certain frame parts."

"In this way, at least 30% of the weight of the carbon fiber monocoque can be reduced, thus leading the opponent in terms of vehicle weight."

F1 racing cars have very high requirements for lightweight technology.

If any of the above lightweight technologies are placed on an ordinary car, it will be considered a very advanced product.

As the largest part of the entire vehicle, the carbon fiber monocoque naturally deserves special attention.

Speaking of which, monocoque technology has been around for a long time and is not a new design.

At the 1923 French GP, Louis Blériot, a pioneer in aviation engineering and automobile design and manufacturing, launched a monocoque racing car designed by him.

However, it was not until 1962, on the Lotus 25 racing car, that it truly demonstrated its advantages of light weight and high strength for the first time.

The engineers' approach was to replace the traditional tubular frame cockpit with a rivet-reinforced light metal shell. This was also the first monocoque introduced in F1.

In the following year, Jimmy Clark drove the Lotus 25 to victory in seven races, and finally won the annual championship.

Interestingly, Colin Chapman, the founder of Lotus Cars, and Mike Costin, who was responsible for Lotus racing chassis design at the time, sketched the original monocoque body concept on a napkin during a meeting, a legend of a napkin.

As for the use of carbon fiber materials in F1 racing cars, that is another legend.

When it comes to it, we have to mention the 1981 Formula One McLaren MP4/1.

Although carbon fiber materials have been used in small parts many times before, McLaren's MP4/1 is the first racing car to truly use carbon fiber composite materials in the entire chassis design.

By increasing the load on the chain shaft of the relevant materials, the stiffness-to-weight ratio of the carbon fiber composite racing car is greatly improved, making the racing car lighter, faster, and safer.

After that, the material that made racing cars lighter, faster and safer never left the F1 arena.

What Xingchen Automobile has to do is to make the carbon fiber monocoque thinner and lighter in weight without any obvious change in appearance.

In this regard, the advantages of Nanshan carbon fiber can be fully utilized.

Even Xingchen Motors' F1 racing car can be designed with a full carbon fiber body, breaking the record for the proportion of carbon fiber used in previous F1 racing cars.

This is definitely a very meaningful thing for the Star Team, which joins the F1 competition for the first time.

After all, although the team's drivers Kubisa and Heidfeld are excellent, there is still some gap compared with Hamilton, Alonso and others.

If the Xingchen Team's car has no advantages, it will be very difficult to achieve good results.

Now that he has entered F1, Cao Yang naturally hopes that the performance of Xingchen Racing Team can be more outstanding.

Even if you can't win the grand prize every year, at least you should have a good start next year.

You can't be at the bottom.

"If the weight of the carbon fiber monocoque can be reduced by 30%, and the weight of other carbon fiber structural parts can also be reduced by 30%, then we can also consider improving other carbon fiber products such as helmets."

"In the end, as long as our car is 15% lighter than other cars, it will be enough to establish a championship advantage."

Rao Yongxiang suddenly became confident.

In the field of flowers, a 15% advantage is definitely a threshold that is difficult to cross.

Even if the car god Schumacher comes, it will be of no use.

Unless the Star Racing driver makes some low-level mistakes or the car breaks down.

Otherwise, the probability of Xingchen Team getting good results in the end is very high.

Of course, this premise is that the Xingchen Team’s cars cannot be inferior to other manufacturers in terms of aerodynamics, engine performance, and tire performance.

Otherwise, no matter how light your car is, it will be meaningless.

"Our 2.4L V8 naturally aspirated engine is completely different from the mass-produced V8 engine. We need to fully verify its reliability. It will fall apart when it cannot compete."

Although in a few years, the FIA ​​will change the rules for F1 engines.

The original naturally aspirated 2.4-liter V8 engine was changed to a 1.6-liter V6 turbocharged engine.

But it's 2009!

Since turbocharging technology was banned from F1 events in 1988, F1 has only been able to use naturally aspirated engines.

However, traditional cars have begun to promote turbocharged engines on a large scale, and the FIA ​​will follow the trend in the future.

"Our 2.4L V8 naturally aspirated engines are produced using advanced equipment such as high-precision die-casting machines and high-precision machine tools provided by Nanshan Equipment."

“The fit between each component is very good, and the output power will not be lower than any competitor.”

"If F1 engines could only use naturally aspirated engines, we could further leverage Nanshan Engine's technical advantages in turbocharged engines, allowing our performance to be completely ahead of our competitors."

Cheng Tao was also in the motorcade with Cao Yang today.

For Nanshan Group, what Cao Yang values ​​​​is the most important thing.

This is also a characteristic of private enterprises.

Whatever the boss cares about, the people below will value it.

“It can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.3 seconds, and the engine’s maximum speed can exceed 19,000 rpm.”

"It only takes a little longer than a tennis court to reduce the speed from 300 kilometers per hour to 60 kilometers per hour."

"The engine sound produced at full speed is as high as 160 decibels, which is louder than a Boeing 747 aircraft taking off."

"Fire 150 times per second, and the piston reciprocates 300 times."

"These are problems we have not encountered before, and there is nothing wrong with being cautious."

Including testing, practice and competition, a team uses approximately 100 engines each year.

This can be considered a relatively large consumable.

If the quality is not good, the quantity will increase further.

That was obviously not the result Cao Yang wanted to see.

"The F1 races of the 2010 season include the Chinese Grand Prix."

"The current plan is to hold it at the Magic City International Circuit from April 17, 2010 to April 18, 2010."

"At that time, we will definitely let everyone see the power of Xingchen Racing Team and let everyone know that Chinese people can also produce world-class F1 racing cars."

Rao Yongxiang can be regarded as issuing a military order.

The parameters simulated after Cao Yang's modifications are better than any F1 car.

Under such circumstances, it would be unreasonable if there are no results yet.

Many friends and businessmen are also waiting to see the joke of Xingchen Automobile.

"It's already September, and next year's season will officially start soon."

"We already have a prototype of our F1 racing car, and we will just adjust some details later. Now releasing the photos of this car can also play a certain role in confusing opponents."

"At that time, we will try to complete the production of the new prototype within two months, and then start letting the drivers practice."

There were a total of 19 races in the 2010 F1 Grand Prix, and the Chinese Grand Prix was just one of them.

Before the Chinese Grand Prix, there are three more grands prix that Xingchen Racing Team needs to participate in.

So actually there is not much time left for the team.

Many people outside also feel that Xingchen Racing Team has hastily acquired the BMW Racing Team, but it does not intend to purchase engines from BMW. Whether it can successfully participate in the competition by then is a problem.

Now Cao Yang wants to let everyone know that Xingchen Motors' participation in F1 is something that has been well prepared and is not a temporary decision.

Once Star Team achieves good results in the 2010 season, it will be much easier to get advertising sponsorships in the future.

Even some foreign Fortune 500 companies will come looking for cooperation opportunities.

If done well, half of the money burned every year can be recovered through advertising sponsorship.

This can greatly reduce the pressure on the Star Team.

Soon, following Cao Yang's instructions, Autohome first released the "spy photos" of the Xingchen Motors F1.

Although it is said to be a spy photo, we can actually see the shape of the car relatively clearly. It is just because of the angle of the shooting that it is not so clear.

"Xingchen Motors' F1 has a strong appearance and the body design is very cool."

Although Autohome has a close relationship with Xingchen Motors, He Ling saw pictures of the Xingchen Team's F1 car for the first time today.

What was published online were spy photos, but Autohome has already obtained a series of photos to prepare for the next period of publicity.

So He Ling can clearly see pictures of the Star F1 racing car from all angles.

"I heard that Mr. Cao was personally involved in this appearance."

"Over the years, as long as the products Mr. Cao personally participated in the design have never disappointed, this time is no exception."

"It's just that F1 cars are not just about looking good. They also need to look at aerodynamic performance, car weight, engine performance, and the level of the driver."

"Xingchen Racing Team has not announced this information yet, and it is hard to say what will happen in the end."

During this time, Yu Yu had a good understanding of the F1 situation.

I have a certain understanding of F1 racing.

Apart from this, the domestic media pays relatively little attention to F1.

After the establishment of Xingchen Racing Team, professional automotive media such as Autohome and NetEase Auto Channel have all launched dedicated F1 columns.

Anyone can guess that the popularity of F1 in China will definitely continue to increase.

If the Xingchen Team can achieve a good ranking in F1, then the popularity will further increase.

This is definitely a good thing for China's automotive media.

"It is estimated that this information will not be released so soon, otherwise it will be known to competitors."

"However, with just the appearance of the car body and some basic literacy information, I think it can meet the needs of 99% of readers."

"It's so professional that not many people can understand it."

The problem He Ling mentioned can also be regarded as a dilemma faced by professional automotive media people.

You cannot explain many technical things too in-depth, otherwise very few people will understand and the reading volume of the article will be very low.

But if you don't speak professionally, in the eyes of a small number of professionals, you will think you are a bit watery and you don't know these things.

What a dilemma!

However, in the end, you must choose to bow to the market.

"Let's arrange for people to publicize the content related to this set of pictures as soon as possible."

"The popularity of Xingchen Racing Team is still there, so we need to make good use of it."

"Otherwise, as the end of the year approaches, there will be more and more new model launches in the automotive industry, and there will be more major events in the entire industry, and everyone's attention to Xingchen Racing Team will decrease."

Yu Yu naturally hopes to fully cooperate with the promotional needs of the Xingchen Racing Team.

This is what the car home is made of.

With the publicity of these articles, Xingchen Automobile unexpectedly gained some benefits.

"Mr. Cao, in the past week, the sales of our Starry Sky Sports Car increased by 30% year-on-year and by 20% month-on-month."

"This situation is a bit unusual."

High-end sports cars like the Star Sports Car have relatively limited sales every year.

Both Zeng Tingting and Cao Yang are basically used to the fact that only a few hundred Star Sports Sports Cars can be sold every year.

Now that the scale seems to be increasing rapidly, it will naturally attract attention.

“Did the increase in sales of Star Sports Cars increase domestically or simultaneously at home and abroad?”

Cao Yang knows very well what the current automobile market is like.

It's hot domestically, but it's cold internationally.

"Internationally, there has been a slight increase, but the domestic performance is very good."

"I feel like it has something to do with the launch of the F1 car by Star Team?"

Zeng Tingting made a bold guess.

Although there is no way to confirm it immediately in a short time, it makes sense logically.

After all, F1 is a contest of speed and passion. Constant promotion of this aspect will inevitably stimulate some wealthy people to buy sports cars and enjoy the taste of supercars.

"We can observe it again and conduct surveys and interviews with 4S stores to find out the reasons for the changes in sales."

"If it is really related to F1, then we can let our F1 prototype car go to some 4S stores for display activities, maybe it will be an unexpected surprise."

The purpose of Xingchen Automobile entering the F1 competition is to enhance the company's brand power and let everyone know the strength of Xingchen Automobile.

Therefore, it is natural and necessary to cooperate with relevant publicity in advance.

Zeng Tingting was already aware of this, so she immediately said: "I will go to the store to inspect the store in person tomorrow to see how the situation is."

"Then we can communicate with the racing track in Magic City and organize some practice activities in advance so that the Star Team will always have good exposure."

Zeng Tingting is still very professional when it comes to marketing.

Cao Yang also trusted her.

So soon, there were a lot more reports about Xingchen Racing Team and F1 racing in various automotive media in China.

Even the sales of Xingchen Automobile are expected to further increase.

This makes BMW a bit tasteful.

"Amoha, you said that the company gave up the F1 race. Is this really the right decision?"

Phillips rarely hesitated.

He never expected that an F1 race could attract so much attention in China.

Didn’t the Chinese have little interest in F1 before?

It’s not like BMW China has never publicized the BMW team, but almost no one cares about it.

Why has the situation completely changed now that we are in the Star Racing Team?

This was very difficult for Phillips to understand.

"There are only 10 teams participating in the entire F1 competition, and many countries do not have teams in it."

"Under this situation, F1's influence is destined to be incomparable with the Olympic Games and the World Cup. The so-called three major sports events in the world are more of the FIA's promotion."

"For us at BMW, we have always promoted our good handling, and we have not promoted too much about how good our power is."

"In fact, our company does not mainly produce supercars. It is not like Ferrari and McLaren, which can increase the company's product sales by participating in F1 competitions."

"In this case, quitting F1 is the right choice for BMW, but it may not be the right choice for Ferrari."

"The specific situation must be analyzed in detail."

Aimoha's explanation is quite reasonable.

Phillips agreed.

However, seeing that Xingchen Motors has attracted so much attention in China, it is said that the sales of its products have increased.

This made him very uncomfortable.

Who made the predecessor of Xingchen Racing Team BMW Racing Team?

Without this incident, Phillips wouldn't feel so uncomfortable.

"Some people used to say that no matter what happened to Nanshan Group, it would be different from what everyone imagined."

"It seems that this sentence is quite reasonable."

"It was like this when they acquired Jaguar Land Rover, and it seems to be the same way now when they acquire the BMW F1 team."

"If Star Team can achieve a good result in next year's F1 season, then they will be considered a real success."

Phillips said a little sourly.

However, in his heart he definitely doesn’t want Xingchen Racing Team to achieve any good results next year.

BMW has been working hard for so many years but has not achieved any impressive results. Is it possible that a newcomer to Xingchen Motors can bring you some special surprises for the first time?

Unlikely?

F1 racing cars are completely different from ordinary civilian cars.

Xingchen Automobile has never had any experience in this area. Logically speaking, it has very little experience in the aerodynamics, engine, chassis tuning and other aspects of F1 racing.

In this case, it is impossible to launch any good racing car.

In a few years, after accumulating experience, maybe the situation will change.

Phillips’ idea probably represents the thinking of most people.

"F1 is ultimately a niche competition, and the company's strategy is to focus its development on electrification."

"I think it is better to pay attention to the development of Xingchen Racing Team than to pay attention to Nanshan Group's layout and development in electrification."

"The electric taxi they cooperated with Yangcheng Trumpchi will be launched soon, and it will be time to test the Nanshan battery."

BMW has in-depth cooperation with Nanshan Battery, so Aimoha is very concerned about the development of Nanshan Battery.

Although judging from the previous information on paper, the performance of Nanshan battery is very advanced.

Including Nanshan battery production lines, they are also very competitive domestically and even globally.

But how the product will turn out after mass production and what feedback the market will have, these are the things that deserve the most attention.

At this time, Aimoha set its sights on Nanshan Battery's first large-scale mass-produced electric model.