Can a Formula 1 Car Outperform a Rugby Scrum in a Race?

[Greg Bernhardt]

Not saying this is fake, but it seems pretty incredible to me. Can anyone shine some light on this?

 

[Borg]

Beyond being stupidly dangerous?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Beyond being stupidly dangerous?

Which is one reason I am skeptical because if someone slips they could all be run over.

 

[Borg]

Which is one reason I am skeptical because if someone slips they could all be run over.

Well, they are rugby players so they're probably used to it.

 

[fresh_42]

I think it is not about power, it is about traction. Technically F1 cars are grounded airplanes. At the start they have only to accelerate themselves, i.e. about 500 kg. In the video likely 50 kg less (fuel). The racing speed comes from the aerodynamically generated downforce. So there is no extra downforce here and optimizing acceleration means optimizing for 500 kg. During the race the cars become faster as they loose weight.
So the entire setup isn't optimized for power rather it is for speed. In addition traction depends on air- and road-temperature, chosen tires and so on. I'm not surprised.

 

[Jobrag]

Top Gear did a similar test a few years ago with a tug of war team, it's down to the force you can put onto the ground, once the tyres start to spin the car has lost it.

 

[fresh_42]

You can't even get it rolling without technical help. A computer regulates the clutch. Otherwise you stall the engine. So part of the equation is not only the tires but the computer program, too, and this isn't programmed to overcome additional resistance. And because F1 cars are airplanes a more powerful car can't even overtake a slower one (beside on an endless straight like on salt lakes). So they have invented tricks to make it happen.

 

[1oldman2]

Which is one reason I am skeptical because if someone slips they could all be run over.

There seems to be more "spin" going on than just the tires

 

[fresh_42]

Which is one reason I am skeptical because if someone slips they could all be run over.

There seems to be more "spin" going on than just the tires

Plus: real Rugby players do not slip in a scrum! Never!

R.I.P. Jerry Collins

 

[Hornbein]

Hmm, what strategy maximizes the F1 cars friction? It would guess turning off the motor and braking lightly enough that the brakes slip a little but the tires don't. This can be done indefinitely. Wait until the rugby players get tired before firing up the engine.

But that does seem kind of like cheating.

My car has anti-lock brakes but to me they seem to be completely ineffective. Light braking is better.

 

[Nosebuckle]

I wanted to chime in for no other reason than I'm a big F1 fan myself (and former rugby player). In this instance, the traction of the car is going to be affected by the ground surface and the compound of tyre (for the most part). We can't see anything about the surface other than it's asphalt but the car is utilizing the 'hard' compound of tyre - it's called the hard compound because it's the hardest tyre that car has been fitted with (I can tell this because of the orange band around the inside of the tyre). Additionally, that compound also takes the most time to get up to proper working temperature to maximize grip; however, spinning the wheels as in the video will quickly overheat them and the tread will simply get worn away. Perhaps the car could have been fitted with 'supersoft' tyres that would provide more grip over the tyre featured in the video. Interesting that the result seems to be a draw between car and scrum .

As some have alluded to, the F1 car isn't really the best choice to demonstrate "off the line" power since much of the grip generated by the car comes from aerodynamics.

 

[Hornbein]

As some have alluded to, the F1 car isn't really the best choice to demonstrate "off the line" power since much of the grip generated by the car comes from aerodynamics.

Like my daddy told me, when driving against a rugby scrum, heavy is better.