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BMW Olympic Bobsled

A little automotive technology (former F1 engineers?) ought to help our bobsledders go fast. A few years ago the US sleds were being designed with the help of the Allisons of NASCAR fame.

Good luck to all our Olympians!

pete
 
A little automotive technology (former F1 engineers?) ought to help our bobsledders go fast. A few years ago the US sleds were being designed with the help of the Allisons of NASCAR fame.

Good luck to all our Olympians!

pete

It is actually Geoff Bodine (NASCAR driver & team owner) that started the Bo-Dyn Sleds in 1992. Bo-Dyn sleds took gold & bronze medals at the 2010 Olympics. There looking fast this year too.
 
Interesting Video

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting indeed. Don't think I have the courage anymore to test out the sled.
 
Maybe Chrysler is building the German teams sled?:laugh:laugh:laugh

Figure it will have a Mercedes logo somewhere
 
It would have been a more courageous design had they had the crew members ride in the sled in a horizontally opposed position.

Yup, Chrysler is Italian owned today: Fiat, same people that own Ferrari. Maybe the K car design will find its way into F1. :scratch BMW has not done well in their F1 efforts in the recent past. Right up there with Toyota and Honda.
 
Thank you for correcting me, Saddleman. (One NASCAR team is much like any other to me) Bodine was instrumental in bringing the USA sledders top-notch equipment and a more competitive role in the sport. Before that they were mostly using other teams' older sleds.

Bobsleds: nuts!
Luge: crazy!!
Skeleton sleds: now that's insane!!! :uhoh

pete
 
Did you see the Chrysler commercial for the SuperBowl? Bob Dillon kinda rapping with gritty images of old industrial parks. No mention of Fiat, at all.

Bob Dylan

I guess it takes an old fart to know how to spell his name....:wave
 
BMW is not the first automotive company getting involved in Olympic bobsledding. Quite a few years ago, Opel, General Motors' German leg not only sponsered but even designed the German team's Bobsleds. Extensive wind-tunnel testing resulted in very competitive equipment.
 
" BMW has not done well in their F1 efforts in the recent past. Right up there with Toyota and Honda."


That has been a mystery to me? I mean three of the auto industry's top names...and for some reason they struggle? Honda in particular has done well in Indy car? But comes up short in F-1

And yet Renault [not a name for high performance] at least in this country...does very well?
 
It takes much more than just a great car company to be sucessful in Formula 1. Chassis and Engine design need to be top notch. Because you need very specialized knowledge to do either, many renowned manufacturers farm the engine development and build out to specialists. Ilmore Engineering used to be one of these. As far as Renault is concerned, think of the link Renault-Nissan-Infinty. Then there was McLaren-Mercedes, Sauber-Mercedes. BMW did only the engines, I don't even remember what chassis they had. Porsche had a Formula 1 car in the 60s once. wasn't very sucessful either. And on top of this, there is always Bernie Ecclestone telling you what you can and what you cannot do.
 
BMW last took a championship in F1 back in 83 as an engine supplier to Brabham with Piquet then left in something like 87. When it returned with Williams it was replacing Renault as their supplier. BMW was probably the most powerful engine on the track but the Williams was chassis was not the best while Ferrari and Schumi were in full song. When they became involved with Sauber then took over they found out how hard it is to develop a chassis. Drivers were also an issue. Heidfeld as no.1 did not pan out. Kubica pushed but I never had a sense he was supported in a manner that would have made it work. Vettel was the test/backup driver and took over when Kubica crashed. In that run he became the youngest driver to score points in a GP. Then he moved over to Toro Rosso and then up to Red Bull.

Toyota had design teams but no drivers.

Honda will be back in 2015. They are sitting out the 2014 season which may give them a tactical advantage with their engine. Teams running this year have their engine development programs frozen by the current rules. Because Honda is not on the grid this year they can continue to develop their engine which may give them an advantage in 2015 in that department. Then the question is what will their chassis and driver setup be to compliment the developed engine.

The BMW bobsled development has been done under the auspices of BWM Desingworks US. I am not at all certain how much direct influence the BMW F1 effort has on that. Much of the chassis design team stayed in Hinwil with Sauber. BMW Designworks has done contract design and development work in all sorts areas for all sorts of products. It has done some work with sailboats and understands fluid dynamics as a result of that work.
 
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