Red Bull Racing

Project Introduction - aims

After having finished the Renault R26 project, I decided to start looking to a follow up. The aim of building the scale models always had  the objective of building as many parts by myself as possible to get a realistic  looking (and functional) car. I started back in 1999 with the McLaren, which featured a sheet metall monocoque and cast iron V8 non-running engine. Then, with the F2004 model a new genere of RC-model was created as a combination of an external realistic car with RC car internals that could be raced. The car was made in glass fiber with some metal fabricated parts. The next car, R26 was an evolution rather than a revolution in the sense that there was little phylosophy change in the goal of the project. However, all parts of the car got improved and the package was much more complete.

With the input received from the Youtube comments and other online sources, I feel that some people out there is more focused on the performance, rather than in the aesthetics. All these comments are welcome and every input is valuable. Having said that, it was never the intention of the R26 model to be a good racing car for RC standards but a realistic dynamic show car, on the basis of an F1 car at 1:5 scale.

The state of the art in RC models is moving more and more to highly sophisticated electronic vehicles that carry cameras, data acquisition systems, auto-pilots, etc onboard. This is pretty cool and allows the user to add extra functionality to its model, creating a more realistic experience. At the moment, all this technology is more applied onto planes but it is definitely something very interesting for a car.

The scope for the new project was set to incorporate extra functionality (with onboard cameras, real time telemetry, more pilot-to-car interaction) and a truly focus on performance. All that, on the basis of previous models philosophy: self building a Formula 1 1/5 car model.

Most of the electronics are like add-ons onto your car, with little impact on the design. However, in order to improve performance to higher level, a radical change had to be made on the design. It was clear that the current engines used (1/8 engine on a 1/5 car) even thou suit very well the aesthetics of the car, allowing for a very tight rear end, cannot deliver enough torque to move a +6kg car as a normal 1/8th RC car would. No available RC engines suit this requirements and therefore a new engine has to be self designed and buit. The only way to obtain higher power and keep the realism of the car is to run a multi cylinder engine, that can be packed together with the chassis and driveline inside the rear bodywork. That will bring extra realism and value to the scale model and at the same time make the project extremely challenging.

Car choice

By mid 2011, the Formula 1 season was well under way and the championship was almost decided. At the end of the season, with both titles secured for two years in a row by Red Bull, it is the strongest team at the moment and leads the technical development of Formula 1. The car looks phenomenal and presents many technical details that differ from the previous cars I had built. Here are some examples: pull-rod suspension, moveable rear wing, larger front wing and narrower sidepods and rear end. All this combined with the new slick tires and cleaner aerodynamic features.

(image: http://racing.redbull.com/pdf/RBR_Haynes2011.pdf)

Here are some of the interesting details featured by the Red Bull RB07 (all of them are taken from 2010 RB06, Owners' Workshop Manual, Ed. Haynes). 















Engine showing the oil tank, that is mounted behind the chassis. Note the exhaust point down to create the blown difuser effect.

Front suspension assembly with multimatic dampers (bottom tilted and horizontal top). Antiroll bar horizontally mounted.
Gear box core exposed. It actually belongs to the RB4. Each gear is 12 mm wide.

To complete the literature review, here are two good sources that for sure will prove usefull:

Model Specifications & Scope

The specifications of the model  compared to the real RB07 are:

Parameter	Red Bull RB07	Scale model RB07
Configuration	90º V8	90º V8
Location	Mid, longitudinally mounted	Mid, longitudinally mounted
Cooling	Water cooling	Water cooling
Construction	light alloy block and head	light alloy block and head
Displacement	2400 cc	65 cc
Valvetrain	4 valves / cylinder, DOHC	2 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Power	800 hp	8 hp-9 hp
Red Line	18000 rpm	9.000 - 11.000 rpm
Chassis	carbon-fibre composite and sandwich  monocoque	Carbon fiber composite sandwich  monocoque
Front suspension	double wishbones, push-rod actuated torsion bar springs	double wishbones, push-rod actuated torsion bar springs
Rear suspension	double wishbones, pull-rod actuated torsion bar springs	double wishbones, pull-rod actuated torsion bar springs
Brakes	ventilated carbon ceramic discs, all-round	ventilated composite discs, all-round
Gearbox	7 speed	7 speed
Drive	Rear wheel drive	Read wheel drive
Weight	640 kg	7 - 8 kg
Length	4650 mm	930 mm (1:5)
Onboard camera	y	y
Live link to driver data acquisition	y	y
DRS	y	y

The first test engine has already been built with sucess! See page and clip!