>>Having MORE engine braking than a
>>street car (at the same rpm) would give the racecar a disadvantage
>Better engine response and braking is a disadvantage in F1 racing?
Better engine response is an advantage; more (better is subjective and
can mean more or less) engine braking certainly is a disadvantage.
That's because we have a fundamental difference on the presence of
engine braking; to me, it's always there, always trying to brake the
engine (which in engineering terms it is; the fuel must overcome the
engine's intrinsic braking to get positive torque and accelerate,
instead of decelerate).
So, more engine braking means that at a given rpm, the engine is also
braking harder (more friction etc); so you need MORE power to get it
to accelerate (overcome the desire of the engine to decelerate). With
less engine braking, you could get more power on the track, instead of
spending it to fight the engine's will to decelerate.
Again, it boils down to you using 'engine braking' as an acceleration
term (acceleration is also deceleration in mathematical terms), so
you're using the net effect, while I define it as the desire (torque)
of the engine wanting to slow down.
In your terms, more engine braking would indeed be better; in my
terms, more engine braking would be worse (as it subtracts from the
engine's power output, or rather torque output to put it cleanly).
The missing factor, the coefficient (0.74 for the Arrows F1 car), is
something that you don't calculate with (but mix in with your 'engine
braking' experience). The problem is; does an F1 engine, given the
same flywheel, slow down faster (picture the engine*** there
without a car around it) than a street car's engine?
You can go one way and say the F1 engine has bigger compression ratios
probably, so it slows down faster. On the other hand, the street car
engine might have more friction and slow down faster because of it.
Ruud van Gaal
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