"If you look at the last Olympics in Vancouver, the second- and third-place finishers were separated by one one-hundredth of a second." That's Steven Holcomb, Team USA Bobsled pilot and member of the 2010 four-man Olympic team that took the gold in Vancouver, describing how insanely tight the competition for Olympic glory is in the world of bobsled racing. Just as with motorsports, when it comes down to fractions of a second, the tiniest of details can make or break your chance to stand on the podium. For that reason, Team USA has entrusted the design of its new two-man sled to BMW, a company that knows a few things about speed, performance, and podium finishes.
Spearheading the project at BMW's design studio in Southern California is the multifaceted Michael Skully, who includes car designer, racing driver, and Creative Director for BMW Group DesignworksUSA among his many titles. It was who Skully who set the tone for the project by declaring, "The priority of the project is speed." An obvious statement, but having the directive come from the top should help the sentiment carry through from today's Olympic opening ceremony until the official two-man bobsled competition begins on Sunday, February 16.
Development on the new sled, which will replace the 20-year-old platform currently in use, began over a year ago. By applying a process similar to its vehicle development and using lightweight materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar, BMW was able to distribute the sled's weight placement while still arriving at the required regulation weight figures of 374 pounds empty, and 859.8 pounds with crew and equipment aboard. BMW's development approach included tools such as computer-aided modeling, computational fluid dynamics, full-size wind-tunnel testing, on-track testing, and athlete scanning, all of which were factored into the sled's final shape. Fans will notice the smaller size and the unique carbon-fiber cowling of the sled, which helps to maximize aerodynamic efficiencies and improve handling by allowing more centralized mass. Combining pilot input with BMW design insights resulted in highly responsive and direct steering that is in tune with the sled's aerodynamics. It's also tuned specifically to ease the transition when switching back and forth from the two- and four-man sleds for pilots like Holcomb who competes in both events.
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According to Darrin Steele, CEO of USA Bobsled and Skeleton, it's the fastest out-of-the box sled they've ever seen. A sterling endorsement to be sure, but his words will be put to the test when the sleds hit the ice. Considering an American two-man team hasn't taken the gold since 1936, it's going to take a speedy sled and a set of carbon-fiber cojones to stand on the podium in Sochi.
from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/nSHy27
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