Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

New Dallara F312 is set to feature major changes from predecessor

Dallara says that its next-generation Formula 3 car, dubbed the F312, represents a 'very different' design to the current F308

Jos Claes, of Dallara's engineering and project management team, said that the new chassis - unveiled at the F3 Masters at Zandvoort - features a higher monocoque and a lower nose-section than the outgoing model, with the front dampers and springs being placed inside the tub for the first time.

Claes also said new FIA regulations had a major impact on downforce levels, making the 2012 challenger a vastly different car to its predecessor.

"It is a completely different car," Claes told AUTOSPORT. "The nose is very different; it is a much higher monocoque, and we finally stopped having the dampers and springs on top of the monocoque and put them inside.

"There are a lot of volume boxes you cannot have bodywork in any more. The bargeboards area of the current car is affected, so the result is a clean shaped car.

"We addressed safety, which has gone up to an F1 level, and we have worked on a lot of different installations on the rear end.

"Just adapting to the new regulations made us lose a lot of downforce, something like 16%, so we had to work a lot to recover as much as possible."

Claes said that the F312 chassis was on course to be delivered to customers in December, and predicted a healthy demand for the car.

"We won't deliver the cars to customers until December," he explained, "but we thought the Masters was a good place to create a bit of interest.

"If we have to run this old car another year teams will have a rebuild bill this winter between 20,000 and 25,000 Euros. That is almost exactly the depreciation of the new car, so of course teams say they prefer a new car, because then they can attract people because they have something new."

To find out more about Dallara's new F3 car, read this week's edition of AUTOSPORT's digital magazine.

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Vincini Sport considers setting up new British F3 operation
Next article Q & A: Dallara's Jos Claes on the new F312 car

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe