FORMULA ONE'S NEW CHALLENGER: THE SAUBER-FORD C14
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When the cars funnel down the pit lane and onto the circuit
for the first practise session of the 1995 Grand Prix
season, keen-eyed observers of the Formula One scene will
notice some significant changes.

Rear wings will be lower, cockpit openings will be larger
with higher sides, headrests will be more prominent and
side pods will be larger to provide increased impact
absorption qualifies.

For all the obvious changes, there will be just as many
which are not visible, including a 50 mm underbody "step",
an increase in minimum weight and a reduction in engine
capacity. These changes to the Formula One technical
regulations are intended to reduce vehicle performance and
improve driver safety.

Such are the wide-ranging effects of this package of
changes that virtually all Formula One teams have had to
design new cars for 1995 rather than evolve existing
models. Sauber is no exception. The team's Chief Designer,
Leo Ress, and his team at Hinwil have come up with a
striking new car, the Sauber-Ford C14, which they believe
will be highly effective while also complying with the
stringent 1995. Formula One technical regulations.

"The combination of the technical changes specified for
Formula One by the FIA for 1995 plus the move from a V10 to
Ford's Zetec-R V8 provided us with the opportunity to give
careful consideration to how we might optimise a number of
key design aspects of the C14," comments Ress. "It has been
a very useful exercise and we are pleased with the results.

"We are particularly happy with the engine installation.
The Ford Zetec-R is both compact and torsionally rigid,
which is very important from the standpoint of the overall
structural integrity of the new car. We have also been able
to achieve what we think is particularly good packaging
around the engine. I am hopeful that we will have a very
competitive car right from the start of the 1995 season."

The Sauber-Ford C14 follows current Formula One thinking on
suspension design with upper and lower wishbones and
combined spring/damper units mounted inboard with pushrod
actuation on all four comers. The ventilated carbonfibre
disc brakes are fitted with four-piston calipers front
and rear. Interestingly, bearing in mind the recent trend
to transverse gearboxes in Formula One, the C14 features a
longituginally mounted, semi-automatic six-speed
transmission designed in-house by Sauber staff.

"We are on schedule with our design and build process for
the new car," says Ress. "If there are no unforseen
problems, we hope to be testing by the middle of February.
The time between now and the first session is both very
exciting abd very nervewracking for us because we have
committed to the design and can see the new car coming
together quickly. At the same time, even though all our
knowledge and experience tells us it should work well, we
cannot be 100 per cent sure until it has run on the circuit
and the drivers report back to us."


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Source: PP Sauber AG
Scan & ocr by Tero Virta
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