Formula Alternative - [Deliberation of Rules]

Community Challenges & Competitions
1

In our timeline, the Formula 1 season of 2026 has given some mixed results. Whilst the aero regulations are arguably very good, the engine regulations are hated on quite a bit. Therefore we are going to change it up quite a bit.

In this challenge, you will be required to design a formula car (i.e. open wheeler). There will be a lot more freedom than in Formula 1, and would probably lean more towards the regulations we see in WEC. Engine size, aspiration, cilinder count, … will be free to chose, only a couple of limitations will be set.

The use of the mod Generic 2000s F1 car (4.27) is advised to be used in this challenge.

Engine Rules:

As mentioned before, the engine rules will be very loose. The only strict rules are:

  1. Engine Variant year must be 2020
  2. Engine fuel flow limit is 1700 g/min. You can find out about this number by using the start button in the Testing tab, setting throttle to the maximum and letting the engine rev out all the way. At all times, the number shown should be 1700g/min or lower.
  3. Fuel must be Unleaded, RON/AKI rating can be chosen by the designer (but I wouldn’t get why you would want to use anything less than 100 RON/ 95 AKI.
  4. Engine must be able to rev to at least 9000rpm. I do not want to see anything close to a diesel engine (low revs, loads of torque)
  5. Must achieve at least WES 8. (The sport is trying to get cleaner every day, but in many of my attemps, this isn’t a problem at all to get even without a catalytic converter)

Chassis Rules:

  1. Chassis Variant must be set to 2020.

  2. Single Seater required.

  3. Minimum wheelbase: 2.9 m (2.85 m before rounding).

  4. Minimum weight: 650 kg (1433 lb).

  5. Minimum Safety rating: 60.

  6. Maximum listed fuel consumption: 10.0 L/100 km (or at least 23.52 MPG)

  7. No CVT gearboxes allowed.

  8. No traction aids allowed.

  9. Springs may only be Standard or Progressive.

  10. Sway Bars may only be Passive or Semi-Active.

  11. Maximum tire width: 385 mm (front and rear).

  12. Maximum rim diameter: 15 inches.

  13. Maximum rim offset: 50 mm (front and rear).

  14. Wheel Quality may not exceed +10.

  15. Maximum of 12 aero fixtures from the Lip, Spoiler, and Wing categories combined.

  16. Main front wing may not extend past the inside of the front wheels.

  17. Front wing add-on pieces may not extend past the outside of the front wheels.

  18. Rear wing may not extend past the inside of the rear wheels.

  19. The car may not have any red warnings, including but not limited to:

Flipping over, Extreme understeer, Extreme oversteer, Any other red warning shown by the game

  1. Entertainment system must be Basic AM Radio.

Tech Pool

Total budget for the Tech Pool is set at 75 Million. This is the sum of both Engine en Chassis Tech pool cost.

Judging Criteria

The number next to the requirement will be the maximum points achievable in this class

  1. Lap time around Narnilla Grand Prix, will be average of standing start and flying lap. (10)
  2. Sportiness (10)
  3. Not being overweight, i.e. closer to 650kg (8)
  4. Drivability (8)
  5. Looks (8)
  6. Cost (5)
  7. Reliability (5)
  8. Loudness (3)
  9. Fuel Economy (3)

Submissions

Should open 01/07/2026 (00:01 GMT+2) if no major changes are made to the rules.

Would close 20/07/2026. (23:59 GMT+2)

Car and Engine Model name: FA - Username

Car and Engine Trim name: Free

All submussions should include:

  • A .car file sent to me (@jorge_703 ) via DM in discourse
  • An ad/ team presentation in this thread

Picture for clarification:

image
image709×733 128 KB

Picture above is perfectly legal

image
image694×685 120 KB

Picture above is illegal (Front add on piece extends further than outside front wheel)

image
image688×718 127 KB

Picture above is illegal (Main Front Wing extends past inside front wheel)

2 Likes
2

Just to point it out. As i get the idea that ruleset is imo too reestrictive, bascally we only had freedom of engine selection

3

Most of the restraints will follow normally out of the design you make. With the Fuel Flow limit of 1700g/min, you should normally always get the correct fuel economy. On the other hand, it is still a Formula Ruleset, which are by definition pretty restrictive. However if you have suggestions for rule changes, I am happy to hear them.

4

did you me starts 01/07/26 and ends 20/07/26?
otherwise we’ve already missed the dead line lol

5

wouldnt this make the engine underpowered

6

Whoops starting to live in the past, will change it my bad

1 Like
7

Should get between 400-500hp easily, not underpowered in my opinion

8

does the downforce warning also count

9

Bottoming out due to downforce, yes. Any Red Warning will result in an instant ban

10

I highly suggest not binning cars that have the “car rolled over during testing” red warning. Automation doesn’t always play well with the stiffness and downside levels of high performance cars and will say that a car “flipped during testing” even through no such thing has actually occurred. I’m not sure what internal test is bugging out, but with lightweight, super high downside stuff like F1 or other race cars, it triggers regularly and is near impossible to remove while still retaining F1 levels of grip and downforce.

3 Likes
11

The reason as to why I have put this rule in, is to not allow exploits that result in massive downforce gains. So at the moment, the cars wouldn’t be the quickest through the corners compared to F1 cars, but can still get around 1:46 around the Automation Testrack from standing start

12

I’m not sure if F1 actually allows semi-active dampers, but my hunch is that they don’t, given they have some degree of electronic control, unlike passive ones. In that case, forcing every entrant to use passive sway bars may not be such a bad idea after all.

13

and no transmission (no cvt ofc) and steering rack regulation?

14

I would suggest mandating a hydraulic rack-and-pinion steering rack (with or without variable assistance) and a racing sequential gearbox (not an automated manual, as some road cars use).

15

the diff fully clutched lsd race or what (and also y not dual clutches)

16

A dual-clutch gearbox may be too heavy; besides, race cars of this kind need a clutched racing diff because an electronic one would be too complex and expensive.

17
  1. If it is not mentioned in the rules, you can do whatever you want. (Dual clutch or sequential, type of lsd)
  2. For the suspension I would say the same. The loss of downforce due to rolling over can be recovered in handling with the use of semi-active dampers
18

I want to give the players as much of designing freedom whilst keeping it somewhat fair. We will probably see quite a lot of people still gravitate towards the same decisions

19

I recommend some type of maximum overhang infront of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels, because the further away from the wheel an aero fixture is, the more downforce it produces. Just to stop people from pushing the wings way far to game the rules.
(Edit:) Could be like 120 mm infront of front axle and 80 mm behind rear axle

1 Like