Muletto
A muletto ( Italian forklift truck and literally mule ) is used in vehicle development to describe a vehicle model that is already in use, or a proven vehicle model in which new parts are tested.
Series vehicles
In order to prevent new developments in vehicle development from becoming known at an early stage, the vehicles are often optically changed during test drives , and this usually takes place in several stages. The first prototypes with new technology often run in adapted bodies of their predecessors or other models from the manufacturer. Development carriers at this stage are often referred to as muletto , alluding to the mixture of new technology and foreign or old shell.
Once the new design has been determined, the camouflage of the body first moves in the direction of full cladding and then decreases more and more as the presentation approaches. From here on the vehicles are called Erlkönige . For this purpose, covers and panels are attached to distinctive contours, which are intended to disguise the actual appearance .
Motorsport
In motorsport , this designation also stands for a replacement car, which is used in particular during test drives to tune the chassis , test the elasticity of the engine and select the type of tire . If the regulations a specially adapted vehicle for the training sessions, so a T-car admitted this was often an opportunity for development ( Muletto used).
For small to medium teams they were often than chassis named No. 3, as these are often for cost reasons only three. Carbon fiber - monocoque possessed.
In the mid-1990s, financially strong teams such as McLaren , Williams , Benetton and Ferrari could afford to transport up to five “ monopostos ” to the races, which caused both production and transport costs to explode, especially for appointments overseas. Originally, the Muletto was always viewed as a reserve vehicle that was used in the event of a training accident for the vehicle that had crashed. To ensure that at least a preliminary vote was made, teams in which there was no clear stable hierarchy were drawn by lot to determine the driver who would be assigned this car. Because this not only determined the basic set-up of the chassis, but also - because the pilots rarely had identical body dimensions - the settings of the pedals , the steering wheel or the bucket seat.
Since this work of the mechanics took up to 15 minutes at that time, this was often a very tight affair in Saturday's qualifying, in which the set-up was usually left behind, so that the drivers in the Muletto were often only able to achieve comparatively mediocre starting positions.
Since the 2008 Formula 1 season , a ready-to-drive replacement vehicle, at the same time mostly the T-car, has been banned.
Individual evidence
- ↑ muletto . LEO GmbH . Retrieved August 10, 2014.
- ↑ Muletto 1 . Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana fondato da Giovanni Treccani SpA. Retrieved August 10, 2014.
- ↑ Glossary: Muletto ( Memento of the original from August 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , MR Fahrservice, accessed on August 19, 2014.
- ^ Ferrari Muletto M3 , kurier.at, accessed on August 19, 2014.
- ^ Formula 1 winter tests to end the season , sportauto.de of December 18, 2008, accessed on August 19, 2014.
- ↑ GP of Malaysia , motorline.cc of 22 March 2003 called on August 19, 2014.
- ^ Definition of T-Car , ntv.de, accessed on August 19, 2014.
