MOTOGP » Inside Yamaha's 2008 YZR-M1

Forgive me for being a pessamist, but do we really believe all this?

Yamaha claim, what, 12% increase in maximum power?

So they're saying they found an additional 20-25 horsepower over the 2007 bike?

Now before you all jump down my throat telling me you'd need that to go 10mph/16kmh faster (wind resistance being the square of speed), remember also that exit speeds were higher.

I just can't believe they found 20bhp in one season.

If they did, Yamaha should ashamed of producing such a dog in 2007!

Their main problem in 2007 (apart from the Michelins) was fuel consumption and overheating, curing both must have meant a much more effective engine and yes, like you say it does take that amount of power to make it go 16 km/h faster.
The sad thing is really that the fuel consumption now plays such a dominant role, it is the ceiling for development.
12% increase in power is great but 12% combined with a 6% fuel consumption reduction is truly amazing.
I'm glad Yamaha decided to go ahead with the pneumatic valve engine from the off instead of the half hearted way Honda chose.
Having said that don't you agree that it is very boring that all these bikes lean-out automatically?

Morgue - Some very good points. I do however disagree with the statement "...the fuel consumption now plays such a dominant role, it is the ceiling for development." Fuel consumption does play a dominant role but I think that restrictions on fuel allow for greater development. Getting more from less. The engine/package that can go as fast if not faster than the other engines over race distance and use less fuel is a much better engine/package.

Only Pedrosa and his fly weight gave him a slight tp advantage,look at the rest of the Hondas , Yamahas were usually faster in Top speed.Hayden being a good example in weight to Rossi they both had similiar Top speeds .Honda can ramp up the settings on Pedrosas bike eg fuel delivery ,runing it richer through corners etc because of his midget size put Rossi on Pedrosas bike and you shave off 2-3kph.Yamaha had easily the best bike in 08.

I agree Morgue, them auto-leaning is part of why the 800's are boring. The problem is, that now that they have more or less perfected it, if DORNA gets rid of the lower fuel limits or bumps the engine size back to 990 or something to cure the boring races - there's nothing stopping the companies from adapting the auto-lean business to the new rules. So we'd still be left with the same stuff we are now, someone squirts off into the distance at the start with rich settings then things lean out in order to preserve fuel economy so that they can finish the race. By that point they are too far ahead for others to catch. I think it's a cause of the run away flag-to-flag wins. cont. below

It's the engine management system. That's my guess anyway as to why the 800's suck and are boring beyond belief.

I'm suprised to see 2 people disagreed with me?

Which part did they disagree with?

My point is that if Yamaha boosted their bhp by 12% in the off season between '07 & '08, their 2007 bike had a very poor engine.

If it was that easy to find 20bhp in 4 months of development, someone should lose their job!

And if we are being analytical about it, top speed is based upon outright power & drag. Pedrosa is faster as his frontal area is fractionally less- not due to his weight.

Acceleration is different and mass is important there, but I still doubt Yamaha's claims. If they were 20bhp down on the Honda's in 07 with a bigger, heavier rider then they should've been walked all over?

What I mean Paul 46 is that Furusawa stated that their speed deficit in '07 was due to the limited amount of fuel allowed, not engine power, simillar remarks were made by Filippo Preziosi in an interview last season, these guys obviously want nothing in their way to limit development and that is understandable.
Besides tyres there's also fuel as a limiting factor now, besides I don't think it will filter down to street bikes easily as pneumatic valves are unpractical (desmo is not ofcourse) and the limited amount of friction and lifespan of a race engine can't be compared with streetbikes.

Steve - Right said! It's only Pedrosa who has a slightly greater top speed but Hayden remains equal or down on top speed compared to Yams.

2007 was the 1st year and everything was based upon assumptions. Yamaha got their equation wrong, to some extent. First attempt need not be close to full potential always!

This year, they had pneumatic valved engines, hunger to win, Rossi's prodding, Yamaha's technical prowess, hear to listen to Rossi and his critical feedbacks and be positive.

With these things haunting them, around 20 bhp rise ain't a surprise, dude.

In reply to Jon M, the 2007 Yamaha WAS a dog! Yamaha said themselves the bike was NOT capable of winning the championship, I watched all the races on TV and I would say at a guess the 2007 Ducati had at least 15KPH on the Yamaha, Honda did an article where they said because a motorcycle and rider was not a very well streamlined package it required an extra 5 horsepower to gain 1KPH over 200KPH, this makes the claim of 20 horsepower realistic, as for Haydens Honda being slow this is not true, he demanded and got the puematic valve engine which had more power than the valve spring engine which Pedrosa used because it had known reliability as opposed to the other engine.