Doubt in Air Intake Rules

[ritwikdas18]

According to Rule IC 1.4.2 Any portion of the air intake system that is less than 350mm above the ground must be shielded from side or rear impact collisions by structure built to Rule T3.25 (which says that it must be a side impact member.)
I want to mount our turbo on member just after the Main Hoop which is 300 mm above the ground for our chassis(Please see the attachment)392. Although this clearly doesn't satisfy the above rule I have seen reports of a few teams who have done the exact same thing.So are we missing something?Is it legit to mount the turbo on the side members of the engine bay which are 300mm above the ground?

[Swiftus]

If its on the outside of the chassis, then that's probably a no. Its in direct conflict with a very clear rule.

[ritwikdas18]

What if its on the inside ? It will be protected by the side members of the engine bay.

[Swiftus]

"must be shielded from side or rear impact collisions by structure built to Rule T3.25"

[Charles Kaneb]

If it's not protected from debris, what will happen when the front wheel tosses a big rock into the throttle body and restrictor and smashes it to smithereens? Will the car instantly go WFO/unrestricted until the driver hits the kill switch?

[Bemo]

It is quite simple. What you describe is prohibited by this rule. I'm not surprised though that you might have seen cars violating that rule as not many people (teams AND organisers) are really aware of that rule for whatever reason. So you have two options. You can mount the turbo higher to get it above the 350mm or you have to use the very heavy side impact protection tubes for your rear frame.

Or as a third option you could just leave it and hope that the scrutineers don't get it - but that's a risky game ;-)

[ritwikdas18]

Well Side Impact Protection tubes can't be used for rear frame because a side impact member is defined as the tube connecting the front and the main hoop.So the rule basically says , if there is any part of the intake system below 350mm then it must lie within the front and main Hoop

[Swiftus]

"must be shielded from side or rear impact collisions by structure built to Rule T3.25"

[ritwikdas18]

Yes so according to that it must be a side impact member(which is defined as the member between the front and main hoop).

[Drew Price]

No, according to that rule the rear frame tubes (the ones surrounding your intake system components) must be the same minimum outside diameter and wall thickness as is specified for the side impact members (1" x 0.065" I believe.)

[Bemo]

The rule has to be interpreted as Drew described. If your intake is lower than 350mm you have to use tubing for your rear frame of the same dimension as for the side impact protection. As this is quite a big weight penalty you probably want to avoid that...

[SomeOldGuy]

Just to add to the above statement.

You would likely be told by a rules inquiry to use triangulated tubing on both sides and behind the turbo that met the size requirements of side impact tubing, but that those tubes would not be required to meet up with the roll hoop.