252 Technical Regulations

The 252 Technical Regulations were the fourth major iteration of the EotLPGP FL Technical Regulations.

As Formula Lego was stepping up their media presence, size, budgets, and generally trying to become a bigger deal for Season 9, the accompanying Regulation changes reflected that, with slightly more freedom for creative engineers, to reward teams with larger or more skilled engineering teams, but also by levelling the playing field on the engine side, to allow for more on-track action, and potentially force teams and engineers to search longer and harder for advantages over other teams. They were further intended to entice new manufacturers and constructors into the League.

Aerodynamic Changes

Rules dictating specific dimensions for front wings were changed, to allow for slightly more extreme front-downforce production, which would result in faster cornering speeds, as well as more overtakes in corners

Regulations regarding the area above the front wheels were loosened, as multiple teams had expressed concerns over the change in airflow with the new front-wing system. This was seen in the winglets, bubbles, and aerofoils that several teams dreamed up for their Season 9 entries.

Due to those same air in-flow questions, the rules regarding Air-intakes on the side-pods were also slightly adapted, to allow for a broader range of intake sizes.

Power Unit Changes

The most major PU change for Season 9 was to limit the effective volume of the engine to a specific ratio, compared to certain dimensions of the car. This disproportionately affected Osborne, as their engines had always been comparatively larger to their cars, and affected Octan as well, as even though their Wankel Rotary engines were physically smaller than the Osbornes, their effective volume was larger than allowed, so they had to slightly downsize their engine as well. National and Fire, the two newest PU manufacturers, were the least affected, as they both ran conventional, cylinder-based engines, which were much smaller than Osborne's every had been.

Fuel was also standardized across teams, which erased another advantage that Osborne had once benefitted from; they used a modified version of OsborneSpace's low-density, high-energy fuel.

Finally, in the first regulation changes that addressed Octan's unique Wankel engines, several specifications of gear ratios were defined as legal by the EotLP GP Commission, to account for inherent differences between Wankel and Cylinder-based Engines. However, in a major slip-up, a loophole was left that did not define the placement of gears, that allowed National to create an engine that produced high torque as it prepared to shift, and high speed at low engine revs, giving them a large engine advantage.

In another attempt to simplify engines and potentially entice more Constructors to join the League, turbos (rudimentary versions of which had been used since Season 4) were banned, and regenerative braking was banned, although due to the wording, technically all forms of heat-based energy regeneration were banned.

Later Updates

After Kira Sanchez tragically and fatally crashed at Season 9 Race 6, a large reworking of the specific regulations ascertaining to Driver and Personnel safety was put into place. The technical aspects of this related mostly to a lengthening of cars to account for the new HALO System. These regulations were grouped together in one document, called the 253 Safety Regulations.

For Season 10, an addendum was added to the Technical Regulations that clarified that Heat Energy Recovery Systems were, in fact allowed, after a poorly written regulation intended only to ban regenerative braking had been universally interpreted to mean that HERS were also banned.

Before the Season 11 development cycle, the number of locations that additional aero components could be attached was increased, and brake lights were added to the list of required elements.

The only technical change for Season 12, the last before a new technical ruleset would come into play, was to allow for two new camera angles, one on the nose, facing the driver, and one on the air intake, looking overtop the driver.