Newgarden, Dixon, Hinchcliffe, Pigot get first taste of 2018 package

New Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden, four-time champion Scott Dixon, race winner James Hinchcliffe and new full-time IndyCar driver Spencer Pigot sampled the 2018 aero, braking, and electronics package for the first time on Tuesday, and all four left Sebring International Raceway with interesting takes on the experience.

"I didn't get to explore setups too much, but the car feels quite a bit different from what we've been experiencing," Newgarden told RACER after sampling Team Penske's 2018-spec Dallara DW12-Chevy (pictured below). "I think we've definitely been spoiled with the super downforce [through 2017] because the car does not work nearly as well as it used to."

With a significant reduction in maximum downforce available in road course and short oval trim, Newgarden and the others who've tested the 2018 bodywork have been forced to wrangle cars that pitch and heave and slide without the crushing downforce levels used through 2017.

"It's a lot lazier, and it just does everything worse," he continued. "So, you have to dial your brain back, and that's not a problem; you'll just adjust to what the new capability and grip level of the car is. It's definitely more drivable, it's more predictable, but harder from a grip standpoint and easier to make mistakes.

"I don't mind it. It's a matter of reprogramming your brain and getting used to it. The good guys will do that, regardless of what the downforce is. They'll figure out what the limit is and live on it. I do like the longer brake zones. If you can build a better setup, there's more ability to overtake. It's opened up the brake zone to where you can fight for more depth and beat people."

Related Stories

After sorting through a number of teething problems with his 2018-spec Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (pictured, top) Dixon was taken aback by how much work will be required to establish all-new chassis setups to work properly with the big cut in downforce.

"I think you'll dial in a lot more; it was our first go of it," he said of the twitchy, dancing DW12. "Dampers, springs, even [suspension] geometry will have to change a little bit. The rear was lot more exposed. In the long run, Firestone are working for a slightly different tire for it, and the car we finished with today is nothing similar to the car we'd run normally."

From the cockpit of his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda, Hinchcliffe enjoyed the contrast of how the 2018 package performed compared to the first time he tried Honda's overdose of downforce at Sebring.

"It was definitely different, but I think it's going to be a lot of fun," he said. "I remember coming here when we got the 2016 [aero] kit and just being floored with how much downforce we had, and having to relearn how to brake because you could go so much deeper than you ever thought you could and how much entry speed you turn in at the hairpin, and now it's like going back to basics. You're going faster at the end of the straights, your braking zones are that little bit longer again, the cornering speeds are a little bit lower, but it feels like an Indy car."

Hinchcliffe also explained the difference between the increased number of small slide corrections the 2018 car has created versus the giant power slides from open-wheel racing's glorious past.

"Days of seeing cars drifting around Mid-Ohio Turn 1 died in the 1980s with the advent of ground effects, and we still have a radial tire that doesn't like a lot of slip angle; and now we're producing most of our downforce from a floor that needs air going straight under it, not sideways under it, so we're not going to be Gilles Villeneuve drifting his [Ferrari] T12 through the corner in that sense," he said.

"We all wish it was that, but it's not. For sure it's going to be easier to make mistakes. You don't have the downforce to band-aid a handling imbalance of flat-out a mistake on the driver side, so it's going to place more emphasis on us."

Pigot's brief time in IndyCar has taken place during the high-downforce aero kit era, making the Ed Carpenter Racing driver's input rather interesting. As someone who's only known massive grip in his Chevy-powered DW12, the Indy Lights champion wasn't disappointed by the lack of extreme aero assistance.

"I wouldn't say it's more challenging [to drive], but it's challenging in a different way," he said. "You're definitely sliding around more in the corners, having to work the steering wheel more; the car's definitely not as planted. It will end up magnifying any mechanical grip deficiencies you'll have. Maybe with all the downforce before, it hid some balance issues. It's fun."

From being more delicate with throttle application to keeping the rear of the car from beating the front under braking, Pigot relishes the idea of solving a new driving puzzle.

"The power-down is difficult," he said. "I think I'm going to enjoy it. It's another challenge. It's not going to be any harder [to drive] than the old car because it was very difficult to get everything out of that car, [but] maybe it will be more fun."