Porsche back in Le Mans!

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matt21
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Re: Porsche back in Le Mans!

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According to a german website Toyota will stick with the V8 in 2014.

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WhiteBlue
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matt21 wrote:For me, the mass flow is only a method to limit power levels, not to enhance economy.
They do not aim to enhance economy. They want the drivers to run flat out and not conserve fuel to have better racing. That is what is meant by economy running.
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WhiteBlue
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matt21 wrote:According to a german website Toyota will stick with the V8 in 2014.
Can you give us a source?
http://www.sportauto.de/motorsport/toyo ... 71943.html
I have read that Toyota have a 40 hp handicap compared to the Audi V6 turbo diesel this year and that Audi have developed their engine considerably over the last year. Toyota have not done any engine development to their NA V8 petrol engine. I cannot imagine that they will make the same mistake again next year when the new regulations kick in.
http://www.sportscar-info.de/portal/ind ... 1-prototyp
Actually I have read that Rebellion will run a Toyota RV8KLM in an Oreca chassis in LMP1 next year. I don't think that Toyota will give the V8 engine to a privateer if they intend to run it in their own car.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best .............................. organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)

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Motorsport Total

It says that Toyota will keep the 3,4l V8 but tries to improve efficiency with two hybrid systems. Electric engines will be located both at the front and rear according to this article.
Dear FIA, if you read this, please pm me for a redesign of the Technical Regulations to avoid finger nose shapes for 2016! :-)

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WhiteBlue
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They also say that the V8 will be substantially modified for 2014. But I must say the decision is a surprise. Audi have decided to design a brand new diesel engine for next year. So they will probably change the format away from the V6 they have now. The current engine is air restricted by the ACO. I wonder what Baretzky will use the next time. He was the propagator of the world engine. Will he go for a diesel 4-cylinder?
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best .............................. organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)

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Re: Porsche back in Le Mans!

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WhiteBlue wrote: ...
Will he go for a diesel 4-cylinder?
I guess hope is everyone's last resort, but I'm very happy that Toyota didn't take that route and neither will Porsche I'm sure.
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WhiteBlue
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It will all be revealed in time. In the meantime we can speculate all we want. In the case of Porsche I still believe they will not use a V8. A six or four cylinder will make more sense for them IMO.
Toyota has never won Le Mans. Audi and Porsche have. They have won on the strength of their engines. Toyota's strength is the superior super cap hybrid system they have. They invest a lot of money into the hybrid and the aerodynamics but not enough into engine development. I believe that Audi will beat them this year with their V6 turbo diesel and if the report is true Porsche also have a good chance to beat them with a petrol next year. Porsche reportedly will field a turbo engine. If Toyota keeps the NA V8 they will have a less efficient engine IMO.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best .............................. organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)

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Cam
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Re: Porsche back in Le Mans!

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WhiteBlue wrote:It will all be revealed in time. In the meantime we can speculate all we want. In the case of Porsche I still believe they will not use a V8. A six or four cylinder will make more sense for them IMO.
Toyota has never won Le Mans. Audi and Porsche have. They have won on the strength of their engines. Toyota's strength is the superior super cap hybrid system they have.
Toyota seem to be also one step behind on how to 'use' the rules. I guess, quite like F1 really, there's a lot performance gains in how you interpret rules and the apply them. Toyota failed in F1 in that respect too I'd say. Let's hope Porsche understand this and factor this into genuine contention.
Toyota argues that Audi has used the freedom it enjoys with diesel to simply pump more fuel into the cylinders to gain more horsepower. This is something that Audi even admits, saying that the three per cent reduction in air-restrictor size for 2013 has forced it down a new route and resulted in a dramatic change in the way it maps the engine that forsakes economy.

Vasselon's argument is that the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the FIA, which jointly write the LMP1 regulations, missed a trick in their continuing drive to balance turbodiesel and petrol-engine technologies over the winter.

"What was wrong last year was to concentrate only on the power side and leave the fuel," he says. "If we leave one of the two open, then diesel technology can exploit this."
Source: Autosport
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matt21
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Re: Porsche back in Le Mans!

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WhiteBlue wrote:
matt21 wrote:For me, the mass flow is only a method to limit power levels, not to enhance economy.
They do not aim to enhance economy. They want the drivers to run flat out and not conserve fuel to have better racing. That is what is meant by economy running.
IMO they should look for a way to enhance economy AND give the drivers the possibility to race flat out.

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WhiteBlue
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matt21 wrote:IMO they should look for a way to enhance economy AND give the drivers the possibility to race flat out.
That is exactly what they are doing when you look at the published regulation changes, aren't they?
Cam wrote:Toyota seem to be also one step behind on how to 'use' the rules. I guess, quite like F1 really, there's a lot performance gains in how you interpret rules and the apply them. Toyota failed in F1 in that respect too I'd say. Let's hope Porsche understand this and factor this into genuine contention.
Toyota argues that Audi has used the freedom it enjoys with diesel to simply pump more fuel into the cylinders to gain more horsepower. This is something that Audi even admits, saying that the three per cent reduction in air-restrictor size for 2013 has forced it down a new route and resulted in a dramatic change in the way it maps the engine that forsakes economy.

Vasselon's argument is that the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the FIA, which jointly write the LMP1 regulations, missed a trick in their continuing drive to balance turbodiesel and petrol-engine technologies over the winter.

"What was wrong last year was to concentrate only on the power side and leave the fuel," he says. "If we leave one of the two open, then diesel technology can exploit this."
Source: Autosport
I see this as a perfectly legal change of strategy by Audi. Last year they were suffering from a lack of downforce and decided to tweak everything for fuel economy to make fewer pit stops to compensate. This year they have developed their chassis and the engine for more downforce and performance. They also are at the end of the life cycle of the current engine. So it makes no sense to hold back any possible performance for next year. I think it is perfectly legitimate to do. Toyota already got further air restrictions for Audi this year. Only that Audi did not stop developing. I think you cannot complain that your competitor does development if you make no effort. It is a bit blue eyed to rely only on the ACO performance levelling all the time. Audi will argue that Toyota were at liberty to also generate more power from their engine but they did not do this. I think you cannot claim that the petrol engine has no development potential. So IMO Toyota did not fail in the politicking department. They were simply out developed by Audi's strategy which is legitimate. I don't think that Toyota are really serious with their motor sport activities. They simply do not enough to win Le Mans and the WEC. Audi has a 2014 development program, a 2013 Le Mans program, a 2013 WEC program and a tyre development program with Michelin for 2014. They design a brand new engine every two or three years and do agressive engine development during the short life cycle. IMO that's some serious effort to win, not a half baked amateur attempt to win just Le Mans with two cars.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best .............................. organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)

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Re: Porsche back in Le Mans!

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I just did a quick calculation on how much energy could be harvested per lap when brakes would be replaced by generators and would be responsible for all the braking. I just took the maximum speed before the corner and the corner apex speed and summed up 1/2*m*(v_straight^2-v_apex^2) for one lap, so i didn't consider any energy from the turning parts or air resistance.

But this simple approach results in a total energy available through the generators of 21 MJ per lap.

So if the rule makers really want to promote hybrid technology, IMO they should - for the LMP1 class - not regulate the amount of energy that can be harvested per lap. Let the competitors decide, how much weight and power an optimum hybrid system should have for Le Mans. They should only limit the maximum fuel consumption allowed.
Dear FIA, if you read this, please pm me for a redesign of the Technical Regulations to avoid finger nose shapes for 2016! :-)

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WhiteBlue
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Blanchimont wrote:So if the rule makers really want to promote hybrid technology, IMO they should - for the LMP1 class - not regulate the amount of energy that can be harvested per lap. Let the competitors decide, how much weight and power an optimum hybrid system should have for Le Mans. They should only limit the maximum fuel consumption allowed.
There is a good reason to have an increasing penalty for more powerful hybrid systems. Those systems are very expensive to develop and only factories can afford to do that. So the ACO wants to tweak it a little more for the privateers who cannot afford such expensive systems. That is ok in my book. The factory teams deserve a little handicap for all the money they can spend. It isn't going to stop them building powerful all wheel drive electric systems.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best .............................. organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)

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Blanchimont
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But hasn't LMP1, the only class where i would allow it, always been the category that invests the most money and ever since it exist only the big factory teams had a chance to succeed?

I just would love to see what amount of fuel saving would be possible if this technical aspect would be allowed. The same goes for F1, i would love to see what power F1 engineers could get from let's say 60 kg of fuel for the complete race, but allow every engine concept possible and every energy recovery system possible.
Dear FIA, if you read this, please pm me for a redesign of the Technical Regulations to avoid finger nose shapes for 2016! :-)

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Pierce89
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Re: Porsche back in Le Mans!

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WhiteBlue wrote:
Cam wrote:Toyota seem to be also one step behind on how to 'use' the rules. I guess, quite like F1 really, there's a lot performance gains in how you interpret rules and the apply them. Toyota failed in F1 in that respect too I'd say. Let's hope Porsche understand this and factor this into genuine contention.
Toyota argues that Audi has used the freedom it enjoys with diesel to simply pump more fuel into the cylinders to gain more horsepower. This is something that Audi even admits, saying that the three per cent reduction in air-restrictor size for 2013 has forced it down a new route and resulted in a dramatic change in the way it maps the engine that forsakes economy.

Vasselon's argument is that the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the FIA, which jointly write the LMP1 regulations, missed a trick in their continuing drive to balance turbodiesel and petrol-engine technologies over the winter.

"What was wrong last year was to concentrate only on the power side and leave the fuel," he says. "If we leave one of the two open, then diesel technology can exploit this."
Source: Autosport
I see this as a perfectly legal change of strategy by Audi. Last year they were suffering from a lack of downforce and decided to tweak everything for fuel economy to make fewer pit stops to compensate. This year they have developed their chassis and the engine for more downforce and performance. They also are at the end of the life cycle of the current engine. So it makes no sense to hold back any possible performance for next year. I think it is perfectly legitimate to do. Toyota already got further air restrictions for Audi this year. Only that Audi did not stop developing. I think you cannot complain that your competitor does development if you make no effort. It is a bit blue eyed to rely only on the ACO performance levelling all the time. Audi will argue that Toyota were at liberty to also generate more power from their engine but they did not do this. I think you cannot claim that the petrol engine has no development potential. So IMO Toyota did not fail in the politicking department. They were simply out developed by Audi's strategy which is legitimate. I don't think that Toyota are really serious with their motor sport activities. They simply do not enough to win Le Mans and the WEC. Audi has a 2014 development program, a 2013 Le Mans program, a 2013 WEC program and a tyre development program with Michelin for 2014. They design a brand new engine every two or three years and do agressive engine development during the short life cycle. IMO that's some serious effort to win, not a half baked amateur attempt to win just Le Mans with two cars.
Its not so much development Toyota is talking about, but the way you can always make more power out of a turbo diesel engine by chucking more fuel at it and inferring that the ACO got their diesel/petro equivalance wrong. I'm in no way endorsing the claim or refuting it, just clarifying it for those who haven't read the quotes.

It's related to the fact that Audi simply changed their fueling strategy to the old school turbo diesel trick of just throwing fuel at it to increase power, and this philosophy dropped their efficiency by 20%. This strategy doesn't hurt Audi, because currently diesel cars get more energy per tankful because of diesel's energy density advantage over gasoline.
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Re: Porsche back in Le Mans!

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Pierce89 wrote: ...
This strategy doesn't hurt Audi, because currently diesel cars get more energy per tankful because of diesel's energy density advantage over gasoline.
Which is 10%, plus the superior efficiency of the diesel-process itself, why I truly love Toyota for sticking to their guns.

I just hope and pray I don't have to behold a Porsche I4 next year.
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