Diesel Engines In Formula One? This is Ridiculous.

[Triumph]

The FIA have unveiled plans to introduce diesel technology to Formula One.

It has been revealed that the FIA, as part of its five-year plan, aim to introduce diesel engine technology to Formula One.

The proposal was discussed at last October's Geneva crisis summit attended by all ten F1 team principles. It is reported that a provisional agreement was reached that should see the drastic new developments appear in racing trim by the start of the 2013 season.

This new initiative comes as part of the FIA's latest wave of cost-cutting propsals, which aim to ensure the viability of the sport through the predicted financial climate.

The proposed changes for the Diesel Formula engines include a reduction in capacity to 1500cc, the re-introduction of turbochargers, a cap on power output to 260 kW (350 bhp) and regulation emissions equipment. One detail that is expected to cause widespread disapproval amongst Formula One fans is the introduction of exhaust silencers, which form part of the regulation emissions package.

An FIA spokesman told international news agency Reuters that the new initiative is entirely in keeping with current thinking on 'green issues' and the technology is already proven in other branches of motorsport. Issues of economy, safety and noise pollution will be addressed, along with the intended financial benefits of the new regulations.

This is absolutely ridiculous. If they start turning out vehicles that sound like those Audi R10 diesels, that will be the end of Formula One for me.

[nigelred5]

What, you could actually hear them??? Even back to the days of the R8, the Audi's have always been ultra quiet compared to the rest of the field. It's strange to see a car fly by at 100+ almost silently.

[jjanicke]

Why? Have you ever heard an Audi R10/R15? (nigel the R8 was not a diesel) Sound amazing, but obviously very different.

I would be all for it. Figure out how to take a much cleaner fuel and drive super high performance. P1 ALMS cars are far more interesting than F1 cars these days IMO, and that says a lot.

That said the 260 kW (350 bhp) restriction would be stupid.

[Mjfan12]

If only americans liked diesels, i;d love to own one but only 1 in 5 petrol stations offer it.

[nigelred5]

Yeah, I've actually heard both multiple times. Most recently, I was at sebring two weeks ago. Yes, I know the R8 wasn't a diesel, I was more referring to all of their cars being QUIET as race cars go. F1 does not = quiet!!!


Some Americans like diesel's quite fine, we simply can't GET them. I drove a VW tdi for 5 years and almost 300K miles. When I had to replace it, VW wasn't selling the TDI and you couldn't get your hands on a decent used one for a reasonable price. I would have bought a passat TDI wagon if I could have gotten my hands on one at any price.

I never had a single problem getting fuel. Actually, there's only 1 station in my town that doesn't carry diesel however I know it can be an issue in some areas. I always carried a 1gal sealed container of 100% bio-d in the trunk in case I got in a pinch, but I never ever needed it. Actually, I drove almost 2 years on a minimum of 50% bio d and more often on B80.

Other than the American companies always claimaing they know better what consumers want better than the consumers did ( boy didn't that end up working well), the real problem is, the government, the EPA and especially the fuel companies don't like them. The only domestic manufacturer that offered a diesel in anything other than 3/4 or 1 ton pickup with an engine that could tug o war a freight train was the Jeep Liberty diesel and they didn't set it up for optimal fuel economy or even advertize the damn thing. The sad thing is, every last one of the manufacturers has existing diesels to offer, they simply won't. Not one American domestic manufacturer has ever offered a small to moderate sized diesel powered passenger car. The GM diesels in the 80's were a joke.

Our Jetta TDI ALWAYS got over 50 mpg, even with a tuning box and driving the nuts off of it all the time. No expensive technology, no drama, no hypermiling, no rediculously expensive and heavy batteries. just a low maintenence, incredibly fuel efficient comfortable car. I paid 13k brand new. What's a Prius cost that only gets me in the 40's reliably?

I found it just a little suspicious that the price of diesel stayed high for so long after the bottom dropped out of the price of gasoline. Personally, I think it was a deliberate move to discourage more diesels.

[Rollo]

A diesel engined car sat on pole in the 1952 USGP.

[harvick#1]

omg, the diesel engines are breathtaking, just watch youtube videos of the cars on the mulsanne straight, to see a car go that fast and have such a sound like that is amazing

[big_sw2000]

Diesel in F1 would be great, it will just be a pitty about the noise. I rember being down at Goodwood festival of speed, and had my back turned and Missed the Audi r10.
A 20 field car of desils would be a little quiet, just some wind tyre and diff noise.

[ioan]

I'm all for diesels, but maybe 1.5 liter and 350 HP is a bit small for F1. It would be like driving an ordinary road car for F1 drivers.

Maybe they can agree to make it 3 liters and 600 HP. Just imagine the acceleration they will have with all that torque!

We might finally see Audi back in GP racing.

PS: And Ferrari should start recruiting from Fiat and working on that engine straight away cause they are nowhere close to the expertise of BMW in this field.

[F1boat]

I love the R15, but I don't know whether this is a good idea for Formula 1.