24 hours of Le Mans 2010 official thread...

[wedge]

Oh sorry. I thought that the whole point of a motor race was to see who can win. Oops.

The Mazda 787B was never the 'quickest' car so it was a misnomer that it was banned.

It wasn't as if it blew the opposition away on outright speed like that Toyota GT ONe which was a Group C that wrangled its way into GT-1 class.

But anyway, why do manufacturers go racing? Don't they have cars to sell? All very well Audi and Peugeot showing off how superb their TDI & HDI technology but what's the point of Aston racing diesels?

Nil.

A DB9 leaves the factory acheiving, 17.2mpg whilst an Audi A4 will do 55.2mpg (both combined cycles).
Even with a worst case scenario the A4 2.0 TDI would still produce better mileage than a DB9. In fact I would suspect that even a 20 year old A4 2.0 TDI would still produce better mileage than a DB9.
Therefore which car is more eco friendly/efficient? The A4 2.0 TDI.

Warning: Science Ahead.

Grant that the Diesel cycle is in principle less efficient than the Otto cycle, but because Diesel engines don't introduce fuel to the combustion chamber until it is actually ignited, Diesel engines aren't subject to knocking.
Therefore, Diesel engines are not limited in their compression ratios, and as such they pull back their thermal efficiencies so far, that in the real world a turbodiesel with the same capacity as a spark engine is about a third more efficient.
This is one of the reasons why they're use in trucks and generators.

Lets put this another way.

Which car is likely to have a higher mileage after 3 years, the DB9 or the A4 TDI? Which cars are you more likely to see on the roads?

[Rollo]

The Mazda 787B was never the 'quickest' car so it was a misnomer that it was banned.

Over 24 hours it completed the furthest distance, hence the reason it won. I never once said it was the "quickest", I said it was "the best". Obviously if it won the race over 24 hours, then it must have been,

But anyway, why do manufacturers go racing? Don't they have cars to sell? All very well Audi and Peugeot showing off how superb their TDI & HDI technology but what's the point of Aston racing diesels?

Good question. Why do they go racing? To show off the brand, to use the conditions as a laboratory, because they happen to like competing to stretch their engineers?

Obviously the point of any motor race should be to win. The point of Aston Martin racing diesels if they were going to would be to that end, but whinging to change to rules because they're simply not good enough to compete is a cop out.

Lets put this another way.

Which car is likely to have a higher mileage after 3 years, the DB9 or the A4 TDI? Which cars are you more likely to see on the roads?

The A4 TDI would have greater mileage, because of a whole host of factors such as running costs, insurance and because their owners wouldn't use them as a daily driver.
You're more likely to see more A4 TDIs on the roads after 3 years because they sell more of them in the first place.

[AndyRAC]

Manufacturers are in Motorsport to sell cars!!! By promoting their technology, etc
Aston Martin don't make diesels, so why would they race with one? The regs at the moment have been heavily favouring the diesels, and despite changes, this has continued.
What we need are a level playing field between petrol, diesel and hybrids - then we may get a number of new Manufacturers - Porsche are possibly showing interest in a hybrid.

[wedge]

The 3.5L engine rule was rather convenient don't you think? In one fell swoop, the only rotary engine ever raced was banned following the year it won. The ACO would have brought pressure to bear considering that these upstart Japanese dared to win their Frenchy motor race,

Can't blame the ACO - they used FIA regs in that era because LM24 was part of the World Sports Prototype Championship

Obviously the point of any motor race should be to win. The point of Aston Martin racing diesels if they were going to would be to that end, but whinging to change to rules because they're simply not good enough to compete is a cop out.

P1 is the premier class. But its a class within a class. There should be a level playing field at the very least. It's well know that without air restrictors the NA cars would be quicker.

The A4 TDI would have greater mileage, because of a whole host of factors such as running costs, insurance and because their owners wouldn't use them as a daily driver.
You're more likely to see more A4 TDIs on the roads after 3 years because they sell more of them in the first place.

On that basis GT/sportscars aren't really that bad if you only use them on a Sunday drive.

[harvick#1]

Audi has said that the new engine is gonna be a V6 Twin Turbo Diesel (so I guess they will stick with diesel even though during the 24h of LM they said it was gonna be something new)

and talks of the R18 becoming a Coupe, as Audi says the open cockpit is no longer an advantage because of the new pitstop rules

[Daniel]

If it's a coupe I may support audi

[AndyRAC]

If it's a coupe I may support audi

Are you sure?? I didn't think you liked VW Group cars...

Dr Wolfgang Ulrich looks as though he prefers the Coupe option.

[Corrine]

Just got back from Le Mans, it was still a great race up to the last 50 minutes.

After 23 hours and 10 minutes of full on racing, competition was still there, the atmosphere was electric! Then the Aston went, oh well, another year to develop and return.

I have watched 24 heurs du Le Mans on TV, this is the first time I have attended, it certainly won't be the last!

[ioan]

Completely clueless and missing the point.

LM is not F1.

Aston Martin are not in the business of selling diesels so why bother?

How enlightening, or maybe not!

AM want to compete against the LMP1 diesels? Than build a diesel, otherwise compete in LMP2 or GT class there are no diesels there. Or maybe they should just bugger of and shut up.

[ioan]

ACO might as well create a diesel class.

It looks like they already have one. No wait AM wants to win in that class with a petrol engine because beating a 9 times Le Mans winner team would be great publicity, however they can't build a better car so they are begging for help from the organizers!