New Le Mans 24 Hour 2011 Rules

[dredgey]

Can someone with some technical knowledge please make me feel better about these new regulations that the ACO have brought in for the 2011 race??

I went to the race for the first time last year so am a bit of a rookie but I totally got the bug. One of the biggest thrills was the sound/volume of the cars and how immense they were. Big powerful engines, flames coming out of the back of some of them, The Lola Astons sounded incredible. All the cars seemed to create their own thunder as they hammered past us.

Last night I was checking out what cars I should expect to see this year and I find that the event seems to have been toned down- smaller engines, less power, less noise.... what the hell is going on? Somewhere I read that the biggest turbo charged petrol engine allowed is a 2 litre in lmp1?.... The biggest engine over all is a 3.7 diesel?... I am gutted. No V10's or V12's? V6's instead? Quieter cars? Less power? Am I being dumb or are these rules going to spoil it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_24_Hours_of_Le_M...

I feel like I've discovered Le Mans too late!

Someone please tell me that this years event will still be as amazing as last year!

[Camberwell]

Believe me the cars looked and sounded pretty much as they did last year at the testing day a month or so ago

The introduction of the Diesels a few years back was the biggest shift - they are whisper quiet. The lack of factory Corvettes is a shame this year but there are privateers so you will still get to hear the throaty rumble.

And the Mazda is on track before the start so you will get to hear one of the most unique sounds in motorsport

Don's worry you WILL have fun

[blueST]

Fear not, for this year at least. Yes, the new rules do require smaller engines in the prototypes but cars to the old rules are still allowed this year (with a few mods). As such Kronos Racing will have the old Lola Aston V12 there.

[dredgey]

Thank you for both your replies, that is a big relief. Good to know the testing day sounded very similar and that there will be some big engines still in there.

I know we have to look out for our planet etc but I was beginning to think that the Le Mans regulators were taking it too far!

[FredericRobinson]

There are 2 factory corvettes running, looking forward to hearing the rotary Mazda going round before the race too, if the story that Johnny Herbert will be driving is true I'm sure he'll give it full beans.

[NormanD]

Camberwell said:

And the Mazda is on track before the start so you will get to hear one of the most unique sounds in motorsport

Don's worry you WILL have fun

I remember that well, I'll bring the larger ear defenders again this year

[dredgey]

.... So we're talking immense cars like last year then, with amazing sound tracks etc?

Whats the Mazda that you have mentioned?? Before the race?

[blueST]

dredgey said:

.... So we're talking immense cars like last year then, with amazing sound tracks etc?

Some, but fewer I fear.

dredgey said:

Whats the Mazda that you have mentioned?? Before the race?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_787B

[dredgey]

blueST said:

dredgey said:

.... So we're talking immense cars like last year then, with amazing sound tracks etc?

Some, but fewer I fear.

dredgey said:

Whats the Mazda that you have mentioned?? Before the race?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_787B

As long as they are in there somewhere, but fewer is defintely a bad thing.... Why does progression have to involve making things less than they were??

Ah I know this Mazda now! Shame that's not racing! Is it going round on its own just before the race or something?

[blueST]

dredgey said:

As long as they are in there somewhere, but fewer is defintely a bad thing.... Why does progression have to involve making things less than they were??

Ah I know this Mazda now! Shame that's not racing! Is it going round on its own just before the race or something?

The ACO is currently obsessed with attracting and keeping manufacturers at Le Man and the various affiliated races in the ILMC. It thinks making the race environmentally relevant is the way to this. I could go on all day about this but it wont do anything other than get my blood pressure up. I'll just add that I cannot for the life of me understand why they felt the need to add noise pollution regs on top of all the other stuff.

As far as I know the Mazda is just doing a demo lap in the moring. The press release say Johnny Herbert will be in attendance, doesn't say if he'll be pedalling it.

[Chris71]

dredgey said:

Somewhere I read that the biggest turbo charged petrol engine allowed is a 2 litre in lmp1?.... The biggest engine over all is a 3.7 diesel?

For new LMP1 cars (rather than restricted older engines running restricted engines), yes. Technically it's up to 3.7 litres for turbo diesels and 3.4 litres for petrol engines. Trust me, they're not dull though. The modern 2 litre turbos will still lap Le Mans quicker than the Silk Cut Jaguars or Steve McQueen's 917 and they're hardly mute.

In other areas: The cost-capped LMP2s go up to 5 litres. Can't remember the GT limit off the top my head (or even if it has one), but the Corvettes must be the best part of 6 litres and they're going to be there (and very vocal).

Trust me, it'll be great. Only a week and a half now too.

As mentioned above, if you want a bit more aural stimulation there's always this: http://www.racetechmag.com/blog/details.php?id=65

[stephenk24]

Camberwell said:

Believe me the cars looked and sounded pretty much as they did last year at the testing day a month or so ago

The introduction of the Diesels a few years back was the biggest shift - they are whisper quiet. The lack of factory Corvettes is a shame this year but there are privateers so you will still get to hear the throaty rumble.

And the Mazda is on track before the start so you will get to hear one of the most unique sounds in motorsport

Don's worry you WILL have fun

Dont scare me about the Corvette's mate, I nearly had a heart attack! They are definatly running two cars:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_24_Hours_of_Le_M...

[dredgey]

blueST said:

The ACO is currently obsessed with attracting and keeping manufacturers at Le Man and the various affiliated races in the ILMC. It thinks making the race environmentally relevant is the way to this. I could go on all day about this but it wont do anything other than get my blood pressure up. I'll just add that I cannot for the life of me understand why they felt the need to add noise pollution regs on top of all the other stuff.

As far as I know the Mazda is just doing a demo lap in the moring. The press release say Johnny Herbert will be in attendance, doesn't say if he'll be pedalling it.

Takes the mick! It should be about performance and performance alone. And with performance comes sound. I hate all this beaurocracy. They run the risk losing fans! Ridiculous.

[Great Dane]

There will three of these- the Labre #50 is a factory car from 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S53ytpplw-w

no cars are not 'lame'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iktln1KoqWs&fea...

apart from diesels and the HPD engines... (#33 #36 #42)


The neww Ferrari Italia looks and sounds great

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7-BBQnjPC8

[White-Noise]

I read the other day that the refuelling nozzles have been made bigger for the petrols and smaller for the diesels

[dredgey]

Chris71 said:

For new LMP1 cars (rather than restricted older engines running restricted engines), yes. Technically it's up to 3.7 litres for turbo diesels and 3.4 litres for petrol engines. Trust me, they're not dull though. The modern 2 litre turbos will still lap Le Mans quicker than the Silk Cut Jaguars or Steve McQueen's 917 and they're hardly mute.

In other areas: The cost-capped LMP2s go up to 5 litres. Can't remember the GT limit off the top my head (or even if it has one), but the Corvettes must be the best part of 6 litres and they're going to be there (and very vocal).

Trust me, it'll be great. Only a week and a half now too.

As mentioned above, if you want a bit more aural stimulation there's always this: http://www.racetechmag.com/blog/details.php?id=65

I'm glad you're confident mate, as long as they haven't spoilt the race with their eco rules!

[Stitch]

dredgey said:

Takes the mick! It should be about performance and performance alone. And with performance comes sound. I hate all this beaurocracy. They run the risk losing fans! Ridiculous.

They've got to move with the times.

If you believe the old adage of motor sport improving the breed, then I don't think that there is anything wrong with factoring in regs to take account of environmental concerns.

At the end of the day, the early endurance races were there to demonstrate that the manufacturers could build cars that could run continuously for 24 hours. Now that every car on sale could travel the equivalent of the distance to the moon and back, what's wrong with saying the Le Mans winner will be the car that can travel the greatest distance, most efficiently and quietly over a 24 hour period?

[dredgey]

Stitch said:

what's wrong with saying the Le Mans winner will be the car that can travel the greatest distance, most efficiently and quietly over a 24 hour period?

...Because that doesn't sound like a very thrilling prospect nor a very exciting spectacle. In my opinion of course.

Agreed they need to move with the times though...

[Chris71]

dredgey said:

Stitch said:

what's wrong with saying the Le Mans winner will be the car that can travel the greatest distance, most efficiently and quietly over a 24 hour period?

...Because that doesn't sound like a very thrilling prospect nor a very exciting spectacle. In my opinion of course.

Agreed they need to move with the times though...

I don't understand the problem. The petrol cars still sound awesome. A 3.4-litre petrol LMP car frankly sounds pretty similar to a 5-litre petrol LMP. And the top competitors are still more or less as quick as they ever were - identically so unless you have a stop watch handy. It's not as if they've all been replaced by Nissan Notes while we were looking the other way, they're still proper flame-spitting, ear-drum rupturing racing cars. Granted I'm talking about the 90% of the field running petrol engines there, but the diesels have a surprising amount of presence too.

So that's the spectacle. As for the technology, well, disc brakes, overhead cams, the use of composites in cars and god knows how many other things first appeared in racing. Recently its stagnated a bit with the road car side evolving quicker than most competition formulas, but the current rules at Le Mans (and the ALMS/LMS) are actually reversing that. For the first time in ages we're seeing racing technology pushing ahead.

[dredgey]

Chris71 said:

I don't understand the problem. The petrol cars still sound awesome. A 3.4-litre petrol LMP car frankly sounds pretty similar to a 5-litre petrol LMP. And the top competitors are still more or less as quick as they ever were - identically so unless you have a stop watch handy. It's not as if they've all been replaced by Nissan Notes while we were looking the other way, they're still proper flame-spitting, ear-drum rupturing racing cars. Granted I'm talking about the 90% of the field running petrol engines there, but the diesels have a surprising amount of presence too.

So that's the spectacle. As for the technology, well, disc brakes, overhead cams, the use of composites in cars and god knows how many other things first appeared in racing. Recently its stagnated a bit with the road car side evolving quicker than most competition formulas, but the current rules at Le Mans (and the ALMS/LMS) are actually reversing that. For the first time in ages we're seeing racing technology pushing ahead.

I'm probably fretting over nothing Chris. I guess I'm just a believer that progress means more power, more noise, but possibly thats ignorance on my part. But as pretty much everyone here has said it will still sound great, look amazing, and the changes will be barely noticable. I think I just needed that reassurance!