Is it time for Audi and Peugeot to drop the diesel
Discussion
I think both teams have achieved what they wanted to do and have got the necessary advertising they wanted out of the use Diesel's. But for the fans and all the other cars in the LMP1 class is it not time We had all petrol's back in this class.
After watching the procession of crap electric cars before the race i was worried this may be next on the cards, to be honest the day elctric cars race at le mans is the day i don;t go. After watching the Mazda go round i feel the noise is what we need.
I fear next year we will have even more diesel entrants and the likes of pescarolo will be gone forever.
Thank god for the Corvettes
After watching the procession of crap electric cars before the race i was worried this may be next on the cards, to be honest the day elctric cars race at le mans is the day i don;t go. After watching the Mazda go round i feel the noise is what we need.
I fear next year we will have even more diesel entrants and the likes of pescarolo will be gone forever.
Thank god for the Corvettes
Sorry Ant, let's face it, more environmentally sound options are always going to be pushed now. Watching the first of the Eurosport coverage this morning on arrival back home, you should have heard the commotion when the Pug gave a puff of smoke - apparently the diesels (might be all cars but I don't know) are to be emission free.
Peugeot and Audi have both said KERS is not on the agenda just yet because the performance of it doesn't quite stack up - but I'll put money on them working for a solution (and alternatives) that does, which being a large manufacturer, will invariably be very high on the agenda both in terms of racing and their future roadcar plans.
Peugeot and Audi have both said KERS is not on the agenda just yet because the performance of it doesn't quite stack up - but I'll put money on them working for a solution (and alternatives) that does, which being a large manufacturer, will invariably be very high on the agenda both in terms of racing and their future roadcar plans.
The R18 is not a car, it's a spaceship! Amazing to watch and I admire the technology, but it would be sad if all the entrants were like that. My first trip to Le Mans and one of the best bits for me was the varity of noises comming from the cars. Laying in a tent at 5am being able to tell when a Corvette was going past, awresome!
Dr Ullrich commented that the sound issues isn't much of an issue while its just Audi and Pug with quiet cars however he does recognise it will be crap if all the cars are quiet.
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/sports...
http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/sports...
To Audi and Peugeot, Le Mans is about relevance, the same as it is to Aston Martin in fact. That is why they use diesel power and that is why they would withdraw if it was insisted they use petrol engines. Also it is worth remembering that Audi were not the first to bring diesel to Le Mans, the race has always been about developing technologies for road use.
There was an interesting question posed over the weekend, would Audi and Peugeot be so far ahead if they were using petrol engines. The almost unanimous response was yes, they would, as they have the budget to make sure they would be as fast. Of course, there are only two major manufacturers in the series at the moment, so equivalence is the drum to bang for some other teams, to hopefully entice more major teams to enter, hence I suspect the pukka World Championship announcement.
Will we see significantly more diesels? I don't think so, at least not in customer form, although I can see another Peugeot next year for Oreca or Henri to accompany the exisiting private car that they provide, much to their credit. Audi have only offered the R10 once, to Kolles, and it wasn't a massive success it has to be said. I believe Audi have said that the diesels are extremely technical to work on and race, hence their reluctance to dilute their own resources supporting a satellite team.
Personally, I thought the Audi R18 was an absolutely stunning spectacle to witness.
There was an interesting question posed over the weekend, would Audi and Peugeot be so far ahead if they were using petrol engines. The almost unanimous response was yes, they would, as they have the budget to make sure they would be as fast. Of course, there are only two major manufacturers in the series at the moment, so equivalence is the drum to bang for some other teams, to hopefully entice more major teams to enter, hence I suspect the pukka World Championship announcement.
Will we see significantly more diesels? I don't think so, at least not in customer form, although I can see another Peugeot next year for Oreca or Henri to accompany the exisiting private car that they provide, much to their credit. Audi have only offered the R10 once, to Kolles, and it wasn't a massive success it has to be said. I believe Audi have said that the diesels are extremely technical to work on and race, hence their reluctance to dilute their own resources supporting a satellite team.
Personally, I thought the Audi R18 was an absolutely stunning spectacle to witness.
''After watching the procession of crap electric cars before the race i was worried this may be next on the cards, to be honest the day elctric cars race at le mans is the day i don;t go. After watching the Mazda go round i feel the noise is what we need.''
........ Oh dear, just seen article on autocar. GreenGT, invited next year to Le mans by ACO.
........ Oh dear, just seen article on autocar. GreenGT, invited next year to Le mans by ACO.
DS240 said:
........ Oh dear, just seen article on autocar. GreenGT, invited next year to Le mans by ACO.
In fairness there was an electric car race at Le Mans in 2010 (which we studiously ignored 
) and there was a similar display of electric / green vehicles at the Classic last year.With the hybrid car competing this year I'd say it was only a matter of time before we saw a fully fledged 'green' car running at Le Mans.
Chris71]Whenever anyone complains about the [lack of said:
noise of the diesel LMP cars I can't help thinking the current 908 would probably actually put out about as much noise as a factory-spec TVR! Okay, the Audis are a little more hushed, but the Peugeots have quite a rasp to them.
Indeed!I thought the Pugs sounded brilliant! I don't remember that last year, they too were whisper quiet.
The Audi, was a beautiful looking thing though.
If only they could silence the helicopters that insisting on hovering over our 'van. Couldn't hear the television commentary!
I dont mind the diesels at all, I quite like them and it was nice to be able to hear the radio from time to time! I really like the mix and I love how the technology is relevant to the road cars.
Why dont they just have separate classes for diesels and petrols, you will never make them equal! Or maybe we reduce the diesels to be 2 litre turbo like the petrol and see how things go?
Why dont they just have separate classes for diesels and petrols, you will never make them equal! Or maybe we reduce the diesels to be 2 litre turbo like the petrol and see how things go?
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