[RacingManiac]

Originally Posted by 092326001

LeMans is epic racing
i dont like F1 as much because it doesn't seem as competitive for me at least

i wonder why most of the LMP cars are open now is their any advantage? i heard that the restrictions said the closed car had to have skinier tires than the open ones, would there be any reason for this?

That restriction was before the current LMP1 rule, when there were the LM-GTP car(closed) vs LMP900(open) car. There is a trade-off obviously. Closed-top being more complex in chassis built(need for a door, roll-over structure), but better for aero efficiency(but not frontal area), and kinda even on CofG despite what one might think. The Racecar Engineering article on Dome S102 was quite enlightening in that respect, as the Dome guy thinks that since there is a strict roll-structure rule for the front roll hoop(the double hump infront of the driver you see on Audi et al), there is a chance for closed car to actually be better for CG because their roof is the primary roll structure, the front can be made lower and the driver can sit lower.

Other issue are more to do with procedural/logistical in the race. Driver change is harder in a closed car, so you tend to loose time. there....they tend to fog and mist in wet weather and can run hotter for the driver aswell...so lots of trade-off needs to be worked out before deciding what to use....