Thread: Le Mans VS F1
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Old 06-15-2008, 06:16 PM
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I doubt LMP cars are in the ~ .2 CodD....the wings and wide tires and the wide bodywork don't contribute to low CofD....

What LMP1 car compares much more favorably to F1 are lift(or downforce, which is negative lift) to drag ratio. Looking at the page here: Mulsanne's Corner: Race Car Aerodynamics Database

A modern LMP900 car(use Bentley as an example), the L/D is around 3.7:1. Which means for every 3.7 lb of downforce it produces 1 lb of drag. The current LMP1(like the Peugeot 908) car probably is better because they do allow the use of a tunnel compare to the spec which Bentley runs under, along with a smaller wing(though the wing with short chord will be less efficient). I would venture to guess above 4:1 judging the speed potential of the current car being able to run above 215mph while still running laptimes sub 3:20s around La sarthe. A typical F1 car pending on configuration probably varies from low 1.x:1 to high 2.x:1. Whant that means is that for the same amount of downforce F1 car will produce more drag compare to Le Mans car....
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