What to ask ACO principal Jean-Claude Plassart?

[RacingManiac]

Its called product support...lol

Point is Porsche is not running the car, they don't send their factory robots(lol) to drive the car. Asking to get rid of Porsche just because a) its a more expensive product and b)some team who can afford a more expensive product is just silly. The car is out there, you can buy it and race it, no different from say buying a Lola or buying a Zytek, just costs more. Its not like the rule structure limits how much money a team can blow on their project, be it as factory backed or run by someone's rich uncle.....

[Turbo.Jenkens]

I want rules that attract all the major manufacturers to compete at the top level while stimulating alternative fuels and technologies that can eventually trickle down to my future sportscar. If a private team wants to stand on the podium they may find LMP2 or GT2 to be more receptive.

Will rotaries ever be allowed so Mazda can come back and destroy these giant-engined cars i.e. V12 TDI.

I asked Cam Worth, owner of Petit racing a very similar question two weeks ago. Before I get to his response; the R26B was capable of making 690hp 17 years ago and it still is. However it isn't capable of making adequate power breathing through the restrictors used to balance competition today. Since they are louder than heck, thirsty, and dirty (oil burners) they really don't fit into the "green racing" theme that seems to be the future. The future of the rotary seems to rely on the use of hydrogen. Remember the hydrogen RX-8? Cam told me they are working on developing a combined gasoline/hydrogen engine that can withstand an endurance race.

To be truthful I highly doubt we'll see a rotory powered car at Le Mans anytime soon. However, due to the high power output for their size and weight and relative lack of development I think a new generation of rotorys competing at somepoint in the future isn't improbable. Of course I may be a bit bias

[Kiwieb]

Seconded, also what regulations will there to be equal out Diesel and Petrol cars.

"Monsieur Jean-Claude, you have allowed diesels to have the power advantage for years so how about allowing the petrol fuelled cars to have a definite advantage and restrict the diesels to far less power than petrol ones?"

[diesels beating petrol race cars through silly rules is just a sick and black joke!]

[henk4]

"Monsieur Jean-Claude, you have allowed diesels to have the power advantage for years so how about allowing the petrol fuelled cars to have a definite advantage and restrict the diesels to far less power than petrol ones?"

[diesels beating petrol race cars through silly rules is just a sick and black joke!]

answer. "We want to introduce new technologies into racing and give them a real chance to be successful. We may have underestimated the diesel potential, but so have many consumers who thought that diesel would never perform".

[LeonOfTheDead]

answer. "We want to introduce new technologies into racing and give them a real chance to be successful. We may have underestimated the diesel potential, but so have many consumers who thought that diesel would never perform".

true, but now the petrol engine is demonstrating it has bigger potentials and efficiency. the way diesel evolved had brought it to a closed street, the emissions levels are becoming quite difficult to control in diesel and the increase in power are smaller than before, with little advantages but with bigger costs. the same technologies applied to petrol engine is leading to better engines, all around.
perhaps, now hybrid systems are underestimated as diesel some years ago. hybrid diesels could be a good call, but they are penalized but the fact a diesel engine is already bigger and heavier than a petrol one, and the hybrid system could be quite cumbersome, at least on road going cars.
I doubt Audi and Peugeot are so fast because of the diesel, it's torque or power, or even it's relatively better mileage. The cars are superiors, for the budget and capabilities that they, as the only factory teams, have.
talking about new technologies, I would introduce rules that "force" participants to use what now seems to be the future of cars just to make the series closer to the real world than for example F1, just to make it look like a sort of laboratory and not a selfish prototype. so hybrid it's obviously the first thing that comes to mind. just some others of my opinions.

[Ferrer]

I doubt Audi and Peugeot are so fast because of the diesel, it's torque or power, or even it's relatively better mileage. The cars are superiors, for the budget and capabilities that they, as the only factory teams, have.

Audi and Peugeot (and Seat) introduced diesels to racing for the simple fact that it is what the great majority of europeans drive. It didn't really matter that most of the people who drive diesels would be better of we petrols in economic terms.

Diesels are officially good and people like to think that their 107 HDI smokey teapot or their Volkswagen A3 tractor engine shares something with the racers. When they don't.

[LeonOfTheDead]

Audi and Peugeot (and Seat) introduced diesels to racing for the simple fact that it is what the great majority of europeans drive. It didn't really matter that most of the people who drive diesels would be better of we petrols in economic terms.

Diesels are officially good and people like to think that their 107 HDI smokey teapot or their Volkswagen A3 tractor engine shares something with the racers. When they don't.

yes, the commercial purpose is quite overwhelming, too bad
the sillier fact is that Audi is trying to ad the V12 TDI for road cars as (strictly) derived from the racing unit...come on...

[The_Canuck]

yes, the commercial purpose is quite overwhelming, too bad
the sillier fact is that Audi is trying to ad the V12 TDI for road cars as (strictly) derived from the racing unit...come on...

Not as bad as Peugeot marketing a car that has tried and failed twice to beat it's only competition

[LeonOfTheDead]

Not as bad as Peugeot marketing a car that has tried and failed twice to beat it's only competition

Peugeot is Frech, so they are quite proud of what they do, and it's fair enogh for me in this case. the car isn't rubbish at all, even if yes, they should have won this year. But we you (Audi) are tlling me that this Q7 has the same engine of the R10 TDI race car, you are calling me "idiot, ignorant, stupid, dumb, moron etc", and that's worse imo. it's a very stupid ad.
even because they give you the bore and stroke data, and they are exactly the same of the 3.0 V6 TDI engine...

[The_Canuck]

Peugeot is Frech, so they are quite proud of what they do, and it's fair enogh for me in this case. the car isn't rubbish at all, even if yes, they should have won this year. But we you (Audi) are tlling me that this Q7 has the same engine of the R10 TDI race car, you are calling me "idiot, ignorant, stupid, dumb, moron etc", and that's worse imo. it's a very stupid ad.
even because they give you the bore and stroke data, and they are exactly the same of the 3.0 V6 TDI engine...

You're right it is a stupid ad, but car makers have told lies in their ads for years. It's like the Corvette ads saying they won the 24 hours of lemans (2006 i think) even though it was only their class, etc etc...

[henk4]

Not as bad as Peugeot marketing a car that has tried and failed twice to beat it's only competition

the Peugeot has won all LMS races this year, in spite of the presence of the Audi. But this discussion deviates from the original question that was to be askd to Plassart, which was clearly based on a prejudice against diesel engines....(I did again see the word "tractor" in one of the replies)

and btw, which of the current LMP1 or LMP2 petrol engines is available for the general consumer? (apart from the GT1 "loophole" production engine?).

[Ferrer]

the Peugeot has won all LMS races this year, in spite of the presence of the Audi. But this discussion deviates from the original question that was to be askd to Plassart, which was clearly based on a prejudice against diesel engines....(I did again see the word "tractor" in one of the replies)

Sorry I forgot VAG diesel engines were the last word in refinement.

To bring this on topic again. Will there be a world championship for sportscars again with the famous races in?

[henk4]

Sorry I forgot VAG diesel engines were the last word in refinement.

they have at least now adopted common rail technology

[Kitdy]

and btw, which of the current LMP1 or LMP2 petrol engines is available for the general consumer? (apart from the GT1 "loophole" production engine?).

The B-K Mazda's MZR-R is based off the MZR engine and built by AER.

If you look into the past, there are tons of production derived engines and as recently as the early 2000s, Porsche took a racing engine and modified it to fit in one of their cars.

[RacingManiac]

Mulsanne's Corner: Advanced Engine Research P32 T V8

um, no....designed by AER....