As far as the question of endurance race it will be interesting to see a 1.6l Turbo make 300hp for 24 hours. That is a pretty robust engine that can survive those stresses.
Toyota's GTP cars made over 750 hp out of 1.6L, and that was with early 90's technology. While they didn't run a 24 hour race with that engine, I think detuning down to only 300 it should have done so, easily.
Yeah, after reading that my first thought was we will hear that they hired Nelson Piquet Jr. to drive for them.
A little video from Sebring. Apparently they stayed on after the race and have been testing (they're pushing it at least a bit, I read they broke a drive shaft today) but unfortunately these are just from the demo. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QBh6rLjhSQ]DeltaWing Unveil Laps - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeEcmzW-iUA]Delta Wing at Sebring - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_cf5bZwws0]Delta Wing Demo Laps at Sebring 12 Hr, 2012 - YouTube[/ame]
Will this be the only time these two share the track? ------------- edit: Link to that pic seems to come and go. If you can't see it click here for a set of pics from yesterday, incl. one shot of the DeltaWing on track with one of the Audis.
Not a ton of speed there. I wonder if they will really be able to get the thing going fast. The engine at speed sounded good though.
True but they are going to have to keep a "race pace" at Le Mans aren't they? That isn't too long from now. I don't doubt that over enough testing time and driver seat time they can get it there. It's a question of is the time between now and Le Mans?
I'd like to think that once out of the prying eyes of you doom and gloom merchants they will ramp up the speeds. I'm sure we will hear if it fails or not. An empty Le Mans garage will tell lots...
I'm not really looking for it to fail. Just chat-board speculation/questions. It would be great to see it make the 24 hr of Le Mans. It doesn't need to be pace setter either. They have "proof of concept". It's there running around a race-track already. They really just need to show it can be effective in a race-setting. After that, there may be a new class of race car developed.
This is pretty much what I've been saying all along, not that it won't work, just that before they take on a world class venue like Le Mans, they need to get a couple of Sebring 12's under their belt, run under full race conditions, otherwise they're just doing demo laps, like these. More Moeller sky car stuff..... The difference here is Nissan's involvement - that means the engine's gonna run anyway. Still, only 300 hp in race trim? Why so low? I think it can be a viable race car........maybe............but are they ready to run a LeMans distance, at race speeds? No way. You DO need to walk before you run.
Deltawing weights 1047 lbs vs. LMP minimum weight of 1984 lbs. LMP cars range from 500-700 HP while LMPC cars have 450 HP. So, just going by power to weight the Deltawing should be somewhere between an LMP2 and LMP1 car in a straight line. Its ability to corner is doubtful.
It's a deliberate part of their design philosophy. They are aiming to cut everything in half: power, weight, fuel, aero drag.