flyingfocrs

So a Diesel has won Le Mans.
Not only more economical (could stop every 14 laps not 12 of the petrols) but faster as well (pole position/fastest lap)
Does this mean that the dominance of the petrol engine in perfomance cars is coming to an end?
We all know that the torque figures of the diesels is amazing and the in gear times are stunning, they just need to make the engines lighter to help the handling.
How long till we see a diesel Ferrari?

Mike Rainbird

iTrader: (3)

To ensure that someone actually went the diesel route, the governing body gave them a LOT of advantages to ensure that it was worth-while someone building a diesel to compete with the petrol cars. However, they currently can't compete on a level playing field (requiring a 1.5 litre larger engine size (5.5 litre compared to 4 litre) than the equivalent petrol engines).

I would imagine that as technology improves, then the disparity will narrow until it is a level playing field, but at present, like for like, petrol is STILL King .

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

i was wondering the other day why no one has invented a turbo diesel motorbike lol

MAD EVO 4

They said next yr they will be limiting the diesel engines like they do the petrol ones

Peugeot also have a TDI for le man next yr

Rab

Would weigh about 5 ton

flyingfocrs

There are a few, but mostly military use and a few farm machines/quads

Anonymous

Indeed, the point most people seem to be missing!

Micky The Finn

it has been done,watch this space......

Micky The Finn

petrol is king my arse,there is 17% more energy in a litre of disel than in a litre of petrol.

petrol isnt king at all,its just been the biggest fuel concern of most manufactuer's etc so disel has been largly ignored,until now,watch this space,just remember to take your blinkers off.

Fudgey

iTrader: (4)

it wouldnt be that heavy surely for a little 2 pot motor.

what do you know then tim?

Mike Rainbird

iTrader: (3)

WTF are you on about . At the moment to achieve similar power, the Diesels are being given larger restrictors and 1.5 litres of extra capacity just to compete EVENLY with the petrol cars in power output. However, if you READ what I said, I believe that this WILL change as diesel technology improves, but at the MOMENT, the disparity means that IF the diesels had been given level pegging, the petrol cars would have won. Therefore at PRESENT petrol power is STILL King . This was just done to jump start the technology, as no-one would bother competing (and thus developing) with diesel tecnology, as they just could NOT compete on level ground as things stand at the moment.

EIL132

And Diesels sound shit

Micky The Finn

keep reading the bumpf mike,dont believe everything you read,especially about development and restrictors etc,its a marketing game remember,

currently more petrol cars on the road than diesel hence oil companies (and the rest) control what they want you to belive and think (looks like they are doing a good job as well),just dont be fooled,98% of what your told or read is what they want you to know,

but yes,it will change(behind the scenes it already has),give it time.

and remove them blinkers.

Kev.H

can you fit a dump valve on a diesel turbo

MAD EVO 4

Yes you can fit dump valves to diesels


A shell spokesman siad on motors tv, that their new diesel fuel does not come from crude oil any more

Mike Rainbird

iTrader: (3)

My blinkers are removed, hence why I think that now that diesels HAVE had the development money pumped into them, next year will see a bigger improvement and the disparity in handicaps narrowed, but with the performance margin remaining the same, until eventually there will be like for like comparison and performance, yet the diesels returning more mpg.

However, as to restrictors being marketing hype . It's physics and it does work in restricting power output .

Diesel engines are currently 50% heavier than their petrol equivalents, but with ever increasing metalurgical leaps and bounds, this is also coming down. I personally see diesel engines in Le Mans becoming the norm and possibly even the sway to restrict THEM instead of the petrol cars .

timb551

It was the most surreal car. Got back last night and the main topic is how its then end of le man as we know it. Its my third year in a row now and was a great weekend again, but having spoken to a few people we heard that they are putting a decibel limit in for next year. The diesel was almost silent which was bizzare after seeing the corvettes and panoz going by. If this is the way to come i wont be contiuning to go to le man cause the noise of the cars is half the enjoyment.

wimwerf

you talk about the fuel itself.....but a petrolengine is still king....from a mechanical point of view you cant make a diesel engine more powerful then petrol engine...given the same engine (no turbo, litres and valves)...guess who's better, faster....only thing the diesel win is on mpg

so like mike says....make all the engine even as big...no restrictors..guess who will win.....

there must be some kind of miracle if a diesel with the same spec engine will be faster...

James

Not all are, yes ok your 4 pot 306 DT and golf tdi's sound rubbish. but the straight six 4.2 Land Crusier engine sounds mint as does the Audi 2.5 tdi.

Lemon S2

I got back this afternoon & agree if you weren't looking at the way the cars were coming then you'd miss the diesels they were that quiet, but the sound from most of the cars was fantastic. The sound out of the Astons were my winner for the weekend.

If that's true about putting the a decibel limit in from next year then that will be a shame but won't deter me from going, I still enjoy the whole atmosphere & it's a cracking piss up

DelboyTurbo

I agree, with an advantage of 1.5 litres over the others, i wouldnt consider it a true win....nor would i ever consider it fair to call it superior. I mean its hardly a fair test is it. lol

Also, going by the amount of energy in something isnt really wise....Nuclear fuel is a highly concentrated energy source, doesnt mean its more suitable for cars than petrol. lol

Remember, as diesels develop, so do petrol engines...Much of the same technology applies to both anyway. Material advancments will benefit petrol engines too, we wont be stuck with Duratecs for the next 300 years. lmao


Also, the diesel lemans car sounded like......well, it didnt. It didnt make a noise at all. Now wheres the fun in that?

Rolls

iTrader: (2)

After just getting home from Le Mans, i can confirm they sound gay as you like! - just turbo whistle, no exhaust noise at all - a bit wrong really.....
Go well enough mind

Keith B

It'd be funny if some crazed eastern European team entered a Nuclear powered Lada or something.

*Mushroom cloud at the end of the Mulsanne straight* !

Terry Tibbs

Volvo FH12, listen to one of them, sounds amazing.

Rich_w

Deseasels are also more Carconogenic (sp?) in terms of emmisions and waste oil. People forget that sometimes

Still think the current LMP cars look shite though. Would prefer to see the class dropped in favour of GT1 production based cars. Not like there isnt a healthy choice of Supercars/GTs on sale at the moment. Ferraris, Astons, Lambo Murcis, Veyrons, SLRs, Carrera GTs etc etc

Andreas

Ok, where can i get my YB converted for diesel?

Paul Eggleton

I really liked the R10, OK it was quiet but it just had something about it. It was stuck to the track and was driving around everything. Regardless of fuel it is a fucking excellent piece of engineering.

The other highlight was watching Seb Loeb leave the pits sideways, one handed, whilst still fiddling with something in his other hand. Class driver

Best sounding car for me was the Lambo. all the pops and bangs under braking and the wailing on full throttle was awesome.