iCeMaN pAuL Wrote:
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> DaveEllis Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Dont see why people are against the diesels
> > anyway. People who dont know what they are
> talking
> > about say they smell and sound wrong, well I'll
> > tell you from personal experience they dont.
> They
> > sound, look and smell like racing cars. If
> nobody
> > told you it was a diesel then you'd never know.
>
> seconded.
what i have against diesels (but only in racing) is that they have to be built to massive proportions (capacity and number of cylinders) or have to have turbo charging usually to beat an equivalent normally aspirated car. there has to be equivalence set between petrol and diesel
These new diesels in lemans fascinate my racing mind, and also remind me of a time in australias motoracing history, if you let me remenise:
let me start by talking about road cars on road cars.. im very impressed with how diesel technology has progress over the last 20 years, but the use of turbo charging... does that hold technology back?
in petrol engines it has, look at all the jap turbo cars, impreza, lancer, skyline... people who buy these cars are buying late 80a engine designs. even with their dohc etc, their are many simple NA engines, pushrod designes with greater efficiency, power and very free reving.
to me something interesting is how a nissan skyline turbo racing engine reaches, what 9000rpm? and a big nascar v8 pushrod on carbies can do the same. whats the greater engineering feat? the v8 of cause, because it has more limitations. imagine the performance of a nascar engine with dohc and all fancy stuff.
in racing trim when both engines are about 800hp, which uses more fuel? i dont know... but i think
Its interesting iv spoken to people with subaru wrx. only 2litre motor, but uses as much petrol as a 5 litre v8. in my experience iv owned a large capacity 6 cylinded, and a high performance 4 cylider turbo. performance was similar, fuel economy similar, but the engine lasted longer on the 6.
australias touring car series in the late 89s, early 90s:
there were two types of cars. pushrod v8s, and turbo skylines. the turbo skylines car had an unfair advantage, they had turbos! (skyline fans will complain, but they should use their brains, turbos are a HUGE advantage for the internal combusion engine. whereas the simple v8s didnt use forced induction) deservedly the nissans were kicked out of the series, a racing series should be on equal terms, i bet the skylines wouldve lost by 5 laps if they werent turbo charged. the engineering of the v8s was incredible for what they had to play with. f1 has proved what can be done with engineering performance out of a design limitations, the 2.4l v8s or todays 600kg cars are a hell of a lot faster then a 3.5l v12 of a 500kg f1 car of early 90s, or a 1.5l turbo of a 500kg car of the 80s.
so in summary my only compaint of the diesels in lemans, is that they should be equivalent to the petrol engines of the series. creating