Is motorsport the "perfect" way to showcase green cars or is it a waste of fuel?
There's no question that motorsports have cleaned up tremendously in the past few years. Just look at all the Audi R10, Honda F1, IRL ethanol, and hydrogen racing news that's been on AutoblogGreen recently. It still might seem odd to some readers that using fuel just to drive in circles is the most obvious example of waste there is. But I used to not get jogging on a track either. I thought, "what's the point of the oval, when you could run on a trail or roadway and see new things around every corner?" But running on a track - whether it's a person or a car - is not about going anywhere. It's about the machine, and making that machine healthier. So I think the Motorsport Industry Association (from the UK) is onto something with this idea that motorsport is the "perfect platform for promoting energy efficient technology." They're not totally right - I think minor increases in consumer models are better than hyper-green race cars, but first we get one and then we'll get the other. At the upcoming MIA Sebring Conference (which starts Thursday), the MIA says it expects green messages to be heard all over the place. And we can all expect this trend to grow. The MIA announced today it is "strengthening its links to China."
The MIA's take on green cars is after the break.
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MOTORSPORT – THE PERFECT PLATFORM FOR PROMOTING ENERGY EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGY
Big Names To Attend MIA Sebring Conference
The power of using motorsport to impart 'Green' messages or promote energy efficient technology is gaining ground fast. Honda is asking its F1 fans to make a commitment to the environment this year, and has wrapped the RA 107 Grand Prix car in an image of the earth. The ALMS Series nowadays has both diesel and ethanol amongst its list of official fuels – the latter being under development for wider use by the end of the year – while ethanol is the mandatory fuel of the IRL series. Even NASCAR has moved to unleaded petrol.
All this and much more will no doubt be discussed at America's inaugural Energy Efficient Motorsport Conference being staged by the MIA at Sebring on March 15. A number of motorsport's heavy hitters will be attending in one capacity or another, including: Ulrich Baretzky, Don Panoz, Scott Atherton, Herb Fishel and star drivers Derek Bell, David Brabham and Andy Wallace. The event is being supported by UKTI, Xtrac, Shell and the SAE.
Said the MIA's Chris Aylett, "Such events increase the 'Green' motorsport momentum and demonstrate new motorsport opportunities to the automotive power bases of Detroit and Toyko. Already we have environmentally conscious manufacturers and series organisers using motorsport to showcase their technology. Added to F1's proposed technical changes, this can only help deliver new business for energy efficient solutions, which in turn will find their way onto road vehicles."
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Scala 10:48PM (3/12/2007)
Regardless of the fuel being used, the average consumer could actually learn a ton about efficiency from pretty much any motorsport squad, aside perhaps from the wasteful 'nascar' types.
Again, aside from stock car racing, motorsport makes an obsession of lightweight materials and designs. Though the general public's narrow attention span's swinging around to alternative fuels, lightweight cars are literally available 'yesterday', and tons more efficient on aggregate than a hybrid SUV...
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mike k. 11:54AM (3/13/2007)
Honestly, racing is the test bed for technology which makes its way into consumer cars. It is the R&D money a lot of times. I think green race cars is a great idea. You're not going to stop racing, cause people find it entertaining. So it only helps the situation that the racecars are using greener technology. Hell I'd be willing to say it promotes more people to care about using greener stuff. If race-fan A sits down and see their favorite driver converting to a green fuel type car, they're going to think hard about why they haven't looked into something more green for themselves.
Also #1 Scala, I'm a novice in the efficiencies and wastefulness between different types of race-cars, specifically NASCAR. Please site references and backup claims that they're any more wasteful than Indy cars or anything else within a certain contest. If you can't, don't hate on it just cause you don't like it. I personally don't like NASCAR either, but i'm not going to make claims about its wastefulness compared to some other forms of racing.
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naggs 5:32PM (3/14/2007)
if any of these promising new technologies is ever going to be ready for the road, its going to come from racing. super capacitors, fuel cells, lightweight hybrids, batteries...
the benifits of racing diesels is already trickling down to street cars and higher mpg out of smoother, cleaner and more powerful engines is the result. motor sports suffers from a distinct lack of relavince now, its mostly about getting another 500 rpm out of your 18k race engine and aerodynamics. green motorsports will rescue racing from the brink of relevancy and help us all.
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Scala 11:56AM (3/15/2007)
Indeed, and it's the series' following the EEMS agenda and endurance racing's lead that are enabling these technologies.
Nascar, on the other hand, is unashamedly about fan entertainment, but not about technical development. They won't let you run without a carburetted large-displacement V8, steel wheels, and several other specified components. Technical development is, for the most part, banned. A good look at the evolution of unrestricted race cars shows a tendency towards light weight and efficient (i.e. low-drag) downforce. Even production endurance racing highlights such improvements.
Perhaps most basically compelling is that Nascar mandates a minimum weight of over 3,000 pounds. Lighter cars are more fuel efficient with lower wear. Take a look at the downloads page at superlightcar.com for quantified benefits of light weight, for a start...
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