Audi R10 TDi to stay in ALMS for the remainder of the 2007 season
It looks like Audi won't be running away from the American LeMans series just yet. Although, the Ingolstadt automaker has dominated the LMP1 class for several years now, the diesel powered R10 will run at least the rest of the 2007 series. Audi is still not happy about the current rules in ALMS which they say favors the LMP2 cars too much.
Audi Motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich sees the ALMS as a medium for promoting the company's commitment to diesel engines. However, those rules don't seem to have hindered Audi at Sebring. Starting this weekend, the series moves to a run of shorter races, where the diesel won't have as much of an advantage. Hopefully Audi's success will prompt other companies like Peugeot to bring in their diesel engines.
[Source: Speed TV]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Michael Hippenhammer 5:15PM (3/29/2007)
My Bet is still on the Audi even with the smaller fuel tank. I have a 2000 Beetle TDI that is chipped and injected. I am amazed how much power I get with low rpm's. In turns where a gas car needs to be in 2nd gear to pull out of a corner with enough torque to shift, I can be in 3rd stomp on it, come out of the turn and have full torque almost instantly. It feels like being shot out of a sling shot. A gas Beetle has to rev it's engine above 3800 rpm to shift. I don't have to shift which saves time. Which is everything in a race.
In city driving I can average 44 mpg running on biodiesel. Now that is with a full bike rack on top, raised 2" not lowered, ( we get lots of snow), driving a mix of heavy on the peddle to basic commuting. The worst I ever got was 38 mpg when I first installed the new computer chip and larger injectors. I was having too much fun experiencing being shot like a rock out of a sling shot! My best was 48 mpg with a full car, two people, a couple mountain passes, Driving an average of 75 mph. We took a 580 mile trip and I still had a 120 miles of fuel left.
For those of you who are not diesel drivers I hope that helps you unerstand better what the other competitors have to compete against. Most gas Beetles with performance mods that drive the way I do will get mid to low 20's for fuel mileage.
For decades all the car companies have been racing against each other trying new technologies. Some were too good. Like the technology that created a vacuum that sucked the car down to the ground which increased traction dramatically! Banning this technology from racing was actually a saftey thing. Drivers were able to hit very high G-forces and were blacking out. But, limiting a car for having an advantage of better fuel mileage with the same power is going backwards. Every team has been trying to increase fuel mileage and spent billions doing so.
Bring on the hybrids, diesels, and alternative fueled cars. The world has changed and we should be racing to change with it.
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