Audi Diesel Racing

[mts]

Audi to Attack Le Mans and Sebring with Diesel

 

Audi, which has dominated endurance racing and the Le Mans race in particular for some years now, is going back to the 24 Hours in 2006 with a diesel engine. The German company is the second major manufacturer to turn to diesel for a Le Mans car, but France's Peugeot will not race until 2007. However, the Audi's first race will be in the USA, at the Sebring 12-hours in March. The American event has always proved to be a useful shakedown for new racers preparing for Le Mans.

 

The heart of the new Audi R10 is a completely new V-12 TDI direct-injection engine with a cubic capacity of 5.5 liters - the maximum permitted at Le Mans. Audi ventures into previously unexplored diesel-engine terrain with power exceeding 650 hp and torque of more than 811 lb-ft.

 

The massive torque produced by the diesel power-unit - Audi had to strengthen its test-beds when it was developing the engine - will make the cars somewhat different to drive. The maximum torque comes in between 3000 and 5000 rpm, which is low for a race engine. The car's initial acceleration should be shattering, while the torque available will mean that the drivers will not have to use the gearbox so much - a major consideration in endurance events.

 

Both the manufacturers and the race organizers are keen to make racing engines more acceptable ecologically, and both the Audi and the Peugeot engines will be equipped with highly-efficient particulate filters to clean up their exhausts. One disadvantage of this from the race fans' point of view is that the cars will no longer spit flame from their tailpipes, a major spectator attraction at races like Sebring and Le Mans, where racing continues into the hours of darkness.

 

The R10 is important for Audi commercially, for half the company's production is diesel-powered. Europe is the major diesel market - last month 42 percent of the new cars sold in Britain were diesels - but the technology has not taken off in the U.S., mainly because the low-sulfur fuel the modern European diesels need is not available. However, when the fuel does come to the U.S. manufacturers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi expect that like British drivers, who were not as quick to accept diesels as their continental neighbors, American motorists will also find them attractive. Unlike the noisy and vibrating engines that spoiled U.S. diesel cars twenty-odd years ago, modern direct-injection diesels combine fuel economy with smooth and silent power.

 

Diesels have never made a breakthrough into racing, although Fred Agabashian did put a car powered by a Cummins diesel on pole for the 1952 Indy 500 and in 1978 Mercedes set a number of world records, including twelve hours at speeds of around 196 mph with a diesel-powered prototype.

 

With two major manufacturers racing diesels by 2007, the thousands of fans that drive to Le Mans in diesel cars will no longer have to cover up the "D" badges. -Ian Norris

[Ikstej24]

I heard about this awhile ago....didn't they make the change b/c the higher ups for the Le Mans race were going to make them limit the gas engines? So they said the hell with it....we can built a diesel engine that is just as fast or faster.

[mohamedeladawy@hotmail.com]

hahaa i love audi