Audi LMP1 Discussion

[MihokS5]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Another video from yesterday's Monza test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TImNAcuAj7k. The guy who shot that video, also has footage of the R8, which is struggling a lot more to get to power down in the wet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmutWN6781s.
Some additional pictures from yesterday: http://balangproject.wordpress.com/2...-hybrid-monza/

Today Audi is continuing its test in dry condition. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TImNAcuAj7k and http://www.paddock.it/index.php?meth...=zoom&id=16230. The weather has changed completely (soaking wet to blue sky) in one day.

According to http://endurance-info.com/version2/a...nce-10197.html Audi is doing tyre testing with Michelin at Monza and they will do a new endurance test in a few days.

gwyllion,
Can you refresh my memory as to what the blue flashing LED light is in the windshield of the R8 LMS??

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by MihokS5

gwyllion,
Can you refresh my memory as to what the blue flashing LED light is in the windshield of the R8 LMS??

Theoretically it's for the fastest 30-odd qualifiers at the Nurburgring 24h... maybe they're running it to see how it affects visibility at night, since R8s are bound to be in that top 30.

[Creep89]

Seems to be a car which will run at the Nurburgring since it has this blue light.

[gwyllion]

According to http://endurance-info.com/version2/a...nce-10197.html the R8 is driven by Andrea Piccini. He will be part of the WRT driver lineup for the Nürburgring 24 Hours and Monza is his home track.

[gwyllion]

https://www.facebook.com/notes/wolfg...50941965784251 has the first picture in which the rear end of the 2012 R18 is partly uncovered


You can see that the last part of the exhaust has changed since last year.


And that the air from the cockpit goes straight out of the rear bodywork, instead of being used to cool all sorts of components in the engine bay.

[EverOne]

Love the updates on the R18. Can't wait to see they running in Spa

[chernaudi]

It seems that Audi bypass the chicane when it's dry, but use it in the wet--safety concern, or it is to test how the car works at low speed in the wet, or both?

And it does seem that Audi are proceeding as if they expect both Toyota and Peugeot to be at Spa, but if these test were scheduled in advance (assuredly they were), why waste them?

And we know that Dr. Ullrich referred to the Paul Ricard test later this month when he said "one more test before Spa", so it seems that Audi don't count this as far as it's a Michelin tire test.

[gwyllion]

In case people are wondering, according to http://forums.fourtitude.com/entry.p...otos-amp-Video this is an ultra and not an e-tron quattro.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

In case people want to see the pictures that MihokS5 posted in high resolution (1920 x 1280), you can see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/allmoto...7629793933693/. Judging from the helmet design Marco Bonanomi is driving.

FYI. Daniele Paglino has updated his gallery on flickr with pictures from today's dry testing. It now contains 53 photos of the R18 ultra and R8 LMS ultra.

[gwyllion]

Another short report of the Monza test, including a picture gallery, can be found at www.hirundophotography.com.

[chernaudi]

And from the photo with the engine cover removed, could those vents in the engine cover be for venting cockpit air? The seem to match up in alignment.

Also that report from Facebook says that the R18 Ultra ran a 1:41.3 today when the track dried out--what were the times estimated from last year's test at Monza--only thing I remember is that it was claimed that the R18 was about a second faster than the equivalent 908 last year. And it's claimed that the Ultra and for sure the E-tron are at least as fast, if not faster than last year's cars in spite of the rule changes.

[gwyllion]

1:41.3 is the time for the R8 GT3 car. The R18 ultra apparently did 1:26.8.

The last time that LMP1 cars raced in Monza was the 1000 km in 2008. That year the pole was 1:31.470 and the fastest race lap was 1:32.449. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_1000km_of_Monza. However, those lap times are for a different track layout. Audi is skipping the chicane to simulate for Le Mans.

[TF110]

There's at least 5 seconds gained by skipping the chicane. No braking and accelerating, it's probably worth even more time than that. Glad they're testing still, the wet running especially could prove useful

[vincegail]

Originally Posted by TF110

the wet running especially could prove useful

I DON'T hope it could!

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

1:41.3 is the time for the R8 GT3 car. The R18 ultra apparently did 1:26.8.

The last time that LMP1 cars raced in Monza was the 1000 km in 2008. That year the pole was 1:31.470 and the fastest race lap was 1:32.449. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_1000km_of_Monza. However, those lap times are for a different track layout. Audi is skipping the chicane to simulate for Le Mans.

Last year http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsmay11.html provided some lap times in testing without the first chicane.

Aston Martin was running with the first chicane removed, identical to how Audi and Peugeot have previously tested at Monza. Simone relates, "...while I was there, between 2.30 pm and 4.30, the car did a total of something like 25 laps, pace around 1' 36"-37". For what it's worth, that's considerably slower than what I saw from Peugeot, around 1' 31", and Audi, doing 1' 30" if not under, in earlier tests."

Other reports stated that the Audi R18 was doing 1:28s in 2011.

[chernaudi]

So the Ultra is about a second faster than the 2011 car, and knowing what we know about the e-tron being at least several tenths of a second faster at Sebring (picking up numerous car lengths per lap during that test when the e-tron and the Ultra were in the same area of track), it stands to reason that the e-tron will be a bit faster for sure knowing that.

It's a bit strange that Audi tested the Ultra instead of the e-tron, as both cars are the same aside from the hybrid system, but that's maybe why Audi tested the Ultra, as well as the fact that the Ultra that ran Sebring was toast after the first test day. Also, since it's an Ultra, that means that Audi either built a new tub or an unused one, or the car that trashed at Sebring may've been repaired. Either way, it's an Ultra, not an e-tron--actually, I'd expect that it would have e-tron decals on it, as opposed to the Audi Ultra stickers.

[TF110]

I was amazed at how much louder the R8 LMS was. Concerning that car, the future E-Tron R8; you think it may lead to a future hybrid R8 LMS?

[chernaudi]

The R8 LMS has a 5.2 liter NA V10 that revs well above 8000 rpm, while the R18 uses the 3.7 liter TC V6 turbo diesel that spends relatively little time much above 5000 rpm.

Fewer revs+the turbo+particle filter=quieter engine.

I'll bet that the TS030, with a 3.4 NA V8 would be as loud or louder than the R8 if it wasn't for the ACO insisting that the NA engines run mufflers. It'll be much louder than the R18 for sure. The R10's exhaust at LM in '06 was believed to be as low as 85-90dbs, while the ACO has a 113 db limit--anything louder than that has to use a muffler.

Small NA engines tend to be very loud because of nothing to muffle or suppress the exhaust (TC engines have the TC vanes break up and slow down the exhaust), as well as higher frequency because of the high RPM. That's why even though it didn't rev very high that the Aston Martin V12 was very loud--the number of cylinders and the RPM combined to increase the frequency of the explosions and hence the frequency of the exhaust.

[gwyllion]

Yet another video showed up on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WR-rVw9fsfk and more pictures can be found on http://www.flickr.com/photos/76787778@N07/

[chernaudi]

And another video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Aw3G...feature=relmfu

And what's that whining noise that the R18 makes--it doesn't sound like the normal transmission whine, it sounds like a turbine spinning, so it's either the turbo or it's an e-tron disguised as an Ultra--all 2012 R18s at the Sebring test carried the "Audi Ultra" branding, including the two e-trons. But that is a strange noise that i don't think that I've heard before.

[Creep89]

Yeah.. This sound is really weird. When I heard first I thought its the e-tron.

[chernaudi]

I'd even go as far as to say that it sounds like a rotary engine. I don't remember the 2011 cars or the Audi press footage or anything before this with the R18 making that kind of noise.

[CTD]

Well, as the R18 is accelerating out of the chicane, it might be the electric engine producing the "whining" sound. As the R18 is driving out of the footage, you can hear that the engine sound changes to a sound more "combustion"-ish.

What interest me in the video, is exactly that change over sound. Could the R18 have a Wet Hybrid Mode, where the Hybrid system delivers full power, and the diesel engine only delivers partial power to remove wheel spin?.
I think that is what i hear, as the track is wet, and the R18 accelerates, starting on Hybrid, but as the stored energy is used up, the diesel engines revs up and deliver full power, making sure that the R18 is driven at full power all the time.

(don't know if it made any sense )

[DistortedSmile]

Originally Posted by CTD

Well, as the R18 is accelerating out of the chicane, it might be the electric engine producing the "whining" sound. As the R18 is driving out of the footage, you can hear that the engine sound changes to a sound more "combustion"-ish.

What interest me in the video, is exactly that change over sound. Could the R18 have a Wet Hybrid Mode, where the Hybrid system delivers full power, and the diesel engine only delivers partial power to remove wheel spin?.
I think that is what i hear, as the track is wet, and the R18 accelerates, starting on Hybrid, but as the stored energy is used up, the diesel engines revs up and deliver full power, making sure that the R18 is driven at full power all the time.

(don't know if it made any sense )

That's not an E-tron in the video though, it's a regular Ultra.

[chernaudi]

And as I pointed out, both e-trons that ran at the Sebring test carried the "Audi Ultra" branding. If this R18 is simply an ultra, it's definitely of interest whatever is making that noise.