Quote:
Originally Posted by GasperG
Is improving engine efficiency allowed?
I thought that any deviation of more than 3% from the measured BSFC at the test day will be penalised, or was this the case only this season?
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The "dissuasive penalty" was only applicable during the LM 2014 race according to the original
EoT-related decision of past December in the event of a BSFC deviation of more than 2%. From now on, no similar "dissuasive penalty" applies and all manufacturers could basically work on beating the BSFC targets currently being contemplated by the ACO-FIA. This could happen as early as at the occasion of the next race at Austin as a matter of fact.
Considering that Audi are basically stuck with their current ERS architecture, I would expect that the main area of development for Audi for next year is going to be improved engine efficiency. Porsche and Toyota could basically follow a similar avenue, but there is probably less incentive for them to "dramatically" improve engine efficiency considering that they are already sitting at the upper part of the ERS scale and only have to slightly improve engine efficiency (i.e. by 1%) to meet the fuel consumption targets in the 8 MJ ERS category.
BTW, if the ACO-FIA were to limit the ability to improve engine efficiency, one would have to wonder if that would be a correct move as this area of development is of substantial and direct interest for road car applications.