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And a technical point. The long wheelbases on current LMP cars (and basically those designed since 2005/06) is largely due to aero regs.
Let's just take the Audi R10, which had the longest wheelbase for a LMP1 car (claimed by Audi to be similar to the first generation Audi Q7 SUV) until Audi Sport designed the R15 (which at the time had a wheelbase as long as or even longer than F1 cars of the period). Yes, the diesel V12 was much longer than the V8 out of the R8, but it was far from the only factor. A longer wheelbase makes a car more stable in direction changes and down straightaways, it makes it easier to package the tub and mechanicals within the wheelbase as well, which helps with weight distribution.
But the long wheelbase (which I believe is also the case for F1 cars) is also very largely governed by overall length requirements vs front/rear overhang. We have to remember that post 2004 LMP1s were limited to 1000mm front overhang and especially 750mm rear overhang. However, length (4650mm) and until 2014 width (2000mm) remained the same. So hence, wheelbases got longer to counter the overhang chops while keeping the cars overall as long as possible.
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