Quote:
Originally posted by Patrick B
I can't say much. Dave Despain had me with his Aprils fool on windtunnel... 
Anyways this alternative energy thing got me thinking. With all the energy that is dispursed during braking in a sportscar race. Could it be possible to have some sort of regenerative(sp) brakeing system like used on the Toyota/Honda hybrid road cars?
They could have a 100ftlb electric motor between the engine/transaxle and a couple light weight batteries. The batteries would charge up during braking then drain during acceleration...
No i haven't been drinking 
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(Posted by RacingManiac)
9 Apr 2004 07:51
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Didn't Panoz had something along that line back in 98 or something with their batmobile?
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Posts: 341 | From: | Registered: Dec 2002
Not sure of the year, but I am absolutely, positively sure of the fact that there was a Panoz Hybrid that was installed in the GT1...or the "Batmobile"....
It was called a "Q-9"...
It had the panoz 6.0 L V-8, plus a Zytek 20 volt magnetic generator that was interfaced with the EFI and the ECU and was mounted near the transmission on the drive line.
The battery system was a special-made nickel-cadmium based pack created by Varta...a 240 volt pack that was in the passenger side of the driver compartment (if I remember correctly).
They total system added about 240 lbs. to the car....so to save some weight, they used the generator as both an alternator and starter for the car...
The generator supposedly would crank anywhere from 110-135 extra horsepower, and added about 75 additional ft./lbs of torque...
According to items I've read about it, the systems worked well separately, but there were interface problems when they went to the Test Days at Le Mans, and the problems kept them from qualifying for the race....
However, I believe that the car competed at Petit that same year, and finished 10th or so....
It has not resurfaced again....
But now that their are much lighter Lithium-Composite batteries that are much more reliable, I'd love to see someone take this up again and pursue it....
For a design contest, I created a hybrid system based on this first effort and estimated that with the regenerative braking and the fuel mileage savings, a team could cut as much as 30 minutes off of their pit stop total time at the 24 hrs of le Mans...or about 7 laps in "real race lap" time....
a decent advantage... and if you built the car out of lighter materials (like ZYLON composite instead of carbon-fiber), plus the lighter battery pack and used the generator for the alternator & starter, you could virtually offset the added weight of the system....
The cost to do it....and the time & money spent de-bugging it would mean deep pockets and a lot of commitment....
But in the long run, I think it would pay off...