Delta Wing car
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Nissan will provide the engine:
A race-prepared 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine, featuring direct petrol injection and a turbocharger, will power Nissan DeltaWing, which is half the weight and has half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional racer.
http://www.highcroftracing.com/news/2012/3/13/nissan-to-power-deltawing.html
Rumours say it’s actually the WTCC engine that RML run in their cars. It’s badged by Chevy there, but it’s entirely RML-built and can be badged by other OEMs for other uses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3wlQAvEfmeI
Onboard video. It actually looks really fast in fast corners. Also, interestingly, it’s a sequential shift with a stick and NOT paddles.
As you say Victor, looks ok in the fast corners but he was making a lot of corrections in slow ones, then again the track seemed pretty damn bumpy. Reliability will probably be the main issue being a new car, speed-wise I’d expect it to be slower than LMP2.
Did look like a very bumpy circuit they are hoping for it to betweeen lmp1 and 2 according to the article on autosport
“The aim of the lightweight car is to achieve a level of performance between an LMP1 and P2 car with 300bhp, almost half the power output of a P1 car. The target weight for the DeltaWing is 475kg, which compares with the 900kg minimum of P1 and P2 machinery.”The video looks legit to me, and mighty impressive! If it can make it through the race (Le Mans) with good reliability I can see it finishing near the tail end of LMP1, or atleast near the top LMP2 cars like they predict. The potential of a machine like this is massive however, get it well sorted before June and in a perfect race I think it could actually challenge the top petrol powered teams in LMP1, just behind the almighty TDI Audis.
Erik Comas on the DeltaWing (which he helped develop):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs_wnHNbVCA&feature=player_embedded
If the DeltaWing is a success, I wonder if it will change the Formula 1 teams’ minds about ground effects?
I just don’t know about this. I’m no engineer but I just don’t understand what the benefit of this layout is. I sat for about half an hour starting at a picture of it on track and I just don’t udnerstand how it can get around a corner with such a narrow front track.
They explain the benefit – a reduced drag coefficient, and a lighter overall chassis, which means they can go the same distance as an LMP1 car using half the fuel.
Does it really matter how the DeltaWing turns? It’s obviously doing so, and since no tears in the fabric of reality have appeared, it clearly hasn’t broken the laws of physics. You will probably find it has something to do with a) less mass over the front wheels, which would require less force to turn, and/or b) the use of ground effects under the car to generate more aerodynamic grip.
Reported laptimes from the car’s two days of testing at Sebring (after the race) put it at this moment somewhere in the middle of the LMP2 field on pace (1:52s-1:53s reported on consistent stints). Considering it’s the car’s first more serious run, I’d call that a good place to start from.
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