2014 LMP Reg

[bhall]

I think the idea is to open a rather large can of worms. The exact "allocations" are yet to be finalized, though.

The press release summarizing the new regulations does mention a fuel flow meter. So, I may very well be wrong in how I interpreted things. If that's the case, the use of the word allocation here is way off the mark on the ACO's part. It's a limit.

The meter could, however, measure cumulative flow. The articles I've seen thus far have been a bit contradictory on the subject.

There's also a reduction in fuel tank size from 75L to 64.4L.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

@ Bhallgk

You see, my point is actually to do with racing and the effects this rule will have.

I'll try be more clear on the difference.

If you are only allowed to use no more than 4kgs fuel per lap, fair dinkum right. But....
If you are allowed to use 4kgs fuel for every complete lap over a race distance and the sums are done after the race is finished....then the can of worms I speak of has reached biblical proportions for a racing series.

Think of the repercussions.

Toyota(or Audi) would follow the lead car(Toyota or Audi) saving a small amount of fuel for every lap. Their average would come down over the course of a few hours, even though they are fully capable of taking the lead.
How would a lead car respond?

Easy, sacrifice one of your Audi's(or Toyota's ) to be the rabbit in one long fuel saving train.

This way, come the final hour or two, you would have a massive advantage over the lead car by being able to run maximum power for the final stints....

[Ganxxta]

As I understood the new Rules its as follows:
You have lets say (numbers only for better understanding)
-50l fuel tank
-max 5l/lap controlled with the fuel restriction, say they take the length of the track and calculate the maximum amount of fuel/second so it sums up to max 5l/lap.

Now you can drive 10 laps on full power or lets say 12 laps if you save some fuel per stint.
Its like nowadays, they have the opportunity to do the same thing, drive slower/behind a car and save fuel or go on full power.
So if I understood it correct, it changes nothing in terms of fuel saving strategies.

[bhall]

We also can't forget that KERS is going to be a very significant part of the equation.

[Ganxxta]

According to this http://www.lemans.org/wpphpFichiers/1/1 ... n_2014.pdf page 6, you have a lower amount of max. fuel/lap if you have more Kers power.

So if you have 8MJ Kers you are allowed to use only max. 4l/lap instead of 5l/lap for example.
If you use this kers power during the race or not doesn't change the max. 4l/lap.

[gato azul]

So is this limit set in stone?

Well, being a cynic here, nothing in racing is "set in stone" , for the time being, that is what has being published so far, but I'm sure there is still a fair bit of "fine tuning" (a.k.a. lobbying) going on.

I think, what has been published so far are some "headline" figures, to get the message across, that LeMans 2014 is "green" and environment friendly ( nothing wrong with that).
As far as I understand it, the underlying idea is to limit/allocate the "energy amount" used, and have (try to have) a better balance between the different concepts. For this reason, we see the different values petrol vs. diesel, because the "energy content/density" of some fuels (diesel) is higher then others Methanol for example on a volume basis (per liter).
I do think, for purely technical reasons, that there will be in all likelihood a "fuel flow" limit, which again based on technical reasons, is most likely on a time basis ( ltr. per sec) rather then on a distance basis ( ltr. per km), which would mean, that you can't safe fuel and use later more to achieve the same overall consumption.
F1 has the value of 100kg/hr published for now, I'm sure, there will be similar values x kg/l per sec/hour in the final LeMans rules. So the "endgame" is high efficiency, make as much power as you can, with the fuel you have (now).
No glory runs in Qualifying or after "saving" fuel (safetycar etc). If you manage to "save fuel" because of rain, or a long safetycar etc. you can run longer, but not make more power to compensate for this.
Now, I can be wrong off course, as I know as much (or little) as you guys, but from a pure technical point of view, you can't really write a fuel consumption on a per lap basis on a specific circuit into any form of "meaningful/water tight" technical reglement.
Keep in mind, that these cars race on other tracks as well (WEC), so how does xx l/lap in LeMans in June (temperature) correlate to a lap in Spa or Silverstone?
For this I'm reasonable sure, we will see a form of "fuel flow" restriction, and most likely on a time base, as a distance base would depend from the velocity/speed of the car as well.

Nevertheless, I think, that the ACO came out with a sensible set of rules, and it remains to be seen, how many manufacturers will take them up.
In this context, I find it interesting, that MAZDA just announced an LMP Diesel engine program, makes you wonder why this is?

On a side note, what I have not seen mentioned/discussed here so far, are the other rules changes.
LMP1's will be 100 mm smaller then now, driver needs to sit higher, and windshield/front screen size and shape will be altered as well.

[RacingManiac]

The driver position alteration is sensible I think. The current wide front tire coupe are probably as bad as visibility gets. They are shoving driver more forward and sits higher so they can see better. Probably a smart thing to do looking at the incidents like McNish's accident last year and Delta Wing thing this year. Narrower car might push the top speed even higher now, on top of the fact that they will have "unlimited" power...might address the issue of the current rule which some drivers echoed about the current cars have trouble passing on the straight as the GT cars now have less of a straightline speed differential. So drivers are all going for the riskier pass in the corner/braking zone...

[skgoa]

I'm sorry. I made an error in my explanation.

Fuel isn't limited per lap; it's just allocated on a per lap basis. In other words, a car with X technology will be given Y amount of fuel per lap, and a car with Z technology will be given T amount of fuel per lap. Each technology's unique allocation figure is then multiplied by the total number of laps for any given race, and the product of that equation is the total fuel limit for the race for that technology. Manufacturers can exploit that limit however they see fit. They could use it all on the first lap if they so desired.

Make sense?

Didn't realise it worked like that. Thanks! =D>

It doesn't. It's exactly the other way round.

[gato azul]

This shouldn’t detract from either performance or from the quality of the show for spectators, since the drivers will no long have to worry about fuel consumption. The amount of energy they use will be monitored by a flow-meter.

from: http://en.lemanslive.com/Lemanslive/New ... s-for-2014

we will need to wait for the "fine print", but the way I would interpret it is fuel flow limit, and thereby also a limit on the max. power at any given time.
You don't use all the fuel flow you have, o.k. you cannot use more later, no accumulation of fuel over time.
The only way to make more power, is higher efficiency ( less "waste" in form of heat or noise), get more of the "potential" energy content in the fuel, turned into mechanical energy.

For PR reasons, they converted this into a "ltr/lap" value, as this is more easy to understand for the general public then to say as an example 145.6 g/s vs. 174.9 g/s allowed fuel flow rate.
IMHO

[bhall]

It doesn't. It's exactly the other way round.

Once again, thank you for your inattention.

we will need to wait for the "fine print", but the way I would interpret it is fuel flow limit, and thereby also a limit on the max. power at any given time.

I agree with you on the fine print. I don't think they want to limit power, though. The expressed goal is to find as much power and/or efficiency as possible from a given quantity of fuel. That's why the engine regulations are completely and delightfully open.

[markp]

Is aero open? Will we see side skirts, fan cars, active aero, active suspension etc or is only the engine open?

[MadMatt]

Is aero open? Will we see side skirts, fan cars, active aero, active suspension etc or is only the engine open?

They didn't say anything about that, but aside from the engine regulations, I'm a bit worried about the part that says :

"The drivers will be seated higher and further forward in the car to improve visibility"

I agree that the cars in their actual form are a bit too extreme maybe, but why forcing the driver position to what they think might be right ? I hope they won't ruin the cars' design like they did with the current LMP1 (I hate the front lip, the high ride height and the ridiculous small rear wing).

Also the part saying :

"Front bodywork will also be altered, with an adjustable front element to simplify the aerodynamic balance introduced to reduced the need of different sets of bodywork for the various circuits on the FIA World Endurance Championship calendar"

Does that mean we won't see bodywork evolution throughout the season ? What's the point of "standardize" everything ? At this year's Lemans Legend race, how awesome it was to see all those group C cars from different years. They were all different and were not more than 10 years away from the oldest to the newest.

I hope the ACO won't destroy diversity like the FIA did in F1 !

[gato azul]

I agree with you on the fine print. I don't think they want to limit power, though. The expressed goal is to find as much power and/or efficiency as possible from a given quantity of fuel. That's why the engine regulations are completely and delightfully open.

I'm not saying, that "limiting power" is the main/primary objective of the rule(s).
Nevertheless, technical, they do limit power as well, by limiting fuel flow rate.

Diesel has an energy content of app. 37.3 MJ/ltr. (46.2 MJ/kg), if we take a non hybrid allocation of 3.99 ltr/lap (Diesel)
that means you have a potential energy per lap of 148.827 MJ.

Now, if we take a estimated lap time of 3:24.000 (204 sec), that would mean 0.729544 MJ/s or 729.544 kW as the maximum possible power available. (1MJ/s = 1000 kW)

Now you would need to multiply this by your engine efficiency.
For the sake of the example let's say it's 42% (0.42) that would mean app. 306 kW average power per lap.
If they would allow twice the amount, you could make twice the power, assuming the same efficiency etc.

Therefore, direct or indirect, intended or not, a limit on the fuel flow, will be a limit on the available power too.
Sure, and as I said before, you make a more efficient engine, you can use more of the potential energy (limited by the energy content of the fuel and the fuel flow rate) as mechanical energy.
Making your car faster, or achieving your terminal speed quicker --> reduction in lap time.

[gato azul]

"
Does that mean we won't see bodywork evolution throughout the season ?
What's the point of "standardize" everything ?

Saying that "adjustable" front aerodynamic will be allowed, does not make it a "spec"/ standardized front end - does it?
An F1 front wing is adjustable, that does not mean everybody is using the same one.

I'm sure we will still see different technical solutions from team to team (not all cars will look the same), but we may see less
"Le Mans" spec only aero kits, or different front ends/splitters etc for Spa, Silverstone, Monza etc.etc.
I think, it's a "cost saving" attempt - not completely stupid IMHO

[RacingManiac]

I think the adjustable front wing thing is to stop some of the ridiculousness of some of the current front aero rule in LMP. Look at the HPD car right now, I think ACO mandate you can have a certain number of "elements" added on, and you have to somehow differentiate whats what to see if the design is legal:

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/HPDARX-01e-1.html

With essentially an adjustable "front wing" a lot of that probably can be neglected....

I don't think LMP will ever be not diversed. Too many solutions are being tried still, and the rules was never stable enough for people to converge on a single design....