World Endurance Championship 2015

[BanMeToo]

Actually duruing the race on the long straights to the chicanes it looked as if they first started recovering shortly before hitting the Brakes. Also I doubt they are able to recover 8MJ just while braking. When we assume a 400kW electric Motor (The Porsche is said to have max ~1200HP of which 500 something would be the ICE) it would take 20s to revover 8MJ. I don't think they spend 20s on the brakes in one lap. decellerating from 300km/h to 100 at 4g will take less than 1,5s. So they will have to do some coasting or brake less firecely tha would be possible to recover the full 8MJ.

I don't buy any of this, sorry. Contradicts logic on one front too many. Also goes directly against what alonso said about battery not being recharged sufficiently if he lifts and coasts.
By lifting you're also denying mgu-h recovery.

We don't know, being absolutely specific, what Alonso was talking about, and it could have been related as much to Honda's woes as the general concept. edit: I agree with henra's "gentle braking" idea more than relying a lot on lift and coast

Remember throttling down the ICE is going to save about 550kW of fuel use, so I would still wager that the biggest saving from lifting the throttle at the end of the straights comes from the direct fuel saving, rather than any modicum of KERS recovery they have during off throttle periods....

Absolutely, don't think anyone will argue that.

[Cold Fussion]

Remember throttling down the ICE is going to save about 550kW of fuel use, so I would still wager that the biggest saving from lifting the throttle at the end of the straights comes from the direct fuel saving, rather than any modicum of KERS recovery they have during off throttle periods....

I think we can all agree on that. Has anyone done any rough calculations on whether they are forced into lift and coast by the rules themselves? Remember there is a fuel limit per lap as well as a fuel flow limit. If someone has a good onboard with telemetry would have a look at that.

[ChrisF1]

"Toyota will swap to a new engine for its assault on next year's World Endurance Championship.
The Japanese manufacturer has announced that it will abandon its existing 3.7-litre normally-aspirated V8 powerplant for an engine of undisclosed configuration at the same time as confirming that it will switch from a super-capacitor to a battery energy-storage system.
Toyota Motorsport GmbH team director Rob Leupen told AUTOSPORT: "We will switch to a new engine and Japan is working hard on it already, but all we can say is that it will be petrol powered."
The team refused to confirm that the new motor will be a small-capacity turbo similar in concept to Porsche's two-litre V4.
TMG technical director Pascal Vasselon has previously explained that a turbo unit offers more consistency of performance over a range of conditions than a normally-aspirated engine.
Toyota will retain the twin-axle kinetic energy-retrieval systems of its existing TS040 HYBRID but move to battery storage to allow it to move into the highest subclass of hybrid power that allows for eight megajoules to be deployed over the Le Mans lap.
"We feel we have to be in the 8MJ class; you can do that with a super-capacitor, but there is a downside on weight," explained Leupen.
Toyota had planned to introduce battery storage next year and the new engine in 2017, but its performances in the opening two rounds of the WEC led to a decision to take the two steps at once.
"Now we have decided that we don't want two years of development and that we put everything together," said Leupen.
The 2016 Toyota, to be known as the TS050, is in the advanced stages of design and the first drawings will be released shortly to allow manufacturing to begin.
The new car will run for the first time in January, as the TS040 did this year."

[machin]

[Are the teams] forced into lift and coast by the rules themselves?

The rules limit you on maximum fuel per lap, and maximum instantaneous fuel flow... but the engine mapping is entirely under the team's control, and the instantaneous fuel flow limit is high enough that it allows the teams to generate enough power that they would use more fuel than they're allowed per lap if they used full throttle at all possible times...

But the teams could provide an engine mapping which allows the driver to give it full throttle for the entire straight and still not go over the "per lap" limit... of course that would mean limiting the fuel consumption (and hence power output) at full throttle... presumably they don't do that because they want the drivers to have the option of having a huge power output available for overtaking manoeuvres, but then they must rely on the driver to instigate "lift and coast" procedures at the end of the straight to compensate.

The FIA/ACO could effectively abolish "lift and coast" by keeping the per lap fuel limit the same but dropping the instantaneous fuel flow limit. Presumably they don't because they see that having more power available for overtaking is also a good thing. Personally I think the current balance is good.

[Cold Fussion]

[Are the teams] forced into lift and coast by the rules themselves?

The rules limit you on maximum fuel per lap, and maximum instantaneous fuel flow... but the engine mapping is entirely under the team's control, and the instantaneous fuel flow limit is high enough that it allows the teams to generate enough power that they would use more fuel than they're allowed per lap if they used full throttle at all possible times...

But the teams could provide an engine mapping which allows the driver to give it full throttle for the entire straight and still not go over the "per lap" limit... of course that would mean limiting the fuel consumption (and hence power output) at full throttle... presumably they don't do that because they want the drivers to have the option of having a huge power output available for overtaking manoeuvres, but then they must rely on the driver to instigate "lift and coast" procedures at the end of the straight to compensate.

The FIA/ACO could effectively abolish "lift and coast" by keeping the per lap fuel limit the same but dropping the instantaneous fuel flow limit. Presumably they don't because they see that having more power available for overtaking is also a good thing. Personally I think the current balance is good.

What I meant was, at the current pace the cars are running at, it is possible they have to lift and coast in order to avoid going over the per lap fuel usage. If they are lift and coasting in qualifying, then that would indicate they are.

[machin]

I think the "per lap" fuel limit is the same in qualifying as it is in the race... So if they can get away without lift and Coast in qualifying, then surely they could get away without it in the race? Presumably they use the lift and Coast strategy because it is better to save a little fuel on each lap and eek out another lap per stint...?

[machin]

Although... To my mind it does appear from this video (from qualifying) that there is a distinct gap between the throttle being closed and the KERS system activating... Suggesting that they do have to lift and coast in qualifying too....? This would suggest it is faster overall to accelerate quicker out of the corner and then coast a bit at the end of the straight.... That makes sense; get up to speed as quickly as possible and then not worry about the last 1 or 2 mph....

[youtube]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bBpVJGiTKc ... e=youtu.be[/youtube]

EDIT: skip to 1:05, Mulsannes chicane... Very clear gap between throttle closing and KERS activating there....

[Cold Fussion]

Sounds like they lift off before braking at each braking point (very noticeable at the Ford chicane), I think the one into Mulsanne corner is potentially exaggerated because the 'optimal' braking point distance wise is probably right at the kink and braking at that point would be very difficult. Thanks for that video, quite clearly explains the large time difference between Timo and Jani in qualifying (catching traffic right into the Porsche curves).

[hollus]

Wait, they lift and coast in WEC? Their pace is limited because of regulation fuel limits? They slow down to have less pit stops? The cars are silent? They hesitate before bomb diving into the inside of corners? They wait for the straights to pass? This series is doomed!

[machin]

I was at the Goodwood Festival of speed at the weekend and managed to get a couple of shots of the front end aero of the Audi and Toyota:-
http://twitter.com/rich_machin/status/6 ... 1917725696 Toyota; directly under their front splitter, looking back under the car:-
http://twitter.com/rich_machin/status/6 ... 5535782912 Nice recessed towing eye on the Audi too....
http://twitter.com/rich_machin/status/6 ... 1848526848 Unfortunately I couldn't get close enough to the real Porsche 919 to get any good photos (They had a number of "show cars" dotted around too, but these have the air intakes blocked off)...

[Artur Craft]

Ford tested it's GT car on Road America, earlier this week




Very downforce biased car with such front and rear diffusers

[Pierce89]

The 2016 gte rules allow alot more downforce than previous iterations (and a little bit more power too).

[wesley123]

New rear bodywork for the Porsche

[Cold Fussion]

The 2016 gte rules allow alot more downforce than previous iterations (and a little bit more power too).

So what will be the practical differences between the GTE 2016 rules and the old GT1 rules?

[Cold Fussion]

Phenomenal performance by Neil Jani in the #18.