Audi Quits LMP1

[kudryavchik]

From the article "Take whatever the latest R18 cost VAG, triple it, and that's what Audi Sport would need to reassert its dominance at Le Mans. "

[noname]

VW follows Audi.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... vw-pullout

[Pierce89]

From the article "Take whatever the latest R18 cost VAG, triple it, and that's what Audi Sport would need to reassert its dominance at Le Mans. "

That's ridiculous. Toyota is competitive on a much smaller budget than the VAG teams. Hell Audi was doing 3000 hours in the Sauber tunnel a year. That's like 15mil before aero guys or a model shop.

Toyota did 2012-13 all in for under 100mil.

[Scorpaguy]

Being a recent pit lane visitor at COTA...it was easy to see the pecking order as to money being spent...

1. Audi
2. Porsche
3. Toyota
4. non hybrid teams

Very sad to see Audi go...their "stealth" car (eerily quiet) was easily the class of the field when the track temp was hot...would have won if not for a silly interclass collision.

I just don't see how LMP1 can survive with 2 teams (hybrids)...and am not aware of any new entries (hybrids).

[SectorOne]

I think its more the fallout diesel gate. Audi is probably droping all of the diesel motors so racing one doesn't make much sense.

They just got caught with another "cheat device".

http://www.leftlanenews.com/another-che ... 93244.html

This newly uncovered device is different from the ones that launched the year-long investigation into parent company Volkswagen's supposedly "clean diesel" engines and led to over 11 million cars recalled, says Reuters, citing German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Unearthed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the device was installed on some Audi vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions to sense when the steering wheel was angled or straight. If the steering wheel was set straight, it would activate software in the transmission shifting algorithm that reduced carbon dioxide emissions.

In lab testing conditions, the steering wheel would be set straight because the car would be on a dynamometer. Real-world driving conditions, however, would require constant movement of the steering wheel, and the cheat code would be turned off if the steering wheel was turned more than 15 degrees in either direction.

The Sonntag had reached out to Audi for a statement but the spokesman declined to comment. The report also says that Audi had stopped using the cheat code in May 2016, just before CARB discovered it on a model built before that date.

They are most likely quitting this expensive program to save money.
I expect Porsche to be caught next but we´ll see.

[mrluke]

Its the fines, that's why they are pulling out of everything

Sad days for motorsport.

[NathanOlder]

Dirty Audi if you ask me. they have been cheating people out of money for years with fake figures. They dont deserve to be involved in motorsport when they treat their customers that way.

[langwadt]

Dirty Audi if you ask me. they have been cheating people out of money for years with fake figures. They dont deserve to be involved in motorsport when they treat their customers that way.

cheating people out of money how? They cheated on emissions test

[NathanOlder]

Yeah. And people bought cars based on those excellent results.

[Cold Fussion]

Yeah. And people bought cars based on those excellent results.

But how does Audi cheating on emissions tests cost you money? If anything it saved people money by having better fuel economy than they would have other wise gotten for their emissions level and or a lower outright purchasing/maintenance price by having a less complicated emissions control scheme.

[NathanOlder]

Im just saying some people would have bought an Audi thinking they were doing their part on the emissions front. Yet the whole time Audi were lying to them. So they bought a product that wasn't what they thought it was. Therefore Audi lied to their customers and cost them money. Unless Audi bought the cars back for the price they were sold for. Which they didnt.

[krisfx]

Im just saying some people would have bought an Audi thinking they were doing their part on the emissions front. Yet the whole time Audi were lying to them. So they bought a product that wasn't what they thought it was. Therefore Audi lied to their customers and cost them money. Unless Audi bought the cars back for the price they were sold for. Which they didnt.

Less "official" emissions = cheaper road tax (here in the UK at least). People care about cost. If they cared about the environment they would ride a bike or walk. The emissions cheat device likely saved people money in the long run.

[NathanOlder]

But there will be some people that care about the environment. It only takes 1, then it has cost someone money. im sure the resale value of said cars dropped a small amount. so another area it has cost people money.

Anyway back on topic-ish. Lotterer wont be missed by many, Just hope he doesn't surface at Porsche or Toyota

[langwadt]

But there will be some people that care about the environment. It only takes 1, then it has cost someone money. im sure the resale value of said cars dropped a small amount. so another area it has cost people money.

if they were concerned about the environment they should not have bought a diesel

[Pierce89]

But there will be some people that care about the environment. It only takes 1, then it has cost someone money. im sure the resale value of said cars dropped a small amount. so another area it has cost people money.

Anyway back on topic-ish. Lotterer wont be missed by many, Just hope he doesn't surface at Porsche or Toyota

Lotterer is the best in the WEC. He'll be a very hot commodity. Also, I'm pretty sure he would be missed by many. Why the hate?