Les Boogity Boogity ... Le Mans is running

So true Andreas so true.

 

True, but in today's world, taht is what most people want...an ice box on wheels that never fails...

 

great race for audi!just the fact that it's diesel makes it all better for them!

congrats audi!

 

I'm curious, here is my question:

What kind of 'diesel' do they use ?

I can't imagine it's the same stuff you or I get at the local truck stop...

 

I wondered about the fuel too. And why didn't the Penske Spyders go.

 

Ditto, I was really curious on how they would do.

 

They beat the old R-8 at Mid-Ohio. And the Spyders were loud.

 

At first I had the same negative reaction to the Diesel powered Audi's. But considering their domination of the sport for the last decade, how much further could they really go? Instead, they imposed a new challenge on themselves. I don't think Audi winning another Le Mans race with a gas powered car would really advance gasoline engine technology to any significant degree. But Audi has just shown that diesel is capable of much more than powering little VW's and huge GMC trucks. Hopefully they do something with it.

- Chris

 

Clean diesel can be made from coal (coal oil)...something that the U.S. possesses in abundance domesticly. It's also cheap. A ton of coal costs $60. One ton of coal makes 4 barrels of coal oil. That $15 compares quite favorably to $70 per barrel unrefined crude oil.

China has just opened up its 2nd coal oil refinery. China also has vast coal reserves.

...So Audi is just reminding the world that racing shows today where consumer cars will be in a few more years...

 

I hope Ferrari will never jump onto the Diesel bandwagon.

And if Audi needs a technical challenge to show the world how good they really are, why don't they try to race on the premier stage of racing where many of its competitors can be found (Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari, Renault to name a few)?

 

Do you think that diesel is or isn't coming to F1?

 

Actually it is Synthenic Diesel (sold in germany and Norway under the Shell V Power name) it is synthensis from Natural Gas.

 

it doesn't contain sulfur like normal diesel

 

I think its awesome for Audi....but it makes it kind of boring to watch them. It's like watching a car race on mute.

 

apparently ford is coming out with a V6 power stroke diesel engine for the F150 and the explorer, it's like a 4.4 or something like that

 

Don't scare me like that with such a horrifying thought!

God, I hope not.

What really bothered me was when they mentioned at the end of Le Mans parade laps, err race, that the organizing body welcomes Audi to bring the Diesel and they welcome any other alternative fuels. Great....

So in all the PC letshugatree kombaya world of today in general and Europe in particular I can very well imagine that the FIA (read Mad Max) suddenly thinks that F1 would be a great catalyzer (pun intended) to push the development and strengthen the marketing of Diesel powered cars by making it mandatory in F1.

That'd be about the point where I would have to look for another sport.

My only hope is, reading through this thread, I see that I'm not the only one who can't get enthusiastic over a Diesel powered engine. So there must be other die hard motorsportsfans out there who don't like it and maybe that's the saving grace for regular fuel powered engines and racing series.

I love the fuel of gasoline fuel in the morning. And in the evening and in the night.

 

"In several European countries, Austria , Germany , Italy , Switzerland and The Netherlands, Shell sells a blend of diesel and synthetic diesel called GTL (gas to liquids) which is used by the Audi Sport R10. Shell says the GTL fuel uses diesel made from natural gas, which has no sulfur and a high cetane rating, which in addition to fewer harmful emissions, it promises higher output from a diesel engine. Shell says it has been producing GTL fuel beginning in 1993 in Malaysia , but will build larger plants, starting in Qatar . In 2005 Dr.Wolfgang Warnecke from Shell, and Dr.Wolfgang Steiger from Volkswagen were awarded the 'Professor Ferdinand Porsche Prize', the world's most prestigious award for automobile technicians, for their work on GTL Fuels and BTL (Biomass to Liquids). The Porsche Prize is awarded to "those technicians whose work will have a lasting influence on the development of the automobile"."

 

Don't look at it as a bad thing. One of the things that's killing F1 viewership is the high-pitched engine sounds right now...turns many new viewers off to the sport.

You don't have that high pitched sound from diesels (hey, they don't rev to F1 limits!) so you don't have that turn-off to new viewers (you do want the sport to grow, yes?!).

Open formula is already coming to F1 in 2010, yes? That's just 4 years away.

 

That's a turnoff?

Gosh, people are different.

A friend of mine who loves NASCAR and nothing about F1 had to admit that the shrieking sound of the F1s (once he saw them live in Indy) was about the only thing that turned him on. I love it too.

Watching the Audis at Le Mans is like watching slot cars.

 

down here(costa rica) nobody bougth ford rangers UNTIL they came out with the 2.5 turbo diesel engine(based on the 300Tdi Land Rover engine), know the are almost the best selling pick up down here, and it is not the cheapest

here diesels are WAY MORE POPULAR than gasoline cars

 

Good point...but, would you rather listen to F1 races from 1966 or 2006?

 

Listen and watch: 1966