New Pug

[935k3]

Some pics of this years Peugeot LMP1 car. These cars make NASCAR's GrandAm cars look like ugly toys. The fins are mandatory this year to keep cars from launching as the Pug 908 did a few years ago at Lemans Test day.

[ra7c7er]

That car is amazing. I wish Revell or R2 would start producing road cars.

[Joe Handley]

Is it still an oil burner?

Now that I think of it, that fin makes a nice billboard, bet that spot costs advertisers a pretty penny

Edited February 6, 2011 by Joe Handley

[935k3]

They are still diesels. The engines have been downsized(by rule) to a 3.7L V8 with twin turbos.

Edited February 7, 2011 by 935k3

[CAL]

There was a rumor that it was going to be gasoline.

You'd think. the 908 has been running a few years now and won at Le Mans and has been dominate in the Euro Le Mans series that there would have been a kit of it by now.

[935k3]

Yes both the new Audi R18 and the Pug are still diesel engines. Also note that both have copied the Acura LMP car and gone to all four tires being the same size front and rear. I am sure the sponsors like the new dorsal fin. Rumors are abundant that Porsche will soon return to LMP1 and Audi is going to F1.

[ra7c7er]

Now that I think of it, that fin makes a nice billboard, bet that spot costs advertisers a pretty penny

I was thinking the same thing. How sad is it that even as spectators we look at cars and say "we could get another sponsor for the car".

I wonder about how the car reacts in high crosswind situations. If the weather is bad and it is very windy I have a feeling that fin is going to do more harm than good.

[CAL]

Yes both the new Audi R18 and the Pug are still diesel engines. Also note that both have copied the Acura LMP car and gone to all four tires being the same size front and rear. I am sure the sponsors like the new dorsal fin. Rumors are abundant that Porsche will soon return to LMP1 and Audi is going to F1.

With the turbos coming back to F1 Porsche has been bidding to be the engine supplier.

They want to be the "World" supplier. I don't think that will happen nor would it be good for F1 but they will build an engine. Maybe Porsche/Audi will grace the same car again.

The whole fin thing came from F1 and apparently works to stablize the car.

Edited February 8, 2011 by CAL

[Joe Handley]

I was thinking the same thing. How sad is it that even as spectators we look at cars and say "we could get another sponsor for the car".

Yup, I just home somebody doesn't decide that there needs to be a minivan series, just imagine how many sponsors you can fit on one of those

I wonder about how the car reacts in high crosswind situations. If the weather is bad and it is very windy I have a feeling that fin is going to do more harm than good.

That does make me wonder..................

[Bernard Kron]

...These cars make NASCAR's GrandAm cars look like ugly toys. ...

With the turbos coming back to F1 Porsche has been bidding to be the engine supplier. ... They want to be the "World" supplier. I don't think that will happen nor would it be good for F1 but they will build an engine. ...

Cost containment has done terrible things to automobile racing at the highest levels. The beauty and passion expressed in cars like this comes from a kind of creative imagination that was removed from Grand Am when they severely restricted the structure and aerodynamics of the cars, leading to those short, ugly, turret topped cars that all look the same despite the fact that technically underneath the various manufacturers have tried hard to gain advantage with details differences to their chassis. The concept of a universal engine supplier in F1 is absurd, although there was a defacto one for many years in the form of Cosworth and F1 did just fine. Still, legislating it would make F1 all too similar to what IndyCar has been for all too long.

Thankfully, the trend seems to be reversing itself with IndyCar itself, starting in 2012, offering branded aero packages for its spec chassis and three engine suppliers. Grand Am "owns" some iconic American races (Daytona 24 hours, Watkins Glen) but has wasted them with a lazy approach to attracting a broad number of entries. Sadly, I suspect they have the same problem with NASCAR these days... At least the good folks at the ACO have fought the good fight and kept the flame burning for big time sportscar racing when most others had given up.