Deltawing Project 56 for Le Mans 2012 - engine area complete - Oct.20 update

[Phildaupho]

The DELTAWING racing car which initially was a proposal for a new Indy Car has been invited to race at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans as a special unclassified 56th entry. This car which has got to be one of the most innovative and intriguing different racecar in a long-time will be built at Dan Gurney's All American Racers facility and campaigned by Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing squad. For more about the project see http://deltawingracing.com/

I have decided to build a model of the Deltawing. I am starting with the Revell of Germany Audi R10 and will use the 4-cylinder turbo engine from the Tamiya Toyota 84C. My first step was to start cutting the Audi to see if this model project is feasible. Currently it looks a bit like a wreck but I think I can make a Deltawing out of it and it is going to be fun!!

Edited October 20, 2011 by Phildaupho

[thebronze]

Nice concept... keep at it

[Scale-Master]

I have complete confidence in you being able to pull this off Phil.

Whether the real car is competitive or not, it sure looks wicked and wild.

[Romell R]

You have a really good start I'll be watching this one closely

[LAone]

thats pretty cool and to use the 4t-gte as an engine is even cooler.. looking forward to this one.

although it looks more like a futuristic drag racer, it would be interesting to see how it handles with a narrow front track.

[Phildaupho]

I have fabricated the steering arrangement and front wheels and tires which are probably the most unusual and controversial aspects of the DeltaWing design. The front track is only 1.7 meters and the tires only 4 inches wide. There is 23 degrees of steering lock with 12 degrees of caster giving negative camber on lock to both tires. The designers claim – “Locking propensity of the un-laden front wheel at corner entry is greatly reduced due to virtually no front lateral load transfer with the narrow track & wide rear track layout, steered wheel scrub drag moment is virtually zero greatly increasing tire utilization and reducing mid turn understeer.” Check out the steering simulation video at bottom of post

[Art Laski]

What an ambitious project, but I love it! I will enjoy following along.

[kitbash1]

Should be a interesting build. I will be watching this closly. Good luck.

[torinobradley]

Awesome project, great subject and great start! Will follow this one for sure.

Now, about the car. Maybe I'm too old-school but I don't currently understand just how this thing is going to turn. With no weight and no down force, 23 degrees of steering and only 4 inch tires, this thing seems like a LSR rather than a race car expected to pull a g or two in the corners. I hope I am wrong and they don't sink this missle a few feet into the first hairpin wall...

[Mooneyzs]

Wow very cool build and concept. Going to.be a nice build.

[Phildaupho]

I have pretty much completed basic body shape of the DeltaWing Project 56 2012 LeMans car. I would have to call my model an approximate replica because a full-scale car does not yet exist only as an artist rendering and 3-D computer images. Even the DeltaWing Indy car proposal only got as far as a full-scale solid foam mock-up. There are bound to be many changes before an operational racecar starts real world testing. It took a lot of slicing and dicing, Evergreen Styrene and putty to get the model to this stage. This has got to be one of the most enjoyable modeling projects I have ever attempted as it combines all the elements of model car building I really love such as customizing, research and racing car technology.

[Joe Handley]

That is going to be pretty amazing by the time you're done with it.

[Phildaupho]

There was an enlightening interview with Duncan Dayton regarding the DeltaWing Le Mans project with Dave Despain on Wind Tunnel Sept. 4. There were a couple of quick photos of what looks to be a completed full-size body outside All American Racers with an Eagle sticker on the nose. One difference I notice from the rendering is the different shape of the rear headlights, which I will have to modify on the model. I will be unable to make any further progress on the model until October as I leave Thursday for the Italian Grand prix at Monza followed by a tour of Northern Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.

[pharr7226]

Great work on a very interesting subject.

[LAone]

wow, this is looking great. im looking forward to more.

have fun on your trip.

[Foxer]

A very interesting project. I've been watching this and wondering if it's going to be practical. You have a great start on this and the new rear headlights look to be much easier to model.

[Tony T]

Cool concept and build so far!

Have a safe trip!

[CAL]

A very interesting project. I've been watching this and wondering if it's going to be practical.

Cool idea for a model. You will probably be done before the real car ever sees the light of day.

As far as practicality?

Indy shot it down already.

Not sure what the ACO was thinking.

Project 56 stand for the 56th grid position gift from the ACO because it doesn't conform to any class rules or regs. They probably think they will get some hype milage for a while and hope the car never shows up.

So if, and that is a big if, it makes it to LeMans it will be basically racing itself because there is no class for the car.

I predict that if it even starts the 80th running of the LeMans it doesn't make it to the end.

Some of their basic engineering philosophy is flawed.

½ the weight

½ the power

½ the aero

is not necessarily a recipe for the speed of a R18 or a 908 with ½ the fuel consumption.

It doesn’t work that way guys.

Part of their key features is take out of the Porsche 911 play book, acknowledging reward weight bias create superior acceleration and braking stability. However, 75% of the weight behind the rear wheels, 75% of the aero on the rear and virtually 0 front mechanical grip. Even a Porsche is close to balanced 47/53. The thing is going to be a dart, and it’s not going to steer. My God MAN! It's going to go stright off the track at the first corner, and there will be a HUGE accident.

I guess the guess over at Highcroft Racing figured they couldn't beat any other LMP1 cars so the will just race in a class by themselves, which if you haven't notice of late that is what they were doing before until they starting get competition in LMP2 and Petrol Powered LMP1 cars.

Anyone else have the feeling Project 56 may have been derived under the influence of alcohol and or drugs?

I do give the credit for thinking outside the box, though

Edited September 8, 2011 by CAL

[Phildaupho]

DELTAWING Project 56 Le Mans 2012 Racecar - Testing versions of the real DeltaWing racecar are being built at Dan Gurney’s All American Racers facility in Santa Ana California. Michelin has signed on as the tire supplier and there was a full size version of the car at the press release at the Petite LeMans race at Road Atlanta. This was the first time I was able to get an idea of the true size of the car. It looks smaller than I previously thought. It has just been reviles that the monocoque being used is from the ill-fated 2011 Aston-Martin AMR-One LMP1. So far the bodies of the presentation cars have all been one piece, which, does not seem practical to me for an endurance racecar. I also predict there will have to many more inlets, outlets and vents before the car goes racing. No engine has yet to be announced although it is planned to be a small displacement four-cylinder. My model was based on the Revell of Germany Audi R10. I fabricated the body and chassis with a lot of Evergreen styrene and Tamiya putty. The engine I used is based on the Tamiya Toyota 84C turbo dual-spark & coil 4-cylinder. I had to modify the exhaust/turbo arrangement and intake for packaging purposes. There will be a lot more equipment in the engine area than I depicted so other than a radiator and inter-cooler located in relation to the presentation cars vents, everything else is pure speculation. I have also increased the depth of the diffuser. Next up will be the driver's compartment, paint and decals.

[LAone]

well, for it just being 2 pics, it's looking good.