Nascar at Lemans

[A_Harman]

I kept the Camaro in-car camera feed up for the whole 24 hours. I just happened to be watching when at 6 am Eastern time, the gearbox gave up coming out of the Mulsanne turn. It sounded like gravel tumbling in a clothes dryer. The driver limped it back to the pits and they pulled it into the garage. They lost about 30-40 minutes changing the gearbox and got back in the race. I made sure to watch the in-car and they finished running.

It was a great race for GM: the #33 Corvette won the GTE class, and LMH Cadillacs #2 & 3 finished 3rd and 4th, one and two laps down. It was Corvette's first class win since 2015, and a great performance for the Cadillad LMH's in their first LeMans. The crowd loved the thundering Camaro. Europeans love the roar of big American V8's. Vintage NASCAR's (the bigger the better) are always a hit at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

 

[ctechbob]

I got to watch it until about 0645 this morning, one of the benefits of night shift, but I missed watching the feed from the Camaro.

Cool that they did the right thing and put it back on track instead of just calling it a day.

 

[ford250]

It's using a direct injection pushrod 2-plane crank LT-series engine.
At least that what it sounds like. It sounds a lot different than the Corvette.

It’s the same R07 NASCAR engine

 

[ctechbob]

It’s the same R07 NASCAR engine

Pretty sure the Caddy is a DOHC engine and the R07 is pushrod.

Yea, everything I'm seeing is that the Hypercar is a 5.5L DOHC/Hybrid.

 

[ford250]

It’s the same R07 NASCAR engine

Has plenty of HP

 

[ctechbob]

Has plenty of HP

They weren't running it that hard for LeMans though. There was an interview in the middle of the night when I was watching they got to talking about it and it was more like 650-700 for the race.

 

[ford250]

They weren't running it that hard for LeMans though. There was an interview in the middle of the night when I was watching they got to talking about it and it was more like 650-700 for the race.

I’m sure they de-tuned it for a 24 hour race

But to be honest
If they hadn’t
That engine is so bullit proof
It probably would have survived the 24 hours at full song !!

I wish Hendrick would have ran two cars
One detuned and one full power !!

 

[ctechbob]

I don't doubt it's a strong motor, but I really don't think you could hammer on it at 950hp for 24 hours, plus, they already fragged a trans at the reduced power level.

 

[RDY4WAR]

That engine is fine at full tilt for 24 hours. I have little doubt there would be an issue.

 

[thescreensavers]

I’m sure they de-tuned it for a 24 hour race

But to be honest
If they hadn’t
That engine is so bullit proof
It probably would have survived the 24 hours at full song !!

I wish Hendrick would have ran two cars
One detuned and one full power !!

There is a video on YouTube about that, they were worried about the valve train and they needed to find a balance with Power and peak revs.

They also did a ton of engine Dyno (stimulating the full race) and chassis dynos doing the same.

 

[FowVay]

I think they did the right thing by tuning in enough performance to accomplish the task. The car wasn't competing for a podium win and was simply an exhibition entry in the race. I am certain that it costs a small fortune to ship a car to Europe and house a crew that size for the length of time they were over there.

This was a fantastic showing for the American team. The crowd loved them and according to media commentary, the team was very receptive and engaging with the spectators. I have not had as much interest in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in many years as I had this year. It simply made for some fantastic PR.

 

[A_Harman]

It’s the same R07 NASCAR engine

I was talking about the engine in the Cadillacs, not the Camaro.

 

[Carmudgeon]

Oil Fills Dashed Hopes of Lead-Lap Finish for No. 2 Cadillac

 

[ford250]

Oil Fills Dashed Hopes of Lead-Lap Finish for No. 2 Cadillac

Please tell more !!

 

[FowVay]

They attributed the consumption to the biofuels being used. Surprisingly they state that they needed to add oil to the engine 30 times which added up to about 3 minutes of additional pitting time. Three minutes of additional pit time equates to being one lap down at the end of the race. That's tough to make up when the cars and drivers are so closely matched.

 

[AuthorEditor]

They attributed the consumption to the biofuels being used.

I wonder why that would be?

 

[FowVay]

I wonder why that would be?

I am not sure. The article linked to the Cadillac LMP car which had severe dilution problems with renewable fuels. However, it is my understanding that they don't run the same fuel as the LMGTE cars. They did run a percentage of renewable fuels in all of the vehicles at Le Mans so maybe they had dilution issues which could possibly lead to burn off. I'm sure we'll read more about it as the technical data post-race is published.