Endurance: Fuel Management

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CarbonFlywheel

CarbonFlywheel

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CarbonFlywheel
Greetings gents.

After putting a few laps in at Laguna Seca, a thought popped into my head. I've never seen a thread here about it, so I ask...

During an endurance race, have any of you noticed any change in behavior for whatever car you are driving once you start to near empty on fuel?

I say this because if you calculate it, a full tank of fuel vs. a half or quarter tank can be quite a bit of weight. Saying so, once you start to skim half a tank, your lighter car should be able to put in quicker lap times.

26 Gallon SuperGT Fuel Tank X 6.25lbs = 162lbs per tank.

Thats 72kgs at full.

Shaving 60-70kg on a car would be enough for some performance boost, no?
 
i also noticed this, but when your tank gets empty, your tyres also gets worst.
So i´m not able to race faster its equal for me
 
I've thought about it but done no tests.

Although, my Bob did his best lap time in 2hr enduro on lap 197 with minimal fuel and good tyres. Normally with that fuel load the tyres were bad/average.
 
Driver321GO
i also noticed this, but when your tank gets empty, your tyres also gets worst.
So i´m not able to race faster its equal for me
Click to expand...

Well you could pit and manage your fuel to run at the right amount with optimum tires. Doing this might improve lap times across the board.
 
If it does effect weight, then I believe starting fuel load should be an option in races.
 
An emptier fuel tank makes the car quicker, yes. It makes sense to refill only the fuel needed for the next stint and not to full.
 
I've seen people report that they clocked the quickest lap times with an almost empty tank, so yes, fuel weight is taken into account in this game.

Unfortunately, people also reported that all cars seem to have an equally sized tank of 100 liters, which somewhat negates the just-discovered realism.
 
During Endurance i adjust the fuelload to the tirewear.
At Tsukuba i decided to race on my own pace, trying not to overheat my tires. So they last longer. I was able to do quite a lot more laps in a stint than my opponents.
Resulting in: me being 1 - 2 sec. of the pace, but with less stops easily at the front.
 
Haven't noticed this yet, but my tyres are often busted when I get to low fuel.

I've been thinking about fuel management from another perspective. A bit OT, but not worth starting a new thread, so I thought I'd share my ideas here.

Say for example you drive the Indy 500. You use about 1,5 litres of fuel each round. That means that over 200 rounds, you'll need 300 litres.
If you take the full start tank from that you will need to refuel 200 litres.

The AI pits at around round 40 (for calculations :) )
Say you can match that.
That means you'll have to pit 4 times (40, 80, 120, 160, not pitting in 200 ofcourse)
Each time you will have to refill 200/4=50 litres. It'll be close, but you should end with an empty tank at the finish line.

Each time the AI pits they will take a full tank (40*1,5=60 litres) and end up with 40 litres in their tanks after the finish.

You will refuel 10 litres per stop and 40 litres total less than the AI, which in close races could make up for some valuable time :)

Sadly races in GT are almost never this close, so the fuel management doesn't really come into play.
 
I've noticed that I actually go faster with less fuel.
I don't know how less fuel would make your tyres worse.
 
dabest2500
I've noticed that I actually go faster with less fuel.
I don't know how less fuel would make your tyres worse.
Click to expand...

When people go to the pits for tyres, they take fuel. Thus fuel is usually at its optimum (low) just before a driver needs new tyres. While their they (again) put in more fuel and the cycle continues :)
 
MrDinosaw94
When people go to the pits for tyres, they take fuel. Thus fuel is usually at its optimum (low) just before a driver needs new tyres. While their they (again) put in more fuel and the cycle continues :)
Click to expand...

Oh, I thought the poster meant that on new tyres they handle worse with a low tank of fuel than a full tank of fuel :lol:
 
Thanks for the responses guys.

I was thinking about managing fuel the next time I run an Indy 500, just to see if it works.
 
Yes I have noticed towards the end of race when I'm down to half a tank and pit and only take tires because a half tank will get me to end and saves some time on pit . Then the rest of the race with half tank and fresh tires I run consistent fast laps the rest of the race .
 
iLex
Say for example you drive the Indy 500. You use about 1,5 litres of fuel each round. That means that over 200 rounds, you'll need 300 litres.
If you take the full start tank from that you will need to refuel 200 litres.

The AI pits at around round 40 (for calculations :) )
Say you can match that.
That means you'll have to pit 4 times (40, 80, 120, 160, not pitting in 200 ofcourse)
Each time you will have to refill 200/4=50 litres. It'll be close, but you should end with an empty tank at the finish line.

Each time the AI pits they will take a full tank (40*1,5=60 litres) and end up with 40 litres in their tanks after the finish.

You will refuel 10 litres per stop and 40 litres total less than the AI, which in close races could make up for some valuable time :)
Click to expand...
In lap-limited races, the AI always puts in just enough fuel at the last stop to get to the finish, so it will never finish with 40 litres.

However, it isn't quite as clever in time-limited races, so you can definitely gain an advantage by only putting in as much as you need to get to the finish on your last stop.
 
I have found using he FGT , that it is a lot easier on the tyres which allows me and my bob to put in a few quick laps just before we pit. Using my R8 LM it was eatting the tyres much quicker.
 
DickDastardly
In lap-limited races, the AI always puts in just enough fuel at the last stop to get to the finish, so it will never finish with 40 litres.

However, it isn't quite as clever in time-limited races, so you can definitely gain an advantage by only putting in as much as you need to get to the finish on your last stop.
Click to expand...

Ah, I didn't know this. Too bad.
 
Am a sad sock who's done a lot of testing on this subject round Indy 500 endurance.

Game definately takes fuel weight into account. Method I use is if pit say on lap 30, fuel indicator tells me I need 85 litres. Means 15 litres still in tank so only need 70 litres filling to get to next stop. Shorter stops and car faster next stint due to lighter load. Just to complicate things further, find lighter loads allow tyres to last longer and can squeeze upto three extra laps out even though still holding X the entire race.
 
So during races... the AI takes a full tank at each stop, except for the last stop of a race that runs to a certain lap number, in which case they just take enough to get to the end.

That is useful info. Thanks. I like trying to make my enduros competitive, good learning in this thread. Thanks,
 

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