Garage 56 le mans discussion.

[obsessive rules]

Q- what's the point of garage 56 in le mans?

A- its for experimental cars testing new technology, it's the thing that will test tech that could one day save your life or change it forever. It's about bending the laws of physics and utilising new propulsion systems to be the fastest or most economical car. There is a point to the cars marked 00. They're our future.

Next year green gt will take over. I've heard much abuse for deltawing saying "It's too slow!". Why does garage 56 face abuse and what do you want to see in the future?

 

[homeforsummer]

a) You're not really inviting discussion by simply stating something factual and leaving it at that.

b) This would probably be more relevant in the motorsports sub-forum...

c) ...where we already have a thread discussing garage 56, albeit in the guise of the Deltawing.

 

[obsessive rules]

a) You're not really inviting discussion by simply stating something factual and leaving it at that.

b) This would probably be more relevant in the motorsports sub-forum...

c) ...where we already have a thread discussing garage 56, albeit in the guise of the Deltawing.

Fixed a and b. c. Well, that's deltawing. There's more to garage 56 than deltawing, it's just scratched the surface.

 

[Shoe67]

I think we will see more hybrid cars in the near future...with Audi winning in a hybrid, I'm sure some more teams will push for a hybrid car, and an experimental will hopefully be added on to the grid next year

 

[TheBigMan045]

Hence the point of Garage 56. It's for these types of cars that may not fit in with the other classes ie early hybrids, gas turbines, early bio diesels. It gives innovators a chance to acid test new ideas and to potentially get backing to further develop their idea in motorsport

 

[homeforsummer]

Fixed a and b.

👍

As for the question, the "too slow" comments were somewhat disproven by the car's performance at Le Mans, until it was involved in an accident. It wasn't on direct performance parity with anything, but then it hadn't originally been designed for Le Mans so that's understandable.

Possibly more interesting than its performance was how easy it was on all its components, such as tyres - there were rumours that it would be able to complete the entire race on the same set, which is pretty staggering.

What it showed is certainly as relevant as anything Audi and Toyota were proving, which is that light weight is as important for efficiency and speed as power, torque and hybrid drivetrains. I'm certainly not against power, torque and hybrid drivetrains, but light weight has benefits in so many more areas.

For Garage 56 as a whole, I suppose you could use the term "open garage, open mind". It's interesting to see what new technology can emerge from an essentially limitless pool of ideas.

 

[Shoe67]

and to potentially get backing to further develop their idea in motorsport

This^^^ it's all about teams recieving backing for development. No team can developed any sort of new Le mans grade technology without a large company backing them.

 

[hawkeye122]

I think we will see more hybrid cars in the near future...with Audi winning in a hybrid, I'm sure some more teams will push for a hybrid car, and an experimental will hopefully be added on to the grid next year

Hybrids are required after 2014 if you are manufacturer.

 

[Shoe67]

Hybrids are required after 2014 if you are manufacturer.

Thanks for the info. Any idea what the next step might be? First there was diesel, then hybrid...whats next?

 

[hawkeye122]

Thanks for the info. Any idea what the next step might be? First there was diesel, then hybrid...whats next?

It's hard to say. We cant see much further into the future of car propulsion right now.

My guess is Hydrogen; or a Low-Horsepower, Petrol/Diesel/Isobutanol(Dyson Racing use it, apparently the emissions are better. Granted, they are sucking badly right now) Generator, sending electric power to the wheels. Like a freight train.

I dont think it will be straight batteries charged off the main leads at a track. The fact that you would have to replace them all the time wouldnt sit well with the whole "Green" image.


Awhile back I heard something about cars which ran on Compressed Air, I'm not really sure where that went though... worth a mention as well.

 

[Shoe67]

I agree about the hydrogen cars being a possibility. But about full electric batteries. I could see it being a possibility. They could build a car with an easily replaceable battery that can be taken out in the same amount of time it takes to change tires. This would prevent the lengthly fuel stops. And, it would be possible to recharge a used battery and have a rotation of 3 or 4 batteries that are changed at every tire stop

 

[hawkeye122]

I agree about the hydrogen cars being a possibility. But about full electric batteries. I could see it being a possibility. They could build a car with an easily replaceable battery that can be taken out in the same amount of time it takes to change tires. This would prevent the lengthly fuel stops. And, it would be possible to recharge a used battery and have a rotation of 3 or 4 batteries that are changed at every tire stop

Right, but you'd only use each battery for a single race before it has lost the ability to keep a full charge. Then you are throwing away a rare and toxic substance, multiplied by 20 (all the cars) each race.
Formula 1 are already looking into a battery restriction because the KERS batteries have to be tossed out every few weekends.

It would take a ton more development before batteries became light enough to be useful.

I think we'll have a few years of toying around with finding the "Best" hybrid format. And then they will allow hydrogen as a fuel.

 

[obsessive rules]

I agree about the hydrogen cars being a possibility. But about full electric batteries. I could see it being a possibility. They could build a car with an easily replaceable battery that can be taken out in the same amount of time it takes to change tires. This would prevent the lengthly fuel stops. And, it would be possible to recharge a used battery and have a rotation of 3 or 4 batteries that are changed at every tire stop

Hydrogen racer you say?

Garage 56 has the green gt next year. Yes it's powered by hydrogen.

 

[Azure Flare]

The Green GT is a complete eyesore, but as an experimental vehicle, I support it.

 

[obsessive rules]

The Green GT is a complete eyesore, but as an experimental vehicle, I support it.

I like the looks. Then again I have weird tastes.

 

[mattythedog]

I like the looks. Then again I have weird tastes.

I think it looks pretty good also.

 

[Shoe67]

I think it looks pretty good also.

The car is absolutely beautiful in my opinion 👍