Yahoo Autos Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro: A More Powerful, More Efficient Le Mans Racer
Audi’s racing arm, Audi Sport, has a hefty crown to defend at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Having taken overall victory 13 times in 15 appearances at the Circuit de la Sarthe, the four-ringed racing team seeks to maintain its competitive edge. It’s the guiding principle behind the heavily revamped R18 e-tron Quattro racer that was fully unveiled today.
Structurally similar to last year’s racer, Audi’s 2015 competitor sports thoroughly tweaked bodywork for better aerodynamics, lower drag, and increased cooling. The fifth-generation Audi R18 wears new headlights featuring LED and Laserlight lighting elements, technologies that appear on certain Euro-market production Audis. Two different body shapes will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship season.
The biggest changes are found in the engine compartment behind the driver and the hybrid energy-recovery system that rides shotgun in the cockpit. The latter has had its output doubled-from 2 megajoules per Le Mans lap to 4-turning braking energy into electricity to power the 272-hp front-axle motor. Audi says the energy-recapture system can send about 17 percent more energy to the front axle than last year’s model.
Per the FIA rulebook, this increase in energy-capture output means the R18 must use 2.5 percent less fuel per lap as compared to the 2014 car. Audi says the 4.0-liter turbo-diesel V-6, which cranks out 558 horsepower, more than compensates for the decrease in fuel allotment, calling it “the most efficient powerplant in the field.” Another new rule for 2015 limits each competing car to just five engines for the entire race season, so the team better hope that TDI powerplant is stout.
The whole shootin’ match weighs in at the racing series’ minimum of just under 1920 pounds. Going up against the Porsche 919 hybrid and Nissan’s crazy and unconventional GT-R LM NISMO, the newest Audi racer should help make for an exciting season in LMP1.
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