Could racing take hybrids to the next level?
A car even for gear heads?Yesterday, a Porsche GT3 R hybrid took 6th place in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring's ADAC Westfalenfahrt qualifying event. According to InsideLine, of the 160 cars participating, the Porsche hybrid was one of two stand out entries.
Porsche hybrids? Whatever, right? Even if every Porsche were a hybrid little benefit to the world would be gained.
On the other hand, perhaps proving the capabilities of hybrid technology on the race track can make hybrid vehicles more appealing to a wider range of consumers?
Labels: Hybrid Vehicles, porsche
posted by Dahcredyns at
9:06 AM
14 Comments:
trying to understand what advantage a hybrid might have in a race.....
yea I can't see what the advanatage would be either. It is an endurance race so perhaps it could be used to save some fuel. Maybe use it for pit stops or something, im curious though.
would also depend on the kind of race. in an endurance race it would seem that any kind of fueling advantage would be significant.
regardless, if more and more hybrids started showing in up in more and more and different types of races, successfully, it seems it would increase consumer acceptance.
As I've said before...
Hybrid is the 21st century turbo, providing additional boost for acceleration with out additional engine size.
Basically what the hybrid gives race cars is additional short-term acceleration need for passing. The 100% torque of an electric motor provides even more acceleration that non-hybrid competitors. This is especially helpful in road course races.
The KERS hybrid system used in Formula 1 in 2009 did begin to show benefits for those teams that stuck with it. KERS powered F1 cars did win a couple races at the end of the season....
I thought - that the size, configurations, engines had to be relatively matched so that the race was about driver skill as much as equipment...???
maybe that's just NASCAR!
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NASCAR is probably the most restrictive series when it comes to what technology can be put in vehicles. I don't like this because it stagnates development of new technology. (NASCAR is the only series that is still using carburetors.)
Most series provide a more broad set of rules.
Formula 1 added the use of a hybrid KERS system to it's rules in 2009. There was very strict governance on how much power could be supplied by the hybrid system and for how long.
Some of the other series like 24 hours at Lemans, have a very broad set of rules.
Indy cars used to have a very broad set of rules back in the 1960's and early 1970's. During that era, we saw amazing advancement and some very unique designs (including a turbine engine one year). Now Indy cars are like NASCAR. They are all the same, with only one engine manufacturer. I think that led significantly to Indy Car's demise. (Not to mention the IRL/CART feud)
I'm not much of a racing fan, I've just never been exposed to it, so I have little understanding of the sport.
However, Smurf has convinced me that NASCAR and racing need to evolve. Times are a changing and it seems to me that these race organizations should try to be ahead of that change.
it sort of depends on what racing is about.
For instance, you'll find all kinds of rules for a lot of competitive sports - those rules designed to keep one player from using things besides his own skill to out -compete the others.
just take a look at all the drug tests now days to "stifle" innovative ways for humans to do even better than just with their basic capabilities.
NASCAR wants racing to be more about skills than innovation.
pros and cons both ways.
that's a great point, larry.
still, i think that NASCAR can, and should, embrace change.
the future of the US auto industry will be won or lost on advanced technologies. NASCAR is an important part of the US auto culture and i believe it has a role to play.
in my opinion, the decline of the US auto industry will have significant impact on NASCAR. therefore, NASCAR can play an important role in evolving US car consumer culture for the benefit of NASCAR and the US auto industry.
well the really big shock to NASCAR culture was Toyota.
Them good ole boys still don't know what they think about those rice burners competing against real american cars... heh heh
The decision by Toyota to get into NASCAR has several implications but I strongly suspect that races without those raucous engine & tailpipe sounds ain't going to gain much of a following...
it would be - to the good old boys - effete snob racing....
I'm sure, and I don't expect NASCAR to change much anytime soon.
If they look at the future and the bigger picture, however, they have to realize that change is coming. Fuel efficiency IS going to become more important than cup-holders even to the "good old boys" of NASCAR.
Back in the 70's and until the mid 1980's NASCAR vehicles were actual production vehicles.
In the late 1980's they stopped using production US vehicles and went to using a standard NASCAR car frame that are now built in NASCAR body shops. The vehicles now have "stickers" on body to simulate the front grill and lights of the particular vehicle they were trying to immitate.
They stayed with carburetors so they could use restrictor plates on Super Speedways. (BTW I hate restrictor plate racing because all the cars go the exact same speed)
As a result, the NASCAR technology is no longer being used for the advancement of production vehicles like it was back in the 1970's.
NASCAR is now more like a "classic" racing series using past technology.
well sort of.. the COT - car of tomorrow is a sophisticated technology used in a very specific way. There still a LOT of innovation going on.
not sure Toyota would have signed on if they accepted the "classic car" idea though...
were they not expecting "more". You know the average good old boy is not going to go for the Camry - right?
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