I agree. I think it would be a step backwards for Ferrari, but if they remained in F1 (at the same time as LM) I'd like to see them try it.
For most vehicles, they go hand in hand. Small CC engines tend to use less fuel than large displacement engines. Poor fuel economy is penalty in the wallet; Europe has among the dearest fuel in the world!
Diesel engines aren't see as "sexy" as high-res petrol engine, but that may change! I understand that Ferrari is studying the possibility of building an hybrid car in future (petrol + electric). Who would have thought that Ferrari could be interested in fitting electric motors on its cars? The image for Diesel engines is quickly improving, and the notion of slow noisy oil burners barely suitable for trucks, taxis and commercial vehicles has improved. Diesels engines are now found at the luxury end of Mercedes, BMW and AUDI range. There is no stigma attached to having a Diesel, and it won't be long I think, before Porsche starts offering Diesel engines in its range (the Cayenne can already be ordered with a Diesel). Mazda is thinking about Diesel engines on the M5, Toyota may do in the Celica replacement, the F86, and others will follow. Diesel engines have won several sportscars championship now, several times Le Mans, the World Touring Car Championship in 2009. If it wants to stay in the sportscars market and compete on the track, Ferrari may have to conform to the trend and adopt new Diesel engines too.
I doubt it. Diesel to me says "industrial appliance". Nothing else. Comparing apples with oranges? Using an electric add-on motor in the sense of KERS is a very clever idea to optimize 0-60 times. Maybe it saves some fuel, but who cares? Maybe where you live, but definitely not in the US. Porsche has lost it. The Cayenne is perfect proof. Now the stupid Panamera. They are not exotics anyway (except for the GTC). I hope they never sink that low. They haven't built a SUV and a 4 door family sedan, so chances are good they'll stick to their roots of building true exotic sports cars. There are enough boring cars on the roads already. Ferrari doesn't have to follow that trend.
Whilst diesels have now got a much improved image in the UK now, they are also getting a reputation for expensive servicing due to having to be more complex these days, turbo failures, clutch issues due to dual mass flywheels and in the UK, new diesel cars are priced higher and diesel is more expensive than petrol which can negate any savings made via fuel economy. As for Ferrari making diesel engines, can't really see it happening. Ferrari's aren't bought by people concerned with fuel economy and saving the planet and despite an improved image, diesels just aren't the image that Ferrari require.
I think you should be banned for putting Michelle Yeoh in the same post as those other goddesses of hotness. Michelle is an average looking (at BEST) woman, the others are minxes.
My only explanation, and the only possible explanation, is that she has some very unflattering pictures of the studio executives. She certainly didn't get the role based on her frumpy looks. Now Famke Janssen. There is a bond girl worth of getting divorced for.
And she drives circles around Bond in a 355! For me it is still Teri Hatcher in "Tomorrow never dies". Way too short an appearance though. PS: Nobody complain about the hijack please. After all it was LdM who focused on girls in a LM discussion.
The Diesel problems encountered by some, only happen on few cars, but yes, they are costly to fix. A Diesel car cannot be driven like a petrol car. Use must be made of torque, and not revs. Changing down must be done with care for that reason. Prices and fuel costs vary from country to country. - A Diesel engine is more costly to produce. The pump and the injectors alone are fine pieces of precision engineering (true of petrol injected as well), but the block, head, crankshaft and rods are stronger and more exoensive. - Diesel fuel is cheaper to produce, but attract higher taxation than petrol;. Why ? Ask Gordon Brown! I agree with you about Ferrari's customers, but car manufacturers are at the moment 'making hay whilst the sunshine', making cars that attract customers, regardless of social concern, ecology, etc... That may change, and I predict that the era of supercars may come to an end before long, legislated out of existence. "Saving the planet" may not be a choice in future, but an obligation. You may not like to hear it, but that is in the pipe in Brussels, in our good EU government! The introduction of a power/weight ratio is under study, as well as a fuel consumption limit. That may be introduced progressively, but sportscars manufacturers will have to conform, no doubt. Already, some countries are enforcing a power linit for motorcycles, as a baloon test to see the reaction. So far, there has been nore: manufacturers have voluntarily reduced the power output of bikes imported in France!! Germany is next, apparently. If the power to be can tame superbikes, they can surely tame supercars, of which there are less of!!!
I think there is more to it than the possibility of optimising the 0-60 time. An hybrid can can run on its electric motor at low speed or in town, and reducing the fuel consumption significantly may allow the car to still satisfy ever stringent carbon emission. Fearrari is just the kind of manufacturer the legislator has in mind when writing new emission laws!! You may not approve of the Cayenne, and it may sound an anachronism in the Porsche line-up, but right now it's a money earner for Porsche and it largely subsidise the rest of the range!! You can expect a whole range of Porsche SUVs in future...
electric motors are actually more suited to performance vehicles than any internal combustion technology. 100% torque off the line, and if you fit a motor per wheel you have total understeer/oversteer control as well as direct traction control. someone came up with a way in the motor-per-wheel configuration to have the motor itself be unsprung weight which of course would be absolutely required for a performance vehicle. really? i mean, really? even after diesels have won lemans 4 years running?
At least he also knows there's a gap between the fans and press. I'm tired of seeing drivers literally turn their backs on fans and, for instance Peter Windsor on the grid. Not acceptable.
I left Europe and its tree huggers for a reason. And you're right about the legislator. Luckily Ferrari is part of FIAT, which will create all the boring eco boxes which will make up for the few Ferraris going overboard. Worst case Ferrari will build a token 612 successor with KERS or - Heaven forbid - some Diesel engine to make up for the rest of its fleet. I believe you and it makes Porsche even less interesting to me hearing this. When I hear Cayenne I'm thinking of Hammond racing it agains the man in a flying suit in Greece and how mightely he struggled because the bloody thing didn't have enough clearance to fit proper tires for gravel on it. So much for the S in SUV. Bah humbug. I totally get your question. Sounds like the "Really?" segment from the SNL news. And yes, I totally mean it. In my Army days I drove trucks, all Diesel powered and I stunk of Diesel for months with my clothes soaked in Diesel (Diesel was used to clean the trucks, no joke). So Diesel has the worst possible image in my mind. Later I drove the Diesel turbo powered cars William mentions in his posts. They were rather spiffy and didn't lag behind their petrol counterparts. They also didn't stink. A couple years ago Carol (jknight) and her husband invited me to the Audi pits at Road America when there was an ALMS race and the team showed me the Le Mans winning cars in all their details (sadly no cameras allowed). Those were wonderful machines and I watched them zoom by going for another victory. But: They're Diesels. I cannot shake the image in my mind. They have no petrol smell, they don't have the petrol engine roar and all they are is fuel efficient. I don't watch racing for fuel efficiency. If I were interested in that, I'd be watching the solar vehicles drift by in the Australian desert. I watch racing because it is the last and ultimate battle of man vs man, man vs machine, machine vs machine. It is everything but rational. Diesel and fuel efficiency laws are about being reasonable and rational. I have plenty of that in my day to day life. Racing is an escape and shouldn't be restricted and determined by that. <stepping off the soap box now>
But diesels not really setting the rest of the motor racing world on fire is it?. There's no sudden: "we're going to have to go diesel in the future!" statements coming from any of the other major racing series. F1: diesel= no WRC: diesel= no WTCC: diesel= limited interest NASCAR: diesel= no IRL: diesel= no BTCC: diesel= no Moto GP: diesel= no NHRA: diesel= no The only series that diesel has really got a foothold in is ALMS/ LeMans endurance racing.
Very true and the only reason they won Le Mans 4 times is simply because they save time by doing less refueling stops. Not exactly the stuff of racing legends.
I was talking to one of the Le Mans drivers for Ferrari and he said the ACO basically gifted Audi the win on a silver platter before the race begun. Hasn't changed much.
.' I watch racing because it is the last and ultimate battle of man vs man, man vs machine, machine vs machine. It is everything but rational.' Andreas - I'm liking you more & more! That is a great quote!!! Kevin
You are right!! When AUDI announced at the end of 2005 that they were withdrawing from endurance racing after 6 consecutive wins at Le Mans (one of them being the AUDI R8C called Bentley Speed 8 for marketing purpose), the ACO was left with the prospect of having no manufacturer supporting the race. They quickly altered their rules to entice AUDI to come back, with a Diesel this time. That fitted exactly with AUDI's marketting effort to give a sportive image to their Diesel range. As a consequence of AUDI's loyalty, the ACO made sure that AUDI would benefit from an advantage. The ACO resisted the complains of the petrol private teams, and until Peugeot came with a Diesel car, AUDI was dominating the field without competition.
