There's chatter that is was turning 1:48 - 1:49! That's near R18 pace. DW should release that info if true. Even if it is quick (which I didn't think was possible) it still looks like a rolling penis. Latest video: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYN9ktoLzYE[/ame]
None taken, I'm far too busy to spoon feed all of the answers to people, no matter how cynical or interested they may be. On the other hand I had to work hard and take the time to gain the knowledge that i do have about vehicle dynamics, so in that respect I will also not spoon feed to anyone as no one has been so kind as to reciprocate it. I understand, most of you are basing opinions off of intuition, but in my mind you guys are no different than the square wheels camp. With that said I believe my stand point was the fact that the car would indeed be able to go around a corner at speed, not the performance. Bring on June...
I was at Sebring at the introduction of the Delta wing. The crowd was not into the car. The car looks good in pictures, but very simple in person. I was more fascinated by the Lotus/Lola B12 entry then the Delta wing. The aero package was unreal on that car.
I'm with you. No matter how fast the car is or isn't it still looks awful and is anathema to what the tradition of endurance racing means to its enthusiasts. There are rumors floating around that if it is successfully developed Dr. Panoz would like to replace the current LMPC class with the DW. Panoz Motorsport Group would build and sell them, IMSA will sanction them and the ALMS will collect the entry fees obviously creating a nice self-contained revenue stream. I do business within the ALMS so I'm not going anywhere, but as a fan I'd tune out if bunches of those things crept their way into proper endurance racing. I'd bet most long time sportscar fans feel the same. I'm all for the advancement of racing technology but I hope the DW goes the way of the Abruzzi.
The Nissan DW is in Snetterton England testing as we speak. I've seen pictures of it on flickr but can't copy and paste them here. But here's the link..... http://www.flickr.com/photos/50550140@N07/
Latest article about the DW from Mulsanne Mike: http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsmarch12.html Good quote from the piece: "But, if you believe everything you read about the DeltaWing: it slices, dices, it is the solution to world hunger, in addition to gobbling up pollution as it goes around the track."
The bigger question, perhaps, would be if the DW will be at the official Le Mans test. Taking part in an open, public test with other cars on the track would be much more informative than the private shake down runs they've done so far. As tantilizing as all the speculation is, it dosent mean much until we see how the DW runs in he slipstream and, of course, what the official stop watches report. BHW
You would think that DW would jump at the chance to run the 6 hours at Laguna Seca as a competitive shakedown...no? If it ain't up to the task by the middle of May...
Heck , even running in a SCCA club race in SPO or ASR would be a cheap way for track time. I dee where there is an older (2004 Riley) Daytona Prototype entered at the Daytona club races in May. Might be a stretch to run the enduro as an IT car
It's true. Both IndyCar and NASCAR told him to drop his involvement if he knew what was good for him. So, in typical Chip fashion, he caved -- to the point where he sacked his own senior design/engineering staff.
Okay I still cannot see how it can turn and be able to deal with the variables of a real racing situation (ie. meeting a spun car on the racing line half way around a blind corner). Even if 99% of it's weight was on the rear wheels when you turn a car in, some of that weight is transferred to the front. Even if you correctly turn the car in early so it assumes a drifting pose those front tyres have had to take some of that change of direction load at some stage. Also what happens if the driver needs to brake or lift off around a corner ... the weight will transfer forward and while the car might not tip (?) it will not have the outer wheel to leverage off. Performance in modern motorracing is in the corners. On many tracks top speed has become close to irrelevant, it is all about corner speed. Infact if you go to nearly any race track (except a drag track) now and time how long a car spends in the corners compared to the straights you will find that most of the time is spent in the corners. What happens if the car got sideways?, could you drift it?, could it be raced again in the real world. The gas turbine car failed because it could not be raced in the real world also. BTW: Dan Gurneys other debatable failure is the Alligator motorcycle (http://www.allamericanracers.com/alligator/alligator_home.html). Been making them before 2002 and no MotoGP bike is mimicking the idea yet ... Pete ps: I notice also that it has rediculously skinny front tyres ... how is it going to brake competitively then?
Good Lord, Pete?!?! THIS kind of post is why you write here and why it's Nissan, Highcroft and AAR spending a bunch of money to test and build a new idea? And why the tub is built on Howard Chappell's AMR-ONE chassis. And why it's tested several time, IN PUBLIC! Sheesh, please confine yourself to the P&R that's become of the F1 forum... Static front weight is 28% according to the Racecar Engineering article, which has quite a succinct explanation by Ben Bowlby not only why and HOW it works, but the reason why the 4" fronts WORK. I'm no DW fanboy, but your scepticism shows that, unlike a few other subjects you post about, you really need to at least do a modicum of research before hitting the send button. BTW, look up Howmet...
He knows who pays him. Considering it was CG that got the project going again after the IRL rejection, you can see why they're leaning on him.
Japanese GT driver Motoyama nominated as third driver, last drove at Le Mans a dozen years ago. Interesting aspect of this article is how the spokesman says the DW is a "European-led project". Should this mean that Nissan Europe has completely taken it over? American inspired from the beginning to be the next generation Indy Car, Panoz built in Georgia, Gurney involvement although that's never been made clear, Duncan Dayton likewise involved but now European-led with no American drivers participating. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99148 BHW
I have to agree. I laughed at the DW when saw the first sketches, but they wouldn´t have gone so far with this idea if it just was a brain fart. Maybe it won´t work, but it´s worth to take a look at that. (BTW, the Alligators were a quite interesting idea for a road bike).
The only reasons the DeltaWing stayed alive after the thumbs-down from IndyCar were (a) Ganassi's senior technical people threatened to quit en masse in the middle of a racing season unless they could find some way to build the car, which the Le Mans entry made possible, and (b) Chip's hopes of clawing back some of his original investment of around $2M. Everyone thought the IndyCar rejection would kill the project, but the acceptance by Le Mans prompted IndyCar and NASCAR to lean on Pretty Boy Floyd...
I like the Racecar Engineering magazine so will give it a read. BUT just because there is a lot of money involved does not make me think it will be a success. Look at the many NASA failures and the hundreds of investment failures that occur every year. Note Nissan are not interested in the cars competitiveness just the innovation side from a marketing point of view: So even if the car is slow they will win support from the people who like to think outside the square. I'm not interested in that so much as how will it be competitive all other things being equal with a traditional 4 wheeled car? I did look up Howmet and it appears a little more successful than the Rover gasturbine effort (which actually did okay IMO) but when I go to race meetings I do not see gasturbine powered race cars, so the concept failed. You can come up for many reasons why but the end result is it has been proven to not be the best engine choice for the automobile. Pete
Even those inside the team were wondering if it would turn. Reference: But it does . Now yes I will go off and do further reading but I thought this picture was interesting, as it appears to show body roll and if the car has body roll I will be interested to read how the narrow front track deals with that. Picture from http://www.gizmag.com/nissan-deltawing-development-le-mans/22209/pictures Pete Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hello, I thought not that I know all, the the gas turbine was basicly done away with because Indy (USAC at the time) restricted the air intake. Effectively rendering the gas turbine out, not because of the engine itself. It could have won Indy had it not been for a cheap seal that gave away, almost to the end. I like the DW project, show some innovation. Though from the front view not sure why they have that extra pod behind the driver, seems to catch a lot of wind drag. Great picture though, with the rear outside tire lifting slightly.
