RacerJason

iTrader: (5)

That's right... further details to come. From what I understand it will be a rotary effort. Keep an eye on the website below it should be up in the next week.

http://www.returntolemans.com

p4nc7

iTrader: (1)

Any idea what chassis/engine config they'll be running?

RacerJason

iTrader: (5)

As far as I know they are retaining the Lola chassis from last year although there are some other interesting chassis opportunites surfacing. The powerplant is likely to be a three-rotor with twin turbos.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

w00t.

B6T

iTrader: (2)

Noooooooooooooooo! 4-rotor, pleeeeeeeeeease!

coneracer

bk motorsports uses a Courage C65 chassis with a renisis 3 rotor non turbo.

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

Given the lackluster success in ALMS, this seems like an odd thing to do. BK says that the 3 rotor is essentailly not restricted by the large restrictor that they're using. That said I don't understand why they're not more competitive. The 13G from the '87 Lemans 757 made 450hp (seems to be where BK/SpeedSource are at now) and yet the R26B in the 787B made 700hp @ 9000rpm and was apparently capable of quiet a bit more with a reduction in lifespan. Perportionately the R26B made a lot more power, a 3 rotor of the same design should make around 540hp, more in line with the Porsches at 550-600hp @11k rpm.

RacerJason

iTrader: (5)

Something had to be done. The bar was raised by the Porsche Spyder and expect Acura to be quick out of the box too. BK used a Courage that turned in to a hybrid of aero pieces after Lime Rock. Rumor has it a Lola B07/40 is in the works but my friends with the team won't confirm it yet. If the powerplant is not rotary then it will be a four cylinder of some sort, possibly/likely rebadged. The efforts of previous and future are backed partially by Mazdaspeed. The engine is loosely Renesis based, they like to think/communicate it is more then it is.

GOTBANNED?

WHA 20b peri port twin turbo! should be crazy! The Acura is looking very nice though and is supposed to be very quick form what ive herd. But we'll see when it comes down to race time!

FC3S.USD

iTrader: (2)

Good stuff, I was talking yesterday to one of the guys on the team, and he said it was a 20b PP NA, that power adders wasnt an option because they couldnt keep it cool for too long, so they had to go NA.

Also he said they were having issues with heating and egts, And that 4 rotor wasnt really an option as the chassi was not designed for such a long motor.

Overall he said the 3 rotor was hauling but still needs some work to beat some of the big hitters. Oh and that there might be a small chance of a 4 banger also.

Either Way Cant wait to see it in action and HOPEFULLY !!! with a rotasiry motor

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

Jason, a while back Tyson spoke with the BK guys at Mosport and apparently it's just a 13G from the 80s that they're running, there's really nothing "renesis" about it.

Other than cooling, I don't get why they can't make the engine competitive.

RacerJason

iTrader: (5)

It runs Renesis-like rotors... thats about it as far as Renesis based. My friend Andrew is the Chief Engineer on the car and he designed the new cooling system that was implemented late in the season. It still was not enough. And if they go turbo it is only going to increase the amount of heat to deal with. Funny how everyone forgets that I arranged a meet with the team at Mosport ALMS two years ago since I travel with the series usually.

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

Cool. So is it simply not possible to be competitive with a rotary and retain similar aero characteristics (air inlet size) or is it that they can't exactly ask Courage or Lola to make a specific chasis modification for them?

What makes the rotors "renesis like?" I believe the race 13Gs were running 10:1 and lighter than street rotors, is it just the seals?

coldfire

iTrader: (1)

Renesis rotors are manufactured under a new process apparently, and also they chamfer/bevel the sides of the rotor face to increase port timing (i believe that is why they do it). the other internals, such as bearings, are also improved in renesis though that is not really "rotor" specific. but, yeah, i guess it's just convenient to use the term "renesis" so they can put it in a marketing campaign?

stock renesis rotor:

nik

Are they looking to compete in the higher prototype class(LMP1 i think) or the lower one? I think they would not be competitive in LMP1 with an n/a 3 rotor, but LMP 2 I can see. I was looking at some rules I found online, and it seems that rotary is allowed bigger restrictors than piston engines of "similar" displacement(it only said for non turbo).

IAN

iTrader: (3)

I remembered

Thanks.

Hook us up again

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

The LMP2 Porsche cars can be nearly as fast as the LMP1 Audis in terms of raw lap time (it seems more so on the slower courses). The Audi has a 5.5L V12 twin turbo diesel making ~650hp while the Porsche has a 3.4L V8 reving to 11k making 550hp. The engine in the Audi itself weighs around 450lbs. The Posche gets to have ~200lbs weight advantage. Apparently the R10 project costs Audi ~$150M/year. That's crazy. I suspect that in shorter duration races it would fairly easy to build a faster LMP1 car for a lot less money.

What equivilancy Formula between 4-cylinder turbo engines, n/a piston and turbo and n/a rotaries? Mazda had a March 84G in 1984 with a bridgeport 13B making over 500hp. If the R26B can make over 700hp, it stands to reason that a 3-rotor can make roughly 3/4ths or ~525hp. It seems like something along those lines would be competitive.

nik

Yeah that is why I am thinking its for LMP 2(someone told me they were going for LMP1). The min weigh is lower so it helps the power disadvantage. There is no way with the extra weight of LMP1 cars that 500 some odd HP would be competitive. The 26b was 690HP, so if they achieve same power per rotor that should be 517HP like you are saying. I wonder how the weight of a race 3 rotor compare to those porsche engines...


Mazda made 500 HP out of a 13B? Was it turbo?

Snrub

iTrader: (1)

Yes, sorry, that bridgeport 13B was turbo for endurance races, but not for 24 hour races.

I'm not sure what the equivalancy formula is so its hard to say which class would be better. For instance if a 3-rotor like a 20B/13G is classed as a 4L (the most direct way to do it and I think the way they did it back in the IMSA days), it might not be allowed to compete against a 3.4L V8. A 12A based 3-rotor would be 3.6L.