Quote:
Originally Posted by GasperG
When it comes to racing, weight is efficiency advantage no matter how you look at it and when rules favor efficiency then KTF was chosen to preserve that gain.
This way we can have petrol hybrid at 875 kg competing with only 2.7% more fuel energy against diesel hybrid. Your "ballast" way would mean petrol hybrid would need 6.9% more fuel energy to be competitive against diesel hybrid.
This logic would be also true if there would be no MJ classes (unrestricted ERS).
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The figures your are quoting are however based on the current EoT which assumes an equivalence between the 8MJ petrol and 6MJ diesel. So, yes, Audi artificially get a more favorable fuel allocation due to the KTF, but this in effect is also meant to partly compensate the 2MJ deficit in energy releasable by the ERS. You have to take this into account. The 2.7% figure you are quoting is somewhat misleading because this does not directly reflect the true difference in efficiency between the petrol and diesel technologies.
In terms of pure engine efficiency, the current EoT is based on the assumption that the best-in-class diesel engine is 6.9% more efficient than the best-in-class petrol engine (hence the FTF of 1.069).
In summary, one either sticks with the current EoT principle which balances the 8MJ petrol vs. the 6MJ diesel, in which case the fuel energy allocation for diesel has to take into account the 2MJ deficit in ERS energy (the 6MJ diesel getting a more favorable energy allocation as a result) or one opts for a different EoT principle which truly balances petrol vs. diesel within one and a same ERS class, which implies getting rid of the KTF (and therefore the more favorable fuel energy allocation awarded to diesel) and imposing compensation ballast.
If one were to apply this principle in e.g. the 6MJ class, that would mean that diesel would get a little more than 128MJ (instead of 131.2MJ as per the current EoT) thus imposing more stringent efficiency targets to the diesel competitor.
The compensation ballast would only be an issue in terms of performance if the minimum car weight is exceeded as a result. This at least ensures that all competitors are faced with more or less the same challenge when it comes to packaging the hybrid system within the minimum car weight. If the petrol guys have e.g. 100-150kg to play with to integrate the ERS, why is it that Audi cannot benefit from the same flexibility/freedom ?