The commitment of Dome

[Craner-Curve]

After seeing RFH's car at Le Mans for the past 2 years and having seen it at prequalifying this year it seems to me that Dome intends do give it all that they've got yet again.

The Dome S101 featured a new nose section which sported revised cooling and a lower front end. on top of that the car sports a new rear end with R&S-ish endplates and such.

These things must have been tested in their own windtunnel which means they are still pouring in time and money in order to make the car faster and less fragile.

If they are doing this to a car which is getting obsolete (well not completely) due to the new rules and learning how to incorporate these rules in their designs does this not mean that they intend to stay competitive for years to come?

http://www.janlammers.com/upload/rac...9hoofdfoto.JPG

[JAG]

Dome, according to Autosport are reportedly looking at building a new LMP2 car as they believe these (with GT engines) will be the prefered choice of privateer teams.

They are also considering making a new LMP1 (probably depending on demand from RFH etc.).

[Tim Northcutt]

So the RfH aero changes are factory supported?

Does Kondo have them?

Just want to make sure I understand this thread...

If Dome is behind it:

Why are their extended "Bodywork endplates" thin, and not the full width of the wing? this would seem to be less effective towards the goal of channeleing air more effectively over & under the wing itself, and also to reduce turbulence caused by the wing endplates themselves as a separate unit, without the Bodywork extensions..

Your thoughts????

[paul-collins]

Name drop alert!

All I know is what Andy Wallace told me - that they had reduced drag and improved downforce such that their aero efficiency had improved by 15%. That's massive. Andy said the type of testing that they did typically would result in more like 4% improvement, so he was quite pleased. (Of course, he's only just getting to know the car from the inside, as he's only been chased by it before...)

[FIRE]

I don't think RfH gets money from Dome, but they get technical support and 1 or 2 Japanese mechanics. I think RfH deserves this support because they race from the beginning with the Dome.

[gi_gav]

Originally posted by paul-collins
Name drop alert!

All I know is what Andy Wallace told me - that they had reduced drag and improved downforce such that their aero efficiency had improved by 15%. That's massive.

the RFH Dome was already the fastest down the Mulsanne in 2001 and 2002.

How much quicker will this aero gain make them?

This could make them a right nuisance for the VAG boys in the early laps!

[Tim Northcutt]

Where I believe it will help them is in the cornering....the body extension endplates are a "More downforce with less drag" concept that improves the air flow over the rear wing to make it more efficent and it creats less turbulence on and around the actual wing endplates....

I've never actually seen a car in a wind tunnel, however, whenever I have watched races (CART, etc.) during or following a rainstorm, you can see the mist and/or water swirling and obviously creaitng drag without the extensions...this does not take place with the bodywork extensions or the long-bottomed wings that some open-wheeled series cars now run....

Last year, Dome's big problem against the Audis was that they were getting killed in the slower portions or the course, where they lacked the grip compared to the Audis....mechanical grip factors could have played a major part in that, but the aero efficiency of the Audi, notably the endplates, was also a contributing factor...

15% is a ton of improvement!!!!

[batcave]

Tim, what makes a massive difference in those slow to medium speed corners is the Dome has no traction control system or a paddle shift gearbox.

[Craner-Curve]

I know jan quite well, they do not have the resources to undertake a development effort like this. Dome is supporting them bigtime. the developments on the car were put on RFh's car simply because Jan knows this car and is a good development driver, RFh is the top pick for dome as they kept going with the chassis where e.g. John Nielsen did not.

[danhx]

Traction control is illegal as far as i know, so hopefully no one has it (but undoubtedly someone does). From what i've read and seen, the Audi simply has an amazing amount of mechanical grip; i've yet to see them really get the back end lose out of a turn, even at Sebring. They're amazing machines.

[Tim Northcutt]

Just saw the note from Batcave this morning...Everything I've seen in regulations has said traction control is not allowed....is that an incorrect assumption????


Sometimes I confuse FIA-SCC and ACO Rules (won't be an issue next year)...

But I was not aware that RfH doesn't have the paddle shifters...that is a major advantage for Audi...no doubt about it....

[Tim Northcutt]

As I think about it more, if Audi spent the Big $$$ they did to build and refine that package, a few extra $$$ to apply and conceal traction control would be money well-spent....

However, when I do watch that car run, the combination or aero, mechanical, and downright extensive torque and horsepower the car hass as a total engineering feat is astounding to me....

That chassis has on various occasions had the rear jump out when the driver really hits the throttle, but their consistently quick acceleration out of corners is visibly better than anything else racing at that level, and its top end on the straights, although not the fastest, is serious when you factor in the aero downforce aspects of that package....

[Javi]

I am not sure, but I read that RfH last year´s Dome was a gift (well, at least on loan) from the factory because of the good performance in 2001.

[SFonseca]

After Le Mans Dome will be able to provide us more information about 2004 season.

[H16]

Someone who took a look at the Dome when it first arrived was convinced it was a chop top Toyota GT1. I find that unlikely, though I do think they learned a lot from redoing the old BMW LM into quite a sleek machine.

The car lost a lot of time in the pits changing a rear wing early in Le Mans 2001 so they then directed it to the bodywork so they just change the engine cover.


The car is very quick but it will be difficult to beat Audi..err..Bentley and the private R8s. You can tell that the car was designed with Le Mans in mind but it also limited its actions on tighter tracks, though success in the FIA SCC has come well.

The RfH Dome is usually ahead of the Kondo Dome because of the tires. The RfH runs Michelin for Le Mans while the Kondo sticks with Goodyear.

[Tim Northcutt]

On another thread, a pic of the Kondo was posted -- no endplates -- so my question about who is getting what support has been answered....

Concerning FIA-SCC and the RfH ssuccess, I take that with a grain of salt, because their fields have been very thin last year and thus far this season....

Let's see how they run in FIA "after" Le Mans, when Team Goh, and Lister, and the aero-improved Pescarolo team cars are racing them...

In ALMS, the Dome chassis was campaigned at times last year (can't remember which team ran it)was not as competitive as the Panoz, and later in the season, the Cadillac...

It has a strong LM run with RfH last year, and a "not as noteworthy as it seems" 2002 FIA-SCC title to show us....let's see what they've got this year....

[JAG]

The Domw in ALMS was a year old car run by Chamberlain. Quite different to the RFH cars. In FIA SCC the gride are not strong but the RFH cars have regularly beaten Pescarolo, Courage etc. I think an RFH Dome would be the best of the rest after the Audis in the ALMS.

[Tim Northcutt]

Thanks for the info on the Chamberlain Dome...wasn't aware of that...but I think it'll be interesting to see RfH vs Pescarolo this year on a dry track...Pescarolo is doing the endlplates the "right way" this year...and the front aero changes have made that a better chassis.....

I'd have to see the RfH Dome actually compete on an American-style circuit, as opposed to a European circuit (and I'm sure you'd agree that they are different) before I made a Judgment about their competitiveness in ALMS....I don't know how much mechanical or aero grip that chassis has....

I'm not downplaying RfH by these comments....I think Jan Lammers is one of the very best in the business....but I don't know how much he carries that chassis with his skills as a racer, the way Magnussen and Brabham carried the Panoz (in my opinion) to the very limits of that car's potential when they raced it...

Since Rfh doesn't run in ALMS, we won't ever know...but maybe the LM Tournament events will tell us what they've got compared to others when it does become a reality....