New Lola B08/60 Coupe

[deggis]

Originally Posted by dj4monie

Why loose the F1 style fronts if that what works aero dynamically? I don't understand. You copy because its a good design, if it sucked they would try something different.

I like the new coupes, OPEN cockpits are for the birds. I don't HAVE to see the driver's helmet most of the designs are funky anyway and I watch it on TV far more than being there live, so I know who's in the car and don't look for special helmet colors and such, so what else is the advantage of open cockpits, no air gets in there anyway....

For same aesthetic reasons that you dislike open cockpit design.

Imagine the new Lola without that kind of nose it now has. That would look more Group C than some of the GrC cars itself.

[diffuser]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Coupes are heavier than open cars. The weight in 2007:

• Audi R10: 925, 929 and 931 kg
• Peugeot: 937 and 941 kg

source: DSC (via http://www.ten-tenths.com/forum/show...16#post2025316)

I would not exactly call a 1% weight difference heavier, that might down to anything. Nope, I don't believe that Audi would go for a 10 kg lighter open car if iit's not at least equall on performance to a coupe.

[marcush.]

Coupe or open Audi had some reason to shy back from building a coupe ,wich is clearly a lot more complicated and expensive then a spider.And of course the screen and wiper ,doors and doorhinges add for sure around 5kgs to the car were you really don´t want them plus the risk of a blown off door ,in Endurance Racing you have to have driver changes and this is one area were the potential for mishaps skyrockets from zero to ...at least a risk.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by marcush.

Coupe or open Audi had some reason to shy back from building a coupe ,wich is clearly a lot more complicated and expensive then a spider.And of course the screen and wiper ,doors and doorhinges add for sure around 5kgs to the car were you really don´t want them plus the risk of a blown off door ,in Endurance Racing you have to have driver changes and this is one area were the potential for mishaps skyrockets from zero to ...at least a risk.

Spyders are harder to design actually. They have to have a lot more bracing than a close car.

[FIRE]

After the R8 spyder, R10 diesel spyder it's time for a coupe

[jp_olifer]

At LM99 Audi raced both a spyder and a coupe, then they decided to go the open top way... maybe they thought it was better...

[isynge]

Prior to the race in 1999 most pundits were predicting the Audi Coupe would be the stronger contender, and that the spyder would fade - of course results proved different...

It's also worth trying to remember if regulations for coupes changed substantively post 1999 (especially in the light of the flying Mercedes incidents) which meant that Audi would have had to go completely back to the drawing board with the R8C.

[gwyllion]

LMGTP has slightly different rules than LMP900: smaller tyres, but bigger restrictors.

[marcush.]

coupe vs spider:you need a guy to actually design all those systems.wiper,venting,rollhoop,ac,screen,door hinges ,door latches,doors that accounts easily for one addition to your headcount in the drawing office and then you need the molds ....so a coupe is sure the more expensive way to do it.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by jp_olifer

At LM99 Audi raced both a spyder and a coupe, then they decided to go the open top way... maybe they thought it was better...

Remarkable how simelar the R8C looked in comparison to the Bentley .

[supermario21]

Wasn't the Speed 8 loosely based on the RTN designed R8C, which also did the Bentley.

[vorsprung]

Originally Posted by supermario21

Wasn't the Speed 8 loosely based on the RTN designed R8C, which also did the Bentley.

Both cars were built and designed by RTN. Only things to come from Ingolstadt were the engine-gearbox for R8C and the engine for Bentley (which was a problem, because it was designed for normally aspirated engine). But IIRC Peter Elleray said somewhere that R8C only showed them what not to do.
BTW Elleray has posted some interesting tidbits on here.

[Jeffrey-Lee]

Originally Posted by deggis

For same aesthetic reasons that you dislike open cockpit design.

Imagine the new Lola without that kind of nose it now has. That would look more Group C than some of the GrC cars itself.

Well that's too easily reasoned in my opinion. The choice between having an open or closed race car is far more fundamental than for a car to have a flat or raised nose section. Open and closed racecars have been racing each other on the track for decades and decades.

Race cars should look cutting edge, and coupe's like he pug, lola and epsilon are doing just that with their new aerodynamic packages. The next few years of LMP1 and 2 should be awesome with all these new cars , history in the making. Besides, doesn't successfulness play a big role in how a car's beauty is percieved...?

[bil588]

# 10 Lola rebuilt for 1,000 km of Spa

http://www.jan-charouz.com/EN/latest...p1_to_spa.html

[bil588]

1,000 km of Spa race report

http://www.jan-charouz.com/EN/press_...html?rubrid=10