Should Volvo enter the Le Mans 24hr?

[tt82]

I read yesterday on Facebook a Volvo statement on the new XC90.

https://www.media.volvocars.com/glob...d-cleanest-suv

Volvo Cars' all-new XC90 will be the world’s most powerful and cleanest SUV

• All-wheel drive, seven seats and ultra-low emissions of around 60g/km

• Up to 400 hp and 640 Nm of torque

• New Volvo-developed Twin Engine technology

Volvo Cars' all-new XC90 will offer an unrivalled combination of power and clean operation when it is launched later this year. The all-wheel drive seven seater offers drivers up to 400 horsepower but with carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of around 60 g/km (NEDC driving cycle). There has never been an SUV offering this level of power this cleanly.

For the all-new XC90, the top of the range ‘Twin Engine’ will carry the badge ‘T8’ and be a plug-in electric car, hybrid car and high-performance car rolled into one.

Normal driving is conducted in the default hybrid mode. This utilises a two-litre, four-cylinder supercharged and turbocharged Drive-E petrol engine that powers the front wheels and an 80 hp (60 kW) electric motor that drives the rear wheels.

It uses the supercharger to fill in the bottom end of the power range to give the engine a big, naturally-aspirated feel, while the turbocharger kicks in when the airflow builds up. The electric motor on the rear wheels provides immediate torque.

But at the push of a button the driver can switch to quiet and emission-free city driving on pure electric power where the range will be around 40 kilometres, and then, when needed, immediately revert back to the combined capacity of the petrol engine and electric motor, with its combined output of around 400 hp and 640 Nm of torque.

Volvo are focusing the future on the new VEA low capacity frugal engines with low consumption/emissions combined with Hybrid power plants.

So what does that have to do with Le Mans you may ask?

This year the Le Mans rule changes meant that all Manufacturer teams must run hybrid technology in the LMP1 class. The rules mean that there are no restrictions on engine size, format or even fuel, but they can only use so much fuel per lap. This is coupled with 4 different amounts of hybrid power available and several different ways of recovering the hybrid power

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/06/17/l...trictions-eas/

The Automobile Club de l'Ouest, organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, has announced a number of rule changes for the 2014 race that open up the options for LMP1 racers and guide their technology closer to that of road cars, and that should also give fans even better racing than we're used to seeing. Probably biggest of all is loosening the restraints on engine design. Currently, gas engines are limited in size to 3.4 liters, while diesel displacement can be no more than 3.7 liters, with further turbocharger, supercharger and air restrictor regulation on top of that. Those are all gone – "The limitations of cylinders, restrictors and turbo pressures are removed."

Before you get ideas of this turning into a Group B for Le Mans, the cars will be limited to an "energy allotment" per lap. A fuel meter will allow a diesel-powered car 3.99 liters per lap, a gas-powered car would get 4.95 liters per lap, from tanks that are about 12 percent smaller.

All LMP1 cars will be required to have closed cockpits, within which the driver will sit a little further forward and slightly higher to provide more visibility and, it is hoped, cut down on accidents when lapping slower traffic. Weights have been reduced, from the current minimum weight of 900 kilograms to 830 kg for non-hybrids and 850 kg for hybrids, and according to the Speed TV report, "all factory entries will be required to compete with hybrid systems." The cars will also be thinnner. Another factory handicap (depending on how see it) is that "super-exotic materials" will be banned in order to force carmakers to use materials that apply to their mainstream vehicles and not just their supercars.

The ACO believes these new rules will "encourage the development of powerful and spectacular cars and also the development of technologies that have real meaning for the everyday motorist." Sounds good to us.

This website shows how the 3 main teams, Audi, Porsche and Toyota have approached the various different options available.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/06/13/...-mans-runners/

Next year Nissan are returning to LMP1 and Lotus are planning on entering in either 2015/16.


Given that the ACO are promoting exactly the same philosophy that Volvo are taking, it would seem they are ideally placed to enter a racing format that will help them promote and develop their VEA engines and Hybrid technology.

What do you guys think?

[tommyweaves]

I think that's a step too far for Volvo at the moment, but I really do like their new engine and drivetrain philosophy (apart from reducing the number of cylinders!).

[tommyweaves]

On a general note I think F1 is leading the way with ERS. Similar performance to last year's cars but 30% more efficient, that really is progress which I'd love to see in road cars.

[tt82]

I can't say about the difference between the ERS in F1 and Le MAns but the Le Mans does seem to offer a far greater choice and flexibility in ERS though.

I think having committed to V8 Supercars, they will have to see that through until they get a good achievement in it! Ie win it. It does seem strange though that they entered V8 supercars and are racing an engine that they don't really sell and will soon be phased out, in order to promoter a road going car based on a different engine which they don't really sell and will soon be phased out.

Stick two VEA engines with a shortened stroke together and you have a nice V8, for either petrol or diesel class!