The never ending Toyota return to Le Mans (LMP1) Saga

[Articus]

Well if they really think they have no shot at winning then why bother with strategy? Why don't they just run flatout the entire way. Personally I wouldn't read into Vasselon 's words too much. Everyone on that team wants to win. That the only reason they are racing.

[TF110]

They don't want to go in expecting to win. And want others to do the same. Play down expectations so you're not downbeat if you don't win.

[chernaudi]

And given the photos, I'd have to say aside from the new front fenders/headlight covers and the raised lip on the rear deck, it looks almost exactly the same as the LM car. Only other thing I noticed what the increased angle of the rear wing.

At least it looks better than last year's sprint race package did.

[Bandicoot17]

[David Land]

Nice to know we will at least have one engine on the grid that doesn't sound like a vacuum!

[Simmi]

2014 car confirmed as running dual hybrid systems (via John Dagys).

Also two cars at Fuji this year. Nowhere else.

[Acid09]

So the Toyota will continue to provide some proper sound at least, not sure where that choice puts them in terms of performance though.

[vincegail]

These are troublesome times when the choice of 'large' capacity V8's is doubtfull in the performance department....

[gwyllion]

Performance of big NA engine is not the issue, fuel efficiency is.

[vincegail]

Yes, that is indeed the issue. I still find it troublesome though. I detest these "PC"-engines.

[gwyllion]

If you detest the PC engines, you should be happy. Only Toyota seems to be going that direction: Audi is sticking to diesel and Honda and Porsche are going for a small direct injected turbo charged petrol engine.

[chernaudi]

I think that Vince is referring to PC as "politically correct" here. There's been rumors of Toyota coninuing with some engine presumably based on the RV8K family, but there's been conflicting rumors of the engine being a 3.4 or up to maybe 5.0 liters in capacity. At least if they get up to 5.0 liters they'll probably have to run a crossplane crank in the engine.

The current crop of 3.4 V8s all sound like hot-rodded Honda Civics with the exhaust sawed off of them. At least there Audi is unique in that the 3.7 V6 TDI sounds like a muffled V12 from the on boards and a turbine outside the car. Even the Pug's V8 HDI sounded like a 4 cylinder diesel because of the flatplane crank it ran.

But back to point: is it even possible that Toyota can bore/stoke the RV8K out to 5 liters?

[Christian Mogami]

When at Motegi early this week I heard some rumors.

Toyota is using the Detroit Le Mans recipe,

Low rev big cc NA Engine 4.5-5.0L some said 6.0L but I question that

because it is more simple(24hrs is a long race) than going the boosted route

[Articus]

This is quite the departure from the current strategy for smaller lighter V8. It seems very unusual. I personally couldn't see a Toyota go by thundering like a Vette...I would have thought the japanese prefer to go forced induction small displacement. Maybe they know something we don't.

[Christian Mogami]

Hybrid systems hate heat and turbos are ovens!

So that would be a great reason to go NA.

Also has anybody check the rules if turning off cylinders is legal!

Autoweek just tested the new Corvette(at freeway speed it is only running on 4 cylinders) and it got 40 mpg on the Freeway with a 6.2L engine!!!!!!!

Toyota is going with front and rear hybrid system.

[TF110]

Ever hear the Lexus IS-F? Yeah, 5 liter V8. Where else is that engine, well- its in the TMG Sports 650 in twin turbocharged form pushing out over 640hp; http://blog.toyota.eu/2013/08/27/set...se-in-germany/. Interestingly, before the engine revved to around 8000rpm, and according to the article made over 800hp. But they dropped the performance to 'only' ~640hp, and the revs dropped with it to around 6000rpm.

[TF110]

Heres two gif's from Toyotas site showing the changes...

[Simmi]

Amazing how those few degrees less on the front fenders make the car look infinitely better.

[Articus]

From that angle it looks almost rebellion like!

[bentley speed 8]

The car looks much better now. Too bad I didn't get to see it for more than half an hour

[gwyllion]

Some information about the 2014 Toyota LMP1 car: http://sportscar365.net/wec/toyota-r...2014-lmp1-car/

As mentioned earlier, Toyota is continuing with a NA v8.

“Engine experts still disagree on what will be the best engine architecture,” Vasselon said. “Is it a small turbocharged engine or is it a big, normally aspirated engine running at low revs? Our engine people are convinced that a big, naturally aspired engine will be better than a small turbo. It’s our belief. We will find out.”

They will run two hybrid systems, one on the front axle and one of the rear. They claim that they have not yet decided the size of the hybrid system.

“We know that we’re going to use two motors: one front and one rear,” Vasselon confirmed. “But we have not finalized the exact class which we will operate. If you don’t exactly match the class where you are, you will lose fuel.”

I find that very hard to believe, since they always said that they could recover more with the current TS030 hybrid system than allowed by the rules. So I assumed that they would go for the 8MJ option.

According to the article the 2014 car is behind on schedule and the role out will only be done in the beginning of 2014. That is a bit disappointing

[MyNameIsNigel]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

According to the article the 2014 car is behind on schedule and the role out will only be done in the beginning of 2014. That is a bit disappointing

The same suggestion can be found in the latest issue of the Autosport magazine. That's indeed disappointing...

[avvelenamento]

Originally Posted by MyNameIsNigel

The same suggestion can be found in the latest issue of the Autosport magazine. That's indeed disappointing...

my post from 15th august

"Maybe they will be able to develope a good sprint package for the rest of the season, but is the 2014 car to pay the bill. Wurz some weeks ago revealed that works on 2014 cars will begin in october, unlikely the car will see a track before december or january"

they call me prophet [crysis 2 cit.]

[Flo aus N]

Originally Posted by MyNameIsNigel

The same suggestion can be found in the latest issue of the Autosport magazine. That's indeed disappointing...

So its very likely, that Toyota will again have a very small budget compared to Audi or Porsche...

[MyNameIsNigel]

Originally Posted by Flo aus N

So its very likely, that Toyota will again have a very small budget compared to Audi or Porsche...

It just means that they are probably a bit behind schedule. As far as the budget is concerned, there are rather suggestions in the press that the mother company in Japan is possibly going to inject more money into the operation (according to the French AutoHebo magazine).