2013 Audi A3

Le Mans Prototype Field Takes Shape

 
1,140 views Mar 3, 2011


AMR One
Photo courtesy Aston Martin Racing

Peugeot 908 HYbrid4
Photo courtesy Peugeot Sport Total

New cars for the 24 Heures du Mans are starting to break cover.

The defending champions of both the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans Intercontinental Le Mans Cup races, Peugeot Sport have disclosed a new car they might use for the 2011 campaign.  

Once again, the French team will campaign a closed car and, once again it will have turbodiesel power.  Everything else on the 908 HYbrid4 is changed and Peugeot intends to test the new car at the official Le Mans test on 24 April at The Sarthe circuit.  In the meantime, the team will undertake private testing by the end of March.

Using Peugeot’s Hybrid4 system, combining a turbocharged diesel engine with lithium-ion batteries, the 60-kilowatt (80-horsepower), an engine retrieves power under braking and delivers it back to the driven wheels automatically, according to Peugeot Sport.  Initially displayed at the Geneva Motor Show the first week of March, the new 908 is designed to comply with the latest regulations put forth by the ACO (Automobile Club de l”Ouest).  

With this Hybrid4 system, it will be possible to run the 908 solely in electric mode while in the pit lane, and it is this mode that will be used for the car’s homologation, Peugeot stated.  
The new 908 is a carbon monocoque chassis with sequential, hydraulic six-speed gearbox.  The V-8 turbodiesel Hid FAP engine has a total capacity of 3.7 liters and power output is regulated to 550 horsepower.  

Aston Martin is going another direction with its Le Mans challenger.  For the first time the team is using a mid-engine open car for its LM P1 entry.  The AMR One features a new blade-fin behind the cockpit and has a significantly down-sized engine in keeping with the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup regulations that focus on efficiency.

Aston Martin Racing is using an in-line six cylinder 2-liter petrol-powered turbocharged and intercooled engine that features direct injection, four valves per cylinder and an Xtrac-developed six-speed, transverse, semi-automatic transmission with pneumatic shift.  

Audi, who won the twice-around-the-clock enduro in 2010 already announced their closed cockpit R18, which will not make the trip to the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring in a couple of weeks.  The team will give its R15-Plus a final workout before bringing the new car out for Le Mans testing in April.

© 2011 Anne Proffit



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