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Michelin Ships DeltaWing Tires

Michelin Ships DeltaWing Tires

Anne Proffit

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Anne Proffit has worked in the automotive field since - well, not telling you that. She's been a car salesperson (before it was popular to hire... More

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1 1,074 views Jan 27, 2012

Photo courtesy Michelin

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Things are moving ahead for the DeltaWing Project, which occupies the 56th garage at this year's Le Mans 24 Hour race. That garage is reserved for cars outside the boundaries of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) rules that break new technological ground.

Under construction at Dan Gurney's All American Racers outside Los Angeles, the DeltaWing received Michelin tires specially designed for its small front profile. The DeltaWing front Michelin tires are just 10/58-15", or less than 23 inches tall. Their tread is just four inches wide. As a comparison point, the 2011 Le Mans-winning Audi R18 TDI turbodiesel LM P1 prototype uses 36/71-18" Michelin tires that are about 28 inches wide and sport 14 inches of front tread width.

"The difference in tire size is stunning," noted Karl Koenigstein, Michelin's American Le Mansa Series technical team leader. "You could fit three DeltaWing Michelin front tires inside an Audi Le Mans prototype front tire!"

The rear tires are, as expected, less dramatic in size. The DeltaWing was designed to race with Michelin's 31/62-15" rear rubber, which translates in size to the average LM P2 rear tire of 37/71-18". The DeltaWing rear tire "is shorter and uses a smaller rim," all around, Koenigstein said.

Originally designed to compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series, the DeltaWing designed is based on using half the power, with half the weight, fuel and tires of a similar racing car. Adapted for use as a sports prototype, DeltaWing expects to have comparable performance to current Le Mans prototypes.

The specially designed Michelin tires draw on the company's record of success at The Sarthe Le Mans circuit, where Michelin has taken overall victory in each of the past 14 straight seasons.

"Michelin races to learn and races to win," declared Silvia Mammone, Michelin motorsports manager and project leader for the Michelin DeltaWing project. "There is tremendous focus in the auto industry worldwide on making vehicles lighter without sacrificing performance. We hope to learn a great deal from our collaboration with the DeltaWing program."

In order to complete validation the first completed DeltaWing production car, with its new Michelin rubber, will undergo full-size wind tunnel testing in anticipation of initial track testing programs.