Delta Wing at Le Mans?

[provamo]

just ignore it

[LAJ]

We can not forget one of the Purple Frog's neighbors Don Garlits !!
I knew I had seen that car before.

[Brian.Novak]

Lot's of haters in this thread. I'll make sure to stay off all your lawns in the future.

Instead of ragging on the car, why don't you go back to trying to keep the SCCA from modernizing.

RABBLE!!!

[Christopher Crowe]

I'm in the painful process of building a race car. A one-off race car designed to race with other race cars. Damned hard, even scary work.

And lately I find myself watching "Cafe Racers" on TV -- or the Delta Beast in the print media -- and feeling strangely envious.

Those guys don't lose sleep wondering how their creations will fare against the competion. They have no competition! They're just having fun building stuff.

The Delta Beast should simply not be characterized as a "race car". A "design exercise" -- sure... a Kool Kuston Kar -- yeah, I'll buy that -- all fair enough. But presenting this thing to the world as a race car? Bull****. It's not. Race cars compete with other race cars -- which is actually what makes them "race cars".

I think that's the central reason why a lot of folks on Apexspeed are truly offended by this creation is just that it's being presented as something it is not, never was, and will never be.

Power to the Rabble! And praise them for their acute BS-detector noses.

[starkejt]

Let's not forget that a wise man once said that the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.

[provamo]

i LOVE the evidence of passion for our sport (and business) as expressed throughout this thread!

[mblanc]

they could just have started with this,
then turn it around


http://sandiego.olx.com/2008-can-am-...-iid-123882912

[Rick Kirchner]

Mr Crowe, it's not all that arguable that just a few short years ago, the class you aspire to was a delta wing.....

not to mention the FIt and a host of others.

Different organizations, different processes but not conceptually too far apart.

Someone said "wouldn't it be cheaper if..." and someone else said "show me"

[Dennis Valet]

I'm in the painful process of building a race car. A one-off race car designed to race with other race cars. Damned hard, even scary work.

And lately I find myself watching "Cafe Racers" on TV -- or the Delta Beast in the print media -- and feeling strangely envious.

Those guys don't lose sleep wondering how their creations will fare against the competion. They have no competition! They're just having fun building stuff.

The Delta Beast should simply not be characterized as a "race car". A "design exercise" -- sure... a Kool Kuston Kar -- yeah, I'll buy that -- all fair enough. But presenting this thing to the world as a race car? Bull****. It's not. Race cars compete with other race cars -- which is actually what makes them "race cars".

I think that's the central reason why a lot of folks on Apexspeed are truly offended by this creation is just that it's being presented as something it is not, never was, and will never be.

Power to the Rabble! And praise them for their acute BS-detector noses.

I think you are not giving the car due credit.

IRL asked for new concepts for their chassis. Someone came up with the Delta Wing and it was a contender to be selected as the new chassis. They built it with a purpose in mind - to have it raced at the highest level of formula racing in the US. How is that just a design exercise? It's not their fault that they were not selected to be the next Indy Car.

Instead of moping and giving up on their project and idea, they decided to continue production and development in order to show all the nay sayers that their design worked, was practical, and fit a number of stated goals for motorsports. They aren't begging to be included in the LMP1 class of ALMS, they aren't begging to race against traditional cars, they just want recognition that their design is practical and successful.

It's being included in a special class at Le Mans because people recognize the need for innovation and the "cool" factor these sort of things bring to racing. It's not being included to compete with the other cars for the overall win, it's being included to compete with existing ideas of what a racecar could be. No harm there.

[KVS84]

If people are getting this worked up over a nifty concept race car doing exhibition runs I'd hate to see what happens when someone cuts them off in traffic


-Keegan

[Tiago Santos]

feeling strangely envious.

That's all you really had to say

[Marshall Mauney]

I'll make sure to stay off all your lawns in the future.

Instead of ragging on the car, why don't you go back to trying to keep the SCCA from modernizing.

ROTFLMAO - I just spit coffee all over my keyboard....

[Christopher Crowe]

If people are getting this worked up over a nifty concept race car doing exhibition runs I'd hate to see what happens when someone cuts them off in traffic

I had a good laugh at this -- and at how we all must look with the crazed passions that surround the Delta car.

Must say this: The Delta has gotten more attention than a lot of truly GOOD race cars that came, raced, and quietly went...

[Tiago Santos]

And that might be it's best quality - it'll get your attention, either way.. And like it or not, racing NEEDS that kind of attention right now. The kids that might look at the Delta Wing and go "wooow, that's, like, awesome and stuff!", could well get into racing and eventually drive a "good" normal car in 5 or 10 years :P

[starkejt]

The discussion that led to the design:

"Alfred?"

"Yes, Master Wayne?"

"Have my car stretched and converted to look like a giant dong."

"As you wish, sir. But you do understand that will required lengthening your parking spot in the cave?"

"Of course, Alfred. Just make it happen."

<fade out to cries of, "Matalo matalo, Bane Bane.">

<credits>

[Steve Demeter]

I bet the Swamp Rat would corner faster than the Delta Wing

Actually it also resembles another great American straight line car Craig Breedlove's (btw the bravest man ever. who else did a donut at Mach1) Spitir of America Sonic 1 that set the LSR at 600.601mph in the sixties that stood for darn near 20 years.

[Rick Kirchner]

But somebody had to!

[a. pettipas]

They should race it in Long Beach

[Mark_Silverberg]

I bet the Swamp Rat would corner faster than the Delta Wing

Actually it also resembles another great American straight line car Craig Breedlove's (btw the bravest man ever. who else did a donut at Mach1) Spitir of America Sonic 1 that set the LSR at 600.601mph in the sixties that stood for darn near 20 years.

Actually the Sonic 1 record only stood from 1965 to 1970 and was exceeded by the Blue Flame.

The Blue Flame record stood until beaten by Thrust 2 in 1983.

The visual similariy of the Delta Wing is with the first Spirit of America Car which is now in the museum of science and Industry in Chicago.

[10rmotor]

I have never seen so much hate in a thread since the Danica Patrick thread of a few weeks ago. Who knew it would be directed towards a race car.

Can you imagine if the Delta Wing got Go Daddy sponsorship, and Danica drove it??

Dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria......

[KevinFirlein]

dont like it, dont want it, but now that i've lost alot of weight and in better shape I would be more then happy to bring my helmet and right foot to LeMans and drive the sh*t out of it since it seems they need another driver

[rickb99]

I have never seen so much hate in a thread since the Danica Patrick thread of a few weeks ago..... mass hysteria......

I don't see 'hate'. I just see a lot of people trying to understand what the objective of the Delta Wing design is???? What useful automotive advance will be made if it wins Le Mans??

Will we really be drivng delta wings down the freeway in 2015???

[Tiago Santos]

No, probably not - but we will be driving similar engines. Maybe a shift into producing lighter cars with smaller, more efficient engines.

[Mark_Silverberg]

Below is the article from the Nissan Media Site Regarding the Delta Wing.

http://nissannews.com/pressrelease/3...tional-details

The stated interest from Nissan is to gain more experience in small displacement Direct Injection Turbocharged engines and Torque Vectoring. These are both technologies which have been recently introduced on the Juke,

Le Mans is one race which generates a lot of interest outside the core motorsports fan base in Europe. The Delta Wing project has generated substantial coverage outside mainstream motorsports media.

For a mainstream vehicle customer a message about near equivalent performance with substantially lower fuel consumption is far more compelling than some of the subtle differences seen in the recent evolution of racing cars.

[Sean Maisey]

As a kid I grew up in a household with a Lotus Elan in the driveway a FV in the garage and a stack of Road and Track mags on the bookshelf...

At an early age the 6 wheel Tyrrell really caught my imagination. I still have a fondness for those cars.

So I am rooting for the Delta Wing. Too much same same corporate thinking these days. Every town has the same stores, the same eateries and a "new town" mall.

In the age of conformism I applaud this strange beast.

Sean

[10rmotor]

As a kid I grew up in a household with a Lotus Elan in the driveway a FV in the garage and a stack of Road and Track mags on the bookshelf...

At an early age the 6 wheel Tyrrell really caught my imagination. I still have a fondness for those cars.

So I am rooting for the Delta Wing. Too much same same corporate thinking these days. Every town has the same stores, the same eateries and a "new town" mall.

In the age of conformism I applaud this strange beast.

Sean

+1

[Christopher Crowe]

But still, comparing the Delta to that legendary Tyrell is a bit like comparing you-know-what to shine-ola. The Tyrrell was built to the standing rules... And it beat its competition.

This thing?

I guess I can't help being a Grinch about this awful vehicle...

[Sean Maisey]

I understand the resistance, but in my mind the Delta Wing is a thumb in the eye of the racing establishment.

In this era of whimpy @ss socialism no one is allowed to think outside the box. Even racing, long the turf of independant thinkers, is rife with limitations and spec classes. Literallly existing in a "box".

I look at the Delta Wing like the runner in the Apple 1984 Super Bowl ad. She runs into the arena and thows a hammer through the screen.

Wake up and think for your self!

See the vid at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

Sean

[Dennis Valet]

But still, comparing the Delta to that legendary Tyrell is a bit like comparing you-know-what to shine-ola. The Tyrrell was built to the standing rules... And it beat its competition.

This thing?

I guess I can't help being a Grinch about this awful vehicle...

but in today's world, there's no place in motorsports to do this sort of thing. Every series has a tight set of rules to make the cars essentially identical. Good luck getting anyone to put any money into an idea that has no place to race or show off.

Luckily, the IRL car search produced this cool/whacky/different idea. Even more lucky is the fact that the team that produced said car is continuing to push forward with the idea just to prove that it works and should be considered not only plausible, but desirable.

[Jnovak]

As a kid I grew up in a household with a Lotus Elan in the driveway a FV in the garage and a stack of Road and Track mags on the bookshelf...

At an early age the 6 wheel Tyrrell really caught my imagination. I still have a fondness for those cars.

So I am rooting for the Delta Wing. Too much same same corporate thinking these days. Every town has the same stores, the same eateries and a "new town" mall.

In the age of conformism I applaud this strange beast.

Sean

I agree Sean and also have a big fondness for the Tyrrell. However, I wonder if the Delta Wing racecar concept can be competitive against other current race cars from a lap time perspective. I say put a big engine in it and race against others with the same rules.

PS: There was/is a 6 wheel tyrrell at a local historic race shop in Michigan. I got a chance to look it over for several hours a few years ago when it was being restored. What an AMAZING race car. It also reminds me of how terribly dangerous the race cars of that period were with VERY LITTLE driver protection.

Thanks ... Jay

[Swift17]

I too love the initial six wheeler (as seen by me at Watkins Glen) and also the "March" concept - not good in photoshop but would LOVE to see the two merged (the March ran hillclimbs in GB) [the FWO8B tested] the large windows" used in the German GP gave great views of Jody at work - AND evidenced the virtually complete lack of cockpit safety ...............

and the March run last weekend

[Marty Nygard]

I have a period video of the six wheel Tyrell being shaken down without the body work. Great fun to watch all those front wheel linkages.

[Brands]

Delta wing about 3 secs off the tail end of the P2 field at the moment - not too bad really.

[provamo]

luv to read what the drivers of said vehicle have to say in some future retrospective

[Rick Kean]

2012 Le Mans Test Report

Le Man's green racers including the 2013 Garage 56 entry


DeltaWing Nissan at Dunlop Bridge


DeltaWing Nissan on Mulsanne


Audi Tunnels and Torsion Bars


Toyota Tunnel Vision

and finally from the pen of Bob Kane, perhaps... an H2 topless GreenGT ?
'needs to be File 13'd

Rick

[Stan Clayton]

Well, at least no one can accuse this year's Le Mans prototype field of being boring looking.

[Tiago Santos]

From the above link:

"Having seen the car in action, we can confirm that the unconventional machine works very well, especially through corners. Running in an experimental class, the DeltaWing will not be classified and the ACO have asked the team to run a lap-time of around 3:45, so as not to upset the top runners."

Hmm.. Seems disappointing that they'd give it a target lap time like that, but then again there isn't really a rule set they're restricted to. So it might not tell us much about the car's potential after all..

[Dave]

Maybe they were all too busy saying it looked stupid and would never turn..

[EACIII]

Is it possible that 3:45 is as fast as the car would go and the orginizers were saving the team embarrishment? As there were other factural errors in the press release I am not sure you can believe the rest of it.

[R. Pare]

and finally from the pen of Bob Kane, perhaps... an H2 topless GreenGT ?
Rick

Looks more like something by Stan Mott!