With nine 24 Hours of Le Mans wins under its belt, the Audi factory team will return in 2011 with a brand-new race car in which to compete. The R18 TDI is, like past entries, a turbo-diesel endurance car that will campaign in the LMP1 class. The car will make its racing debut at Spa-Francorchamps in March, and Audi plans to enter three of them in next June's Le Mans race.
The R18's carbon-fiber body holds a 3.7-liter TDI V-6 engine of undisclosed power output, coupled to a new six-speed sequential manual transmission. The engine has been downsized significantly compared to those of Audi's past Le Mans entries—the R15 TDI employed a 5.5-liter V-10 and the R10 TDI had a 5.5-liter V-12—because new rules for 2011 dictate smaller powerplants in order reduce overall engine power.
New Le Mans rules also permit hybrid-like energy-recovery systems, like the KERS setup used in Formula 1. Audi says the R18 was "designed for progressive electrification," but the company hasn't decided whether to employ such technology in the car.
The R18 has a closed cockpit, the first time for an Audi Le Mans entry since 1999, which the company says drastically improves aerodynamics. The change is likely in response to rival Peugeot's closed-cockpit design; the trade-off is that the rules require a cooling system for roofed cars. The R18 has new full-LED front lighting elements—hey, it is an Audi. It uses the same wheel sizes front and rear, which the company says helps with even weight distribution.
We say the new closed-cockpit arrangement, coupled with the fancy lights, makes for one intimidating-looking racer. (It's matte gray, for heaven's sake.) The car's first on-track performance will come at the April Le Mans test day, where the team will gather data for the most important race of the season.
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