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Originally Posted by Topless
I just watched the America Le Mans series final at Laguna Seca. The Audi R10 won the race and the overall. Great racing. In second was the Penske Porsche RS Spyder just seconds behind. While the Audi was faster in the straights the Porsche laid down faster best lap times all season.
Compare these two cars:
Audi R10 2040 lbs, approx. 700hp, approx. 1000lbs torque, lbs/hp 2.9
Porsche RS 1708 lbs, approx. 500hp, approx. 500lbs torque, lbs/hp 3.4
That is a HUGE difference in power. Why didn't Audi run away from everyone? Why did Porsche turn faster lap times? Are the Penske drivers that good? What gives?
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um.. Porsche did win 7 or so races outright vs the Audis this year.
Weight is critical. When you watch F1, you learn that every gallon of fuel ads several tenths of a second per lap. The audis are already 300lbs heavier without fuel. The key to the Audis is that there incredible Torque allows them to pull away from slow corners quicker. Tight street courses played to the Audis advantage usually. Longer courses with "fast" corners, well, light weight has its advantages.
Of note, at Mosport, the GT3 cars were pulling 150ish at the end of the back straight.. the LMP2 cars, about 170, the LPM1 Audis - close to 185. The extra hp/tq can also come into play when setting up the cars downforce. You can run "more wing" and not give up to much to the LMP2 cars.