Was curious about fuel consumption so did a bit more reading. Looks like a typo in the story, assume they mean R10 could do one “more” lap with a tank full at Le Mans. That’s significant when you consider Le Mans is nearly an 8.5 mile track. To anyone who is into race tech stuff, the below links are some of the best I’ve seen.
“The Audi engineers have calculated that the R10 could do one ore lap with a tank full at the Le Mans Sarthe track. This would mean that the R10 is about 5 % more efficient fuel burner than the R8 FSI over the track. The Sarthe is about 80 % WOT (Wide Open Throttle) so the difference is not that enormous. At tracks with a higher part load percentage (Sebring, Road Atlanta) the difference is going to be bigger.”
http://www.mulsannescorner.com/juhaAudiR10.html
“HT: How much of an improvement do you feel the diesel will make on fuel economy vs. the R8 powerplant?
Well Audi claimed a possible 1-2 lap advantage at Le Mans over the R8, a track where a high percentage of the lap is at 100-percent throttle. So that will translate into a larger advantage at other circuits.”
http://www.highlandstoday.com/MGBRVI3MNIE.html
“This choice emphasizes the TDI (and concurrence) commercial success on Europe's roads. It isn't the first diesel raced at Le Mans, however. In 2004 a Lola equipped with a Caterpillar re badged VW V10 TDI ran for a few hours before breaking its gearbox. The Volkswagen Group itself uses a specially equipped diesel race Touareg at the Paris Dakar Rally and BMW had successfully raced diesel touring cars at the Nürburgring. The R10 will compete with Peugeot's new diesel effort in 2007.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_R10
“The R10's 5.5-liter V12 twin-turbo intercooled high-pressure direct-injection diesel breaks plenty of new ground for a diesel. It may have the highest specific power output of any diesel ever, with over 650 horsepower and 800 lb-ft of torque. It's high-revving for a diesel, with power from 3,000 to 5,000 rpm, and it's block and cylinder heads are made from aluminum for light weight. Most diesels are made from cast iron for strength, and are heavy. And 3,000 rpm is a high engine speed for an automotive-size diesel, which is small as such things go. Modern locomotive diesels rev to perhaps 1200 rpm, usually less, with upwards of 180 liters capacity for 4,000 horsepower. The largest marine diesel I know of dwarfs that - it's a Wartsila-Sulzer turbodiesel built to power container ships. With a 38-inch bore and 98-inch stroke, the 14-cylinder version displaces 25,480 liters and produces over 180,000 horsepower at 102 rpm, and over 5.6 million lb-ft of torque at that speed. It weighs 2300 tons and is nearly 90 feet long.”
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/12/15/177239.html
