When a Diesel DOMINATED at Le Mans

Look at this, it’s a DIESEL RACE CAR. And it was RAPID!

Audi in 2006, decided that diesel isn’t ‘the fuel of satan’ and thought it could be the recipe for a Le Mans car that could go FAST - but efficiently.

And it was, they created a MONSTER. A 5.5 litre, V12, Turbo DIESEL - and it created enough Torque to make the earth spin just a bit faster. Maybe I made that up. It was quick.

So why did Audi decide to experiment with diesel? Well, there is another factor here that we haven’t mentioned.
At Le Mans, it’s unique because pit stops are a massive deal when you’re racing for 24 hours straight. In a sprint race, like Formula 1 - you start with the tank full and you run the whole race (well that’s the case at the moment, it wasn’t always that way)
But you get my point, fuel efficiency isn’t a driving factor there. Overall engine performance is more important.
But at Le Mans, the top class pit every 45 minutes - so in a dry race with no reliability issues - they can pit upwards of 30 times!

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[Dispariabooks]

Audi's thought process: *We're winning....but what if we win harder?*

[eden]

What a compliment to diesel racecar that they kept adjusting the rules in order to get rid of them. Speaks a lot to their potency.

[hypex]

Small technical point I wanted to add: Not only does diesel have more energy density as a fuel (which means efficiency in terms of storing energy), but the thermodynamic process/cycle is more efficient (or at least usually is, which means using the energy that is stored in the fuel more efficiently). Great video btw :)

[phil]

This Audi terrified the gasoline powered racing industry. What I absolutely loved about this car is that the drivers could never use fulkl throttle until they got near top speed. The engine made so much torque, it would spin it's wheels, in a straight line, at any speed.What a spectacular machine.

[ferdinandhendriks]

Loved those R18 onboards, at night. That low rumbling engine, but insane acceleration, was so special. I could watch it for hours.

[pauls]

I bet this car was a blast to drive, being able to torque it's way thru a higher gear with no need to keep it in a tight rpm range

[BeezerWashingbeard]

Being from a small Scandinavian country, without proper tarmac racetracks, it's pretty impressive that Tom Kristensen was able to achieve the level of success that he did in Le Mans.

[TheNecromancer]

In short, under the same regulations, be it limited by restrictor/boost or fuel Flow, a Diesel has more power and a wider powerband. Full stop. Yes, if you compensate for the weight a Diesel is more powerful and has a better rev range in absolute terms.

[mrpanferno]

I am currently going through an internship at AUDI. One of my Colleagues was a former Engineer at AUDIs racesport department and the Storys he told me about le mans are great. A highly motivated team trying to push to the limit.

[OH]

1100Nm of torque is just nuts

For reference, a 2021 Volvo FH16 truck is among their top of the line truck offerings, designed to haul 60 tons of weight. It has around 3000Nm of torque.

This car reaches a third of that which is insane considering one is a racecar and one is a literal truck

[chicobicalho]

As a guy who has driven a diesel car for the past 30 years, I couldn't help but think the Audi Tdi Le Mans cars were out of this world, and the fact they were so quiet (turbos act as a silencer in diesel engines as opposed to petrol engines), made them so much more fascinating. I do wonder if Audi will attempt something off the charts in F1. And on a footnote, maybe Sains should reconsider and invest head on into the Audi project.

[TheShootingBrake]

I love the torque-at-any-revs pull I get with mu Q5 TDI. Wish so hard those Audi diesels hadn't fallen out of favor in the US. Such miracle engines. Incredible power and fuel economy. 550 miles on a tank of in-town driving and nearly 700 on a road trip.

[SirAMG]

Can’t go wrong Audi’s TDI! Absolute torque monsters 😈😈

[jpkalishek]

My favorite part was they knew the gearbox they had wasn't likely going to last so they made it quck-change, and how gobsmacked the coverage was when they pushed it in the garage, bits flew, and suddenly they unplugged the whole setup, plugged in a new one and rolled it back out of the garage. And people though fast brake changes were neatness . . . Then they were told they couldn't do it that way, so they came up with another still fast method, and that to was disallowed Now we have, "No Transmission Changes Allowed" except the NASCAR thing.

[dzelpwr]

Love this. I was at the R10 TDI's first race in 2006: 12 Hours of Sebring that year. A lot of people were in disbelief that this eerily quiet, diesel-powered LMP was kicking everyone's butt.

To the point of the heavier internals, I'll give a good example. I was rebuilding an old VW 1.9 TDI at the same time as a shop-mate of mine was rebuilding an old small block Chevy. I was pretty gob-smacked when he handed me this much bigger bore than what I was working on piston WITH connecting rod attached, and it felt so wildly light.

I get out a piston for the 1.9 TDI, which is nearly a full inch smaller in diameter, and the TDI piston by itself weighed MORE than the significantly larger small block Chevy piston WITH ITS CONNECTING ROD ATTACHED.

That's insane. It really boggles the mind to see this assembly that is substantially larger and with more parts feel noticeably lighter weight than just this small TDI piston by itself. Absolutely bonkers.

Well-done on the technical details in this video. As a technician myself, there's a lot of poorly informed videos out there that get a lot of details wrong, but overall on this one, you're bang-on.

[guerrinlove]

Always loved VAG TDIs. My first stick shift car was a 2000 Beetle TDI. I could get 600 miles on a single fill-up. Now I daily a 2013 Passat TDI SE and has been a dream

[bjdunnell]

I love this video! Im an American with a VW Golf TDI and rarely see them. But this beast is quick, and gets between 45-50 mpg on average. I drive 3-4 hours round trip for work. Its awesome. Never knew about this history. Thank you

[Max-djqj]

Really interesting. With the right e fuels produced, diesel is still one of the best ways for cars etc. Love my 80l diesel tank for easy over 1000km in a big transit custom... Even 1200km are not a big problem in summer time on highway with 110kmh

[El_WIZZA_]

Be sure to regularly check the fluids on your vehicle as well as keep up with standard maintenance. Have a good one.

[Turboactive]

I saw that car race at Road Atlanta. Truly amazing. It hardly made any noise you could hear the tires more than it's engine.