I made the following posts for the Spyker forum (
www.Spykerowner.com) but thought you guys might find it interesting (to flame me
) as well:
Maybe it's a good idea to compare the GT2 contenders of Ferrari, Porsche and Spyker. Here's a very brief technical overview of the past three years:
Ferrari:
In 2005 the teams using a Ferrari were fielding the 360, the fastest lap in the race set by the 360 was 4:11,193, the highest topspeed achieved by this Ferrari was 282 km/h.
The Ferrari 430 made it's Le Mans debut in 2006, thereby replacing the 360. The engine capacity was 4,0 liter, two restrictors measuring 28,8 mm. were used, giving the Ferrari 440 HP. at 7000 rpm. The total weight of the car was 1130 kg. It was capable of a fastest racelap of 4:06,855, the Ferrari obtained the highest topspeed in class in the race: 299 km/h.
For 2007, not many things were changed, although an airconditioning system was fitted to meet the maximum cockpit temperature requirements set by the organisers. To compensate the loss of power, the Ferrari was allowed to increase the diameter of their restrictors by 0,3 mm., now measuring 28,4 mm. This is smaller than the year before, this can be explained by the wish of the organisers to limit the power of these GT2 cars to 450 HP. If there are signs that some manufacturer exceed this power output, it is likely that these cars will get smaller restrictors the next year. Despite the smaller restrictors, the fastest Ferrari racelap was quicker than last years: 4:05,222, the highest topspeed of the Ferrari setting the fastest racelap was 286 km/h. The highest Ferrari topspeed was set by another car though: 296 km/h.
Porsche:
In 2005 the fastest laptime in the race achieved by a Porsche was 4:07,164, the highest topspeed set by this Porsche was 286 km/h.
For 2006, Porsche decided to enlarge the engine capacity of 3,6 liter, as used in 2005, to 3,8 liter, by increasing the bore of the engine. The restrictors for this years race were smaller than those used the year before: 28,7 mm. This was done in order to slow the Porsches down a bit so the other cars like Ferrari, Panoz and Spyker could keep up. With these smaller restrictors Porsche could not increase the power of the new engine, in comparison to last year, but the torque did rise. Porsche was able to better the fastest racelap of 2005: 4:04,426, on top of that Porsche reached the highest topspeed in class: 298 km/h.
In 2007 all Porsche teams now used the 3,8 liter engine, in the previous year some teams still used the 3,6 liter engine. Porsche learned from 2006 that the engine could use a bit more air and choose to increase the total weight of the car to 1225 kg. Therefore they were able to use restrictors with a diameter of 29,5 mm. An additional advantage was that the extra weight could be placed where ever Porsche wanted to. So, the engine got more power, now 485 HP. at 7000 rpm. and handling was improved by placing the extra ballast where it was most needed. On the other side: the car was now 100 kg. heavier. Prove of the fact that people at Porsche know what they are doing: Again a faster laptime than the previous year: 4:03,821, highest topspeed set by this Porsche: 293 km/h.
Panoz
Although not entered in this years race, it might be interesting to note that the Panoz entered in 2006 had an engine output of 520HP (!)
Spyker
In 2005 the power output of the Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R was 435 HP at 8000 rpm. The capacity from the production engine was decreased to 3,8 liter, by reducing the stroke. They used a single restrictor which was 40,6 mm. in size. The total weight of the car was 1115 kg. Fastest racelap was 4:16,381, highest topspeed 275 km/h.
In 2006 Spyker developed the engine with succes, 20 HP was found giving the engine a total output of 455 HP. The single restrictor was abandoned in favour of two restrictors, 29 mm. in size. Total weight was now 1145 kg. The fitting of a roof was debet on this weight increase, allthough some bodyparts were now made of carbon. A lot of changes made by spyker resulted in a spectacular fastest race laptime of 4:11,199, a full 5 seconds quicker than last year! Topspeed increased as well to 283 km/h.
For 2007 Spyker choose to decrease the engine capacity to 3,6 liter, apparently Spyker wanted to give the engine a bit more air as well. Some body panels were again made of aluminium instead of last years carbon. As seen in the Ferrari, Spyker fitted an aircondtioning system as well, in order to keep cockpit temperatures under control. Restrictors measured now 28,8 mm. Fastest lap in the race was: 4:10,050, again quicker than last year although not by 5 seconds. Topspeed a bit better as well, now being 284 km/h.