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Originally Posted by deltawing
And would you believe that? Or would you believe that the car is a lot heavier than what you read?
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I will say that if we add 100kg onto the ZEOD's declared weight it does make a much nicer curve on which the original Deltawing sits rather nicely, which does lend some credibility to the "overweight" claims
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Any comparisons of the ICE car's potential relative to the Deltawing doesn't have enough information to be conclusive.
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If we assume that the 100kg weight discrepancy
is correct then we can make some really good estimates about the performance of a Delta shaped car or rectangular car with any power:weight ratio we desire.
Lets say we have a new category in which you're allowed a 400bhp engine and no weight limit. Lets assume that a "Super ZEOD" car, including driver and fuel, would weigh 620kg, and thus have a power:weight ratio of 645bhp/ton. We can predict it would lap at around 145mph average speed.
If we now took the same engine and put it in a rectangular car with a total weight of 670kg (i.e. 50kg more than the Delta-shaped car), it would result in a power to weight ratio of 597bhp/ton and we would predict a lap speed of 150mph. I.e. even though it weighs more and has the same engine, on the evidence we have so far you would predict it would be faster than the Super ZEOD. If we then add on the effect of ground effects bodywork (maybe 2-3 mph faster average speed?), and then a DRS system (another 2 or 3mph?) we see that the "Super LMP" would be lapping somewhere in the 155mph range: about 10mph faster than the Super ZEOD, despite having the same engine power. In fact we can then comfortably say that it would probably equal the Super ZEOD's performance even if it only had a power:weight ratio of only about 450 to 470bhp/ton, which, with a 400bhp engine, could be achieved with an all-up weight of 850kg.
Basically, what I'm saying is that from the evidence we have seen so far, a "heavy" rectangular LMP with the same engine as the ZEOD, and allowed the same aerodynamic freedoms, would still out perform it.. and that is why I'm not a big fan of this "innovative" wheel layout.
When we see the Delta-shaped car's curve higher than the rectangular curve, I will be impressed, and I too will call it "innovative"... until that day......