The never ending Toyota return to Le Mans (LMP1) Saga

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by gustavobamba

Do you have that pictures? a link? I don´t know nothing about a Aston secret car!!!

He's talking about the first shots of the Lola-Aston that surfaced in early 2009 before the car ran officially for the first time at the LMS test at Ricard.

[wewantourdarbyback]

Originally Posted by R4z3rw33n

Perhaps it's the result of planned pit stop strategy?

The driver is going to do a handbrake turn into the pit bay so that he's on the correct side?

[WolfsburgRS]

I like it. It definitely has that Toyota DNA from my point of view - shades of GT-One

[R4z3rw33n]

Originally Posted by wewantourdarbyback

The driver is going to do a handbrake turn into the pit bay so that he's on the correct side?

Travelling sideways does seem to be their national past time.

On a serious note, they weren't going to gain any ground doing the same thing as the competition (which is now severely diminished).
Perhaps they figured it would be necessary to make time in pitlane, also?

Just a wild theory.

[skycafe]

up until the R18, the Audi's were LHD. The Dome was LHD. The theory about the hybrid hardware being on pit-side for quick access to the engineers makes perfect sense to me.

[Gingers4Justice]

I love this car! It's not necessarily beautiful, but it's unmistakeably a Toyota, just as much as the Audi is unmistakeably an Audi.

Hopefully this car will be the first noisy car to win Le Mans since 2005.

[deggis]

[kurski]

Originally Posted by deggis

Toyota car looks great, it is somewhat reminiscent of the old B09/60, but does anyone know whether the car's chief designer Pascal Vasselon?

[JAG]

Front 908, rear R18.

Going to be strange to hear a factory P1 making a noise, even looking at the pictures you still imagine it travelling around stealth like!

[deggis]

Originally Posted by TF110

I do see blue though, so I feel Panasonic has to be a sponsor (like in F1).

I don't oppose that (big sponsor is good) but while the stripe in the fin certainly is blueish color at least in the above image (checked it with a color picker), it might not be the color in real life. Instead the TMG grey.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by wewantourdarbyback

The driver is going to do a handbrake turn into the pit bay so that he's on the correct side?

[Pandamasque]

^ that's car hockey.

[CTD]

Matmut is also likely to Sponsor the Car.
That would create a more color full car

[Fogelhund]

A shame to some degree, that the day the new Toyota pictures first are revealed, they are overshadowed by the Pug news.

[DS"]

Hopefully Toyota can fill the gap that Peugeot will leave behind. The car looks already quite decent.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

A shame to some degree, that the day the new Toyota pictures first are revealed, they are overshadowed by the Pug news.

Indeed, has some poetic aspect to it though. Circle of life, one thing ends while the next one comes to life..

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Indeed, has some poetic aspect to it though. Circle of life, one thing ends while the next one comes to life..

But i like Mufasa more than Simba!

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by CTD

But i like Mumbasa more than Zimba!

Off topic comment alert I have to type this or my brain will explode! Wait! Did you a) get this wrong? b) refer to some kind of parody that I don't know c) use different names because they used these in the dubbed Danish version? Thanks for reading, you've been a wonderful audience. Don't forget to try the veal and tip your waitress. We now return you to the topic

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Woops, Mufasa and Simba

[tyronnezx]

Originally Posted by vyselegend

I do not dislike it. Although now that Victor_RO mentioned the ressemblance with AMR-one headlights I can't help but feeling the same.
But to those who complain about the unfinished look of it, remember what the initial 908 looked like when it first hit the track at the HTTT in 2006! Now at least the Toyota does have headlights, and a livery...

About LHD, I wonder if this have to do with critical KERS components (batteries?) being fitted in the "passenger" side's floor, and thus giving them the most accesible side for engineers to work on it while in the pits.

I'm going to buy the Auto Hebdo later on, if there's some new information I'll share it tonight (I doubt there is, but...)

I REALLY REALLY pray that they fix those headlights. The reason i say that is because right now im staring at a wallpaper of the GT-One from goodwood and this things worlds apart in terms of beauty. hopefully the car that shows up in sebring will look a lot different. does anyone have news on the fate of Peugeot drivers? Toyota should snap them up asap before Porsche or Audi.

[Articus]

Interesting. The front looks likea 908. the rear looks like the R18. Seems like they kind of just shopped around for aero concepts to test in the windtunnel. Clearly the 908 has a better front end while the R18 has the better rear end the way toyota seems to have followed.

[TF110]

Better? We have no clue if they're better than Toyota's. This is only their first test. The bodywork could change. Toyota's windtunnel is top notch. Ferrari went there to recalibrate their own. So I believe that they'll be on top of the aerodynamics. Any comments on the low black section between the nose cone and fenders?

[AndrewF31]

Originally Posted by rich07

Ah the AMR-One, the car that keeps on giving..

haha good one rich.

[Articus]

Originally Posted by TF110

Better? We have no clue if they're better than Toyota's. This is only their first test. The bodywork could change. Toyota's windtunnel is top notch. Ferrari went there to recalibrate their own. So I believe that they'll be on top of the aerodynamics. Any comments on the low black section between the nose cone and fenders?

What i mean is that because Toyota followed Peugeot i nteh front end area that means they thought Peugeots front end was better than Audi's and that because they followed Audi in the rear end area that means they felt Audi's rear end was more efficient than Peugeot's . I was not comparing the Toyota to the Audi/Peugeot.

[TF110]

I don't see them following either team all that much, the nose is different from Peugeot's, as it's not as wide at the top. The rear end only looks like Audi's because of the fin. The wing, the holes- all different. Plus this is the first test. Things can change so it could possibly be a interim car with basic parts.