Move from FE to ME presents new challenge to Corvette Racing
10-19-2018, 07:20 PM
#41
Drifting
Thread Starter
There is a lot of wrong info here.
They run an E20 blend of race fuel. They do not even get close to 8k rpm. They are limited by the bop of a MAX rpm of 6800. They shift at about 6k rpm depending on if they need to stretch a gear for corners (but are still hard limited to the 6800). Even if they were not limited in max rpm by bop they would never be able to spin it that fast and make power with the tiny air restrictors they use (bop mandated 31.6mm for both of the restrictors). Corvette racing has never lost an engine due to failure in the whole C7 run. In the early races they had trouble with the DI fuel pump but no motor failures. Also they had a few dnf with overheating due to radiator leaks. Doug Fehan is the Program Manager, not race director. The first year of the C7 at Le Mans they took 2nd place, they did not loose a motor. My info is from living and breathing Corvette Racing, actually watching all the racing, and I have friends that are crew members for the #3 car.
They run an E20 blend of race fuel. They do not even get close to 8k rpm. They are limited by the bop of a MAX rpm of 6800. They shift at about 6k rpm depending on if they need to stretch a gear for corners (but are still hard limited to the 6800). Even if they were not limited in max rpm by bop they would never be able to spin it that fast and make power with the tiny air restrictors they use (bop mandated 31.6mm for both of the restrictors). Corvette racing has never lost an engine due to failure in the whole C7 run. In the early races they had trouble with the DI fuel pump but no motor failures. Also they had a few dnf with overheating due to radiator leaks. Doug Fehan is the Program Manager, not race director. The first year of the C7 at Le Mans they took 2nd place, they did not loose a motor. My info is from living and breathing Corvette Racing, actually watching all the racing, and I have friends that are crew members for the #3 car.
10-20-2018, 11:08 AM
#42
Please check back with your friend about LeMan’s 2010 and the cam failure....and the computer similuated dyno rerun of the race with virtually identical results stemming from cam twist due to higher revs being run in the 5.5 L as per Doug Fehan af Road America directly to my ears. The test engine blew up almost at exactly the same number of hours running. . : “As part of the GT regulations for 2010, the engine would be downsized to 5.5L to comply with the new engine displacement limits. At 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans, factory GT2 Corvettes retired after engine problems and a collision with Anthony Davidson's Peugeot. Only one of 4 Corvettes finished the race,( in GT Am class.)”
10-20-2018, 02:29 PM
#43
Drifting
Thread Starter
Yes I am talking about the C7. You are correct the first year for the 5.5L was 2010. They currently still use that same basic engine in the C7 just with DI added. Still use an LS7 block as the starting point. The engine in the C7 like I said does not spin very fast due to the air restrictors. Max of 6800 per bop bulletin with shifts at about 6000 rpm. The C6 5.5L would have been very similar as they had even smaller air restrictors as the hp target for the class was about 470- 490 hp give or take. The current GTLM GTE cars are more in the 510-530 hp range now depending on current bop for a given car.
Last edited by Rinaldo Catria; 10-20-2018 at 02:37 PM.