Subaru will race at Le Mans

"El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First!" (lightningzone) 11/15/2013 at 11:17 • Filed to: None

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...as an engine manufacturer.

Subaru’s new FA20DIT is being developed into a highly efficient racing engine for Le Mans Prototypes. The apparently radical eLMP R engine from Revolutionary Technologies United (RTU) is a 1.6 turbo charged short stroke boxer engine based on a standard Subaru block, it was revealed for the first time at the PMW Expo in Cologne, Germany. It is expected that it will produce in excess of 550bhp and can run with very little cooling indeed due to its use of a patented ‘Pseudo Adiabatic’ combustion process. This the team behind the project would make a car using it not only highly fuel efficient but also highly aerodynamically efficient due to significantly reduced cooling demands. However the engine is on the heavy side at 130kg.

The man behind the project, Al Solari has something of an interesting past in sportscar racing but claims that this technology has already been proven on a five cylinder Audi engine which developed in excess of 800bhp. Certainly if the technology works as claimed then the engine would (aside from its weight) be highly competitive in a fuel flow restricted formula.

Performance figures and verification of the RTU claims will be announced at the Autosport Engineering Show in January on stand E1162.

Source

Mattbob > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/15/2013 at 11:23

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so all of the heat would dump from the exhaust? I need an explanation of this pseudo adiabatic cycle!!!

*edit*

Here you go self: http://www.rtugroup.com/revolutionary-…

dinobot666 > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/15/2013 at 11:25

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286 pounds is heavy for an engine assembly?

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Mattbob 11/15/2013 at 11:29

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It's in an exposition mode, exhaust pipes will be mounted, depending on the car that will house the engine.

DeltawingGothamDeserves > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/15/2013 at 11:29

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Lola-Subaru.... mmmmmmmm

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > dinobot666 11/15/2013 at 11:33

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Just a few pounds heavier than the Toyota engine, Rebellion Racing used this season.

Mattbob > Mattbob 11/15/2013 at 11:35

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Reading this more, it sounds like bullshit. I can't glean any real science or proof from this.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > DeltawingGothamDeserves 11/15/2013 at 11:36

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Or maybe Dome.

bhardoin > Mattbob 11/15/2013 at 11:42

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I mean, its kinda an explanation. I still have no idea what they're doing to curb the heat loss through the cylinder wall.

Mattbob > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/15/2013 at 11:43

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I was referring to this "pseudo adiabatic" process, and how the engine accomplishes it. adiabatic means that no heat or mass is transferred. They mention some malarchy about cold combustion in their materials on the web. I'm not buying it until I see some real info and possibly informational gifs

Mattbob > bhardoin 11/15/2013 at 11:48

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yeah, here is an animation that goes through it, but really manages to not explain anything.

http://www.rtugroup.com/animation

I'm calling BS

bhardoin > Mattbob 11/15/2013 at 11:52

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Yeah, I looked at that and didn't really feel like it explained anything about how their burn process works. I'm not sure if trade secret or BS.

Mattbob > bhardoin 11/15/2013 at 11:53

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All I can tell is that they somehow supercool the intake air to about -4 F, and that somehow keeps the engine cool enough for no cooling. Maybe they use a vortex tube and use the extra turbo boost to cool the air. Looking at it again, i'm pretty sure that is whats happening.

DeltawingGothamDeserves > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/15/2013 at 11:56

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OH yea.

bhardoin > Mattbob 11/15/2013 at 12:00

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hmm. there still seems like their has to be some trickery either with the cylinder walls, or the actual engine cycle to make it run cool.

I guess to get the intake temp that low they run massive boost, and then expand the air past after the intercooler, dropping temp?

SubiSanchez > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/15/2013 at 12:00

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Maybe it will have a hybrid AWD system like the Audis? I'm not sure if that is allowed in P2 like in P1.

Mattbob > bhardoin 11/15/2013 at 12:03

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agreed, maybe thats what they mean when they say that some of the system can be retrofitted. Probably insulated cylinder walls and supercooled intake. Look up vortex tubes, you can supercool air as long as you have enough pressure and volume(turbocharger). I don't know if you could get that kind of cooling with just a nozzle, or perhaps a combination of both.

Either way, it says the turbo runs at 41 psig, That is way more than needed for the engine alone, right? so I suspect some kind of vortex tube or nozzle to use the pressure to cool the air.

Fred (FreddsterExprs) > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 11/15/2013 at 12:06

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Oh my, how awesome would that be. A Dome-Subaru, maybe in blue with gold Volk Wheels?
That really needs to happen.

bhardoin > Mattbob 11/15/2013 at 12:11

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If you insulated the cylinder walls wouldnt you just get ridiculous heat soak every time fresh air/fuel entered the cylinder, negating the benefit? or maybe that's why they are supercooling the intake, so that the mixture burns like normal, its just being cooled by the intake air?

Mattbob > bhardoin 11/15/2013 at 12:15

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thats what I'm thinking. Also, if the heat energy is held in the combusted gasses, it would make them push on the piston more, because they would expand more, and most of the heat energy would exit with the exhaust gasses. If the cylinder walls didn't retain energy because they are an insulating material, then there shouldn't be much heat introduced to the incoming air. Of course, I'm totally spitballing. I've only taken one thermodynamics course.

bhardoin > Mattbob 11/15/2013 at 12:18

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yeah, all my hypothesis is purely conjecture as well. haha

Mattbob > bhardoin 11/15/2013 at 12:18

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also, if you look at the comparisons between the RTU and a regular engine, the performance is way higher, but the gas mileage is only a bit better. This leads me to believe that the performance is increased only when the turbo spools up and the nozzle/cooling effect can work. I'm guessing during normal low RPM driving, the system doesn't work as well due to lower boost pressures, thereby not contributing as much to the overall fuel economy as would be thought based off the other numbers.

Mattbob > bhardoin 11/15/2013 at 13:25

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With some quick calculations, if they don't lose any air in the cooling process, ie not using a vortex tube, the air would be at 29 psi at the engine intake after cooling it to the levels they state, (-20 C from 75 C). I'm not great at estimating power gained from boost, but I feel like this boost level might give them the power gains they are talking about. This high boost combined with low engine temps would be neat. I just don't know how they cool the air that much.