eli5: why is the NASCAR Camaro so good at Le Mans compared to LMGTE?
In: 285
This weekend I heard the NASCAR in question being described aerodynamically as “A clenched fist with wheels”
They have a barn door of a rear wing and a ton of drag, but they make up for it with a stupid amount of horsepower and torque.
The car runs a typical Chevy NASCAR engine, a 5.86L V8.
They were joking prior to the race that this is the only race where they get to remove the restricter plates on the engine so it can generate its maximum power. Upwards of 750HP which is possibly upwards of 150 more than the GTE cars depending on who you are talking about.
The Garage 56 NASCAR is also around 400 lb lighter than a typical stock NASCAR, achieved mostly by removing extra safety parts and structure not needed unless you’re bump drafting or on an oval. This is just an educated guess, but since a typical NASCAR weight around 3,300 pounds, removing 400lb would put it on par with the minimum weight of the GTE class (maybe upwards of 150lb heavier which is not nothing in racing but pretty close considering) .
Jenson Button was describing how everyone thought they would be a bullet on the straights and awful in the corners, but the opposite was true. The GTE cars were faster than them in the straights, but the NASCAR could break hard because of the mechanical grip and downforce (and the special carbon ceramic breaks they were using) and accelerate fast because of all the torque.
But mostly it’s because it’s purpose made race car, not a modified GT car.
NASCAR has the benefit of all the teams working on similar cars for decades and they know all the tricks to make them go fast.
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