Hey, be nice. I owned a black Maxima for 18 years - wonderful car - but the rust bug finally won out.

I think a lot is being kept under wraps but it weighs just over 1,000 pounds with an engine is expected to produce around 300 bhp. R&T said its sufficient to give the DeltaWing lap times between LMP1 and LMP2 machines at Le Mans, despite having only half the power of those conventional prototypes.

Here’s some on track footage:

http://www.roadandtrack.com/racing/m...g-takes-flight

PS - Read the article; you will love the driver's comment after the test.

 

I watched several Youtube Videos of it. I love the looks and enjoyed watching the vid from the cockpit. Thanks for posting this Dave.

 

To those concerned about the looks being so different from contemporary endurance racers, this looked a bit odd when it first showed up in open wheel:

 

I wonder what the reactions were when this thing showed up at its first test

 

may be new, may be different but I'm just not feeling the love.
thanks for reminding me about sebring though.
F1 is this week end too

 

It still catches grief, only now it's in historic races.

 

O/T: Ron Howard is using two of those old Elf Tyrell's in the making of his new F1 movie, Rush.

 

Why am I reminded of this?

 

A 3-wheeled Morgan is certainly not the first thought that crossed my mind. What did - - it is not the usual cookie-cutter race car. Cars like the Morgan, the 6-wheel Tyrrell, the Chaparral, etc. show 'thinking outside the box' and before all the mandated rules in most series 'thinking outside the box' was the norm. I loved seeing the 6-wheeler run at the Glen in '76 and after coming home from that race bought a rather expensive plastic model to put together as soon as they arrived from Japan!

Due to safety and cost cutting there is more innovation from road cars than race cars these days (especially with a series like NASCAR) but it wasn't always like that. It use to be the reverse.

The DeltaWing at this point has met or exceeded all of it's computer designed expectations in early track tests. There is four days of serious track testing scheduled at Sebring after the race in prep for LeMans.

What is sad is no American company had the balls to drop their 4-cylinder into it. A huge opportunity missed out of fear for failure. One company, Audi, had great interest in it but they already have their own show car. And if you think their last 10 years of success at the 24-hour race hasn't fired up their design team of engineers throughout the company, then you live on another planet.

With a car this radical at LeMans estimates are it will get $100 million dollars in free advertising, something a Company like Ford could have used but they whimpered out.

If the car was to come in 1st at LeMans it would not go in the books as the winner because that category is designed to show 'out of the box' thinking. Nissan would be on top of the world if they pull it off. Either way for going for it.

 

I understand completely. It is no Ferrari F12. You know what, I didn't feel the love the first time I looked at an S2000. True, it looked a lot better in the flesh than in the pictures. It has a timeless yet plain, very plain, design. I can easily think of 50 cars in all price ranges that to me look better. Let the flames begin! What sold me was hitting 9k on the test drive (used car, not a dealers) and how it handled. I was hooked and ordered one the next day..... but it was that 'out of the box' designed engine that sold me.