Filed under: Motorsports, Euro, SEAT
It worked for Audi... SEAT entering first diesel in WTCC
SEAT, being under the VAG corporate umbrella, certainly knows what's been going on with Audi's racing diesels. Perhaps the division looks up to its Ingolstadt cousins with admiration, and it's hoping that imitation yields the same type of success. SEAT will be the first manufacturer to field a diesel-powered entry in the FIA's World Touring Car Championship. Two TDI racers will take to the macadam on July 28th and 29th in Sweden.
The car itself is a Leon sporting a 2-liter diesel engine that's based on the 170PS street-going mill. In WTCC trim, power is up to 280PS, and the turbocharger and gearbox have been swapped for racing units. The rules stipulate that a diesel car carry a 30kg weight penalty, and the attendant hardware for the powertrain shifts the weight distribution in a bad direction. SEAT is banking on the moves the chassis provides, as well as the muscular torque delivery of the diesel to make the Leon competitive.
Press release after the jump
[Source: SEAT]
For immediate release:
20th July 2007
SEAT IS WORLD'S FIRST MANUFACTURER TO PUT DIESEL INTO WTCC
The next FIA World Touring Car Championship meeting will be a milestone for both SEAT and the FIA World Series – for the first time, a manufacturer team will enter a diesel car at a FIA-organised official World Championship race.
At the event in Sweden on the 28th to 29th July, both Jordi Gené and Yvan Muller will drive a Leon WTCC car equipped with a 280 PS diesel engine, which is derived from the 170 PS 2.0-litre TDI featured in the top-selling Leon FR.
SEAT will be rolling two TDI cars onto the Scandinavian Raceway at Anderstorp, as the culmination of a technological breakthrough SEAT Sport engineers have been working on for the past few months. The aim is to increase the team's competitiveness at the World Championship and pave the way to winning the Manufacturers' and Drivers' titles.
Jaime Puig, Director of SEAT Sport, said: 'The regulations allow us to register a car equipped with a diesel engine, and we were happy to rise to the challenge. We are satisfied with the testing results and believe the Leon TDI WTCC can become a competitive car in the mid to long term. For the moment it will only be driven by Jordi Gené, who has been responsible for its development, and Yvan Muller. Gabriele Tarquini, Tiago Monteiro and Michel Jourdain will continue to drive the usual model.'
Benoit Bagur, SEAT Sport Chief Engineer, added: 'Since the FIA made it possible to enter a diesel engine in the competition, we started looking into the viability of the project, and it took off a few months ago. The basis for the engine is the 170 PS 2.0-litre mounted in the Leon FR. We kept the engine block and the cylinder head of the production model, but changed the turbo compressor and gearbox. Furthermore, we had to alter the front part to house the intercooler and create new air intakes. The diesel engine is 35 kg heavier than the petrol, so we had to redistribute some weight. After satisfactory test results, we are eager to see its potential in actual racing conditions.'
Jordi Gené: 'We have been working on this project for several months, and appreciate its great potential. I am looking forward to it because one of the aspects I most like about my job is the possibility of working on new car development, and even more so when they feature new technology. We are facing a double handicap with the diesel car. The first is that according to regulations, a diesel car has to weigh 30 kg more than one with a petrol engine. The second is that the intercooler and the turbo are situated ahead of the front axle, which makes weight distribution detrimental compared with a petrol car. But, as the Leon has the best chassis in the Championship and our engine torque will be much higher, I think that, in the mid-term and on certain tracks, we can be competitive.'
Yvan Muller was enthusiastic about the new car. He said: 'I have done some testing with the diesel engine, and the lap times are very similar to the petrol. It is a little slower in the corners because of the extra weight and there is more stress on the tyres, but it is a little bit quicker on the straights. The chassis of the SEAT Leon is one of the best, but the straight-line speed is too slow and now SEAT Sport has found a good solution to this problem. I'm looking forward to racing the Leon for the first time in Sweden.'
SEAT Leon TDI WTCC technical data
BASE CAR
SEAT Leon FR 2.0 TDI 170 PS
ENGINE
Turbocharged, four-cylinder in line, transversely-mounted, 16 valves,
twin overhead camshafts
Displacement: 2,000 cc
Bore x stroke: 81 x 95.5 mm
Maximum power: 280 PS at 4000 rpm
Maximum torque: 450 Nm at 2500 rpm
Lubrication: wet sump
TRANSMISSION
Front-wheel drive
Gearbox: Hewland six-speed, sequential shift
Clutch: twin-plate
Differential: mechanical limited slip differential
CHASSIS
Front suspension: MacPherson strut, coil springs, gas-filled dampers, anti-roll bar
Rear suspension: multi-link axle, coil springs, gas-filled dampers, anti-roll bar
Steering: power-assisted rack and pinion
BRAKES
Non-assisted dual circuit system
Front brakes: four-piston callipers, 332 mm steel ventilated discs
Rear brakes: two-piston callipers, 280 mm steel discs
DIMENSIONS
Length: 4330 mm
Width: 1849 mm
Wheelbase: 2600 mm
Minimum weight: 1170kg (including driver)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
frank d 9:22AM (7/20/2007)
Super! Go SEAT!
Reply
Joe K. 10:16AM (7/20/2007)
So will they plug them in when parked at the northern races? haha...
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MikeW 11:15AM (7/20/2007)
Somebody messed up with those numbers.
280ps would be slightly believeable at 5000rpm.
At 4000rpm it is 362.5ft-lbs, more torque than at peak torque.(332ft-lbs)
Same with the stroke, shouldn't that be 97mm?
Reply
Will 1:50PM (7/20/2007)
I'd like to see a WRC version.
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Greg Faulkner 8:36PM (7/21/2007)
I assume Joe K. is referring to new diesels using engine block heaters. Those are for diesels past and new diesels do not need them. In fact, the 1.9 TDI (PD) for the 2006 Jettas, Beetles, and Golfs do not even come equipped with freez-out plugs to install engine block heaters, and the 1.9 is the outgoing diesel for VW. The next generation TDI will almost certainly not need to be plugged in; not even for Canadian consumers.
Today's diesels are nearly indisquishable from today's gassers, except diesels still clatter a little at idle, but that goes away during cruising and acceleration. Also, diesels garner superior torque while now coming on par with respect to horsepower, and diesels avg. 30% better fuel economy than a naturally-aspired, gas-powered equivilant.
I drive a 2006 Jetta TDI. There truly is no extra measures for driving, operating, and fueling a diesel as compared to a gas car, except I must wait around 2-5 seconds with the first start in the morning for the glow plugs to warm the pre-combustion chamber. Additionally, I don't have to worry as much about how close the next fuel stop is, since I can go over 600 miles before adding another 14 gal. of fuel. I usually fill up with 20% biodiesel blended in the fuel, which does not reduce fuel economy like ethanol does in gas cars. My Jetta TDI gets 40% better fuel economy than a gas car, and it can run on any blend of biodiesel without any modification. Gas cars have to be specially designed to run on blends over 10% ethanol. All diesel engines, new and old, can run on any blend of biodiesel.
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Anthony 10:09PM (8/25/2007)
To run on E85 cars built after '98 need VERY LITTLE MODIFICATION and at the most a change of tune with the computer and add larger injectors.
Being that almost every PCM/ECU is "hacked/cracked" and the tune changeable via the aftermarket, performance enthusiasts are ahead of the curve as far as how to make the changes to a gas car to run E85 exclusively.
Does it mean more burned for the same amount of power, sure about 15-20% hardly anything, maybe 1-2mpg. But with some tuning you can gain at least 1 mpg back and boost power by 10-15% with EASE.
http://www.rune85.com/
Stock diesels are very slow, especially the four cylinder models currently available. VAG has been getting 250-270hp out of racing versions of the older diesel you spoke of, but HARDLY anybody in America, Canada or anyplace else has that much power because it automatically means an upgrade of the turbocharger to get over 170hp.
Of course that is not why you bought a VAG diesel car, but being I loved turbocharged cars, I know that's what I would do and while my overall mileage would suffer, I am a performance enthusiasts and will never be a mileage miser...
Glad to see VAG build a car for the ST2000 diesel rules that have around for about 3-4 years now...
Greg 7:58AM (8/26/2007)
I think Anthony and I are writing about two different ideas. He says stock diesels are slow, but he is comparing that to race-inspired engines for race-inspired car buyers, like turbo-charged, direct-injection gas engines for compact cars that have almost 300 horsepower. As compared to those specially designed cars for those race-inspired commuters and travelers, diesels are slow; but comparing a stock diesel to a regular, naturally-aspired, gas engine, diesels are now on par with gas engines.
For example, the base model VW Jetta is a 2.5 liter, five cylinder engine that produces 150 horsepower and 170 lbs of torque with fuel economy at a combined 26 mpg. If this engine were designed to be flex-fuel (based on the information provided by www.fueleconomy.gov) it would lose another 6 mpg, netting it at around 20 mpg city/hwy combined. Now, while it is true that ethanol blends can net better performance, most Americans don't need or want more performance than the stock version and would prefer to keep their fuel mileage as opposed to a faster, more fuel using alternative like ethanol.
Conversely, this same VW Jetta, with the upcoming TDI engine, should come in at about 140 horsepower/ 236 lbs of torque. It is a 2.0 liter, 4-cylinder (.5 liter smaller and one less cylinder than the base-model Jetta), yet the diesel only loses 10 horsepower and improves on the gasser by 66 lbs of torque. Moreover, the diesel should come in at about 45 mpg in the combined rating, giving it a 75% fuel economy advantage over the five-cylinder gasser. Adding 20% biodiesel to the blend of fuel for the diesel should have no effect on mpg, and can net the diesel consumer a 100% petroleum-use advantage over the gas Jetta consumer and have little or no effect on total fuel consumption.
Now VW also makes a tubo-charged, direct-injection, race-inspired gas engine that gets better fuel economy than the five cylinder though much less than the diesel. The direct-injection VW engine has far superior performance than both the base gas engine and the diesel, but these performance-inspired engines are not what I'm referring to as comparing diesels to gassers, since most consumers do not need or want 200+ horsepower from a compact car. Alternatively, I'm referring to regular cars for regular people, for regular performance. Using these concepts, diesels are far superior to gas engines, and biodiesel is a far superior alternative.
Now Anthony could come back and say you can't compare a tubo diesel to a non-turbo gasser, but it's not really what technologies that are used that should be compared. Rather it is the application of those technologies and for what consumer uses the products for. In other words, those who opt for a turbo, direct-injection diesel would be those who are buying a car for acceptable performance with fantastic fuel economy. Just like those who opt for a regular gas car are wanting acceptable peformance with good fuel economy. Those who opt for a 270 hp four- cylinder compact, on the other hand, are not those consumers who are looking for cheap, reliable transportation.