Will VW join Honda as an IRL engine supplier?
Now with the defection of Champ Car and stubborn leadership in F1, IRL is looking to increase its relevance in open wheel racing. IRL's contract with Honda ends after 2010, and rumors indicate that the party most interested in getting a foot in the door for 2011 is the Volkswagen Group. The draw for them is the rumored return to the use of turbochargers, as well as heads-up competition between a variety of cylinder configurations. The Volkswagen group is looking to use the series to market high performance low-displacement forced induction engines that are currently under development. Since Audi gets its racing due at LeMans, perhaps any deal with the IRL will look towards increasing VW's performance stock.
[Source: Epoch Times]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
pmiddle5 5:23PM (1/18/2009)
Audi has been spoken of becoming an IRL partner for several months now........
Alfa Romeo was also wanting to join because they were planning to return to the USA but that is on hold now with this whole global recession thing.
Saving this for a slow news day or are you really that bad?
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Torqued 9:06PM (1/18/2009)
Seriously? God that's an obnoxious comment.
chconline 5:25PM (1/18/2009)
VTEC just kicked in yo!!! Now to 11000rpm :D
On the serious side, it's about time.
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Kitko 6:02PM (1/18/2009)
Audi sponsoring US president innaugaration, Honda's and VW's engines in IRL, Toyota on its way to dominate Nascar given the fact that D3 can't afford to buy toner to their office printers, more Mazdas on US racetracks than any other cars... Apparently, WW II ends right now :-)
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why not the LS2LS7? 6:04PM (1/18/2009)
In what way does having two engines make a series less boring than having one?
The point of having one spec motor was to reduce costs. I have no idea if it succeeded.
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pmiddle5 6:46PM (1/18/2009)
Because then there is competition and more heat going on.
Engines tend to be more strained as well so failures tend to be a bit more common just adding that extra excitement
Yeah it'll cost more but I think they are putting a lease cap on it. So Audi/Honda/whoever else becomes involved can spend as much as they want, but they wont be able to pass that burden upon the teams.
why not the LS2LS7? 7:55PM (1/18/2009)
Interesting. So you think that with multiple engines, teams are more likely to try to tune their engine to extract more power and thus blow it up? I dunno if I think along those lines, but I see what you are saying.
I don't know that it increases competition. Drivers want to win in any case. And spec series are generally considered to be the most competitive. Since it's tough for one team to just drive away by having a better car.
pmiddle5 8:23PM (1/18/2009)
Yeah thats about the route I imagine would happen.
But I really do not care how many manufacturers are racing, I just think the HP level these cars have is pathetic. They are to big/heavy with all that down force for only 600hp on road courses. They need less grip, less weight, and more power. IRL cars are just not fun to watch!
Competition promotes speed though as price. So while its a good thing aka faster the possibility of more expense is there. I think they are shooting to limit boost to around 600hp on the big ovals and 800 or so for short tracks and road course.
Jonathan 6:15PM (1/18/2009)
The addition of engine suppliers to the IRL will be a welcome change. The spec racing series has become dull the past couple of years because the races feature very little passing. Most of the passing has come during pit stops or due to a different fuel/pit strategy. Generally it has become a follow-the-leader affair.
As for the costs, if I'm an IRL higher-up, I would welcome any change in favor of better competition and entertainment at the expense of some additional costs due to suppliers competing to improve their product. I'm all for it.
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jrhmobile 6:54PM (1/18/2009)
Now if they'd only open competition for chassis suppliers.
Dallara has milked IRL owners for years with their exclusive deal supplying cars for the series. Token gestures to reduce the cost of spares for this season aside, competition in chassis design and development would advance the IRL at least as much as competing turbo-fours, and with similar price caps as those found for the engine deals, could even reduce the cost of open-wheel racing as well.
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pmiddle5 7:09PM (1/18/2009)
or just ax Dallara for Panoz because ohhhh ITS AMERICAN...
So annoying!
I still wanna see a stock block/head 2.0 formula with boosted applications. S/C, turbo, twin turbo, or S/C and turbo. Just be more fun and then local tuning houses could actually become involved.
jpz 7:56PM (1/18/2009)
It's my understanding that Honda does not have an exclusive deal with the IRL. They just happen to be the only manufacturer that participates in the series. So the fact that Honda's contract expires in 2011 is irrelevant. It means that is when the IRL will change their engine rules. VW/Audi would enter the series at that time because they would have time to develop the new engine instead of entering now, using a V8 and switching in 2 years to a turbo 4. So in 2011 we could see VW, Audi, Honda, Alfa and anyone else in the series.
I just wish that the cars were different as well.
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Ndcart 9:33PM (1/18/2009)
Yes!! Bring back the turbo chargers! Watching the CART series in it's prime was the best ever. Multiple manufacturers, mulitiple chassis, it was great. I like the lease cap idea to control the costs though. That's something CART was missing.
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Kumar 9:33AM (1/19/2009)
Audi turbo diesel, yeah!!!!
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dubba-dubba 10:37AM (1/19/2009)
Whoa, it is about time we get to have an air cooled flat four competing at the highest level of motorsport. Will they be running a big valve kit or just a stock 1600cc engine?
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