Dominant Dirty Diesel: The Story of the Audi Le Mans Diesels (2006-2016)

[@AidanMillward]

GLUG Just goes to show what happens when you use a diesel properly. Not like these soccer moms with their range rovers in large towns only taking the kids to school…

[@tobylusher]

Yes that's true I work at a land rover garage and the amount of issues with diesels driven by soccer mums is unreal the ones driven properly tended to have less issues

[@yeetusdelete0]

@@tobylusher is that because of the constant stop-start?

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

@@yeetusdelete0 Not the constant stop start persay, but constant low speed low revs. A diesel at idle will not typically warm up, and if driven slowly or at low revs always around town means a cold combustion, cold combustion = lots of soot and particles in the exhaust, that soot at particles gets caught in the DPF, but the cold combustion and exhaust temps mean the DPF can never get hot enough to burn it off or perform a regen. And tada 1 x fucked car. As a diesel owner myself who does 3000 miles a week at the moment, and 200,000 miles on its ORIG DPF etc, why has it lasted so well? Cos i drive at high speeds with high engine loads and a very hot exhaust for hours on end, PERFECT fo rthe DPF to do its thing propperly

[@lewysmedford5420]

Ah yes, the Chelsea wagons

[@AidanMillward]

@@yeetusdelete0 with a DPF you have to take them on the motorway for about 10 minutes or so or drive at above 40mph to get them to clear out. But too many people that own diesels don’t do that so the DPFs get ruined.

[@AntoniusTyas]

Both Audi and Peugeot diesel soundtracks are some of the weirdest yet memorable noise from the world of endurance. It's pretty quiet from the outside but from inside it's angry and industrial. I actually like it.

[@hagestad]

That's the rocket fuel for ya. At least for the Audi - they run mixture of diesel and rocket fuel. While all the time insinuating its a diesel engine. The general principle of work was but the car could not work on actual diesel engine. That makes all the wins meaningless. Kind of like BMW r80 wins @ Dakar. They were also using some funky fuel derived from their F1 efforts.

[@fireblow44]

​@@hagestadif you ain't cheating you ain't trying. No but for real now, I don't know if the rules make you use a specific fuel so it might have been justified

[@kennethprocak5176]

​@@hagestadyou know pump diesel is mixed the same way, not to the same extremes of course as racing goes to. Premium diesel is higher cetane rating.

[@pilotlasse]

The Audi R18 was THE car that introduced me to the Le Mans 24. I still have memories of 9 year old me racing my bike through my village pretending I was an R18. Incl trying to impersonate the flywheel sounds on accelaration and braking and the small rumbling sound of the diesel engine.

[@raduoctavian2826]

Yes i also was riding my bycicle doing the exact same R18 sounds trying to recreate that car. It was such a memorable lmp1 and so good too

[@barkyonyx424b]

im curious about which year of the R18 y'all mimicking

[@pilotlasse]

@@barkyonyx424b I started with the 2012 car and ended with the 2015 car. Pretty much the version of the car in that exact year. And the 2015 car kept stuck in my memory ever since.

[@RandomCommenter-qu2oc]

That was me but with the 919 💀

[@kebabaluba]

Running a diesel engine in a endurance race kinda makes a lot of sense, fuel economy. And that technology also made into production cars in some way or another.

[@Xzibitfreek]

The Diesel was and still is the go-to motor for people who drive a lot. You can go 1400-1500km without refueling in a Diesel VW Passat/Skoda Superb. These cars are crazy efficient for long distances on a highway. But they need time to heat up, so if you do mostly short distances, Diesel aint for you. Thats where an EV shines the most.

[@kebabaluba]

@@Xzibitfreek Yes i know, i recently purchased a diesel powered car for the first time in my life. Fuel consumption is way lower than petrol cars i had.

[@hagestad]

Yes the technology was not transferable most likely since that engine was not running on diesel. It was diesel +some sort of actual rocket fuel that i don't remember name off.

[@ThanksHero]

@@hagestadnobody is using rocket fuel in a diesel. Many diesels can run on a jet fuel like JP8, among a bunch of other kinds of alternative fuel. It’s not the big deal you think it is. Militaries have been doing it forever to simplify logistics.

[@ego4551]

⁠@@hagestadnot really, they could run on EN590, but used stuff with about 60 cetane instead of the normal 51 to 54 you find at a typical station in Europe or the 40 to 48 in America excluding California. However, Shell, BP, Total offer the fuel quality used at Le Mans with their premium diesel. Audi ran on shell V power diesel.(the recipe changed in 2020). They also tried synthetics, which were certified for use in the EU just this year. They have 70+ cetane.

[@modulo3664]

5 speed gearboxes on the R10 and R15 because of the immense torque and extra reliability of thicker gears.

[@flopre9213]

McNish's crash at the dunlop curves still plays through my mind everytime i see that angle on the broadcast

[@flopre9213]

crazy that was 12 years ag

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

I remember it like it was yesterday. That and "Rocky's" one in the dark - taken out by one of the GTs. He somehow drove back this block on 4 wheels. I _think_ they rebuilt it and it finished the race, but it was some time ago! Re Nishy's horror (I still ask how the feck he walked away from it), Martin Haven nicknamed the corner, including the gravel, "Scotch Corner". (For those who don't know it's a pretty notorious piece of road in the UK. Haven has a very dry sense of humour...)

[@zimzipzoop3848]

The r18 etron is my all time favourite racing car to date. That car made me an endurance fan and a racing fan all together. When Audi left it was heartbreaking 💔.

[@JoeMama-yw9rd]

Same bro same. Even worse tho is that they cancelled the new Hypercar program to make financial room to go into F1 wich also led to their Gt3 division slowly going to shambles. Makes it really tough to be an Audi fan atm…

[@zimzipzoop3848]

@@JoeMama-yw9rd I was so sad by the cancellation man I wished they didn’t go to F1

[@Anon24052]

It’d be cool to see a video on Ferrari’s history with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and endurance racing after their win this year.

[@Atrail_Mckinley4786]

The Toyota competition curse continues

[@chellom292]

@@Atrail_Mckinley4786 what’s the curse?explain plz

[@Atrail_Mckinley4786]

@Chellam Well usually when Toyota has competed in the 24 Hours Of Le Mans, it hasn't been able to win with competition. Toyota have finished second overall at le mans 4 times before 2018. When Porsche and Audi Left, they had no competition between 2018-2022 so they won and in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, they lost to Ferrari finishing second overall hence the Toyota competition curse at le mans by not being able to win le mans with competition

[@chellom292]

@@Atrail_Mckinley4786 oh k got it,ty

[@sbeve7445]

@@Atrail_Mckinley4786 Well previously they had the pace to win but not so much the luck or reliability. This year they simply got BOPed out of contention and the fact that they finished 2nd is amazing.

[@ScarletCharlotte]

The two Truth In 24 documentaries about Audi at Le Mans are worth watching. They're both on youtube for free. Each documentary shows a different strategy; efficiency to beat speed, and speed to beat efficiency. One of them is the year McNish had his horror crash. Great behind-the-scenes stuff and shows the toll 24 hours takes on the pit wall and crew as much as the drivers.

[@kylelewis4685]

I was at the Sebring 12 hour in March of 06 at the R10's debut. It was crazy how much attention it received. Photographers and journalists from every possible automotive magazine, website, ect. They kept the thing covered as much as possible but if you have ever been in the paddock at sebring its pretty much impossible to keep people from standing right next to something. Every time they took the bodywork off for any reason it was a huge crush of people with cameras trying to get shots of the mechanicals.

[@carlsaganlives6086]

Oddly enough, that year was the only time trip I've ever made to Sebring - I went with my cousins' husband who's a New York City guy - never been to any kind of race - and he marvelled that the overall leader was the quietest car on the track. He couldn't take the 'noise' for too long, though, and left to spend the rest of the time in the remote parking field, 'working' on his laptop while running the AC, lol. Appreciate the giant layout, as mighty Road America is my 'home' track. Enough with the tiny street courses, jeez.

[@jazzj256]

I was in highschool when this car first hit the track. I was amazed when I first saw the car and to me, the most iconic race car Audi ever made.

[@Starfire_Storm]

The Audi R8 and the R10 are two of the greatest cars to have ever competed at Le Mans and it's criminal that they don't get as much recognition as they deserve, especially the R10. And I mean, it's not exactly Audi's fault that no one was really there to challenge them, right? And even still, the 908 was there from pretty much the whole life span of the R10, and it only defeated it in Le Mans once.

[@CrSnds]

Good point, but technically that was during the time Peugeot defeated Audi when they were racing the R15 back in 2009. ByKolles had 2 ex-factory R10's that year, so yes either way Audi took the loss but came back as winners the year after that when Peugeot pushed their cars too far

[@fuzzynutter8344]

I was lucky to see the R18s at the Silverstone rounds of the WEC. They looked epic but it was their quietness compared to the petrol cars which was just weird, almost like a silent assassin.

[@robertvanderlinden2813]

some damn fast tractors out there

[@Official_MikeyT]

6:42 that crash was wild because the one guy on the scooter didn't even seem to notice that he was almost decapitated by an Audi until after it happened. Not to mention the camera guy who didn't even flinch 😂

[@AidanMillward]

And the other camera guy who ran away from the wheel like it was that scene from Indiana Jones 😅

[@johnjones928]

McNish's crash 50 minutes after the start defined the old Le Mans saying, "you can't win a 24 hour race in the 1st hour, but you can surely lose it"

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

OH YES FINALLY!!!!!!! Aiden ive been waiting for you to cover this in detail, i sure hope you hit it out the park as usual.

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

Nailed it, for anyone who wants more information, search youtube for Truth in 24 There are 2 parts and there bangers, narated by jason statham

[@AdminAbuse]

@@AnIdiotAboard_ They're* and narrated*

[@AnIdiotAboard_]

@@AdminAbuse Stoned ZFG

[@acegarr22]

I wish I witnessed those races during the earlier LMP1 days. I only started watching WEC in 2018. Yes I have watched replays but it's not the same knowing those cars don't exist anymore

[@JoeAchilles1]

Another interesting and excellent video, cheers Aidan!

[@acegarcia3719]

It might have had a sad ending but I'll always have a soft spot for diesels from the VW group as my parents owned a Jetta TDI for many years growing up where they put 400,000+ miles on it without a problem and regularly got over 50 miles per gallon, a figure you'll rarely find in cars built for the American market.

[@maxb148]

The R18 E-tron Quattro shown at 7:18 is the 2014 version of the car, the 2013 version was basically the 2011 Ultra but in silver and the aforementioned hybrid in the car.

[@grendelum]

9:35 this car is like an art deco sculpture of speed, especially head on

[@DasE30Cuz]

I remember someone from Audi saying that noise is wasted horsepower. I think it was from around the R18 in reference to how quiet it was. Much German wow.

[@rexthewolf3149]

It’s a true statement EVs and diesel engines running of that principle.

[@Andy_ATB]

I'm sure it was Ulrich Bareztky.....

[@TiagoJoaoSilva]

Ulrich Baretzky in the "Truth in 24" documentary. He also said (in the same documentary) you didn't have to make a woman scream to give her a good time

[@barkyonyx424b]

@@TiagoJoaoSilva 😂😂💀

[@Stormkrasher]

Gives me joy to hear mention of the Diesel Lola which had the precursor to what would become a detuned engine offered in the Touareg for a few model years. It's certainly not the easiest car to find information on but it is out there and it hasn't fallen to the wayside of history.

[@ryanp6138]

I don't think they found a gearbox to take the torque in race conditions. The slushbox on my V10 Touareg is painful at times.

[@mickcompagnoni1114]

Good story Aidan. The best bit I know about the R10, is the performance didn't arrive until the fuel pressure was increased to 220 bar, or 3200ish p.s.i. for the non metrics. So everyone with a modern diesel can thank Audi for discovering how to get performance out of the Devil's fuel.

[@kingbuckyduck5669]

Jeez Aidan, I can’t get enough of the jazz intro at the beginning of this video. Like damn I felt relaxed and definitely felt like I wanted to watch the rest of the video. Do it more! Felt like I was having a coffee with a friend a just talking about motorsport. Very nice!

[@TakashiAmanoOriginal]

Aidan is a national treasure in two countries which has to be some kind of record….cheers!

[@TheHughrc]

I a bit of an audi fan but god was 2011 a insane le mans, mcnishe's monster crash in the first hour, then Mike Rockenfeller's monster crash down at indy showing that new monocoque design Audi said was the safest thing yet. And the ending with the peugeots blocking the number 2 audi, finishing only 13 secs ahead of the peugeot, making history with Leena Gade being the first female race engeneer to win at le Mans.

[@MBSLC]

I miss my W123 Mercedes diesel. Slower than death but still fun! And this video is fun! Thanks Aidan! Cheers from a saxophonist/petrol head in Nashville!

[@Batters56]

One of the greatest marketing campaigns in history! Making everyone think that dirty diesels were greener than petrol now.

[@ianwynne764]

Hello Aidan: I have always been interested by the diesels at Le Mans. Thank you.

[@BrianNagy]

It’s really disappointing to see Audi get sucked into the F1 $$ grab. No more sports car racing, including the end of the very successful R8 LMS. 😢 Nice video mate!

[@stu1002]

Good video - but that last car in the video is worth some more comment: The final variant of the Audi R18 was an absolute beast. Compare it the the previous versions - the amount of innovation and r&D that was going on was absolutely insane.

[@LaCorvette]

Something about Audi at Le Mans always felt right for me. They had both, the team spirit (people like Dr. Ulrich and drivers like Tom Kristensen, Andre Lotterer, Allan McNish and many others) as well as the ingenuity to not only compete, but keep winning. They also were a bit of trendsetters in terms of livery design. Especially when the Hybrid era began and they introduced that white-silver R18, which sported the "geometric flake" livery, soon to be seen on many other racecars in similiar fashion. Anyway it is to this day, that I keep a framed and signed poster of an Audi R18 hanging above my monitor at which I am looking right now as a reminder of this era in endurance racing. The two "Truth in 24" documentaries produced by Audi spring to mind if one would like to get an even closer look at the team.

[@fireblow44]

The first time I ever saw the R10 was in either forza motorsport 3 or 4, I don't recall. I was still very young at the time and something about that car just grabbed my attention. I've loved it ever since and still wonder why that is

[@davidciesielski8251]

Thank you!!!! Of course I had no idea.

[@minibus9]

great video, cool look at an interesting part of Le Mans history

[@CDG7755]

R10 TDI my hero

[@OldStreetDoc]

I don’t know if I would change ‘the race’. But there’s something in a way romantic about how this event began all those years ago. A rudimentary set of guidelines you had to comply with, but essentially you turn up with what you turn up with - and you race it… around the clock. I only say that because, let’s face it, that ‘rudimentary set of guidelines’ has become SO tightly constrained, you either come very close to running what amounts to spec classes, or the barrier to entry quickly becomes so great that the only change you see on the cars will be the brand name printed on the wrap that decorates it. This year in my mind seemed to be the end of the development road. The ACO or FIA or whichever initials were responsible… had the total power available to the wheels set to a number. No matter what ICE package you had, no matter what hybrid package you had, you could not exceed a certain number. That seems antithetical to ‘racing’. And also seems to be needless. It isn’t as if teams were wanting to burn nitro fuel. Formula 1 seems to be trending towards either biofuels or carbon neutral emission standards (whatever the heck that is). Which is NEVER going to be practical if we’re to believe the technology will filter down to our personal vehicles. Which seems to be the same issue, only being arrived at from a slightly different direction. Racing is racing, and it always should be racing. Not the management of power, or tires, or anything else. These races may continue to be ‘exciting’ in the ‘manufactured excitement’ sense, but motorsport - that thing we’ve all felt a love for our entire lives - is getting left behind. Or even worse yet, changed into something more foreign than recognizable.

[@rexthewolf3149]

It’s the problem is simply tech and money. Technology is not an open field as it was during the 1900s. The money that’s being put down has to guarantee something and it doesn’t.

[@OldStreetDoc]

@@rexthewolf3149 1,000% right. If I’m being honest, going to a bare bones race where the most advanced technology in the cars is the distributor cap appeals to me more than much of what’s on offer today.

[@rexthewolf3149]

@@OldStreetDoc and the end of the day we’ve simply gotten to good a building race cars.

[@OldStreetDoc]

@@rexthewolf3149 That’s true. If… at a certain point, wherever that point is, we can still call them race cars. It gets to a level where I wouldn’t even know what to call it, but they don’t quite feel like ‘race cars’.

[@rexthewolf3149]

@@OldStreetDoc it’s not that they don’t feel like race cars, (Seriously tell that to the engineers and drivers) the problem is that the competition at the highest level requires so much money and resources that with our regulations some one will dominate just like with formula 1 right now. The most entertaining categories have been WEC, Indy. Super Formula, Formula E, F2 and Motor GP. They’ve done this by making the cars equal and letting the drivers not the engineers dictate the outcome.

[@ananastudio]

that 2016 Audi R18 is just beautiful

[@NiederDrifts]

These are some awesome videos!! Love hearing the history

[@Alnilam1973]

Ive only reccntly started getting into endurance racing and hadnt seen the mcnish crash before, holy brown trousers Batman!

[@exportedafrican]

Never knew they ran a dpf. Fascinating

[@rossrreyes]

9:23 looks like Darth Vader in Audi livery

[@paulalexander8874]

You forgot the traditional prefix.... "The Spanish Banker - Marc Gene" Thanks Murray ❤😂

[@thebucketofawesomeness8700]

The Kristensen, Capelo and Mcnish win was 08

[@VicarOfMayhem]

LOL Yes, 2011. Was shaking my head before you said it! The thing I remember from that race was the drive from the number 2 car of Marcel Fassler, Benoit Trluyer, and Andre Lotterer. I knew all the other Audi LMP1 drivers that year but never heard of these guys. They were amazing in that race and I became an instant fan of all three. I also remember how scary it was seeing the R10 at St Pete because you couldn't hear it coming! Sounded like a showroom stock class B or C car on the track. Sneakiest car ever!

[@Scoots1994]

The Williams electric power system in the hybrid is worth a video of it's own. It used a flywheel spinning horizontally instead of batteries, supposedly the engineers realized they could help the car turn left by slowing the flywheel. I'm fairly certain the flywheel had a relatively short competitive life but I love that someone tried it.

[@mursuka80]

Is that the reason they did not use this system in F1, because FIA would have banned it if it altered steering?

[@andyshepherd5067]

think they used it two years then whent to battery

[@CyanRooper]

I wish they could have used that in a race just to see how it would have fared against the regular cars that used an MGU-K instead. If I recall correctly the flywheel was significantly lighter than the batteries used in the MGU-K so the car would have been faster with better handling but as you said the flywheel probably wouldn't have lasted longer than Markus Winkelhock leading the European Grand Prix. Also NOBODY CAN BREAK THE WINKLEROCK!!!!

[@fuzzynutter8344]

It was interesting to see different approaches to electrical storage during the early part of the hybrid era. Audi used a flywheel, Porsche had batteries while Toyota started off with a supercapacitor.

[@Scoots1994]

@@mursuka80 I don't know. I know there were regular concerns about the flywheel getting loose in an accident. Also the total capacity and re-charge and discharge limitations were different for the different series and changed over time so it may not have fit as well in F1.

[@JacksRacingProjects]

great video, thinking of doing a video on whether the diesel gate should or should not tarnish its victory.

[@BladeBarn]

I raced the TDI series in 09' then went on to manage a racetrack and be head coach as well as have my own professional driver coaching business on the side. I have been unable to get a ride again in racing. If anyone reading this wants to hire/partner with me for something in the motorsports industry anywhere in the world im ready to move tomorrow!

[@C42ST3N]

The crazy thing about the diesel engine in le mans is, that the block is made from aluminium. Many engineers from Audi thought that an aluminium diesel block will not withstand the stress.

[@F1wgp7]

Amazing to see Hulkenberg on the podium...

[@guybeingaguy]

BOTH Audi and Panoz had a differential issue at LeMans. Not far apart from each other either. Audi changed the ENTIRE rear end back on track in 4 minutes I think it was. Correct me if I’m wrong. Panoz replaced diff and took them 20 minutes. Germans can engineer stuff like nobody’s business. I hated their domination! Pisses me off! My older race buddy said “Man up bring your best shit to the track and go fast” They were that good that nobody could touch ‘em. Changed my attitude towards one of respect not anger. I wonder if we will ever see that again. It was a special era.

[@turbo_brian]

Interesting side note, as garrett supplied the turbos for both the audi and porsche entries, they've won all or nearly all le mans races this century.

[@CobraDBlade]

I remember talking with my highschool auto shop class in 03-04 about how diesels would actually be decent in endurance racing because of their grunty torque and decent fuel economy when at relatively steady speeds, and getting called a moron/lunatic. Then the Audi diesels showed up and I got a good smug I-told-you-so in.

[@TheNecromancer6666]

The really remarkable Part was how much more powerful then any other Engine the Diesels were. By 2008 they ran >800hp. Despite regulation changes, by 2010 they had again >800hp. The most powerful petrols had >700hp. The R15 did not have a smaller engine. It still was a 5,5 Liter. Just 10 cylinders. The 2010 R15 weighed 930kg and had >800hp. The 2011 R18 weighed 930kg had >550hp. So worse Power to weight. Later in the fuel Flow Regulation the Diesel was massively handicapped so it wouldn't walk all over the petrols.

[@MarkoLomovic]

That is just wrong. They had to allow higher displacement and boost for diesel in order to reach same HP as 4L petrol. So you 5.5Liter twin turbo vs 4L single turbo and same trend continued. They never managed to equalize them properly during disel era. I do not get where you get this idea that disels are more powerful.

[@TheNecromancer6666]

@@MarkoLomovic The Equalizer for the different rev limit. And there was never a limit on a number of Turbochargers for.

[@MarkoLomovic]

@@TheNecromancer6666 eh? different rev limit? What do you mean ? It was limited by amount of boost they can run.

[@TheNecromancer6666]

@@MarkoLomovic The Reason the Diesels had more Capacity and Manifold Pressure was, to equalise Power, due to them having a lower rev Limit then the petrols. Yes they had way more torque. But a factory petrol could reach the the same peak power. The problem was, there wasn't a factory petrol car. But both Oreca-Judd and Prodrive AMR had over 700hp in 2010 which isn't that far of the Race Power of the Diesels.

[@AndrewGeierMelons]

Aidan, please read this comment! I'm 10 days away from being the world's first person with Autism to run a professional racing team, to my knowledge. Not to be confused with my personal friend Austin Riley, the first professional racing driver with Autism who races for the team Racing With Autism. Anyway, I keep trying to think of a sim racing game that has the function of having yellow flags, red flags, black flags, etc built in, but not just as a heads up display (Sorry Race '07) but instead with actual flag marshals so it can turn off heads up displays and visually see the flags. I want to get into the habit of always seeing flags and looking at my gauges. Gran Turismo 7 does a really good job with those flags except that the game really doesn't have AI that's actually capable of making mistakes. Even if you put them on slicks in the rain, they rarely ever crash. The F1 games, I think that the radio messages for yellow flags and red flags are hard coded in so I would just go from looking at the HUD to "hearing" the HUD. I wonder if you've got any games from any generations that might have actual flag marshals waving actual flags so I can turn off HUD, but which still has unpredictable AI. Maybe you can let me know if you can think of one. Also, I've been trying to email the local Canadian news stations and no one cares here in Canada, but, I am running a proper professional racing team over here in Canada... As a person with Autism. This is huge for some of us who have never had many huge role models to look up to. There were no racing drivers with Autism until I was already in my 20s and I was one of the first.

[@adamlikes1295]

If I remember correctly there was a WR chassis diesel aswell And another one in the early 2000s that chewed up 6 clutches

[@OrlandoMGarcia]

Idk how many teams audi had with the R18 but i saw a lot of audi terminology trown arround like TDI, Ultra, e-tron, quattro

[@fastdamo]

If racing cars were diesel there would be more racing as the noise produced would be way lower than with petrol engined cars. Think of truck racing there is enough noise to make them scary without the need for ear defenders, which makes it easier to bring the kids along to race day. The two standout manufactures of diesel road vehicles for power and economy just happen to be Peugeot and Audi. Racing really does improve the products we get to drive. Fun fact, the Audi crew would heat the engine oil and coolant and even the intercoolers, not due to the tolerances of the engine (like F1), but to be absolutely sure that no one could ever take a picture or video of the engines smoking

[@Magucci13]

The past couple years I started wondering how diesels would do in endurance racing, from it's theoretical advantages. I never knew about these Audis. Wish people would get off diesels back about it's environmental impact. In terms of actual greenhouse gases. It's around 1/3rd the amount a gas vehicle of the same power would make.

[@Eagleracer38x]

Yeah, was a fan of the BMW V12 LMR and the Panoz in the early 2000's, even though I was driving my VW GTI in 2001... I didn't like how dominant Audi was, but I very much respected them and all the innovations they brought, even if they were only fighting against each other. And all the technical regulations the FIA and AOC tried to curtail their domination. I would very much like to see Audi back in top level prototypes soon.

[@ETRTriad]

I'm glad we had a decent amount of manufacturers in LMP1 this year.

[@gamtax]

Do you mean Hyper Car because Hyper Car class supersedes LMP1 class.

[@ETRTriad]

@@gamtax yeah I do, cheers for the correction 👍

[@budthecyborg4575]

I hate the fact that the diesel scandal is the entire reason LMP1 died. And now we're stuck with BoP where the ACO effectively gets to choose the winner of every race.

[@thirdwheel1985au]

Did you do a video about the time Cummins put a diesel in a car for the Indy 500?

[@andyshepherd5067]

next two video idea's ............. the end of lmp2 and the difference in the GTE ( which is now ending ) and gt3 which is at le mans next year

[@guitarguymi]

Did you watch the video? He did not talk bad about diesel at all. He was factual spoke of the benefits of diesel as well. The dirty diesel tag was caused by the VAG when they broke the law. Did that to themselves.

[@jameshough21]

Can you do one of Joest Racing the team behind audi and the ridiclously quick part repairs and stuff

[@RACECAR]

"The ACO Stil haven't quite figured this out, have they?" There are still times even now where I'm convinced this still painfully applies. Just the future alone for LMP2 and LMGT3 now is...abit of a mess from what I read so far. Granted I don't exactly have the magic bullet fix myself (With the ONLY suggestion I have being to simply remove the race from WEC since the series is what's severly limiting the amount of entries).

[@glasair38sr]

Wonder if they had a ‘Rolling Coal’ button on the wheel?

[@abrasive_ideas]

Would of been super cool on the victory lap xD

[@AidanMillward]

It did have 6 auto deploy hybrid options though. Before formula one had them. I need to drive it in AC again because it's different to anything else you'll ever drive.

[@flopre9213]

@@AidanMillward the acceleration when the hybrid kicks in is awesome

[@glasair38sr]

@@AidanMillward If you’d be interested in making a few bucks for a quick private consultation upon proper equipment to enter sim racing, please do hit me up. I’m sold on the Fanatec equipment, and I’ve been following them for years….was blown away to see them sponsoring entire races & such. Though I was in IT / systems integration for 20yrs, being out for over 10yrs may as well be a millennium. I mainly have a few questions on subjects as pedestrian as console vs system, monitors, cockpit, ability to do air & ground (which negates the console vs system question I believe), what system(s), expandable, blah blah. If there’s one takeaway that remains fresh in my mind it’s the designed rapid obsolescence of such equipment and I’m most assuredly in the ‘buy once, cry once’ camp. Ya get what you pay for. Thank you sir, very much enjoy your work.

[@CD-Gaming]

Yeah, we actually predicted the R10 would win Le Mans in its debut, not jus cuz of the higher fuel efficiency, but also due to less Turbo lag, cuz the exhaust gasses from a diesel get through the system quicker than in a petrol, that extra oomph would come sooner! I normally run the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP myself on Gran Turismo and Forza Motorsport, though I can't remember what it was exactly that the Rev. W Awdry had against diesels when he wrote the Railway Series, but my dad, who used to work for Hunslet Engine Company, had a soft spot for the old Deltic trains with the brush motors, I believe? Awdry used to cast diesels as rather villainous characters, like Diesel and Diesel 10 (the latter who was so-called as he was the tenth diesel introduced in the show and who also came with two diesel lackies who liked to cause trouble like he was predisposed to), although, not all diesels were inherently bad, jus look at Mavis and Boco, the latter, I believe, being a Deltic unless I'm mistaken! And, no, I don't know why I've suddenly gotten back into Thomas and into its lore recently, either... Although, I wouldn't mind, but there's a recommended video here on "how a Diesel-Electric locomotives works"... with 3D no less... And what does the "FAP" in the Peugeot 908's name mean, anyway? I know what the "HDi" means, that's pretty obvious, so unless my French is jus that rusty (been 23 years, give me a break)...

[@stephandolby]

FAP = Filtre à particules = particulate filter.

[@CD-Gaming]

@@stephandolby You know, I read that and thought, "don't all vehicles have something like that?" and then I remembered we were talking about a diesel engine!! They get a lot of flack, don't they...

[@EpicRiman]

Didn't know about that Studio 397 part, thought it was just random numbers lol

[@AidanMillward]

Marcel Offermans is a massive Corvette fan 😅

[@sheldoniusRex]

Link to crash photo is missing.

[@briangriffith3985]

i always thought audi and pugeot left lemans because of the tighter limitations on diesel powered cars ( power output, fuel capacity )

[@jctheU.G.SafariBigGamecat]

I always forget Bentleys German nowadays 😪 😢

[@fuzzy1dk]

afaiu nothing on the Bentley speed 8 was Audi except the engine

[@Axle0Bullitt019]

That race in 2011 was the first LeMans I watched live and that McNish crash was truly scary and is burned into my mind. So much so that in GT7 there is a trophy for taking a picture of the R18 at LeMans. That was the only thing I could think of when I thought of taking a picture and so I went to remake it.

[@DPoner]

I believe they use dpf filters

[@cdnkart]

I was told (in a paddock somewhere) that the fuel used was closer to natural gas than proper diesel. I also loved the sound of those cars, and how you could hear the tires fighting for grip. Reminded me of new tires on a kart.

[@CrSnds]

Totally agree, when I first heard the R10's exhaust note I thought " nothing else sounds like this!" I loved it though and still do to this day, the quiet hum mixed with transmission was my absolute favorite everytime I heard it

[@hagestad]

That was actually a lie. They have proprietary fuel for that car that was most likely illegal. Also since the car run on mixture of diesel and rocket fuel all the marketing was false.

[@paulreilly3904]

And Audi brought some truly interesting drivers to drive them such as Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer and the always amusing Mike Rockenfeller. Not to mention that bad boy Alexandre Premat, who got the old " don't come Monday" from Dr Ulrich for running a marathon when he was supposed to be recovering from an accident. 😁 I believe he also managed to commit the cardinal sin of taking out his teammate in a DTM race.

[@dicksonfranssen]

I know diesels have their place and are never going away but that was just a billion dollar science experiment. I've been reading "diesel is the way of the future" since 1975 but in North America the fuel is too expensive and it's not happening. We don't have electric trains here either, that doesn't say much for how we think.

[@johnyossarian1135]

So, what was Delatraz doing?

[@AidanMillward]

Delettrez

[@johnyossarian1135]

@@AidanMillward stupid people from the 40s, they maliciously weren't quite named the same as the best meme of 1995 (although it wasn't even JDD). The French are crafty like that

[@kitko33]

What many people don't know is that Le Mans used to be run under different rules thant the rest of the WEC races. Interestingly, Audi bankrolled the whole Le Mans org. In other words, the entire Audi dominance era at Le Mans was run by Audi rules. It was obvious when Peugeot wanted to have a shot, Villeneuve driving the ass off that car to finish second, and Audi was still faster. But the most obvious Audi rules era came when Toyota appeared with hybrids. Toyota dominated the WEC... except for Le Mans which was run by different rules. Audi rules.

[@pauljaworski9386]

Which Audi was it that at Le Mans they changed pretty much the whole back half of the car in a bit over 3 minutes. A R8 maybe? Maybe 2002? Anyone remember that one?

[@lkj802]

you might be thinking of the gearbox swap in 2000, they got them down to about 5 mins

[@pauljaworski9386]

@@lkj802 Yes, that's the one. Gear box, uprights, brakes, the whole back end in a bit less than 5 minutes. I found it on you tube. Thanx for the memory help ikj802. :-) Aidan, this pit stop is worth it's own clip. :-) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXzNh4SYjsiHn7s

[@paulreilly3904]

In fact it was such an advantage that the ACO outlawed the practice.

[@pauljaworski9386]

@@paulreilly3904 Yes, thanx Paul. I thought I remembered that too. :-) To many complaints from the competition. :-)

[@wharris123184]

7:39 NEIN!

[@andyharman3022]

Dieselgate was the entire reason that Audi got out of endurance racing and into Formula E. That smells like something the government would put in a consent decree.

[@jstewlly4747]

Audi is so missed in Motor sport everything they do is a breakthrough of innovation from AWD rally to AWD street racers to Direct injection then diesel....now I can't wait to see them in F1 2026 hurry up!!

[@EddieOtool]

nice

[@SiqueScarface]

Actually, the Audi R8 was not the first diesel car to win an endurance race. This would be the BMW 320d winning the 24 hours of the Nürburgring in 1998.

[@Sephiroth5200]

In the case of the Bentley, Audi didn't enter Le Mans in 2003, knowing full well that if the Bentley was going to win, the R8 couldn't be on track.🤷

[@Hydraav2]

The R10 is how chav’s look in their mind when they gap someone in their fabia vrs diesel.

[@AidanMillward]

Is your Corsa even limited edition m8??????

[@JackMott]

why does every youtube vid on this car fail to mention the rules allowed diesel engines to run more boost?

[@MarkoLomovic]

Yeah I do not know how they fail to mention that. It is not only boost but engine displacement as well. They had bad attempts to equalize them in efficiency but it always favored disel. It is not that they didn't try it is just that those change were too incremental while technology kept getting better. So developing petrol engine is uphill battle due to limitations.

[@JackMott]

car racing is always about exploiting rules and its always an arms race, so thats fine and the diesel era was fun stuff. but it should be mentioned in videos like this!

[@MarkoLomovic]

@@JackMott Exactly it goes to giving proper context to the story.

[@exsoda345128]

I think you made a mistake, Kristensen, Mcnish and Dino did not win in 2006. They didn't win until 2008, how the managed that is a good story.

[@LudusArtifex]

but a question. was it a disel or a kerosene car? i say kerosene, becaus it has more power then diesel

[@zaarkeru3391]

Diesel have a higher energy density...

[@ego4551]

Actual premium diesel, you can get at some fuel stations in Europe

[@LudusArtifex]

@@ego4551 Yes, in Germany there is also premium diesel at petrol stations, especially Aral.

[@AugustoV8Cesar]

these diesel engines had the ordinary 6900 rpm that many gas engines have today, can some1 explain how diesel engine can have almost the same rpm:?

[@TRC98]

That crash tho, Its alwasy the fcking ferraries man

[@scum07k]

ah yes, hello gentleman.

[@johnlladron735]

Interesting video, thanks very much. Should point out that only doing 5000 miles in a diesel isn't an issue. It's how many miles it does each run. If a diesel was used sparingly but almost exclusively on long runs with a bit of thrash thrown in it wouldn't mess up the DPF. The problem now is that since about 2009 all diesels have been strangled by additional legislation which guarantees premature mayhem.

[@beepool4849]

Ah yes the mighty tractors

[@gamtax]

Lamborghini with diesel would be the iconic duo...

[@douglasladowski6342]

Wow didn't even know toyota showed up