r/wec • u/valteri_hamilton • Dec 29 '21

SuperGT/DTM How are gt500 cars so fast?

So my question is basically this, how are gt500 cars so quick while still looking like normal cars. I mean the lmp1 cars looked crazy and ppl tell me that the gt500 cars would be faster at Fuji speedway so how is this possible.

Also if the gt500 regulations really are that good at speed then why weren't they used as a basis for lmh regulations? We could have had silhouette hyper cars going insane speeds.

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u/SomeGuyCalledPercy Snatch-Tractor Le Mans 2018 Dec 29 '21

Tyres also make a difference; GT500 has several tyre manufacturers competing against each other, something I'd absolutely love to see in WEC.

to add to this, the tyre war is so present in Super GT That the GT500 cars will have as far as driver specific tyre sets, crafted bespoke for that driver, in that car, for that team - it's seriously advanced over there

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u/kinto--un Dec 29 '21

Do you have a source on those "driver specific" tires? Because that doesn't sound very plausible.

Tyre war brings a lot of R&D in GT500, but I seriously doubt they are making specific compounds for certain drivers; it doesn't make any sense.

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u/gyudon27 Dec 30 '21

It comes down to how you want to describe it. The Tyre manufacturers don’t generally make specific tyres for specific drivers, but it can be the result of the process.

The manufacturers will make several families of compounds that will be tested and (generally) whittled down to those suitable for use in races. However, particularly with the stronger manufacturers, several compounds may have very similar performance - but slightly different characteristics in which lead to small but perceivable differences for each driver in warm-up, ‘bite’, stiffness, and drop. Depending on the preference of the driver, and to some extent the step of the car, different teams may choose to use different families of compound/construction (not discussed above). Even within the same team it isn’t unheard of for the individual drivers to have separate preferences, although this can make it tricker for the team to decide qualifying and race strategies.

Over a larger sample size (half season, etc.) the small differences perceived in testing will be seen over a wider variance of conditions and generally a clearer picture of the ranking of the compound families will emerge. Generally as this happens most teams switch over.

I hope this helps.

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u/kinto--un Dec 30 '21

A driver (or a team) can choose a different compound, if a manufacturer has it, and the rules allow it, but no manufacturer ever, in any championship, had developed a compound based on preferences of a single driver, and gave his teammate another one.

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u/gyudon27 Dec 30 '21

I think you are talking past my reply. Please re-read it if you are interesting in understanding how things work in Super GT.

Source: I am an engineer working in Super GT.