Forza Motorsport 4: The Bernese Alps |  |
- Forza Motorsport 4: The Bernese Alps
- Andy Lally back with TRG for the 2011 Watkins Glen 200
- The new Audi 1.8 TFSI engine
| Forza Motorsport 4: The Bernese Alps Posted: 04 Aug 2011 03:00 PM PDT Take a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Forza Motorsport 4′s Bernese Alps track. Related posts: Forza Motorsport 4: The Bernese Alps
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| Andy Lally back with TRG for the 2011 Watkins Glen 200 Posted: 04 Aug 2011 01:35 PM PDT In addition to racing TRG Motorsports’ Ford in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, the Northport, N.Y., native will return to the GRAND-AM Rolex Series, joining Duncan Ende in the No. 66 TRG Porsche 911 GT3 in Saturday evening’s Watkins Glen 200. “This is really cool for me, because it’s my home state and my favorite racetrack,” said Lally, who won with TRG in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in his lone Rolex Series race of 2011. “It’s great to be doubling up with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. This makes the boyhood dream of racing in what was then the Winston Cup come to a realization, and it’s pretty epic.” Lally has four GT victories at Watkins Glen. He won the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in 2004 (with TPC), 2007 and 2010, and the Crown Royal 250 in 2005 run in conjunction with the IndyCar event. However, he has yet to win in the August race on the 2.45-mile short course. “The two courses at The Glen use very similar setups,” Lally said of the differences between the short course and the 3.4-mile long circuit. “The gearing changes a little bit, and the downforce desires are a little different. I love the short course. It’s such a blast. It’s the closest thing to a Talladega version of a road course you can get. It’s super-high speed the whole time, and there’s very little slow-speed corners. The draft is big from Turn 1 to the Inner Loop. The short course always makes for an exciting race. Regardless of how the rules are going, there’s usually two or three different marques at the front going at it, hard.” Even though he’s been away from the Rolex Series since January, Lally has kept in touch with his sports car racing roots. “I’ve been keeping an eye on what’s going on in the series this year, and I think you’re going to see one of the closest grids – and probably one of the closest finishes – that we’ve seen all year.” Lally came up with a prediction on the outcome. “I think you’re going to see four guys coming to the white flag real close to each other, and you’re not going to know who’s going to win until they get to the checker,” Lally said. “It’s going to be a pretty wild race.” While Lally is 33rd in the Sprint Cup standings, more importantly his 26th-place finish in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 moved TRG up to 35th in the car owner standings. Lally will now be guaranteed a starting position as long as he can remain in the top 35 in the owner points. “Hands down, this has been the toughest racing challenge I’ve had in my life,” Lally said of the transition to the Sprint Cup. “Up until this week, we’ve been a ‘go or go homer’ for the past few months, and that is one of the most stressful things I’ve ever done. Everything you do for the whole weekend rides on one single lap. We made the race on time the last eight races, and to be able to do that is a testament to how hard all of these guys are working. This car has a much different feel from what I’m used to, and that makes the challenge all that greater. ” - Grand-AM Related posts: Andy Lally back with TRG for the 2011 Watkins Glen 200
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| Posted: 04 Aug 2011 09:34 AM PDT The engines in the updated A5 family set new standards for sportiness and efficiency. Even the base engine, the completely redesigned 1.8 TFSI, showcases the full extent of Audi’s technological competence. The engineers have developed innovative solutions in numerous fields of technology to achieve surprisingly strong performance with minimal fuel consumption.
The high-end four-cylinder engine displaces 1,798 cm3 and delivers a brawny and constant 320 Nm (236.02 lb-ft) to the crankshaft between 1,400 and 3,700 rpm. Peak output of 125 kW (170 hp) is achieved at 3,800 rpm. With a manual transmission, the 1.8 TFSI accelerates the Audi A5 Coupé from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 7.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 230 km/h (142.92 mph). Despite all this power, it consumes just 5.7 liters of fuel per 100 km (41.27 US mpg) on average, which corresponds to best-in-segment emissions of 134 grams of CO2/km (215.65 g/mile). Consumption has been reduced by 21 percent compared with the previous model engine. Combustion behavior was a particular focus of the development work. In addition to FSI direct injection, the 1.8 TFSI also uses indirect injection. This system injects the fuel at the end of the intake manifold near the tumble valves, where it is swirled intensively with the air. Indirect injection is used in the part-load range. It reduces fuel consumption and particulate emissions to such an extent that the four-cylinder engine already complies with the limits of the future Euro 6 standard, which does not enter into force until 2015. The rail pressure of the FSI system has been increased from 150 to 200 bar. The direct injection system is active when starting off and at higher loads. It can perform two or three individual injection operations per work cycle. To further optimize gas exchange, the valve control system has been given greater operating freedom. The Audi valvelift system, which adjusts the lift of the valves in two stages, is active on the exhaust side. The two camshafts can be adjusted through 30 or 60 degrees of crankshaft angle. Fully electronic coolant regulation systemThe innovative thermal management of the four-cylinder engine features a new fully electronic coolant regulation system. Two fast-switching, rotating cores, which are consolidated in a module and driven by an electric motor via a screw drive, control the flow of coolant. One of their primary objectives is to bring the motor oil up to operating temperature as quickly as possible following a cold start. This is done by keeping the coolant in the crankcase for a relatively long time. The cabin heating runs off of a separate loop in the cylinder head. The main radiator, which dissipates the heat to the environment, does not come into play until the latest possible moment. The new rotating core module can set the water temperature between 85 and 107 degrees Celsius as a function of load and rpm to always achieve the best compromise between minimal internal friction and thermodynamic efficiency. Switchable valves throughout the cooling system manage heat flows between the engine, the heat exchanger for the transmission and the cabin. All together, the thermal management system reduces the CO2 emissions of the 1.8 TFSI by around 2.5 g per 100 km (4.02 g/mile). This concept benefited from the integration of the exhaust manifold into the water-cooled cylinder head. Because this also reduces the exhaust gas temperature, it is not necessary with the 1.8 TFSI to enrich the mixture at full load, which reduces fuel consumption significantly when driving sportily. The turbocharger in the 1.8 TFSI is also an all-new design that develops the high relative boost pressure of up to 1.3 bar very systematically. Key features include a turbine wheel made from a new alloy that can withstand exhaust temperatures of up to 980 degrees Celsius, the oxygen sensor mounted directly upstream of the turbine wheel, a pulsation damper, a compressor wheel machined from a solid blank and an electric wastegate actuator that adjusts the boost pressure particularly quickly and precisely to further reduce fuel consumption. Engine weight has been reduced from 135 to 131.5 kilograms (297.62 to 289.91 lb). The new turbocharger/cylinder head module, a new casting process for the gray cast iron crankcase that reduces wall thickness to roughly three millimeters (0.12 in) and the crankshaft with four rather than eight counterweights and reduced main bearing diameters all contributed to this weight reduction. The pistons are made of new, high-strength alloy. Lightweight polymers are used for the oil pan, and many screws are made of aluminum. Internal friction has also been drastically reduced by the use of an innovative coating on the piston skirts and by mounting the two balance shafts that counteract the second-order inertial forces in roller bearings. The regulated oil pump requires little energy itself, and the oil-jet cooling for the piston heads is controlled via a high-precision electric system. - Audi Related posts:
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