Nerd’s Eye View: 2012 LA Auto Show

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The infamous Nissan DeltaWing.  It uses a turbocharged 1.6L engine making around 300hp using Shell E10 98 RON fuel.  So it uses the same normal pump gas that you buy at the gas station.  It gets around 9mpg in race conditions with a top speed of about 197mph.  That’s just a BIT better than the 6mpg I used to get in my Evo while on the track and just a BIT faster too…

 

The rear tires are not that big.  The rear wheel uses a single locking nut to hold on the wheel. 

 

Performance Friction, BBS, and Michelin all had to produce custom parts for the DeltaWing.  The front wheel is only held on by three nuts!  

 

Much of the downforce is generated though the combination of the underbody tunnels and the upper body flap working in conjunction.

 

So what’s my takeaway from this year’s LA Auto Show?  A whole lot of turbo cars are coming whether they are gasoline or diesel.  See, I wasn’t lying when I wrote about Engine Downsizing and the trend of engines becoming turbocharged.  It’s really interesting to see the variety of turbo setups, the different approaches taken and the unique packaging challenges for each vehicle.  I’m just hoping to see a tri-turbo setup on display next year.

 

L.A. Auto Show

 

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