[Law]

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BMW Team RLL VP of Technology Jay O'Connell takes RACER for a technical tour of the team's brand-new twin-turbo V8 BMW M6 GTLM that races in IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

[psuwcc112]

Very cool, thanks for sharing!

[trustbran]

Damn I'm in love with that Beast!!! Thanks for sharing...

-Brandon

[cipri]

Why are the lights yellow and did he mention about AC?
very nice video thanks

[R8TD-M]

Originally Posted by cipri

Why are the lights yellow and did he mention about AC?
very nice video thanks

"Selective" yellow headlights = better visibility in rain. My curiosity get the best of me here, so quote from Wikipedia: The intent of selective yellow is to improve vision by removing short, blue to violet wavelengths from the projected light. These wavelengths are difficult for the human visual system to process properly, and they cause perceived dazzle and glare effects in rain, fog and snow. Removing the blue-violet portion of a lamp's output to obtain selective yellow light can entail filter losses of around 15%, though the effect of this reduction is mitigated or countervailed by the increased visual acuity available with yellow rather than white light in bad weather.

[doogee]

Originally Posted by cipri

Why are the lights yellow and did he mention about AC?
very nice video thanks

Lets other classes know what class car is behind them during the night.

Important to know if it's a slow or fast car flying up behind you, and whether you're actually racing them or not.

Has nothing to do with visibility.

[InTheNightKitchen]

GOAT

[Yeineken]

Work of art.

[Ryan@IND]

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to see how they do this weekend!

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by doogee

Lets other classes know what class car is behind them during the night.

Important to know if it's a slow or fast car flying up behind you, and whether you're actually racing them or not.

Has nothing to do with visibility.

Corrrect. There are usually four or more different classes running at the same time in the Rolex 24.. I believe there are at least three different Color temperature bulbs used in the different classes. There are two different color temperatures that are white (one much more bluish) , along with the yellow tinted headlamps for the LM GTE class .

As such... if the slowest classes run a standard white headlight..... then as a driver.. one can more easily recognize a faster car coming up from behind at night if the lights are yellow (LM GTE- FASTER! ) or a blue/white (Le Mans prototype- MUCH FASTER!) and be prepared accordingly.

Originally Posted by cipri

Why are the lights yellow and did he mention about AC?
very nice video thanks

I didn't watch the video.. but these cars are required to run A/C now... It's not street car cool... but better than cooking the driver for the sake of performance, like the " good old days"

[W///]

Thanks for sharing. That's an awesome looking racecar!

[bradleyland]

I could stare at that engine bay for hours, just taking in the little details. The exhaust plumbing on the turbo engines is kind of hilarious, what with how it runs up and over in these giant rectangular arch shapes.

Also, anyone catch the new steering wheel through the driver's door? Found a better picture on the BMWUSA Motorsport twitter page:

Looks like they've gone to a DTM style, 9&3 handle steering wheel. Contrast this to the wheel from the Z4 GT3, and you can see this is a significant change.

Does anyone know if this is the result of a rules change? I can't remember the last time I saw an on-board video where a driver in a GTLM car crossed-over while turning, so I'm kind of surprised they've run a full circumference wheel as long as they have.

[raysspl]

Exquisite!

[Dackelone]

Cool video. I wonder why BMW ///M didn't go with cf doors. Seems silly when the rest of the car is cf. Must be something with the rules. ?

[Eagle1oh7]

As excited as I am about this new season with the M6, I'm actually excited for the GT and C7R battles.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Cool video. I wonder why BMW ///M didn't go with cf doors. Seems silly when the rest of the car is cf. Must be something with the rules. ?

I'm thinking they were under or close to the weight limit anyway, and went with aluminum because it's much cheaper. The pricing on all the current generation GT3 cars (and by proxy, GTLM/GTD cars) is pretty impressive, considering what you're getting. IIRC, it's less expensive than the Z4 GT3, which, coincidentally, had CF doors.

[doogee]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

Cool video. I wonder why BMW ///M didn't go with cf doors. Seems silly when the rest of the car is cf. Must be something with the rules. ?

Originally Posted by bradleyland

I'm thinking they were under or close to the weight limit anyway, and went with aluminum because it's much cheaper. The pricing on all the current generation GT3 cars (and by proxy, GTLM/GTD cars) is pretty impressive, considering what you're getting. IIRC, it's less expensive than the Z4 GT3, which, coincidentally, had CF doors.

Maybe I didn't catch it, but did they actually say the doors are aluminium? Because the GT3 is supposed to have carbon doors as you can see:

[sworks335i]

Originally Posted by doogee

Maybe I didn't catch it, but did they actually say the doors are aluminium? Because the GT3 is supposed to have carbon doors as you can see:

If you actually look closely at the 1:20 mark you will see the doors are CF. Looks like the exterior has been wrapped.

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by doogee

Maybe I didn't catch it, but did they actually say the doors are aluminium? Because the GT3 is supposed to have carbon doors as you can see:

That's a good question. I've heard mixed reports on the GTLM.

[Scrippy]

Originally Posted by bradleyland

I could stare at that engine bay for hours, just taking in the little details. The exhaust plumbing on the turbo engines is kind of hilarious, what with how it runs up and over in these giant rectangular arch shapes.

Also, anyone catch the new steering wheel through the driver's door? Found a better picture on the BMWUSA Motorsport twitter page:

Looks like they've gone to a DTM style, 9&3 handle steering wheel. Contrast this to the wheel from the Z4 GT3, and you can see this is a significant change.

Does anyone know if this is the result of a rules change? I can't remember the last time I saw an on-board video where a driver in a GTLM car crossed-over while turning, so I'm kind of surprised they've run a full circumference wheel as long as they have.

Not 100% but I've never heard of a governing rule on wheel selection other than size, "not to be smaller than......". I think it's a preference due to the benefits of speed sensitive steering. No need for more than a 90' turn. Plus I'm sure there are more buttons on that wheel than a PS2 and Xbox controller combined so your hands musn't leave the grips.