DTM Showcase Dramatic 1000hp Electric Concept Series

[Durge Driven]

In 25 years electric will be smaller lighter more powerful and have better re gen capability
Before it was slow charging distance, looks, quality, speed .......... basically everything

Sound......... the last bastion of the naysayer

I predict within 10 years they will take outright records at all the big tracks

Anyone still suggests it's just some smoke and mirrors PR exercise from car manufactures are living in a dream and are most likely climate skeptic too

 

[Patrik Marek]

It's going to have to be fake sounds, fancy custom sounds, sim racing sound modders would have a field day

anything sounds better then this!

 

[Durge Driven]

Other thing I find puzzling

Any Motorsport fan will tell you in the old days F1 was at the fore-front of developing tyres, brakes, many things
for road cars

Today's Electric racing is like those old day F1 just on the tip of development
Tomorrows electric races are the future road cars yet people would deny them the same development
Until electric racing is at the forefront development will suffer

 

[Luciano Santos Filho]

I can hear my grandkids saying one day. "Grandad, did automobiles make really loud sounds in the old days" to which I lean closer to them and say, "Pardon"

Grampa, people actually had to DRIVE these things around????
I pitty my grandsons...

 

[OZ67]

Another giant battery disguised as a car

 

[Nick Hill]

anything sounds better then this!

I think the performance level is still a bit off from where it would entice me to actually watch/follow but...those FE's look AWESOME. So cool looking...like a futuristic F1 car (and I suppose that's very possibly exactly what they are).

 

[UnixRoot]

Why not go full F-Zero?

 

[Zoltan76]

Why screwing all series with this electric sh*t???

 

[Andrew Harper]

Electronic Touring Masters. Doesn't that spell ETM?

I have laughed hard when Formula E was announced and said that would never work. Well, I was wrong as it does seem attract a decent fanbase that actually enjoys watching (not saying listening) to electronic engines.

Will not make the same mistake again It will probably not be my cup of tea but the next generation will probably love it.

I think that’s the problem with any form of electric racing. This car looks awesome, will probably go like a bullet out of a gun but as usual with this type of racing all you’ll probably hear is the whistle of the car going past and the squeal of the tires.

Part of the drama of Motorsport is the noise. F1 is still a damp squib to me since the hybrid era started. Rally cars popping and banging are part of the spectacle for example, 40 odd types of engine at Le Mans are a feast for the ears is another prime example.

I have nothing against electric racing. I’m even considering seeing the London race next year as the track looks crazy but without the noise it’s difficult to get involved and truly enjoy what you are seeing. For me anyway

 

[max1966i]

Although it doesn't appeal hugely it is the future of all motor racing. There is a way to go before it really gets in to it's stride but no doubting it takes visionaries to push this forward.

I think this is a brave move by an established series but then again if you watch any of the coverage there isn't a great 'live' fan base. As there are now so many niche series the audience is spread ever thinner.

So many of the series are now run for the benefit of the super rich 'gentlemen driver' participants, often of questionable quality. I subscribe to GT World on YT and hardly ever watch the plethora of boring GT races around the world, when it was only Blancpain it made sense but now .

I'm all for PRO drivers in manufacturer teams racing at the limit while the development pushes forward technology. This will miss on that by having standardised equipment. I'd hope the chassis layout and suspension elements remain open but clearly performance will be similar. Of course the never ending issues around BOP and sandbagging spoils a lot of GT racing anyway.

The most interesting aspect of this for me is the robotic pits and battery change, why not it makes sense to push the batteries hard requiring changing. A regulated time for the pit stop still should leave strategy around battery useage/power delivery and ultimately driver skill, consistency and when to deploy push to pass, etc.

No AI drivers though.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Part of the drama of Motorsport is the noise. F1 is still a damp squib to me since the hybrid era started. Rally cars popping and banging are part of the spectacle for example, 40 odd types of engine at Le Mans are a feast for the ears is another prime example.

This ^^

Any newcomer to car racing introduced though Formula E, eDTM or iPhoneRacing should at least for once in their life visit the 24 Hours of Le Mans or a rally series to appreciate what motorsport is all about for spectators: The Roar.

Once you hear The Roar you're infected

 

[Sim Strata]

Oh God no. This is the begining of the end of the sport. Audiences and sponsorship with wither with these woeful coil whining 'wonders'

 

[Reiche]

Well, DTM is pretty much a marketing series for the manufacturers - basically most if not all top-tier factory engagements are. And thus the racing has to stay within some relevance to their consumer vehicles. So there's probably no way of avoiding more electrification of the sport.

 

[NtsParadize]

Thank god suicide is available for me

 

[Snailer]

This ^^

Any newcomer to car racing introduced though Formula E, eDTM or iPhoneRacing should at least for once in their life visit the 24 Hours of Le Mans or a rally series to appreciate what motorsport is all about for spectators: The Roar.

Once you hear The Roar you're infected

As someone who's found interest in racing and cars in general through Tesla, I'm going to disagree. I've heard racecars and the dominant emotion I've felt or feel whenever a loud car passes by is annoyance. Most people here will have probably found their way to cars or racing through something powered by an internal combustion engine, and will have learned to associate that particular sound with something good which will make them like it, but if you didn't, chances are you won't find liking in the sound of an IC engine. I, for one, think the trams running through my city sound better than any ICE car ever made.

 

[Jan Larsen]

Not interested at all, except for the battery swap feature. Completely irrelevant for racing, but a game changer for use on the road if it could be made affordable.

 

[NtsParadize]

Why screwing all series with this electric sh*t???

Blame governments and bureaucracy

 

[Ben Lee]

They need to open up the battery tech development for it to be of any use to road cars in the future. I understand why it’s not done that way because of cost, but for it to be a green development drive that’s what needs to happen.

I also don’t hear any more about F1 and it’s battery KERS system. 10 years ago you couldn’t listen to a race broadcast without hearing about KERS. I presume F1 cars still do have KERS, or has that been abandoned?

 

[testdriver77]

Boring as hell! Visit a actual Rallycross event and then we talk how enjoyable a tesla sound is....

Live in Ger an basically i have enough of this topics about electric cars and climate stuff.
Motorsport without proper sound is useless. An RC car bring more fun than to watch this useless wheelchair series.....

 

[Nick Hill]

They need to open up the battery tech development for it to be of any use to road cars in the future. I understand why it’s not done that way because of cost, but for it to be a green development drive that’s what needs to happen.

I also don’t hear any more about F1 and it’s battery KERS system. 10 years ago you couldn’t listen to a race broadcast without hearing about KERS. I presume F1 cars still do have KERS, or has that been abandoned?

Conceptually, ERS is still around, but the deployment rules/mechanism has changed since the days of what they called "KERS". With KERS, drivers had a button that allowed them to deploy harvested energy at a specified rate for a specified length of time (per lap). With ERS, it's more like a dial. You can crank deployment way down and build up a reserve, crank it way up and get a big boost (but deplete reserve quickly), or of course anywhere in between.

On paper, a little dial that the driver cranks up or down sounds kind of cool, but in practice I suspect it's mostly programmed/managed from the pits. I've never taken the time to research it, just commenting on what I think I'm reading between the lines on the radio chatter, but I have a feeling teams have probably developed fuel flow/engine mapping/ERS "packages" for a given spec/race. Teams would test/understand the fuel economy, performance, etc implications and then conditionally enable/disable the packages situationally. Probably good gamesmanship too, because when you hear the radio chatter, it's always very abstract - no mention of fuel or ERS, rather "can I have more?" or "you'll have everything".

All in all...I kind of like it. Someone will throw a brick at my head for saying this but, strategy-wise, I don't find it much different than refuelling. Certainly more compelling strategy than the stupid tires or DRS. I think most people's objection to the concept of "engine management" is a philosophical objection to an F1 engine being "managed" at all. i.e. F1 should be an all out sprint. I dunno, I am of the opinion F1 has never truly been an all-out sprint. Back in the glory days, it seems "mechanical sympathy" was a big component to driver skill.