- When it comes to an endurance race car such as Jota Sports' Oreca LMP2 car,
getting reliability out of the car over a 24 hour endurance race is key.
Doesn't matter how fast the car is, if it doesn't make it to the finish line,
you've got no chance of winning.
And of course in order to do this, the electronics package of the car
becomes increasingly important.
We thought we'd take the opportunity here to go through that electronics package
and look at what is actually involved in running an LMP2 car.
This starts with the Cosworth MQ12 ECU which is in control of the Gibson 4.2 litre
V8 engine.
It produces around about 600 horsepower.
The ECU include all of the usual functionality that you'd expect at a
professional motorsport ECU at this level, including traction control,
closed loop fuel control and the ability to run a pit limit and full course
yellow limiter.
What we can see is that the ECU is also fitted with Autosport connectors.
And this is one of the drives to improve reliability here, over the cheaper plastic
connectors that we're more likely to see at the hobbyist and enthusiast level
of motorsport.
Next up we've got the Cosworth IPS32 power distribution unit.
So this replaces the conventional fuses and relays that we'd normally find in a car
and instead it uses solid state electronics to control the power supply to all of
the different circuits on the car.
Now this provides an improvement in reliability and it also provides some
functionality where certain circuits can be set with fusing levels and if the fuse is
popped electronically it can be automatically reset.
This means that you don't have to pull into the pits or pull over on the side of
the track and physically replace a fuse.
And this can be a huge advantage in terms of reliability if you've got a system that's
not quite functioning correctly, even if corrective action is required, this can be
enough to allow you to limp the car back to the pits.
Both the power distribution unit and the Cosworth ECU interface with both the
steering wheel as well as the keypad that's located in the cockpit.
That steering wheel acts as a driver display, in this case there's an integrated Cosworth
display and shift light module as well as all of the controls that are fitted to the
steering wheel which allow the driver to control different aspects
of the engine operation.
It also allows simple aspects such as a radio to communicate back to the pits.
Of course on the back of the steering wheel there are also the paddles which
are used by the driver to select upshifts and downshifts.
Simplifying the wiring greatly is the fact that all of these components
communicate via CAN.
The likes of the steering wheel and the CAN keypad placed in the cockpit,
this means that they only require four wires in order to operate.
Power, earth, CAN high and CAN low.
So this again simplifying the wiring harness installation and improving reliability.
When the driver requests a shift with those paddles, the information is then
communicated to a separate gearbox control computer and this has an integrated air
compressor because the gearbox shift is pneumatic.
Now the compressor feeds a separate reservoir and the gearbox control unit
looks after maintaining the correct air pressure in that reservoir.
When the shift is requested, the air pressure is fed back to an actuator that's fitted
on the gearbox.
When the shift is requested this is completed via a separate actuator assembly that's
fitted onto the extract six speed transaxle at the back of the car.
The last electronic component here is the electronic power steer control.
So this is controlled via the steering wheel adjustable knob that allows the driver
to control the amount of additional assistance that is delivered.
This allows the car to be tuned to suit the driver's preference as well as the
specific track that the car is racing on.
Now one aspect that's important to mention here is that as with every other aspect
on an LMP2 car, the electronics components are lifed.
This is a reliability aspect, all of the components are given a race kilometre
race and after that life has been used up, the components need to be replaced.
This might seem dramatic to us at the enthusiast level, particularly when we're
dealing with literally 10s of 1000s of dollars worth of electronic components.
However the reliability advantage and knowing that all of the components will
make it to the end of a 24 hour race, is worth the expense.
If you liked that video make sure you give it a thumbs up
and if you're not already a subscriber, make sure you're subscribed.
We release a new video every week.
And if you like free stuff, we've got a great deal for you.
Click the link in the description to claim your free spot to our next live lesson.