2011 Petit Le Mans

[RacingManiac]

I was only there on Saturday, spent Friday driving down from MI, watched the race, and drove back up on Sunday...I love the race though. Never been to a ALMS race longer than 2.75 hr and never been to one at night. The drive in the hills of GA/TN/NC is awesome also....

Full album here(Picasa's compression kinda sucks...):
Picasa Web Albums - Andrew Wong - Petit Le Mans...

Some teasers:

[henk4]

nice, what is your impression about the differences in sound between the Audi and the Peugeot which I suppose you both heard for the first time?
Must have been long drive though.

[RacingManiac]

Audi is eerily quiet, just barely any engine sound. Peugeot actually makes some engine noise especially when under load like climbing hills and stuff. It also spews smoke more. Still kind of a bus sound though....

[Starskeye]

The last picture should be part of the next automobile photograph competition !

[Dino Scuderia]

Audi is eerily quiet, just barely any engine sound. Peugeot actually makes some engine noise especially when under load like climbing hills and stuff. It also spews smoke more. Still kind of a bus sound though....

That was my impression as well.

Nice pics! Glad you enjoyed your trip.

[henk4]

Audi is eerily quiet, just barely any engine sound. Peugeot actually makes some engine noise especially when under load like climbing hills and stuff. It also spews smoke more. Still kind of a bus sound though....

yes, I also found the Peugeot noisier than the Audi, but the Audi does produce more smoke, (even when running idle on the grid). I think actually both cars do not meet the requirement of having to produce: non-visible smoke. At PLM towards the end of the race the smoke became very visible against the sky underneath the bridge before the finish straight. (Comparable to the plumes that you see in the evening underneath the Dunlop bridge at Le Mans)

[Cobrafan427]

You can even hear the sound difference when you watch them on TV, all you hear from the Audi is the air whistling over the bodywork and the Peugeot almost sounds like a very fast tractor

[henk4]

You can even hear the sound difference when you watch them on TV, all you hear from the Audi is the air whistling over the bodywork......

and the occasional bumping into other cars....

[carspres]

Yes the Audi was so quiet, if your head was turned you didn't hear it untill it passed and that was mostly wind and tire noise. The Pug wouldn't sneak up on you as easily though. Just a low audible rumble. By contrast the Aston was very quiet on braking at 10a yet was screaming upon accelleration which was awesome!! Yet in traffic you still couldn't hear the Aston amid the rumble of the Vettes !! It was awesome though and glad I was able to finally get back there after a few years of not being able to make it.

[RacingManiac]

I love the Aston V12 sound! Standing near the end of the esses the car just sounds great wailing pass you and brake and downshift into turn 5...

[RacingManiac]

Random question for those who might have been there....anyone saw a white/grey Nissan 240 SX, in the typical drifter-ish look to it with deep dish wheel and rear wing got absolutely trashed by people around it, with some derogatory "ricer" related term scribbled on the hood....

Road Atlanta Track Map

It was on the infield path down the hill from the vendor's village, near the family camping area by turn 4....

[Dino Scuderia]

Didn't see it, but it's a shame that crap goes on sometimes.

[henk4]

I love the Aston V12 sound! Standing near the end of the esses the car just sounds great wailing pass you and brake and downshift into turn 5...

I can relate to that, the Kronos car was glorious to listen to during the 24 Hours, (and it lasted the whole race).

[Dino Scuderia]

Doesn't sound as good as the Ferrari 550 did or the Judd V10 powered cars IMO.

[henk4]

Doesn't sound as good as the Ferrari 550 did or the Judd V10 powered cars IMO.

but those engines were not in the 2011 24 hours....(and the BRM V16 sounds a whole lot better than anything else)