DOME S102
The Dome S102 scale wind tunnel model, updated to 2011 spec, with mandatory fin and narrow rear wing package
per cent so, if you are looking for a 0.2 per cent gain, you have to use a bigger model. At 60 per cent, it could be 0.1 per cent, so you can make those gains.’
MISSED OPPORTUNITY After the S102 and its engineers returned from Europe, they had a chance to reflect on the car’s performance and look for ways to improve. ‘When we took the car to Le Mans it was very young, just two or three months old,’ admits Yuchi. ‘We couldn’t do enough development on it in the time we had, not even enough to find a good set up. After we got back we did two more track tests, and even then we were finding better set ups all of the time. Also at Le Mans we had a traction problem, but we fixed this very quickly afterwards. So we knew that if we went back in 2009 we would have a much better mechanical set up, but it was not to be.’ The lessons learned from
Le Mans in 2008 were many and, with the car still having a lot of development potential, it does not seem unreasonable to suspect that the S102 could have mixed it with the works’ diesels in 2009. ‘We have not
www.racecar-engineering.com • Le Mans
The 2008 Le Mans chassis currently resides in Dome HQ’s foyer in Japan, but with its rear wing updated to 2011 spec, with swan-neck suport
had an opportunity to show what the car can do,’ complains Yuchi. ‘I still have some ideas about changing the packaging. I have ideas about a whole new
until it broke. Normally in a crash test you stop before the chassis breaks up but, for our knowledge, we destroyed a car. We went way beyond the maximum loads and
“We know we can make the monocoque much lighter”
car – the S103. We know we can make the monocoque much lighter, as we have made some steps there. We also did a loading test, to see how much it could take. We simply loaded that up
found our chassis was overspec’d. The tub currently weighs just below 90kg but we think we can match the 75kg of the Audi R18.’ Despite the project slowing
after 2008, it has never stopped
entirely, and the car in the lobby at the Dome factory is fitted with some 2011-spec components. ‘At the front of the car we are happy. Other people have copied us, too. In 2005 we were testing concepts in the wind tunnel at quarter scale that we saw on the Audi R15, so we are confident with the front end. At the rear, however, there is much more development, getting more downforce for no more drag. We can make the rear deck much lower and look at some of the mechanical packaging of the car, like Adrian Newey with the rear of the Red Bull.’ Regulation changes since
2008 have also moved the focus to the rear of the car, notably because the big Judd V10 in the back of the S102 has been effectively outlawed, or at best rendered uncompetitive against new-rules engines. ‘On our car the engine
was mounted much further forward than others, because the regulations stated that the engine and primary rollover structure should not overlap. But on a coupe there is no primary roll structure, such as the hoops on a roadster, so we discussed
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