MAK-Corp Group-C MOD

General
These amazingly fast cars, were made to achieve the fastest speeds using the
lowest amount of fuel possible, which was key to success in that era. The Group
C Mod was conceived for endurance races and for sprint races of at least one
hour (one full tank). We have had the help of a former Porsche 962C driver
throughout the development process and been given a lot of technical
information about the car and the different tyres used.

Simulation Vs Reality
As the real cars changed from race to race and at every qualification, we had
to make some directional choices, and thats why the cars match the historical
final speeds and lap times at some tracks, but not in others. The main focus
has been put into handling, braking distances, tyres , fuel consumption, and
the driving style needed to achieve the best performance from them. These
cars produced a large amount of ground effect, and over 180 km/h the ground
effect pushes the car into the ground producing a huge amount of grip. Under
braking this effect is reduced while the car loses speed, and needs attention to
avoid locking the tyres. Below the speed of the ground effect activation, the
cars rely on their tyres, and the ability of the driver to manage the power
output on corner exit as they navigate the circuit. The turbo lag can also be a
problem if it isnt carefully matched with the right moment, but it could be
helpful in other situations.

The Cars

Mazda 787B:
Physics: Damian Baldi
This is an 850Kg car, with a carbon fiber chassis, a rotary engine and a gearbox
with Porsche internal components. It's an easy car to drive, very stable and
with low fuel consumption. It has very good braking thanks to carbon fiber
disks. Handling is neutral and it has very good cornering behaviour thanks to
the short wheelbase.

It uses Dunlop tyres fitted on 18 inches rims. Two compounds are available,
medium for sprint races and hard for endurance races and a third compound
for the rain.
Aerodynamics can be set for high speed tracks or high downforce changing the
front wing setting to 1 (low downforce, low drag) or 2 (high downforce, high
drag). The rear wing works as a balancer of the front wing, because rear
downforce comes from the ground effect's tunnel. The recommended setting
for high speed tracks is 1-1, while for high downforce is 2-5.
The engine have two boost settings that can be changed on the garage or on
the steering wheel while driving, "Fast" (position 1/2) and "Save" (position 2/2).
"Fast" mode allow full usage of the RPM range and all the power of the engine,
while "Save" mode cuts the RPM range by 500 while it saves near 8% of fuel.

Specification
Weight: 850Kg
Chassis: Carbon Fiber
Brakes: Carbon Fiber
Front wheels: 300x640mm Rim: 18 inches
Rear wheels: 360x710mm Rim: 18 inches
Engine: Rotary 2.6 litre ~700HP @ 9000RPM

Porsche 962C:
Physics: Damian Baldi
This 900Kg car is the most iconic from this era. The 962C set the benchmark
for years, but by the late 80s and early 90s it was starting showing its age.
The Aluminium chassis had many upgrades and modifications to keep it
competitive, including several different engines, aero modifications and
electronics changes. It has Iron brake disks, so this car has a longer braking
distance than the Mazda. For this Mod the 962C is offered with two engines, a 3
litre twin turbo engine used as C1 class in WSC, and a 2.8 litre single turbo
version as used in IMSA. The 3 litre version develops power in a gentle manner,
making it easy to drive and oriented to endurance races, while the IMSA
version with a huge single turbo is more aggressive and more fuel hungry.
The turbo boost setting has 15 positions in total. 1 to 7 are fuel saving settings.
Position 7 (1.1 bar) is the recommended setting for endurance races with the
best power/consumption ratio, and matches the Mazda's fuel consumption (in
save mode). Positions 7 to 10 (up to 1.25bar) are used for sprint races,
increasing the power output but with a higher fuel consumption and higher
engine wear (not recommended for endurance events). Lastly, Position 15 is
only recommended for qualification stints. This setting has ridiculously high fuel
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usage, and the health of the engine would be affected adversely under race
lengths/conditions and prone to failure. A button for temporary boost could be
added too, providing full boost while pressed.
There are two different brands of tyres, Goodyear (R500 and R600, similar to
the Dunlop of the Mazda) and Yokohama. The Yokohama compound is a hard
and very stable tyre with behaviour similar to the Goodyear R600 compound.
The Yokohama compound has lower grip than the Goodyear R600, but its
performance is comparable through an entire stint and could last longer if well
managed.
Aerodynamics can be set for high speed tracks or high downforce changing the
front wing setting to 1 (low downforce, low drag) or 2 (high downforce, high
drag). The rear wing works as a balancer of the front wing, because rear
downforce comes from the ground effect's tunnel. The recommended setting
for high speed tracks is 1-1, while for high downforce is 2-5.

Specification
Weight: 900Kg
Chassis: Aluminium
Brakes: Iron, ventilated
Front wheels: 300x650mm Rim: 17 inches
Rear Wheels: 365x720mm Rim: 19 inches
Engine WSC: Flat-6 3.0 litre twin turbo 650-800HP @ 8200RPM
Engine IMSA: Flat-6 2.8 litre single turbo 650-800HP @ 8200RPM

Sauber C11:
Physics: Alvaro Perez
After the success of the C9 in 1989, Sauber still evolved the car and improved
aerodynamics, ventilation, fuel consumption Also a new carbon fibre chassis
would embrace the formidable Mercedes engine and its twin KKK
turbochargers.
10 turbo positions are available on the simulation, with the most conservative
already offering 720hp and pushing hard from a very low 3500rpm. At the
highest turbo settings more than 900hp explode at the wheel, but abuse will
overheat the engine and harm tyres prematurely.
Remember that these Goodyear tyres (2 hard compounds) must also bear with
one of highest downforce levels of the grid. Harder tyres might be better choice
when there are many fast kinks and long straights.

Choose your aerodynamic setting to obtain more traction and stability. The
sacrifice of some turn-in response will be a reward when exiting the corner.
Using same number for front and rear is a good way to start with a balanced
chassis . After that, engine brake and differential settings can help you more
than you expect to find your taste on corner entry and handling reactions.
Using soft springs can lead to aerodynamic issues, so it is recommended to go
with the unconfortable rock hard suspension that doesnt let you bite kerbs and
spite at every bump.
Specification
Weight: 905Kg
Chassis: Carbon fibre
Brakes: Carbon, ventilated
Front wheels: 324x648mm Rim: 16 inches
Rear Wheels: 368x720mm Rim: 18 inches
Engine V8 5.0 litre twin turbo 720-940HP @ 7000RPM

Which car is best for me?

The Mazda with just one brand of tyres and management of fuel consumption
in the hands of the driver, it's a great safe choice for the race. On the Porsche's
side, you have different options. You could use Goodyear tyres and a higher
turbo pressure to go as fast as you can, but bear in mind that tyres will last
less, and pit stops will be longer due to the amount of fuel needed. A more
conservative choice could be to use the Yokohama tyres with a lower turbo
pressure. The C11 is heavier, it doesnt turn in so fast on twisty circuits. But it
has good traction, and lots of power to reach high speeds. All cars have the
same chance to fight for wins, it all depends on the driver to choose the right
combination that matches their driving style to get the best performance from
the chosen car.

Pit Stop Time: Tyres take 20 seconds to be changed and is the only
action with a separated time. Fuel takes 1 second per litre (100 seconds for the
entire tank). All the other actions are shared with the fuel time (driver change,
repairs, settings changes). The amount of time that appears as fuel time, is the
total time for the pit stop.

Thanks to:
Brian Davies, Avon Tyres Motorsport, www.avonmotorsport.com
John Pearson, H.P Tyres Ltd, www.hptyres.com
Autosport Technical Forum
Mulsannes Corner group.
Special thanks to Oscar Larrauri, a great guy and fast driver, for his
unconditional help and endless passion to make sure we had what we needed.

C11
Engine:

SAUBER MERCEDES

Mercedes-Benz M119 HL - V8 Turbo

M119 naturally aspirated: 335hp

KKK turbo: up to 611hp
Overall output:
Torque: 820Nm at 3500rpm (low boost)
Power: 730hp at 7000rpm (low boost) ; 944hp at
7000rpm (full boost)

Dyno test at minimum boost pressure

Max. recommended rpm: 7300rpm (at 7500 engine life is halved)
Recommended oil temperature range: 112 130C (at 123C
life is halved)
Recommended boost position:
Endurance: 6
Qualifying: 9
Recommended radiator setting: 3 (Endurance)
Recommended engine brake setting: 3 (Sprint), 5 (Long
endurance, lower numbers increase brake and decrease life)

Throttle map:

Throttle effect depending on pedal position and engine RPM

(created and shown by Engine Easy Create).

Tyres:
Compounds:
Goodyear R500 (medium)
Goodyear R600 (hard)
-Dimensions:
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Front: 25.5/13 x 17
Rear: 28.5/14.5 x 18

-Performance comparison (by CarStat)

-Optimum temperatures:
R500: 100C
;

R600: 103C

-Abrasion degradation :

-Thermal degradation:
R500 thermal degradation starts at: 109C
R600 thermal degradation starts at: 112C

-Tyre characteristics:
Tyres are very sensitive to slip angle. This means using
excessive steering angles may induce quick overheating on tyres
surface, losing grip prematurely while cornering. Sliding and going
sideways may harm rear tyres.
Tyres are also sensitive to load and speed. They are not so
effective at the fastest corners, where sliding speed is higher and
downforce increases tyre deformation, so they lose grip and suffer faster
overheating and wear.
Soft compounds are more sensitive to load, so probably you
will notice that they are much more grippy than hard compounds at low
speed corners, but grip difference is not so big at high speed corners.
Different compounds need different driving style according
to their temperature characteristics. Soft compounds are not very
efficient when overheated, while hard compounds are not efficient when
cold. Probably hard compounds admit a more aggressive style, which
helps to reach optimum temperatures, while soft compounds need to be
gentle to not exceed them.
Chosen tyre compound must fit with ambient conditions and
required task. Soft tyres fit better with low fuel loads, high turbo
positions and more oversteering chassis. These are the typical
conditions on short race stints and qualifying laps. Its not recommended
to use soft tyres with high fuel loads, very hot ambient temperatures,
etc,... In the other hand, it is not recommended to use hard tyres with
highest turbo positions.
Soft compounds may suffer overheating when rolling at high
speed on long straights, especially rear tyres. You can try a harder
compound for the rear to sort this.

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Other info:

Deflection test at 4700N (by Tyre tool)

Aerodynamics
Downforce:

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Total normalized downforce and aerodynamic balance depending

on garage aerodynamic settings (shown by AeroGebra).
As a start point, it is recommended to use same number for both
front and rear downforce settings (for example: front = 6 and rear = 6).

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Body, diffuser, and adjustable downforce contributions to total

downforce

Drag:

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Total drag and contributions, depending on garage aerodynamic

settings.

Ride height:
Ride height is dynamic, it changes all the time while driving at
speed due to different forces acting on the chassis. You should choose a
static ride height (garage setting) that goes in favour of the optimum
instantaneous ride height on corners and straights of each track.
Rake is the difference between rear and front ride height.
Rake is positive when rear is higher than front. Rake is negative when
rear is lower than front.
Rake = Rear ride height Front ride height

Diffuser has a big influence on downforce depending on ride

height:

Diffuser downforce depending on instantaneous rear ride height (for

instantaneous front ride height = 31mm).

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Adding rest of aero devices :

Total downforce, drag, efficiency and balance depending on

instantaneous rear ride height (for instantaneous front height =
31mm, which is the optimum).
Instantaneous ride height for maximum total downforce :
Front: 31mm ;

Rear: 43mm

Instantaneous ride height for maximum efficiency:

Front: 31mm ;

Rear: 32mm

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Total drag depending on instantaneous rear ride height, for

various instantaneous front ride heights.
- The lower is the car, the less drag there is.
- For every average ride height, drag is minimum when both
front and rear heights are the same, because rake generates
extra drag. This could be an issue on the fastest straights, where
rear height could be lower than front due to strong rear downforce.
It is recommended to use very hard rear springs or increasing rear
height setting to avoid negative rake and speed loss. Positive rake
is also undesirable in terms of drag, so it is necessary to find a
compromise for each track.

Recommended front ride height settings: 4550mm

Recommended rear ride height settings: 6070mm

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Brakes:

35mm carbon discs, internally ventilated

1,0

Brake torque

0,5

Temperature (C)
0,0
0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

Optimum temperature range: 450-800C

Recommended brake duct setting: 5 (Endurance)

-Other data:
-Speed statistics:
Acceleration:
0-100kph: 2.6s ; 100-200kph: 3.2s ; 200-300kph: 6.6s
Top speed:
415kph

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-Driving

recommendations:

- Caution! This is a 900HP machine. It is strongly recommended to

carefully regulate throttle pedal when approaching corner exit, especially on
low speed corners. It is possible to slide and to make opposite lock while using
a portion of throttle, but never use full throttle until the car is firmly stabilized.
Highest turbo positions are only recommended when riding new qualifying
tyres or very good track conditions.
- Going sideways at high speed is not recommended. Severe grip loss
can occur when trying to drift at higher speeds than 180kph.
- Stay on track limits, avoid driving over kerbs. Suspension travel is short
and springs are usually very hard, so they dont cope well with irregularities.
- After exiting pit lane or caution laps, brakes and tires are usually cold.
Avoid aggressive driving and late braking until car elements reach optimum
work temperatures. Brakes can heat up after a pair of corners, but tires may
need rolling for two or more laps, depending on track and compound.
- Car settings should take in account fuel consumption and tyre wear. Car
performance will change after some laps, so risky setups which are fast with
new tyres can be dangerous for a long stint. Remember that car weight,
balance and grip will change.

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