Dauer Racing 962 LM
One of the most spetacular supercars ever built is Dauer 962 LM. Some supercars were converted to race use, some were designed with racing purpose very much in mind, but the Dauer 962 LM was completely reversed - it was a racing car converted for road use. No wonder it could out-performed and out-braked McLaren F1 and simply anyone else.
Every motorsport lovers must know how great the Porsche 962 endurance racer was. It and its predecessor, 956, dominated the Group C scene for a decade. Itself won five World Sportscar Championships and 6 Le Mans, although occasionally challenged by Jaguar XJR series and the Silver Arrow (Mercedes-Benz). It was also the most popular racing car ever built, many 962s and spare parts were available from Porsche and the private market. Therefore, when a so-called "Supercar Boom" occurred in the early 90s, several racing teams decided to create the "ultimate" supercars based on the 962.
Development
One of which, and surely the most successful one, was Dauer Racing. Team founder Jochen Dauer had already achieved success in WSC (World Sportscar Championship) and IMSA with his 962s. When turbocharging was banned in 1991, Dauer began to develop a road car version of the 962. Everything was straight forward - the steel tubular spaceframe chassis was retained, so were the twin-turbo flat-six engine and the massive racing brakes. Dauer just mildly tuned it for road use, then reshaped the Kevlar body to reduce drag and downforce, and then added road-legal lamps, mirrors, catalytic convertors, ABS and retrimmed the cockpit. In this way, huge budget was not necessary for creating the fastest car in the world.
The
styling was the work of Achim Storz, who used to work for Porsche Design
and who penned the McLaren M26 supercar of the 70s. If you have seen the
M26, I am sure you won't have too much expectation on him. Actually, the
Dauer 962 LM looked more than 90% the same as the racing car, I really
cannot see what special thing the stylist did on it. And of course, the
functional shape delivered no artistic feel at all, unlike Ferrari, Lamborghini
and other supercar makers did.
Performance
The engine was the Le Mans spec 2994 c.c. watercooled flat-six with dohc per bank operating 4 valves per cylinder. Twin KKK turbochargers with individual intercoolers. Bosch Motronic 1.7 engine management system was employed. With an extraordinarily-high compression ratio of 9.0 : 1, the engine output an astonishing 730 hp at 7,600 rpm and 517 lbft at 5,000rpm. Dauer claimed it could hit 251 mph, from standstill reached 60 mph in merely 2.6 sec and 120 mph in 7.2 sec !! This could make it the fastest road car in the world.Nevertheless, I doubt its power rating very much. Considering the latest Porsche 911 GT1 had only 544 hp from 3164 c.c. (whose engine was also derived from 962, with 24 valves and twin-turbochargers.), how could the 1994 Dauer be more efficient than the latest Porsche factory race-purpose car ? Even the racing Porsche 962 had not much more than the road-going Dauer ! One can see how unbelievable it was. In fact, all the Dauer 962's information available on the internet and my collection of "911 & Porsche World" came from Dauer's official promotion in late 1994, when it was not yet start delivering the car. The car it shown to the press was a so-called "Sport" version, which was developed specially for Le Mans homologation (and it won), also rated at the same 730 hp as the regular street version. It was quite possible that Dauer eventually tuned down the engine to achieve necessary tractability and reliability.
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"Sport" version - since the Le Mans regulations ban any ground effect, it had to lengthen the nose and install bi-plane rear wing to regain downforce. Engine cam gears and cam case lost the noise deadening treatment as the normal road version, but otherwise was the same. |
One more thing I have to mention: some time ago I saw some different data published in the website of French magazine "Option Auto". The magazine tested the Dauer 962 LM and stated a maximum power of 650 hp and top speed of 370km/h (230mph), 0-124 mph of 7.5sec. That was the latest news I heard. Is it meaning the Dauer 962 LM was eventually detuned ? What a pity I couldn't obtain more info from the site.
Handling
The chassis was nearly unchanged from the Porsche Group C racer - steel tubular space frame covered with Kevlar body, very professional for its time, if not as rigid as McLaren's carbon fiber monocoque. Power was fed through 5-speed manual gearbox to four large-diameter wheels and tyres (front: 265/35ZR18, rear: 285/40ZR18), which were suspended by no-nonsense double wishbones. Springs were made of titanium, while dampers were height-adjustable like Porsche 959. When the car was running at high speed, the driver could lower the ride height with just a flick to a switch, thus making better use of the ground-effect undertray to enhance stability.Stopping power was provided by huge cross-drilled, ventilated disc with 330mm diameter and four-piston Brembo calipers.
Running in city traffic, 911 & Porsche World discovered its steering and clutch not as heavy as predicted, the air-conditioning was effective and the engine was surprisingly tractable. The magazine did not really tested it seriously in Autobahn, but you can imagine how stable and tout it could be, from the racing nature. Also, you can imagine how much shock sent to the cabin from the stiff suspensions which allowed so little suspension travel. In Autobahn, just like a racing track, that was unlikely to be a problem, but in everywhere else, don't expect too much.
Obviously, this German machine was designed to run in Autobahn only. If you take it to UK and run it in the typical B-roads, hoping it to maneouve as swiftly as Porsche 911 or McLaren F1, you are likely to have a completely different finding. After all, Dauer 962 was never considered to be driven in such roads.
Practicality aspect
Although it was equipped with air-conditioning and ABS, Dauer 962 still couldn't overcome the limitation of its original nature. The cabin was really very very and very cramped. The Porsche racing car was originally a single seater, without enlarging the cockpit, Dauer had to squeeze two seats inside, positioned so near that the driver and passenger's shoulders touched together. Since the driving position was off the center line, the driver's head nearly touched the curvy side window. Leg room was even worse, and it was impossible to get in and out without detaching the steering wheel, just like the racing car.You might have seen many supercars having wide door sills, but Dauer's were the widest of all. You have to step on the sill, detach the steering wheel, then fall difficultly into the tiny seat. There was a luggage compartment inside the right door sill, which could take several custom-made carbon fiber cases, though no one would use the Dauer as a travelling or shopping car. Behind that luggage compartment and also in the left sill, there were two radiators just like the racing car. Dauer did not alter much the basic structure.
The worst aspect was rear visibility - the Dauer 962 had no rear window at all ! all the rear vision depended on the side mirrors, which were so far away from the driving position. Reverse parking really needed luck, or a third party helper. In contrast, the forward vision was fairly good, thanks to the big and deep windscreen.
