Volkswagen Scirocco natural gas-powered racer to compete at Nürburgring 24-hour | CarAdvice

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Volkswagen Scirocco natural gas-powered racer to compete at Nürburgring 24-hour

VOLKSWAGEN SCIROCCO
By Matt Brogan |
FIND DEALS

Volkswagen will field three natural gas-powered Scirocco race cars in next month’s legendary Nürburgring 24-hour endurance event competitors have dubbed ‘Green Hell’.

The Volkswagen Scirocco GT24-CNG coupés are all fitted with a 2.0-litre TSI engine, powered by compressed natural gas. The engines develop 243kW, but reduces CO2 emissions by 80 per cent as compared to a conventional petrol-powered engine.

The cars will be driven by a mix of experienced racers and upcoming young drivers including Jimmy Johansson (S), Florian Gruber (D), Nicki Thim (DK) and touring car ace Peter Terting (D) who steered a pioneering gas-powered Scirocco GT24-CNG to victory in the alternative powertrains category last year.

The second car comprises experienced endurance racers from a variety of international disciplines. Nasser Al-Attiyah (Q), who finished second in Volkswagen’s 1-2-3 at this year’s Dakar Rally, is joined by former DTM driver Vanina Ickx (B), endurance racing legend Dieter Depping (D) and two-time winner of the Nürburgring 24-hour, Klaus Niedzwiedz (D).

Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Management Board for Technical Development and Prof Dr Stefan Gies, Head of Chassis Development for Volkswagen are paired with journalists Bernd Ostmann (D) and Peter Wyss (CH) in the third Scirocco.

The third vehicle is fitted with an innovative active electro-hydraulic differential in place of the conventional system, which is fitted to the other two cars. The electronically controlled system will undergo the ultimate test of endurance, and is designed to combine the functionality of the conventional system with improved handling characteristics and a reduction in understeer.

Further developments of the 2009-spec cars include a larger braking system to reduce maintenance intervals during the gruelling 24-hours, and the integration of additional lights in the front bumper to improve nighttime visibility.

Early testing has seen impressive lap times on the Nordschleife circuit with Nicki Thim posting a lap record for a front-wheel drive vehicle with a time of 8m 47.337s during the latest round of the preparation races.

As final preparations are made for this year’s event, Volkswagen Motorsport will continue to extensively test the three Scirocco GT24-CNG racers, including contesting one final Endurance Championship race on the Nürburgring at the end of this month.

The Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race will take place from May 12 to 16.


 

  • F1MotoGP

    Last year the gas-powered Scirocco finished overall 17th. Fastest lap on the race day was 9:26:753.

  • Dave

    This is great news. CNG a much better/ cleaner alternative than Petrol or diesel. I did not think that VW liked Gas. I can only imagine that CNG/ LPG and Ethenol is they way to go.

    • F1MotoGP

      In Germany you can buy even Mercedes with LPG or CNG.

  • Reckless1

    243KW from 2 litres, reliability not an issue for the 24 hour race. The engine will be at max revs for virtually the entire 24 hours (as of course will all the other contestants).

    Luvly stuff, me hearties.

    Now bring the damn Scirocco to Aus……

  • Lazybones

    CA, is this a FWD or AWD??

    • F1MotoGP

      It is the fastest front wheel drive car around Nordschleife circuit.Nicki Thim, ran a time of 8m 47.337 seconds which is a lap record on the for a front-wheel drive vehicle.
      VW will be running three natural gas-powered Scirocco GT24-CNGs in this year’s Nürburgring 24-hour endurance race (May 12 – 16). The Scirocco GT24-CNG coupes are fitted with modified 2.0-liter TSI engines that run on natural gas.
      Horsepower was raised from 325HP to 330HP. Other improvements include a larger braking system to reduce maintenance intervals and the addition of two light units into the front bumper to improve visibility at night. One of the three Sciroccos was equipped with a new active electro-hydraulic differential in place of the conventional system the other two cars have. VW states that it combines the functionality of the conventional system with improved handling characteristics and a reduction in under-steer.

  • ABMPSV

    Yes it is very good. I just check on the web in Germany you can buy a lot of cars with gas. Chevrolet Captiva 2.4 LS 2WD, Ford Focus 2.0 CNG Ghia , Ford Mondeo 2.0 FFV LPG , Hyundai i10 1.1 LPG Classic , Hyundai i10 1.2 LPG Style Automatik , Hyundai i30 1.4 LPG Comfort , Hyundai Sonata 2.0 LPG Comfort , Hyundai Tucson 2.0 LPG GLS 4WD , Kia, Lada, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, Opel, Renault, Skoda Octavia, VW. Over 400 models. Why we can get some???!!!

    • http://internode.on.net Peter

      Any idea what the price of CNG is in Europe? How does it compare for distance travelled per litre? Are the CNG tanks really small? And lastly is CNG anything like LNG?

      I ask these questions as I believe natural gas is the short- to intermediate- answer to oil. We have loads of it on the NW Shelf (witness Woodside going from strength to strength) and we are currently selling LNG to Japan and China at something around 5 cents/litre delivered.

      I have been told (but cannot confirm) that a motorist from Nowra, in NSW, has converted his car to run on natural gas which he collects from the natural gas pipeline in his home.

      Other than that – Go VW! These Sciroccos are amazing and it will be interesting to see how they travel in this years event.

      • ABMPSV

        I know Mercedes B 180 CDI Autotronic 29.893 Euro and the Natural gas version Mercedes B 180 NGT BlueEfficiency is 29.512 Euro. The diesel city fuel consumption is 6.9 L/100km and the gas version is 6.4 kg/100 km.

  • Gerg

    This is brilliant – does anyone know how they refuel? – how big is the fuel tank and what is it made of – and what pressure is it pumped to?

    Why aren’t our Aussie carmakers supplying this country with a few examples? – we have 300 years supply of methane – readily available.

  • F1MotoGP

    Australian racer Mal Rose is all set for his seventh crack at the prestigious race. This time he will be behind the wheel of a Subaru instead of a Holden or a Mitsubishi. Rose has been invited by team, Rimmer Motorsport, to drive their Subaru Impreza WRX STI alongside team-owner Mike Rimmer and Peter Venn. The car has been prepared by international motorsport powerhouse SR Motorsport with ex Prodrive mechanics and will compete in Class SP3T, for turbocharged vehicles up to 2.5 Litres.
    In 2004 and 2005, Rose finished second in Class SP2 driving a Mitsubishi Mirage, before upgrading to a slightly-modified Holden Commodore V8 Supercar in 2006. The ’06 event didn’t go so well for Rose, with co-driver Adam Wallis crashing out of the race, but he bounced back to finish 5th in Class SP8 in 2007, 4th in 2008 and 7th last year after struggling with a slipping clutch.