Photo: WTCC Media

New diesel rules suggestions from BMW

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There are still many questionmarks regarding the diesel regulations for the WTCC 2008. The FIA Touring Car Bureau previously announced that they will install a control device measuring supercharing pressure, fuel pressure and air/petrol ratio. TouringCarTimes have learned that there will be no set boost limit for the first races and that BMW have made a couple of suggestions for the diesel rules.

So far SEAT are alone with diesel engines. But BMW are in the process of making a full scale diesel assault on the WTCC. A number of tests have been made and are continuing to be done.

There are strong indications that BMW are preparing to switch to diesel engines for all their cars – Schnitzer, RBM and ROAL in the second or third race of the season, depending on the decisions regarding the diesel rules. Seemingly there will be no major rule changes before the season start, meaning that BMW will most likely go ahead with the big plans.

TouringCarTimes have received information of a number of suggestions that BMW have put forward to the FIA Touring Car Bureau regarding diesel rules:

– Turbo pressure limited at 1.9 bar.
– Air restrictor diameter of 33 to 35.5 mm.
– Turbo charger should be completely standard.
– Turbo charger must come from a touring car engine of max. 3.500 cc and produced in at least 2.500 examples.
– Six-speed H-gearboxes should be allowed with -20 kilos compared to six-speed sequential gearboxes.

The diesel saga seem to become a expensive and complicated matter for the WTCC-teams. The organisation have declared that they will keep a close eye on the performance compared to cars using petrol. The regulations could even be changed between races during a race weekend.

“Exactly how it works is still to be decided, but we can make changes at any point. Inevitably there will be a bedding-in period in the early days as it will need some adjusting,” said FIA Touring Car Comission president Jonathan Ashman to Autosport in January.

The diesel development work for SEAT and BMW must be stressful as it is not based on any set regulations regarding the important parts like turbo pressure, air restrictor, etc. A eventual increased or decreased turbo pressure limit set by the FIA would for example mean a lot of scrapped development work for the two manufacturers.