[StygianMax]

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Main DX Le Mans Racecars Link
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• NOTE:
  - Photos of duplicate diecasts are perfectly fine
  - LM Cars that did not qualify (DNQ) for which there was a diecast made is acceptable
  - If you're able to provide some info with your post relating to the drivers and placement in the race outcome, all the better. Here is a good weblink for historical Le Mans info

Please feel free to add your cars to this thread! :woohoo

 

[Delta_Farce]

I've only got one, but I love it :cool

 

[StygianMax]

Alright!!! We've broken new ground for 1991 cars. :happy :happy :happy Thanks DF for posting that. Is that an IXO model? My "1:43 newbieness" shows doesn't it?? :giggle :giggle

 

[Delta_Farce]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right]

Hi Felix. Sorry this reply has taken two weeks. This is the Quartzo version of the 787B. There's a few small differences from the IXO version, but the notable one is that this model has no discs on the front wheels.

The 787B ran in Le Mans with light blue front discs instead of open racing mags. The IXO version and the soon to be released Minichamps version both have the discs. Interestingly the Autoart version seems to have been made without them. I think it looks better without them, but I guess it's a little innacurate.

Oh well,

Delta_Farce

ps. I got my last '99 GT1. Expect some group shots soon and posts in the '98 and '99 Le Mans sections! Wooo hooo!

 

[JSB 33]

The IXO...

 

[vegasracer]

And another IXO...

Click on thumbnail for larger image

 

[Guest]

And here the Ixo with the Girls :cool

 

[Guest]

Okay, now that everybody is sick and tired of 787B pictures spread all over DX, how about a night scene? :giggle

 

[mox]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right]

This looks so much nicer than the red and green livery.

 

[guitardave_1]

Ok, so we all know what's coming. But I find the Le Mans pictures threads really good so I figure other people also appreciate as many pictures as possible.
Mazda 787B #55, overall winner driven by Bertrand Gachot, Volker Weidler and Johnny Herbert.
Model is a 1:18 Autoart signature.

 

[Venom]

And another AUTOart 787B :giggle



And the real car:


Driven by: Volker Weidler (D)/Johnny Herbert (GB)/Bertrand Gachot (B)
Result: winner - 363 laps (205.333 kph), margin: 2 laps
Grid: 19th(3:43.503) - 12th fastest qualifier

 

[Guest]

This one is Altaya 1/43

Mazda 787B

Drivers - B.Gachot / V.Weidler / J.Herbert

Result - Overall winner

 

[jinx]

Peugeot 905 Chassis #EV14 - Alliot / Jabouille / Baldi - DNF

 

[jinx]

Mazda 787B #18 - Kennedy / Johansson / Sandro Sala - 6th

 

[Guest]

1991 Mazda 787 #56
Finished 8th Place

Three new 787Bs were built for 1991, while the two existing 787s were also upgraded with the new periscope intakes. Mazdaspeed entered three cars and a spare, one of them was a 787 from the previous year, numbered #56, driven by Dieudonné, Yorino and Terada.

Both #18 and #56 seemed two be the only two cars in the 1991 24hr Le Mans to be outfited with in car cameras.

 

[Guest]

1991 Mazda 787B #18
Finished 6th Place

Following the 1990 season, Mazda continued development of the 787 chassis in order to make improvements on its pace and reliability. One major development was a redesign of the intake system for the rotaries. Rather than being fed air from a scoop located on the roof of the car, the new 787B used two periscope intakes mounted inside the rear wheel fenders. These periscopes were able to be raised and lowered depending on the car's overall speed in order to help increase or decrease drag as necessary. These actions were carried out by the 787B's onboard ECU.

Three new 787Bs were built for 1991, while the two existing 787s were also upgraded with the new periscope intakes.

The #18 had a lower gear ratio setup meaning the car used less fuel but was 20 km/h (12 mph) slower.

 

[JerryLH3]

Following the 1990 season, Mazda continued development of the 787 chassis in order to make improvements on its pace and reliability. One major development was a redesign of the intake system for the rotaries. Rather than being fed air from a scoop located on the roof of the car, the new 787B used two periscope intakes mounted inside the rear wheel fenders. These periscopes were able to be raised and lowered depending on the car's overall speed in order to help increase or decrease drag as necessary. These actions were carried out by the 787B's onboard ECU.

Doing a quick search reveals this information came from Wikipedia, and unfortunately it is incorrect. The R26B four rotor engine as fitted to the 787B at LeMans did have a unique intake, but it wasn't the two periscopes sticking out - those are the rear brake cooling ducts. The intake on the R26B had a continuously variable length intake system. For the 1989 LeMans race, the 767B debuted Mazda's variable length runners with different lengths for varying engine speeds. By 1991, the system was completely stepless and could be continuously varied by the ECU. If you look at the pictures of the AutoArt model, on the driver's side, the opening in front of the number 55 is the engine intake and the black box is the airbox itself. The runners are visible in the model - four runners, each leading to a rotor of the engine.

 

[Super Snail]

The inlet system of the Mazda cause quity a stir in scrutanering as some thoght it illegal but it passed. The lasting memoire of the car was the noise, the only car that I could remember being as loud was the first 917 Porsche with the four exhusts two out the back and one coming out under each door. These for some reason were much louder then those were the exhust can out the back; but the Mazda was loud and sounded like no car before. The next year the team used what was basicaly the jaguar chassis and body work but the engine inlet was a little longer and came over the drivers cockpit more, the sound was gone though.

 

[JerryLH3]

The sound was gone because the rotary was gone as well. In 1992, the new rules put a limit of 3.5 liters on engines, then also the limit for F1. The equivalency formula would have made the four rotor illegal and anything less wouldn't have been that competitive. Mazda installed some Judd engines in those essentially Jaguar chassis just to compete. One car finished well, but I'm not sure why they went back when a) they had won the year before and b) the rotary was no longer going to be the engine.

I've had the privilege of seeing the winning 787B in person at Sevenstock 7. They started the engine at one point and ran it for a minute or two constantly revving it up and down. I've heard other four rotor engines before, but that one is on a whole other level of loudness.