Filed under: Motorsports, Coupe, Safety, Technology, Audi, Racing
Every year at every auto show we see concept cars that envision replacing the rearview mirrors with digital cameras. They're usually the exterior mirrors and not the central one above the windshield, but whatever the case, and however much sense they seem to make, government regulations prevent them from being put into production. But Audi has found another use for the idea: its racing cars.
The latest R18 Le Mans prototype features, among other more considerable advancements, an AMOLED screen in the closed cockpit that's hooked up to a video camera, housed in carbon fiber and protruding ever so slightly from the tail fin. The system allows the drivers - who are put under enormous strain over the course of an endurance race - to clearly see the traffic coming up behind (or that they've just passed), which is apparently of great benefit considering that these mid-engined, closed-cockpit LMPs have no room for a rear window through which a conventional mirror would peer.
While they were at it, Audi moved the gear indicator, some warning lights and the tire slip gauge to the high-mounted central display. The side mirrors are still there on the outside, so the system doesn't eliminate that drag (for now), but it operates independent of the sight-limiting vibrations that can occur at the high speeds an LMP can reach, and of the weather conditions that can cause reduced visibility from spray in the wet.
Though it may take some time, if Audi wins on Sunday, it could end up selling this technology in its road cars on Monday.
Continue reading Audi reinvents the rearview mirror for its Le Mans racers
Audi reinvents the rearview mirror for its Le Mans racers originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 25 May 2012 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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