Chip Ganassi Racing driver Scott Dixon told Motorsport Week about the differences between the Cadillac V-Series.R LMDh and its DPi-V.R predecessor in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
“The hybrid is a more substantial unit,” said the six-time IndyCar champion on the LMDh.
“You’ve got brake-by-wire, you’ve got a lot of different drivability options, there’s a lot of different presets and adjustability with the hybrid car.
“The technology side is definitely ramped up.
“I think when you add a hybrid portion to it… the way that the car functions is very different from the DPi.”
Alongside an illustrious and ongoing IndyCar campaign which spans over two decades, his sportscar career is almost as extensive, including four Daytona 24 Hours wins – and a third place finish in this year’s edition.
From 2020 to the final year of the DPi era in 2022, Dixon drove the DPi.R in selected Endurance Cup races like the Daytona 24, Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans.
He continued: “The DPi was definitely more basic, more mechanical in a lot of ways, whereas now you’ve got some automation, you’ve got a lot of electronic aids that you can change the car.
“But then also the car itself as a mechanical piece probably doesn’t function as well as the DPi because it’s heavier, it’s longer, it’s a bigger car, it has less downforce.
“They’re very different.”
The DPi and LMDh have similarities, in that the DPi was based off the current LMP2 platform and that LMDh is based off the next generation of LMP2.
The Cadillac LMDh retains the naturally aspirated V8 engine note from the DPi, now with a 5.5L unit mated to the LMDh specification Bosch MGU to drive the rear wheels.
Weight has increased significantly in the GTP era, but so has the horsepower figure.
For comparison, the DPi weighed 930 kg whereas the outgoing V Series.R is at 1030 kg, and increased from 600 hp to 764 hp.
Connor Zilisch, Endurance Cup driver in the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 LMP2, shared his insight with Motorsport Week as part of an upcoming exclusive interview, prior to his victorious Daytona 24 debut.
“They’re a lot slower than the [LM]P2 car in the middle of the corner, but they just have so much more power that they blow by you on the straightaways,” he said.
“Generally when you enter Turn 1, and if they’re five or ten car lengths back, they won’t really pass you until you get back onto the [Daytona] oval.
“They just make all their time up in a straight line.”
Despite the differing characteristics to the previous DPi formula, drivers have thoroughly enjoyed racing the LMDh cars with a year of experience so far.
The current IMSA GTP class showcases four distinctive makes of LMDh car, with three further cars utilised by Porsche customers, and an upcoming debut for a fifth make, from the Lamborghini Iron Lynx squad at Sebring, with their recently homologated SC63.
