{"id":19362,"date":"2024-03-18T15:17:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-18T19:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=19362"},"modified":"2024-03-18T15:17:19","modified_gmt":"2024-03-18T19:17:19","slug":"should-indycar-replace-the-12-year-old-dallara-dw-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/18\/should-indycar-replace-the-12-year-old-dallara-dw-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Should IndyCar replace the 12-year-old Dallara DW-12?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>IndyCar has used the Dallara DW-12 chassis since 2012. It has more than proven its worth, but is it finally time the old workhorse gets replaced?<\/h3>\n<p>The Dallara DW-12 was first introduced for the 2012 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/14\/the-lionheart-a-great-tribute-to-indycar-legend-dan-wheldon\/\" target=\"_self\">IndyCar<\/a> season. It replaced the outgoing IR05, the evolution of the IR03 chassis that had been around since 2003.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the new chassis, the old V8 engine was replaced with a new 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine. This, combined with updated aerodynamics that had much more downforce than the oval-focused IR05, made the DW12 a beast.<\/p>\n<p>The DW-12 while, not the most popular with fans and drivers in its early years because of the ugly aero kits, was a safer and more efficient race car. Especially with the newly introduced technology that aimed to lower the risk of cars locking wheels while racing side by side.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"fJeGPCajQDNtojDzFWWEFw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/486026760\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'fJeGPCajQDNtojDzFWWEFw',sig:'IVCsvaZlcxSp1CYfhyzJjB3tgx8Q5B_qwY0FWkDr4po=',w:'594px',h:'400px',items:'486026760',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Aeroscreen<\/h4>\n<p>From the 2020 season and beyond, IndyCar introduced the Aeroscreen. They made it in collaboration with <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/03\/03\/f1-news-red-bull-upgrades-scheduled-for-upcoming-rounds\/\" target=\"_self\">Red Bull<\/a> Racing and it has been very successful. It has saved lives.<\/p>\n<p>The Aeroscreen has also made the cars significantly heavier. Which in concept, is not a good thing. Fortunately, it has not affected the racing product.<\/p>\n<p>Not only that, but the cars arguably look even better with the Aeroscreen. They look like fighter jets.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"_vUzgLb8T1VyCgYDxnFpsQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1205644708\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'_vUzgLb8T1VyCgYDxnFpsQ',sig:'Gm9Fc3EEkZ2mp-eIWJnlu2pAOSml2x1lwMbGpuKGqa8=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1205644708',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>If it ain&#8217;t broken, don&#8217;t fix it, or should you?<\/h4>\n<p>There is a reason why the Dallara DW-12 has been around for so long. It works, very well. It has time and time again proved to provide incredible racing that makes IndyCar stand out as the best open-wheel racing series. With that in mind, yes I think it&#8217;s perfectly reasonable to question the possibility of replacing it.<\/p>\n<p>When debuting a new chassis or anything new for that matter, there is always a risk. Nevertheless, there comes a point where that risk is worth it.<\/p>\n<p>This brings up a very important counterargument. That is evolution. Any sports organization, but especially motorsports, needs to grow and evolve. So while the Dallara DW-12 is an amazing race car that provides incredible racing, how long does it need to stay?<\/p>\n<p>Maybe it won&#8217;t be next year, or the year after. Sooner or later it will need to be replaced. It is over a decade now, and it could potentially be up to 20 years old before IndyCar decides to make a change.<\/p>\n<h4>Hybrid Engines are arriving<\/h4>\n<p>After the 108th running of the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2023\/01\/07\/revisiting-alexander-rossi-2016-indy-500-win\/\" target=\"_self\">Indianapolis 500<\/a>, IndyCar will be introducing the new hybrid powertrain to the DW12. It is going to be a slighter higher displacement of the tried and true V6 engine.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83d\udcac \u201cThe car and hybrid system have made huge gains over the last few months as far as reliability and performance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>See what drivers had to say following the latest round of hybrid testing this week at <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HomesteadMiami?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@HomesteadMiami<\/a> \u2b07\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IndyCar\/status\/1761184146200674527?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 24, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It is an open question whether the hybrid will work or not. The new hybrid engines will make the cars even heavier.<\/p>\n<p>It is too early to tell whether this will affect the on-track product.\u00a0 It could very well answer whether IndyCar needs to replace the Dallara DW-12.<\/p>\n<p>We will find out after the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IndyCar has used the Dallara DW-12 chassis since 2012. It has more than proven its worth, but is it finally time the old workhorse gets replaced? The Dallara DW-12 was first introduced for the 2012 IndyCar season. It replaced the outgoing IR05, the evolution of the IR03 chassis that had been around since 2003. In [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4936,"featured_media":19452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1231,664,2097,539,163,78],"class_list":["post-19362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","tag-aeroscreen","tag-dallara","tag-hybrid","tag-indy-500","tag-indycar","tag-red-bull-racing"],"modified_by":"Vincent van der Hoek","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4936"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}