Team boss Colin Kolles has revealed that the normally-aspirated 4.5-litre Gibson V8 that has powered the non-hybrid LMH during its maiden season in the WEC is being replaced for next year.
Kolles, whose German-based team formerly ran under the ByKolles banner, would not reveal the identity of the engine, though he did confirm it is a turbocharged unit and a known quantity.
“We can say that we are changing the engine for next season,” Kolles told Autosport.
“It will be a turbo and is a proven engine with enough power and good reliability — it is not in any way an experiment.”
Kolles carried over the Gibson GL458 V8 to the Vandervell from the last iteration of his squad’s CLM P1/01 LMP1 car, which ran with an AER V6 twin-turbo from its debut in 2014 and then a Nissan engine of similar configuration in 2017 and all but the last two races 2018/19.
He stated that the Gibson engine has been unable to attain the maximum power level, measured at the wheels, allocated to the Vanwall in the Hypercar Balance of Performance.
“In the heat during the day in Bahrain we were 60kW (80bhp) down and when it got cooler at night the figure was 50kW [67hp],” said Kolles.
The Vanwall was allowed a maximum power of 520kW (697bhp) under the BoP over the final three races of the season, having previously run at 511kW and then 512kW.
Gibson Technologies declined to comment about its engine’s power output in the Vanwall.
Source: Autosport