STILLEN founder, Steve Millen, Driving in the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans

If you have been following the STILLEN Facebook page or STILLEN Instagram, you know we’re getting pretty excited about this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. If you haven’tbeen following, let us catch you up.. It’s the 20th anniversary of STILLEN founder, Steve Millen’s win at Le Mans. He and a few others from the STILLEN team have been invited by Nissan to attend this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend in celebration. Needless to say, everyone here at STILLEN is excited to celebrate the anniversary and we’re all looking forward to watching this year’s race unfold.

Steve Millen & team with the No. 75 Nissan 300ZX & No. 76 Nissan 300ZX After Winning the 1994 24 Hours of Le Mans

2014 24 Hours of Le Mans Race Entries to Watch

This year, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is going to be a great competition with a lot of very qualified teams racing and a lot of new technology on the track. Below, we’ve listed a few of the cars we’re excited to see run.

Audi R18 vs. Porsche 919

As sibling rivalries go, this feud is pretty intense – both teams desperately want to win and have made some strong improvements to their cars to try to get a leg up on the competition. Watching these two teams compete against one-another on the track will definitely be one of the highlights this weekend. Here are a few reasons we’re looking forward to seeing these cars run:

Audi R18:

• The front axle is electronically powered, making the R18 the first Audi race car not powered exclusively by a combustion engine
• Ultra-light weight design with a one-piece carbon fiber monocoque (introduced in 2011)
• Carbon fiber composite casing gearbox
• 3.7 liter V6 TDI engine with mono turbo charger makes 490 hp and 850 Nm of torque

Read more about the Audi R18 specs here.

Porsche 919:

• Turbo charged 2 liter 4 cyl engine with direct fuel injection
• Combustion engine is supported by two energy recovery systems and stored in a liquid cooled lithium ion battery
• Made of carbon, high strength aluminum, magnesium and titanium alloys combined with an expert construction to achieve a lightweight, efficient design
• Makes up to 500 hp + electric machine makes up to 250 hp

Read more about the Porsche 919 specs here.

Nissan ZEOD

This is probably the car we are most excited about seeing run. Not only does it look like it shouldn’t be fast (but actually is very fast), but it will run a portion of the race on electricity only. In fact the goal for the Nissan ZEOD is to be the first car to complete a full lap around the Le Mans circuit under 100% electric power with no assist from the gasoline engine and still maintain top speeds – pretty impressive to say the least. Here are a few more reasons to be impressed:

• 1.5 liter 3 cyl turbo makes 400 hp from a 40kg engine
• A single lap of each stint will be powered by electricity only
• DIG-T R engine specs:
  • Weight: 88 lbs.
  • Dimensions: 19.68” x 15.74” x 7.78”
• Revs to 7500 rpm and produces 380 Nm of torque
• Has 10 hp/kg – this means this engine has a better power-to-weight ratio than Formula 1 cars

For more information on the Nissan ZEOD, check out Nissan’s press release here.

Follow the Action at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans

To keep up with all of the excitement at the track, be sure to check the STILLEN Facebook and STILLEN Instagram regularly. We’ll be posting updates, photos and live video of the race all weekend long!