The LED lights on the GT3 model clearly have no purpose. On ALMS cars they indicate the pit limited being on (which I think is needless, you're in the pits, of course the limiter is on. You shouldn't need flashing lights telling competitors this....) but on the GT3 they serve no purpose. They are full-on while it's on track. This is a needless power drain on the battery. While I, personally, think the LED lights look great, on the race car they're pointless and should be removed.
But considering it's promoting the road I can't see that happening, it's one of the key features of the original car and part of the looks. And power consumption can't be that much, and if it is, they could be just turned off.
The LED lights don't make a difference, if you are making a racecar you keep your original lights etc, but lighten everything else. There has never been a true POINT to the LED lights anyway.
Well there is a point to the led's really, they are classed as daylights, rumours are that daylights will be mandatory in certain countries. Why have they carried them across to the gt3 though. . . . will the gt3 be available to buy as a road-going car?
They are inside a standard R8 headlight, so why go to the trouble of stripping it down? Theres no weight disadvantage and it doesn't drain any power. So why bother taking them out?
Because every little bit of weight that can be removed helps a little. Also, the circuitry for the DRLs/LEDs could be removed. That would save even more weight, and take some electrical load off of the car.
That's a good point. Put maybe they are wired to bypass the existing headlamps? Electrical load isn't an issue LED light's don't take much power anyway. Remember your science classes for that one!