The new Nissan GT-R LM Nismo racer has been revealed, as the Japanese manufacturer prepares to contest this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
The new model will race in the LMP1 class as part of the World Endurance Championship, facing competition from the likes of Audi, Porsche and Toyota.
Power for the front-wheel-drive GT-R LM Nismo comes from a 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged V6 engine, which also features a kinetic energy recovery system. Drive is channelled through a five-speed sequential transmission.
Regulations for the LMP1 class allow up to eight megajoules of energy to be used over the course of the 8.47-mile lap of Le Mans. Nissan bosses have yet to reveal how the kinetic energy is stored, but it’s understood that the car will use a flywheel system.
Nissan officials told Autosport the weight bias of the GT-R LM Nimso is far forwards, to aid both traction and air flow. That also explains why the car features 14in-wide Michelin tyres at the front, and nine-inch tyres at the rear.
Inside, the GT-R LM Nismo features a five-point racing harness and lightweight fire extinguisher system. While Nissan has yet to reveal the overall weight of the GT-R LM Nismo, the car must meet strict minimum weight requirements, which state an LMP1 car must weigh at least 880kg.
Global Nissan marketing boss Roel de Vries said: “The GT-R is our flagship road car. This, the ultimate GT-R, continues a sporting bloodline that goes back three decades with NISMO, the motorsport and performance arm of Nissan. Le Mans drives innovation so success on the track will lead to greater innovation in our road car range.
“We are the new kids at Le Mans; our opponents are the best in the world but we are ready.”
The GT-R LM Nismo is currently undergoing testing at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
The first round of the FIA World Endurance Championship takes place at Silverstone in April. The 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans race takes place in June.
See Nissan's launch video for the GT-R LM Nismo, which was shown during the recent Superbowl, below.
Celebrating 30 years of Nismo - picture special
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Hmmmmmm!?
I can't wait to see this at Silverstone
Got to applaud Nissan for going with Ben Bowlby's radical concept, perhaps helped by the success (technical if not race) of the DeltaWing. I'm intrigued how it will work out.
As for the advert,if you watch it the fact a WEC car is in it is almost incidental to the plot, so if it was lost on Americans it's not that significant. The Maxima at the end was the product being placed, not the WEC.
It was right. It's a FWD !
Incredible !