Nissan's unique GT-R LM NISMO prototype revealed

Nissan GT-R LM NISMO prototype.jpg

With the eyes of the sporting world upon them, Nissan used their multi-million dollar advertisement space during Super Bowl XLIX to reveal perhaps the most radical prototype sports car ever built - the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO.

Less than nine months after Nissan first announced plans of competing in the premier class at Le Mans in 2015, and just weeks after spy shots were taken of an stealth black test car at Circuit of the Americas, Nissan's ultimate GT-R was unveiled to an audience of over 100 million viewers, revealing a stunning red livery, and carrying the unmistakable emblem of the company's flagship supercar.

“It gave us great pride to reveal the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO during the Super Bowl,” said Roel de Vries, the global head of Marketing and Brand Strategy at Nissan. “The combination of the Super Bowl and the Le Mans 24 Hours – two of the most watched sporting events in the world – presented us with a unique opportunity to showcase our most ambitious motorsport program in recent times. 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 primarily powered by the Nissan VRX 30A powerplant; a three litre, twin-turbo, V6 petrol engine similar to the one used in the Nissan GT-R road car. Combined with a powerful hybrid powertrain with an output capacity of eight megajoules (8MJ) and a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS), the GT-R LM NISMO is capable of producing a staggering total of over 1,250 brake horsepower, which will be driven by a five-speed sequential transmission.

But the most unique characteristic of Nissan's new prototype is its powertrain layout - the GT-R LM NISMO is a front-engined, front-wheel drive prototype sports car, with its engine mounted in front of the driver, and its Michelin tyres at the front of the car a full five inches wider than those at the rear. It is the only front-engined prototype that will compete in the World Endurance Championship, a bold, unique design - in line with the previous works of Nissan's Team Principal and Technical Director Ben Bowlby, who along with Dan Gurney's legendary All American Racers group, helped to conceive the stunning DeltaWing prototype that first debuted at Le Mans in 2012, and the all-electric ZEOD RC that succeeded it two years later.

Nissan GT-R LM NISMO prototype 2.jpg

“Our LM P1 program makes the connection between NISMO on the road and NISMO on the track, showcasing our brand DNA to a global audience,” said Darren Cox, the global head of NISMO, in a press release. “We are taking motorsport to the masses, telling tales of technical innovation but also human stories via all of the exciting communications channels that are open to us now. We will innovate off the track as well as on it, so you can be assured that this is just the beginning of the story.”

The GT-R LM NISMO will make its racing debut in the 2015 WEC Six Hours of Silverstone on 12 April.

Nissan has also revealed the first of its fleet of nine drivers, veteran endurance racer Marc Gene. Gene won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans with Peugeot, driving the 908 HDi FAP prototype with David Brabham and Alexander Wurz. He is the first and only Spanish driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In total, Gene has one win and four podium finishes in eight Le Mans starts from 2007 to 2014, driving for both Peugeot, and Audi, for whom he has appeared in the last three 24 Hours of Le Mans and finished second in last year's running. Gene also has victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring and 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, and is a veteran of thirty-six Formula One races as a race driver for Minardi and Williams, and has been a test driver for Scuderia Ferrari since 2005.

Cox announced in an exclusive interview with John Hindhaugh of Radio Le Mans that the remaining eight drivers will be revealed at a handful of events over the next several months, including at the Chicago Auto Show in February, the Geneva Auto Show in March, and the 2015 World Endurance Championship Prologue from Circuit Paul Ricard on 27-28 March.

Tag Heuer and Motul Lubricants have been also been confirmed as two major partners of Nissan's LMP1 programme.

Videos of the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO
Added to the RaceDepartment media gallery are three videos for you to enjoy here, here and here.
 
I love the idea of this, it's so radically different. For me this underlines why at this moment in time WEC is better than F1, at least from an engineering point of view. The rules allow for innovation which you just don't see in many other mainstream motorsport series.

Oh, and that sound.... :notworthy::thumbsup::inlove:
 
1250Bhp.......that's insane! haha (I know it's only for a portion of the lap but just go with me on this one ;))

Sooooo looking forward to getting to Silverstone in April now, these cars are going to be ballistic down hanger straight. Does look better from the front though...haha :O_o:

Well done to Nissan for going completely out of the box on their car, amazing stuff :thumbsup:
 
Ye, well. When it is 1250, it's on all 4 wheels. I would guess that the V6 engine is somewhere around 600-650hp, and the rest is 'hybrid power' that goes to the rear wheels. That's at least my understanding of it.

Yeah I'm reading slightly different things on different websites, so will be interesting to see what the official statement is. I'm all for Nissan's braveness but my only (albeit small) concern is that something this radical doesn't always work. The Delta wing is radical and fast (but fragile), I can't remember the name of it but there was a prototype in ALMS which ran 4" wider front tyres to try and beat the Audi's but they suffered with aero and handling problems all year. The only radical departure in recent years is Audi turning up with a diesel engine. From my point of view the issue is not reliability but whether the car actually works and handles properly, in wet conditions I can see the car being a nightmare (even with traction control).
 
I can't remember the name of it but there was a prototype in ALMS which ran 4" wider front tyres to try and beat the Audi's but they suffered with aero and handling problems all year.
I've heard that the Panoz front-engine prototypes (which had more weight at the front) suffered from lack of support by tire manufacturers, since the loads on the tires were different than in mid-rear engined cars.


It looks like they didn't actually taper it towards the rear, the original speculation I'd heard was that it was 100mm narrower at the back axle.
 
It will be fun to watch this car as it gets developed. The Delta Wing has worked better , at least in terms of performance, than what the naysayers predicted. Ben Bowlby and team obviously think outside the box. I hope they kick butt with the car.:)
 
New naked image of the Nissan LMP1. Look at the difference between the front and rear tyres :-D
mod edit: please don't use such HUGE images that slow down the loading, reduce them in size and attach it to a post :)
 
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