Nissan GT-R LM NISMO: 1250 Horsepower To The Front Wheels
During Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, Nissan took advantage of what will probably be the biggest TV event in North America (last year’s Super Bowl shattered audience records) to launch a very pretty story about a dad who goes through the difficulties of raising a child.
More importantly, they also launched their new race car, the GT-R LM NISMO. As its name implies, it will race in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, more specifically in the prototype category. This class is the fastest of them all, and already features some legendary names like Audi, Porsche, Peugeot and Toyota.
To fight those competitors, Nissan decided to design its car from scratch. Instead of copying its opponents and creating a mid-engine, diesel racecar with a hybrid system, the Japanese manufacturer went for a different approach. The GT-R LM NISMO features a 3-litre twin-turbo V6 engine installed in front of the driver, just like in a regular passenger car. Even better is the fact that this car isn’t weighed down by a driveshaft since the engine is connected only to the front wheels. And with the addition of the electric energy that is regenerated during braking, the GT-R LM NISMO makes a very healthy 1,250 horsepower.
There are electric motors in the back, but they are only used if the front wheels lose traction; the GT-R LM NISMO is a FWD vehicle. To my knowledge, this is the only car with this configuration to ever enter the P1 class. To know if Nissan has made a winning bet, we will have to wait for the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which starts on June 13.