A revolution called Nissan GT-R LM Nismo

After months of expectations and speculations, the Nissan GT-R Nismo LM finally flood the internet of many pictures and lot of technical data Nissan shared for our pleasure. 

 Engine ! 

Contrary to rumors, the VRX30A NISMO 60° 3.0L V6 twin-turbo Cosworth is not made from any F1 engine, but rather an original product Nissan developed in partnership with the famous engine manufacturer. It has been developed from scratch, taking care of its positioning in an unusual environment. Turbo and manifold sits very high in contrast to what is usually done on LMP1, and for good reasons (see below). It would make 500 horsepower to the front wheels and coupled to a double flywheel kinetic energy recovery system of 8MJ reaching the WEC regulations limits would produce an amount of more than 1200hp... !

The double flywheel KERS (by Torotrack) is located under the drivers legs (seating in an almost extended position ) and sends the energy accumulated during braking to the rear wheel through a long transmission shaft. The 5-speed gearbox (bolted to the front of the engine) had the opportunity to be harmed during the filming of the promotional film aired during the last Super Bowl. At low speed behind the filming car, accelerations decelerations put some unusual stress to the lower gears and broke them. Which is not bad as these conditions are nearly the same as can be encountered behind the safety car (although thanks to the speed limit under yellow flag occurs more rarely track).

Here the packaging may seems really compact and it is! Everything is pushed upward to release the greatest possible volume at the rear of the front diffuser.

Tunnel ending. 

So you couldn't miss it could you ? The Nissan prototype is mid front engine type and front wheel drive but then, why such a solution? First of all, Nissan doesn't want to do and look like everyone else, and secondly this architecture offers many advantages in terms of aerodynamics. The new rules offer to have much more front downforce. The increase of downforce on the steering axle is much less harmful in term of drag penalty than the increase of downforce to the rear (under the current regulations). This being said, to best enjoy this rules what is more logical than moving the center of gravity forward ? (The more weight you have on an axle, the more downforce you put on it). The radiators are mounted before the front wheel center line, as said before the turbos and piping are tightly fitted very high in order to release the rear of the front diffuser to minimize disruption to the clean air flow. Another advantage about having the power train on the front axle, unleash the back of the car from aerodynamic stress and allows the creation of two tunnels feed by the front diffuser to either side of the tube.

To exploit this solution at its best, less wide tires sits on the rear axle (9 inches wide vs 14 inches !), They allow a larger flat bottom surface and a reduced frontal area. To further maximize the flow of the two tunnels, half-shafts transmissions have been raised and operate the 16 inches diameter wheels by a cascade of gears. For an even more aerodynamic efficiency, push rods and other conventional suspension systems have been quietly forgotten to a more compact system that reminds us something we had already seen on the Nissan ZEOD front end.

Thank you Nissan ! 

Weight distribution and effectiveness of such a set, could theoretically work at Le Mans without rear spoiler to further reduce the so damaging drag to improve energy efficiency advantage of this prototype. If this all seems perfect to win, however, is a detail to address not least, the weight ! Because all this transmission system is heavy, and rumors say Nissan has already reached the minimum weight allowed and without... the energy recovery system. In any case we can only welcome the WEC and the FIA for authorizing such projects, but also Nissan in his new way to communicate ! Thank you!