Nissan unveils new 1.5 litre race engine with 400 hp

Click to enlarge.

Remember the Nissan ZEOD RC Le Mans prototype race car unveiled last year? Well, you’re not likely to forget the way it looks, surely. This is the engine that will power it round the famed 24-hour race this year – Nissan’s new 1.5 litre three-cylinder turbo dubbed the DIG-T R.

It may not look like much, but it offers as much as 400 hp and 380 Nm of torque. And no, that’s not a professional weightlifter holding it up either; that’s Nismo President Shoichi Miyatani carrying the small 40 kg engine. It measures just 500 mm tall, 400 mm long and 200 mm wide.

The downsized engine – developed with Nissan’s lubricants partner Total – will not be the only motor powering the ZEOD RC. A single lap of each fuel stint (approximately one hour) will be 100% electric powered, after which the DIG-T R will take over.

Nissan claims that the petrol-powered race engine’s output of 10 hp per kilogramme beats the power-to-weight ratio of Formula 1’s new equally-turbocharged 1.6 litre V6 motors that will be used this year. For a small 1.5 litre three-pot, that’s not bad at all, eh?

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Hafriz Shah

Preferring to drive cars rather than desks, Hafriz Shah ditched his suit and tie to join the ranks of Malaysia’s motoring hacks. A car’s technical brilliance is completely lost on him, appreciating character-making quirks more. When not writing this ego trip of a bio, he’s usually off driving about aimlessly, preferably in a car with the right combination of three foot pedals and six gears.

 

Comments

  • great!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 25 Thumb down 0
    • Montana on Jan 30, 2014 at 7:40 pm

      but…but…jaguar cx75 1.6 engine produce 500+Hp….dunno the weight however

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 3
  • kadajawi on Jan 28, 2014 at 5:49 pm

    Dear Nissan. Please put it in a production car. Thank you.

    Also, the Delta Wing needs some DRL mounted on some sort of stick up front so that other drivers notice it is there.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 0
  • wow nice performance hybrid

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 0
  • Gentleman on Jan 28, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    3 cylinder?
    1.5 for 400hp.

    F-1 1.6 is V6.
    Nissan – Win Liao.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 32 Thumb down 0
  • apekgoh on Jan 28, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    19,000rpm?? turbo to extract this much power!? engine waterjacket so efficient!!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 0
  • So ford has its 1.0l ecoboost
    Fiat has its own 1.2l Multiair
    Honda is coming out with its own 1.0l Turbo EarthDreams which is coming soon
    Now Nissan has come out with their own 3-cylinder, over 100hp/liter wonder…HURRAY

    But after reading an article from Jalopnik, it turns out Three Cylinder today are very complicated machines compared to four. The fact that it is a four stroke engine meant that at least one cylinder is always none firing, causing an engine off-balance. Also, all three road-going engine listed are very complicated with a mixture of direct injection and Turbo wizardry to squeeze that power out. Modern tech by-pass all those hurdles, but through complication. Weather or not this factor in efficiency over reliability I am not sure, but all in all, there’s a very bright future ahead for the 3-cylinder engines.

    Now back to Nissan, I think the amazing part personally is not the power but the weight of that engine. 40kg …Thats less than the complicated wizardy of the 1.6l V6 in the upcoming Formula 1 cars(90kg). Just detune that engine to say 180hp and put it in the body of the iDx concept NOW!!! Or even better….stick each end together and you have a new straight-six!! Perfect for either the new GTR or Fairlady.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 31 Thumb down 11
  • It seems impossible but… WTF, 1.5L for 400 ponies? Oh, I forgot, the rotary engine also have done the same thing too…oh technologies…XD

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 21 Thumb down 4
    • just fyi… the displacement calculation of rotary engine is somewhat different to the piston 1…
      an example is the Le Mans wining Mazda 787b, actual 2,622cc but rated by FIA @ 4,708cc…so it’s not a apple-to-apple comparison between these 2 engine types…

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
      • Apple-to-Apple…? Of course it is not fair to make comparison between these powerful engine…but I was just IMPRESSED with some of carmakers technology thingy today….they manage to extract high power output from a smaller displacement engine..In past, it was seems very impossible…Correct me if I’m wrong.. :-)

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
        • fredo on Jan 30, 2014 at 4:48 pm

          errmmm…. i can partially agree with you…
          squeezing 400hp from a small displacement engine using bolt on turbo is nothing new here in Malaysia…however, getting a good drive ability and fuel consumption as well as reliability will always become an issue….so yes, this engine, if it is used for production car can be considered a great industry achievement

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Just A Nobody on Jan 28, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    Imagine if Nissan venture into two wheels (big bikes) with that engine. Say, a Nissan Hyperbike? That would be mind-boggingly bonkers! Definately with ease claiming the title as most powerful production bike. Sayonara to Hayabusa and ZX-14R.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 12 Thumb down 5
    • somebody on Jan 29, 2014 at 7:51 am

      Never heard of Dodge Tomahawk? slowpoke?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 8
      • downsizing on Jan 29, 2014 at 2:08 pm

        tomahawk is not a production bike. btw, why are you even bringing that shit of a bike into discussion?? this nissan engine weighs a mere 40kg, whadya reckon the 8.3L v10 engine on that tomahawk would weigh? 280kg dude….

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 0
  • can transplant in me satria Neo? =P

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 3
  • Guan Yin Ma on Jan 28, 2014 at 10:58 pm

    If their country can send human to space, what you think they cant do ??? Their technology are way 100 years ahead of us…….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 1
  • Simon Hoh on Jan 28, 2014 at 11:19 pm

    In the spirit of Chinese New Year, hold your HORSES!
    Don’t ask Nissan to put this into a production car just yet. The right question to ask would be how long would it last. You don’t want to write off your engine after 10000 km

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 0
  • langdon on Jan 28, 2014 at 11:28 pm

    1.5 liter no power…. My Camery 2.4 liter much more powderful.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 68
    • hadi75 on Jan 29, 2014 at 7:55 am

      Ya….your camry 2.4 produce 1000hp and 2000Nm of torque with 4 speed auto somemore….

      Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 58 Thumb down 1
  • Somebody in KL on Jan 28, 2014 at 11:57 pm

    These type of engines should be researched and installed on all brands of production cars. In these era, with lesser and lesser oil left in the world, turbo or hybrid should be the only power train to focus on~

    BTW, still in awe they can squeeze 400hp from 1.5l~!!! Wonder will it disintegrate Myvi when install in it~ haha^^

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 1
  • Blue Bird 500 on Jan 29, 2014 at 8:41 am

    Wow amazing! Design thinking out of the box!
    Way to go Nissan.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
  • very ncie and our own proton under the leadership of so Called Dato Lukman is still tryiong to figure out how to make CamPro Engine work. just fire him and get a proper man to run the company DRB. what is it so hard? get automotive experts to run the company not a finance man. pls.before it is too late.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
  • erwinkarim on Jan 29, 2014 at 9:28 am

    2014 will be the year of the 3-pot engines. bmw, fiat, honda, ford, volkswagen and now nissan. this will be an interesting year for engine tech indeed….

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • Put this in Saga… 0-100km/h in 2.0 seconds?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 3
  • Year 2016
    Through success of Proton Accord,
    another agreement to put Nissan ZEOD into MyVi
    which will be known as ZeVi

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Muammarhafiz on Jan 29, 2014 at 5:59 pm

    Mase engineer head proton kene bashed, now economist pun kena bashed. Aptb.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • nissuh on Jan 29, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    Hope Nissan will put this into production..uhuhu..can’t wait.. “^_^” hehehe

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Wayangkulit on Jan 29, 2014 at 6:27 pm

    Yeah put it in production and sell it in Malaysia, we’ll have cars that hug trees, dividers, bus stands, walls and pillars.
    We’ll also see negative population growth on the very first time in our history.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • protonperoduakoman on Jan 29, 2014 at 10:28 pm

    Saga n mivy’s owners know their cars are slow,so they keep dreaming of this engine..ekzos besar peha,’twin tail pipes…but just syok sendiri..myvi n saga,pi main jauh-jauh…hehehe

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • endegedeg on Jan 30, 2014 at 1:01 am

    proton, please rebadge this thing. i can deal with broken power window no problem.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
  • I used to have an old ford escord 1.6cc. however, its engine are v4. a very small and capable engine somewhat during its time

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • i wonder if i can install it into perodua kancil…. if that could be done its going to be a very big wow……

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • Archangel on Feb 04, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    Please put this engine in the upcoming Nissan models in the future.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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