The LMP1 grid at the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and the 24 Hours of Le Mans welcomes a new entrant today in the shape of the new Nissan GT-R LM Nismo, which joins the Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Toyota TS040 Hybrid and Porsche 919 Hybrid for 2015. This marks Nissan’s return to top-level endurance racing after a 16-year hiatus.
Like the others, the Nissan is a hybrid, but there’s where the similarities end. Firstly, the long bonnet isn’t just there to provide a visual link to the road-going GT-R – there’s actually an engine underneath, a twin-turbocharged, direct-injected 3.0 litre petrol V6, making this the first front-engined Le Mans Prototype since the Panoz Esperante GT-LM from 2006.
Even more interesting is where the internal combustion mill sends its power – to the front. Yes, this is technically a front-engined, front-wheel drive LMP1, although since there’s also a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that utilises an even more powerful electric motor to drive both the front and rear wheels, it’s more accurately an all-wheel drive racer.
Total output is said to be somewhere in the 1,250-1,500 hp region – around 500 hp from the petrol engine, and upwards of 750 hp from the eight-megajoule KERS system. A five-speed sequential manual transmission transfers power to the front wheels.
The reason for moving the whole kit and caboodle to the front of the car is something called through-flow aerodynamics. Traditional cars route air around and underneath the car, creating significant drag; on the GT-R LM, it flows straight through.
Clearing out the rear of the car leaves space for two massive air channels that begin behind the front splitter and flows around the narrow hull-like carbon fibre tub and out the back. This reduces aerodynamic drag, which should improve fuel consumption and performance.
This necessitated some blue-sky packaging solutions – the KERS system, for example, is housed under the cockpit, beneath the driver’s legs (meaning that shorter drivers are required, to fit the cramped cabin). Even the electric drive to the rear has to be channeled up and over the air columns through a series of driveshafts and gearboxes to reach the wheels.
The weight, power and downforce bias towards the front mean that the front tyres are quite a bit wider than the rear – 14 inches at the front, nine inches at the rear.
Recognise the highly-experimental nature of the GT-R LM? It’s the work of Ben Bowlby, the same race car designer who came up with the DeltaWing and its successor, the ZEOD RC. Marc Gené, former Ferrari test driver and Le Mans winner, has been confirmed as Nissan’s first factory driver for its 2015 effort. Four diverse cars from four major manufacturers, all gunning for glory – we can’t wait!
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I can’t imagine the torque steer with so much power in the front wheels..
The industry feeling is that they may not be super quick through corners but superior on the straights which is what the Le Mans circuit is all about. So may be strong at Le Mans but weak at the other FIA WEC circuits. We will see. In racing best place to overtake other cars is on the straights or through pit stop strategy, rather than in corners.
This is a bit of a shock ,and I think most people in the beginning have predicted that the Nissan’s new Lemans/WEC car would be in a more conventional configuration as the other competitors. But since technically this is an AWD car, does it mean that finally AWD drivetrain is allowed again in the autoracing world?…
Buruk gila! Race car should look great, but not this one.
reminds me of great FWD tamiya’s of old…
wow GTR on steroids!!!
will be a big leap for FWD
So cute…..Like a stool on 4 wheels…
Wow, they allow AWD in LMP1. But not in F1. The innovation in LMP1 far surpasses F1.
Technically all the LMP1-H cars now – Audi, Toyota, Porsche are AWD. Hybrid systems all different. Audi with kinetic flywheel, Toyota with Supercapacitors, Porsche with Li-ion batteries. Unfortunately you’ll never see this technology variety in F1.
its hideous.. hideous n doest look like gtr
I believe this is a test bed for the upcoming R36 GT-R.
Not too great in the looks dept but who cares. A beautiful car is one that wins.
The innovation is amazing. Quite exciting but all worth nothing unless it an finish races. We will see soon enough.
I like the write up too. Captures the technical essence and presented in an easy to read manner. I think Jonathan Lee is a motorsport fan boy :)
The only thing in accurate is the bit about shorter drivers needed to make space for the kinetic flywheel. All LMP1 driving position is no different to F1. Drivers legs are horizontal and actually raised above their bum so theoretically there is actually space anyway.
The flywheel is not beneath their feet. It is under their calves. I don’t know exactly it is packaged in the Nissan but you can see in this link how LMP1 drivers sit.
http://tinyurl.com/l9qzc4s
Time will tell if this engine configuration (FWD/AWD) will work at Le Mans. If Nissan wins it this year, other manufacturers might give it a serious thought.
As far as I can remember, the only Japanese manufacturer that won at Le Mans 24 Hours is Mazda.
Can Nissan or Toyota do it this time?