In the last season of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Nissan wanted to do something different. The Nissan GT-R LM NISMO was the result.
The World Endurance Championship (WEC) was the stage chosen by Nissan to say “no” to motor racing conventions. According to these conventions the engine is not in the right place and neither is the traction. The Nissan GT-R LM NISMO is a front mid-engine hybrid competition prototype that sends its 1,250 horsepower to the front wheels and occasionally to the rear wheels.“If we're going to copy our rivals, we're basically going to guarantee our failure,” says Ben Bowlby, the technical director of the NISMO Race team. And they didn't copy it anyway. From a blank sheet, they discovered paths they had never taken before. The result was a car that paid more in know-how to the brand than in track results.
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The car didn't win, it was too slow, the hybrid system didn't work, the traction was only felt on the front wheels, but more importantly it made a big contribution to a new look at Championship regulations. The possibility of breaking the rigidity of some rules is in itself a great advance.
A GoPro was enough to bring us some behind-the-scenes footage of the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO design team and everyone involved in the project. In the video, we can see the tests performed on the most revolutionary Nissan ever. If they are in a mental upheaval phase, in which they can only question themselves with the question “What? A 'super competition car' with front wheel drive and front mid-engine?” we strongly advise viewing this video.
In this official GoPro video, shot in 4K, there's a lot to see about the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO: