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Nissan GT-R LM NISMO Brings FWD to Le Mans, Hints at R36 Nissan GT-R

Though I’m not a big fan of endurance racing because it’s way too God damn long to see it through to the end of the race, I do admit that endurance racing is properly hardcore. 24 hours of pedal-to-the-metal action is no easy task even for the most experienced of drivers, more so when you have to take into consideration that these guys also have to save tires, fuel and electric energy as much as possible.
Nissan GT-R LM NISMO 20 photos
Photo: Nissan
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In the world of endurance racing, the fewer pitstops, the bigger chances of gaining an advance over rival racecar drivers. It’s a simple theory to digest, but real life application is more difficult than most imagine it to be. Because all vehicles that compete in the grueling 24 Hours of Le Mans are rear-wheel drive, we deem necessary to point out a few things about this drivetrain layout.

With drive sent only to the rear wheels, the front only has to do a single thing - grip and steer.

If race cars were to be front-wheel drive, the front wheels would’ve had to endure a plethora of torque as well as the tire-shredding cornering action. In this regard, it’s pretty curious why Nissan’s works team decided to enter this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours with a 1,250-plus horsepower front-wheel drive-only car.

Officially dubbed the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO, what can be seen in the video and photo gallery below is “a front-engined” and “front wheel drive car that is powered by a V6 3-liter twin-turbo petrol engine and a kinetic energy recovery system.” Slated to compete in the LM P1 class, the LM NISMO is a curious vehicle.

As highlighted beforehand, it’s anybody’s guess why the hell has Nissan favored FWD over RWD, but the Japanese brand is really excited about flogging the 880-kilo machine on the Circuit de la Sarthe in France. Roel de Vries, global head of marketing and brand strategy at Nissan, ambitiously declared the following:

“This, the ultimate GT-R, continues a sporting bloodline that goes back three decades with NISMO, the motorsport and performance arm of Nissan. Le Mans drives innovation so success on the track will lead to greater innovation in our road car range. We are the new kids at Le Mans; our opponents are the best in the world but we are ready.”

Editor’s note: a hybrid take on the road-going R35 GT-R? That sounds extremely similar to the hybrid supercar promise for the upcoming R36 generation, slated to be ready by 2018. Our little gut feeling is further strengthened by Nissan’s “200 MPH plus laboratory for the GT-R of the future” statement. Though without the front-wheel drive configuration, please. That’s just bollocks in any petrolhead's book.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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