The first reason is that the front-engined, FWD design means that the NISMO LM can have a VERY long hood (bonnet) which, according to Nissan, means more down-force can be generated so that the car will have more speed thru the corners. One of the criticisms of the new LMP1 car has been its looks, so this design must be about function over form.
The second reason is that, as drivers of FWD cars will tell you, FWD cars handle better in wet conditions. In a race as long as Le Mans, the weather is obviously a concern for any racing team. The FWD design of the NISMO LM means that the car will not want to spin out in wet weather as much as the RWD biased cars will want to.
The final reason is that NISMO has such success with FWD cars in the past. The example that Nissan used in the video was the late 90’s Nissan Primera that was very successful in the British Touring Car Championship. Nissan also mentioned several of their production road cars in the video as well.
From this video, we noticed two interesting things. Firstly, that Nissan has yet to mentioned the specific type of hybrid drive that modern LMP1 cars are suppose to use. The rumor was that Nissan will be using this system to drive the rear wheels while the main engine power will run the front. Secondly, the GT-R NISMO LM is fast! You can see from the video that the car goes from around 100mph to around 200 mph in about 3 seconds. This car is not going to have a problem keeping up with Audi’s speed in the corners and Porsche’s hyper-drive on the straights. This years’s 24 Hours of Le Mans is shaping up to an exciting event.
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