[WEC 2015]Nissan GT-R LM NISMO

[Sombrero]

http://www.nissanusa.com/performance/lmp1/

[-Felix-]

At first glance i just thought what a total disaster this is gonna be.
Then as i read more and more i came to the realization that it´s actually one of the coolest racing machines ever built.

I´m hoping it will do really well but it remains to be seen. If this thing blitzes everyone i assume there will be a bit of a paradigm shift in Le Mans prototype class.

if this car will be running shortly behind AudiPorscheToyota all of the three will rethink their approach to build Prototype racing cars.
Because what we know till now...Nissan is following a pretty clever approach...the only thing is...will it be as fast as they think it should be?
And what we also know...Nissan is not having the money and possibilities of development which Audi Toyota and Porsche have.

When will the first tests take place?

I'm not sure wether they will rethink their approach. In my view, Nissan's objective for this car was mainly Le Mans racetrack. I'll doubt if the GT-R LM will match the other works teams on tracks like the Nurburgring GP course. So, while I hope Nissan to be pretty fast in Le Mans, I don't think they will fight for the WEC title, which is the main objective of the 3 other competitors. So they'll stick to their "best overall" package for all WEC tracks.

Of course I can be wrong though!

[RacingManiac]

I'd say winning Le Mans is still more important than WEC title for any of the OEM present. The fact that Toyota had all but dominated the last season(arguably last 2 seasons, despite missing title in 2013) and still missing a win at the big race itself probably hurts more than anything.

Frankly though if Nissan manages to get anywhere near the pole time this year it'll be a victory in its concept. I still think you can always try to make a fast car reliable, but it'll be much harder if they can't make it fast.

Also Nissan is garnering a heck of a lot of good will and publicity, with even article in non-racing publication(http://www.wired.com/2015/02/nissans-ou ... -insanity/). And the car has yet turned a competitive lap at a race. Compare that to the deafening silence to Toyota's WEC triumph outside of industry related sites....Nissan is winning at least the PR battle...

[Powerslide]

That rear opening up access to uncharted aerodynamic area and linked to the front diffuser could make a lot of downforce. The advantages also would be through the simple fundermentals of diffuser where it can be choked at the front which might make it even more effective. Just one look at the rear suspension made so short simply to serve those two huge tunnels. I think, already mentioned here, it serves as very low coefficient drag to downforce ratio where its outset shape tends to even out and not cramp the cabin area against anything wheel section unlike a front biased shell which cramps air channel between itself and the front wheels. This is evident from the top. This seems the very reason those side wings are lengthened instead of shorted. Another possible advantage of its rear drive is maybe some yaw control, far more effective to control yaw from the rear than front. Mid to high speed corners its forte I suppose and also at those straights. Those narrow rear wheel do also serve more openings. Technically brilliant. Just curious how it would perform on slow corners. there could be more power to the rear than it looks.

[WaikeCU]

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/27983 ... an-in-2015

Glad to see that Max Chilton still has a future outside F1. I think it's a good move by Nissan to sign Max Chilton. Despite his performance in the backfield for Marussia in F1, he does have a reputation for bringing the car to the finishline in one piece. From 2012 driving for Marussia till 2014 Canadian GP, he has finished all of his races. Not a lot can say that they have done the same.

[Facts Only]

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/27983 ... an-in-2015

Glad to see that Max Chilton still has a future outside F1. I think it's a good move by Nissan to sign Max Chilton. Despite his performance in the backfield for Marussia in F1, he does have a reputation for bringing the car to the finishline in one piece. From 2012 driving for Marussia till 2014 Canadian GP, he has finished all of his races. Not a lot can say that they have done the same.

At Le Mans that's exactly what you need, somebody who you know can bring it home in one piece.

[machin]

That rear opening up access to uncharted aerodynamic area and linked to the front diffuser could make a lot of downforce.

I've expressed my doubts on the front end downforce potential of this car compared to the Audi/Porsche/Toyota in a few of my previous posts (one argument against my noting of what appears to be a "restriction" around the engine/gearbox/front wheel area is that the car has a much higher diffuser expansion ratio than is apparent on the established cars... but using this argument would seem to suggest that restricting this area MORE would achieve higher downforce levels as that would improve the expansion ratio further... that seems pretty counter-intuitive to me).

Remember also that if this car is to have the same overall downforce levels as an Audi/Porsche/Toyota it needs MORE front downforce than these designs to be properly balanced with the mass and tyre distribution....

Add to this we also have to note this quote from Ben Bowlby himself (full report here http://www.racer.com/wec-le-mans/item/1 ... imitstart=)

the car is absolutely a Le Mans special. No part of it is configured for some of the other rounds.

I believe that this means the car is designed around the long straights of Le Mans, i.e. it is a low drag (but also low downforce) configuration, which is why Bowlby makes reference to this car not being designed for any other track, which I take to me that it does not have the option of a high downforce set-up that is preferable at these other tracks.

Now... Clearly it would be easy to add rear wing to this car (as with any other), so that must mean that the maximum downforce setting is limited by the front (no point having lots of rear downforce if you can't balance it at the front)...

So in short... I don't think this car will achieve lots of front downforce... but, as inferred by Bowlby; it doesn't need to because it will (hopefully!) be faster on the straights.... Bowlby has a precedence of trying this set-up before.. in 2012 his Deltawing was slower through the corners (that is a fact backed up by the course timings before anyone argues!), but it was faster on the straights than LMP2 and got reasonably close to the LMP2 lap times as a result....

That's my take, but of course, we won't know until we see this thing running and get some comparable lap times...

[Callum]

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/27983 ... an-in-2015

Glad to see that Max Chilton still has a future outside F1. I think it's a good move by Nissan to sign Max Chilton. Despite his performance in the backfield for Marussia in F1, he does have a reputation for bringing the car to the finishline in one piece. From 2012 driving for Marussia till 2014 Canadian GP, he has finished all of his races. Not a lot can say that they have done the same.

I'm afraid that I couldn't disagree more. Yes, you want someone to bring the car home in a single piece but you also want someone who can drive quickly (and in LMP1, overtake consistantly and safely). I'm sure that it is relatively easy to bring the car home in one piece when you're not actually racing anyone.

I hate to bash people, and I realise that I am, but there must be a hundred better choices than Chilton out there. - He doesn't even have any sportscar experience and he's getting straight in at the top...

[WaikeCU]

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/27983 ... an-in-2015

Glad to see that Max Chilton still has a future outside F1. I think it's a good move by Nissan to sign Max Chilton. Despite his performance in the backfield for Marussia in F1, he does have a reputation for bringing the car to the finishline in one piece. From 2012 driving for Marussia till 2014 Canadian GP, he has finished all of his races. Not a lot can say that they have done the same.

I'm afraid that I couldn't disagree more. Yes, you want someone to bring the car home in a single piece but you also want someone who can drive quickly (and in LMP1, overtake consistantly and safely). I'm sure that it is relatively easy to bring the car home in one piece when you're not actually racing anyone.

I hate to bash people, and I realise that I am, but there must be a hundred better choices than Chilton out there. - He doesn't even have any sportscar experience and he's getting straight in at the top...

He has experience. Back in 2007 he teamed with his brother Tom racing for Arena International Motorsports in the 1000km of Silverstone. They ended 5th overall.

[ChrisF1]

All of this talk about it being a Le Mans special and built for the straights - I just don't buy that as being a possible strategy in designing a car. The benefits to be found on straights are minimal when compared to the benefits of cornering...

[andylaurence]

All of this talk about it being a Le Mans special and built for the straights - I just don't buy that as being a possible strategy in designing a car. The benefits to be found on straights are minimal when compared to the benefits of cornering...

Surely the benefits on straights vs corners depends on the circuit and how many corners there are versus straights. Last I checked, Le Mans had a bunch of really long straights. About 80% full throttle. On that basis, if you're fast on the straights, you're better off ~80% of the distance. The places where downforce really helps are the fast corners, so essentially the Porsche Curves and Dunlop.

[acosmichippo]

If I recall correctly, last year Audi were only competitive because they made up so much time on the other teams in the Porsche Curves, Esses, etc.

[Tim.Wright]

Audi were only competitive because they had the least problems of anyone else

[acosmichippo]

well yes obviously that too. But I remember they were keeping decent pace despite being down on power because they had more grip through high-speed corners.

[Tim.Wright]

They may have minimised their losses by being quick through the curves, but at Le Mans your laptime is more sensitive to straight line speed than cornering grip. So if you are down on power or high on drag then you will never be the fastest.

It all depends on the ratio of grip limit/power limit for a particular track. Other tracks are extremely sensitive to cornering grips because you are grip limited for a larger percentage of the lap.