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Peter Lyon16 Sept 2014
NEWS

Next Nissan GT-R Takes Shape

Look to next year's Le Mans-spec GT-R hybrid for hints
The Nissan GT-R is one of the fastest coupes on the planet. Boasting a 0-100km/h sprint time of 2.8 seconds, it rivals the mighty Bugatti Veyron for pure off-the-line acceleration. 
Seven years since Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn removed the covers from the production GT-R at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2007, Nissan product planners are under pressure to take the car to next level, make it more competitive and more desirable.  
Why? Because Ghosn, who initially took a lead role in green-lighting the GT-R, now says he has no interest in cars that don't sell and make money. Makes sense. You see, the GT-R is not doing well. Godzilla, as it's known in motoring circles, is only selling an average of 90 cars in the US and 60 units in Japan each month.
That's why Nissan planners are making one last-ditched effort to make the GT-R a more saleable car in showrooms from Los Angeles to London to Tokyo. And to do that, they are pulling out all stops. 
Firstly they have decided to take a hybrid version to the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans next year to highlight its improved environment credentials. That translated, yes, the next-generation road-going GT-R will get a hybrid powertrain. 
The LM-spec race-ready 'Nissan GT-R LM Nismo' will employ petrol-electric technology and join other hybrids on the grid including front-runners Audi, Porsche and Toyota. 
Just as critical as a powerful, fuel-efficient powertrain however, is the car's exterior styling. With the next car, Nissan wants to make amends. After all, the current GT-R looks like a case of Gundam meets Transformers. 
Not aiming to be pretty from the outset, the current GT-R is a purpose-built scud missile for the road. When they were handing out sexy lines and provocative curves, the GT-R was at the back of the queue taking steroids and pumping iron.
Nissan wants to change that. A source close to the company tells us that the new street-spec car will not only employ full LMP-spec carbon fibre cowling, but take on a form similar to the Nissan Concept 2020 Vision Gran Turismo, revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June.
While one Nissan designer hinted that this concept points towards a future GT-R design, the styling seems too radical for a road-going car and not radical enough for a race car. 
"You can expect to see the next-gen GT-R get a toned-down version of the 2020 Vision GT car," said our source. Our artist's rendering you see here takes the 2020 Vision concept and tones it down to a more road-going treatment. It still looks like it belongs in a Transformers movie, but at least its edgier and boasts better proportions all round.
To keep costs down, Nissan will carry over several strategic components from the R35 GT-R to the new R36 model. The twin turbo 3.8 litre V6, transaxle layout and 4WD powertrain will remain. What's different is the long-foretold electric motor that will be bolted on just aft of the engine.
The latest revision of the R35 GT-R packs a 404 kW punch with the current Nismo-spec model producing 441 kW. Our insider confirms also that the car's mammoth 600Nm is about as much torque as the current six-speed DCT gearbox can take. 
Adding an electric motor will boost maximum torque to the neighbourhood of 1000Nm, requiring the total redesign of the next-generation's transmission, which, by the way, will be eight-speed. This will give engineers a chance to rethink the current car's gearbox. Sure, it handles the torque sufficiently, but it's noisy, and its clunkiness at low speeds needs some serious revision.
Our source says that the R36 GT-R's V6 will develop around 478 kW while 100kW will come from its electric motor, elevating total power output to a very healthy 578 kW. However, one problem that appears to be plaguing engineers is the efficient cooling of batteries used in the new hybrid system. 
This is where the Le Mans experiment next year will pay off as engineers find ways to deal with the huge amounts of regenerative brake energy created under heavy braking, and then the sizable energy required when accelerating hard. 
Nissan bosses will no doubt be paying attention to similar battery cooling issues with new hybrid systems on this year's F1 cars and competing vehicles entered in Japan's Super GT championship.
As our insider pointed out, "that is why the styling of the new GT-R will have to be so radically different. It'll have to be penned to enable much more efficient cooling for the hybrid system as well as more efficient aerodynamics."
But unlike many other car makers who rely on electronics companies for their Li-ion batteries, Nissan designs and builds its own batteries while co-developing next-generation hybrid systems with the Williams F1 team.
So all the pieces appear to falling into place for a hotter-than-ever GT-R. Right? Maybe not. One unexpected development that may throw a spanner in the works is the untimely departure of Executive Vice President Andy Palmer, who resigned in August to take up the top job at Aston Martin. Palmer had been in charge of the GT-R project, one of its strongest proponents. 
Questions are already being asked: "Who will take over? Will they be able to convince Ghosn to see the project through?"  We think so although it might be slightly delayed.
If the R36 GT-R does get the green light, and we expect it will, keep an eye out for a concept version at the 2015 Tokyo Motor Show and a production model in 2018.  
Illustration courtesy of Holiday Auto magazine
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Written byPeter Lyon
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