Nissan's ZEOD-RC Unveiled At Fuji Speedway

[chaozbandit]

 

Might as well get this out of the way at the start of the thread. The ZEOD-RC (and DeltaWing Coupe for that matter) both look very similar to a certain phallic shape everyone is thinking about. We all know. Get over it. (I'd like to think of it more as a rocket ship anyways)

 

The long awaited DeltaWing successor, the ZEOD-RC (Zero Emissions On Demand Race Car) has finally debuted, this time at Fuji Speedway in Japan, piggy-backing on the Japanese round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The car was originally intended for use at the annual Le Mans 24 hours race and as such won't make a competitive appearance until mid-2014. Nissan has developed the ZEOD-RC with knowledge / experience gained from their previous DeltaWing program (LMS, ALMS) and their electric Nissan Leaf-RC racers; I wouldn't find it surprising to see Nissan making the leap into LMP1 like they've openly stated in the past (to join Toyota and Porsche in taking down the Goliath that is Audi Quattro GmbH). Until then, Nissam / Nismo will have to compete as an unclassified car against the established classes of competitors: LMP1 (Manufacturer-Factory teams), LMP2 (cost-capped, spec racers), GT1 and GT2 (regular GT endurance class cars)

 

The Nissan ZEOD RC will occupy "Garage 56" at Le Mans next year - an entry reserved for cars showcasing new and innovative technology previously not seen at the French endurance classic.

 

Nismo, the team responsible for the program, will put Michael Krumm (former GT1 champion) at the wheel of this amazing vehicle, along with Lucus Ordonez (Gran Turismo Academy Graduate). The Circuit de la Sarthe, home to the annual Le Mans 24 hours race, measures  13.6 kilometres (8.5 miles) in length and comprises of 38 turns. With 85% of the track consisting of public roads most of the year, the track conditions vary greatly and there are countless imperfections in the racing surface (the track was repaved in certain sections not that long ago). The ZEOD-RC can theoretically reach speeds in excess of 300 kmph (186 mph) in full electric mode, with the internal combustion engine being used only to recharge the on-board batteries alongside the use of regenerative braking. The engine itself is a 1.6L turbocharged four cylinder, similar to the one found in the Nissan Juke Nismo and by extension, the previous DeltaWing. The regenerative braking system is capable of producing enough energy for the full electric lap once every 11 laps.

 

After presenting the car to Nismo, fans, and various other partners, Darren Cox (Nissan Global Motorsports Director) had the following to say:

"The reaction from the fans has been amazing - especially the young fans... seeing the reaction from the young fans is a key reason why we are doing this."

 

I can't cover this car any better than Nismo themselves, so here ya go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixvrHwYSnmI&feature=youtu.be

 

And in case any of you are wondering about the technical details of the DeltaWing  / ZEOD-RC, again; best to let the guys who built it fill you in:

 

Make no mistake, bringing hybrid technology to the world of motorsport is no easy task. It's an enormous mountain to conquer and depending on how many resources are put into it, may or may not even yield tangible results. Sure, both diesel and gasoline based programs have looked into their respective electric counterparts, but it hasn't progressed from that point for years. Just now we are starting to see higher efficiency powertrains, in addition to hydrogen and full electric systems becoming readily available to select teams. All in all, motorsports is going places in terms of technology and ultimately the manufactures that support motorsports are going to trickle these technologies downwards to the benefit of the consumers.

 

NOTE: I really hope the ZEOD-RC does better than the DeltaWing next year. I mean, how hard is it to ask teams to play nice with each other and not shunt one's car into a wall? Step up your game, FIA.

 

Below are some pictures of the ZEOD-RC.

 

^ Why so many buttons? Because racecar. (Can you guess which button does what?)

 

Videos of Interest:

 

An extra video for those who watched the 2012 race with the original DeltaWing. Tears will be shed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jDLm-4D5UlE

 

In case you're wondering, here's how the DeltaWing Coupe looks in all it's phallic glory. (It's not a looker)

 

Miscellaneous Readings:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24_Hours_of_Le_Mans

 

Source: http://releases.jalopnik.com/nissan-zeod-rc-hits-the-track-at-fuji-1449354492

 

TL:DR - ZEOD-RC is awesome and +1 Nissan.

[megadarkwood]

eww dats uuuuggglyyy

[miyabwah]

It looks like a duck. JS.

Why can't they put the Skylines back in reproduction? I'm sure they'd earn a lot of money from that. Also make them street legal in 'Murica to abide with safety regulations. The R34's style still looks good today. In Canada, a 1999 model is legal next year. But 'Murica has a 25-year rule for imports. A R32 is legal next year.

[Pingypoker]

God, that is ugly.

[ofr057]

why everyone hating? , I think good on nissan on thinking outside the box .... thats the only why aldi is going to lose

[chaozbandit]

It looks like a duck. JS.

Why can't they put the Skylines back in reproduction? I'm sure they'd earn a lot of money from that. Also make them street legal in 'Murica to abide with safety regulations. The R34's style still looks good today. In Canada, a 1999 model is legal next year. But 'Murica has a 25-year rule for imports. A R32 is legal next year.

The main reason was that the RB-based cars were inefficient to produce and wouldn't meet today's emissions regulations, despite being the beasts that they are. The "Skyline" ideology moves onto the GTR line, despite being a completely different car yet retaining the R3X nomenclature. Japan's actual Skylines (aka G3X cars, referred to in North America as the Infinity G series) are dying off and have completely moved away from what a traditional Skyline should be.

The R34 looks good yes, but it's actual production numbers makes it hard to find one these days for a reasonable price (unless you're a price-is-no-object type of buyer). In Canada, we've had the freedom to run R32s and R33s for years thanks to our 15 year import regulations. Most people don't know this but R34s are already legal in Canada. The GTTs are currently legal for import, with GTRs being available next year. But the Canadian insurance companies, especially in Ontario and Quebec, are changing their views on these right-hand-drive vehicles and are currently moving to increase it to 25 years just like in the states (based again, on safety, emissions, and track-record of North American RHD vehicles).

Manufacturers ultimately collect this information from each of their respective markets and make decisions based on them, hence we come full-circle to the introduction of the R35.

[legopc]

its ugly as hell man :L 

[Mooshi]

 

>_<

 

Can not unsee.

[xRAGExSounDxRIOTX]

It looks like a duck. JS.

Why can't they put the Skylines back in reproduction? I'm sure they'd earn a lot of money from that. Also make them street legal in 'Murica to abide with safety regulations. The R34's style still looks good today. In Canada, a 1999 model is legal next year. But 'Murica has a 25-year rule for imports. A R32 is legal next year.

So when will R34's be street legal?

[xRAGExSounDxRIOTX]

looks like Rihanna's forehead but it's still faster than the open top.

[Mooshi]

So when will R34's be street legal?

 

You'll be better off taking a late model 200SX/240SX/Silvia S14 kouki  and dropping an RB engine in it. Much cheaper and still aggressive. Not quite the street cred as the R34, but a hell of a lot less expensive.

[chaozbandit]

>_<

Can not unsee.

Great... now I can't unsee it either.

So when will R34's be street legal?

Where are you located? I assume the states? Then yes, Mooshi's method would probably be the way to go. I've come across a few 240SXs with RB26 swaps and although they are challenging to pull off, a successful transplant will net you credit from the community. If you're in Canada, you'd be better off just sourcing an R32 and upgrading the powertrain with new parts since it'd amount to the same cost in the long run (R34s are hard to find and much more expensive than R32s, due to much lower supply and exponentially higher demand). The UK also has its own very large Skyline / GTR community, so you should have no problem finding a car over there and as far as I'm aware, import and ownership laws are much less strict (especially since RHD works so well over there).

In Canada, R34s will be legal 15 years after the date of production for the car. In the states, similar rule but 25 years. (for now at least, import laws are subject to change). This applies to all R34 models.