The world of motorsports might look like a waste of money at first glance, but it is more often than not the place that gives birth to technologies which eventually make their way to production cars – which in turn, would also help save lives of humans. Take the likes of ABS for instance, how many accidents have been prevented because of the introduction of ABS? Having said that, Nissan intends to jump into the endurance race arena this season by introducing the extraordinarily efficient engine which can be found in the Nissan ZEOD race car. This engine could eventually end up as the basis for new developments in its production cars.
In essence, the ZEOD race car would rely on a design that is similar to the DeltaWing car that Nissan raced in the previous season. For the ‘horses’ underneath its hood, it will feature a gasoline-electric hybrid system which should be able to hold its own against the likes of the Audi R18 e-tron. The previous two editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans races saw Audi driving away in the LMP1 class thanks to its diesel-electric hybrid. The gasoline engine component of the ZEOD’s hybrid system happens to be a 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine that uses direct injection and a turbocharger to deliver a peak power at 7,500rpm, resulting 400 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. Not only that, the engine is so lightweight, it tips the scales at a mere 88 pounds.
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