Nissan, without a doubt, has done it. Under the distinct orders of CEO Carlos Ghosn, Nissan created the ultimate affordable supercar. A car that straight from the factory will annihilate exotics costing twice as much. "The GT-R," as Ghosn says, "Is a car you can use everyday; a car that can be driven by anyone, anywhere." But the question the guys over at Nismo asked themselves, is how will this technological marvel handle the more demanding world of motorsport. We're not talking about the GT-R currently racing-and leading-the Super GT series, after all, those race cars have very little in common with the road going GT-R. But more along the lines of production-car based endurance racing; something akin to Group N or the Super Taikyu championship. And this is a good question indeed because with all the novel technology and components that the GT-R brings to the table, nobody really knows how it will all take to the abuse of endurance racing. To find out, Nismo joined forces with the Motul oil company and set out to create the car you see here: the first production-based GT-R race car in the world.
There is nothing that tests the durability of a car and its products like endurance racing. Nismo knows this more than anyone, and building this GT-R provided the opportunity to not only explore its potential as a race machine, but also to simulate all the abuse (and then some) their aftermarket products would encounter at the hands of street-going enthusiasts. Motul, which for years has had a very close relationship with Nismo, used the GT-R's all-new VR38DETT as a high-demand test bed for the development of new lubricants, which would likewise find their ways into circuit racing and onto store shelves. And the best place for the two to collaborate: the yearly Tokachi 24-hour endurance race, held at the famed circuit in Hokkaido, in northern Japan.
As this was the first race in which Nismo would enter an R35, the goals were kept reasonable. According to Race Team Director Kumagai-san, "We wanted to complete the full 24 hours of racing, allowing us to properly test the Motul competition oils and Nismo parts." After overcoming some unforeseen mechanical glitches of fielding an all-new car, the Nismo team managed to finish in 21st position, achieving what they set out to do in their first outing.
To find out what kind of preparation went into the first endurance GT-R, we headed over to the Nismo Omori Factory headquarters in Tokyo. Since the main scope of the project was to see how close to factory spec an R35 would handle the stresses of a 24 hour race, the engine and transmission were left mostly stock. What wasn't, however, was the GT-R's cooling faculties; In addition to the factory oil cooler, a secondary unit was added on the passenger side of the car, and a custom aluminum air guide was fabbed to channel as much air through it as possible. The radiator and overflow tanks were replaced with Nismo custom aluminum units, to keep temperatures consistent at sustained high engine speeds, and a rear-mounted transmission oil cooler was thrown in the mix for good measure. To keep tabs on the effects of it all, additional temperature and pressure sensors were added throughout the GT-R, monitored by a Nismo LCD Data Logger.
Because the R35 was built as a dedicated track car, its bulky OE A/C equipment was given the boot, and its factory blow-off valves were remove and their mounting points on the intake pipes plated off-fewer things to go wrong, as they say. Likewise, the stock exhaust was ruled out by the Nismo team, but minding the elevated temperatures of the GT-R's rearward transmission and differential during sustained track abuse, they elected to fabricate a replacement unit fully from titanium, wrap it with heat-radiant material, and couple it with a complementary carbon-fiber rear diffuser. It's a one-off system, but can be purchased through Nismo, for a scant $19,000.
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