Nissan reveals DeltaWing racer

The Japanese automaker Nissan is a founding partner in the DeltaWing project that will be a part of this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours event. The vehicle is powered by a 4-cylinder, 1.6-liter turbocharged engine and it has 50% of the weight and 50% of the aerodynamic drag of a regular racer.

Organized between 16^th and 17^th of June, the Le Mans 24 hours is as you probably know one of the most difficult races in the world. The DeltaWing won’t be allowed to compete in the overall classification, but it will be a very good occasion for Nissan to show off its new racer.

The design of the DeltaWing belongs to British designer Ben Bowlby who lives in the United States. It is the work of Don Panoz who is an American motorsport entrepreneur, along with the All-American Racers organization of Dan Gurney, Michelin and Highcroft Racing team.

The engine that powers the DeltaWing is known as the DIG-T and has the same technology as the one found in Nissan’s road cars, including the top-spec Juke DIG-T. The term “DIG-T” refers to direct injection gasoline – turbocharged. This power unit is said to output no less than 300 hp so it should make the DeltaWing as fast as some of the LMP1 and LMP2 vehicles.

In this interesting vehicle, the driver sits back in the car, looking ahead down a long and narrow fuselage. He is actually sitting almost over the rear axle and the car rides on narrow thin front tires that have been specially developed by Michelin for the vehicle. The engine is mounted at the rear and thanks to the fact that the car has a strong rearward weight bias, the DeltaWing is very maneuverable.

The Nissan DeltaWing will participate in the “Garage 56” which is the area in the pitlane that is reserved for experimental vehicles. The car will be wearing the number “0” and the first two drivers which already have been confirmed are Michael Krumm and Marino Franchitti.

Source: Nissan via Autocar

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