-If you’re a racing fan, you’ve probably watched plenty of in-car videos of laps around the famous Le Mans circuit. We’re betting you haven’t seen one like this: Nissan mounted a 360-degree camera to the roof of a GT-R, letting you view a lap from angles not even the driver can appreciate. Technology!
Now, caveats apply. See how there’s no numbers on the “speed” and “RPM” gauge overlays? In the video description, Nissan explains that the video has been sped up to simulate racing speeds. The film car ran the track at the end of a test session, and thus they were restricted to an undisclosed speed limit. We’re not sure how much artificial speed enhancement has been applied, but don’t watch this with a stopwatch thinking it’s proof of the GT-R road car’s Le Mans lap time.
-That’s the other thing: This video was done with the production GT-R, not the bonkers, ass-backwards GT-R LM NISMO racer that Nissan is fielding at this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nissan’s wildly ambitious and unconventional front-wheel drive prototypes have had a rough time in the lead-up to the big race: having failed to achieve the required qualifying lap times, the three Nissans have been forced to start behind all but one of the LMP2 cars on the grid, in 30th, 31st, and 32nd place.
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Nissan’s fastest qualifying time, 3:36.995, is considerably slower than the front-running LMP1s of Porsche and Audi—the top four qualifying LMP1s came in under 3:20. In a 24-hour endurance race, grid position is less of a factor, and Nissan global motorsport chief Darren Cox says he expects the team’s cars to get faster as tweaks are made throughout the race.
-Anyway, this video is worth expanding to full-screen. Use the controls in the top left corner to change your view—it’s sure to whet your appetite for the real deal this weekend.
- -This story originally appeared on roadandtrack.com.
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from Car and Driver Blog http://ift.tt/1HAFsVU
via Agya
