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The Nissan R390 GT1 was a racing car built for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1997 and 1998. It was built to race under the grand touring style rules, requiring a homologated road version to be built, although this was never sold.
Completed in time for the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans, the three black and red R390 GT1s were fast in their first competition. One R390 GT1 was able to qualify in 4th on the grid and 2nd in its class behind a Porsche 911 GT1, while its partners qualified 12th and 21st. During the race both cars were able to perform admirably, but around halfway through the race two of the three R390s suffered mechanical failure. The third R390 was able to survive the rest of the race, finishing 12th overall and 5th in class, although many laps down from the race winners.
For 1998, Nissan returned, this time with four R390 GT1s. The cars were slightly upgraded, with more downforce able to be generated by a longer rear tail, and a new rear wing placement for less drag. Although Nissan was easily beaten in qualifying by Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and newcomer Toyota, Nissan was able to achieve considerable success in the race. As an achievement of its own, all four cars were able to finish the race. With this, Nissan was able to finish 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 10th overall, being beaten only by the Porsche 911 GT1.
Following the 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans, rules for the GT classes were changed, mostly to end the amount of manufacturers attempting to use loopholes. This meant Nissan was forced to abandon the R390 as it was no longer legal. Nissan instead turned to the LMP classes, developing the R391 prototype for 1999. This program would also be short lived and Nissan would end up leaving Le Mans.
A total of eight R390 GT1 race chassis were built over the two years of the program. It is unknown how many road versions were built. Wikipedia
Specifications
* Drive: Mid-engined, rear-wheel drive.
* Transmission: 6-speed sequential manual transmission.
* Engine: Twin turbo 3496 cc V8
* Displacement: 3495 cc.
* Power: 560 hp/5200 rpm.
* Torque: 362 lb.ft/4000 rpm.
* Dimensions: 4720 mm by 2000 mm by 1140 mm.
* Weight: 1029 kg.
* Price: $1,000,000
* 0-60 mp/h-3.6 seconds
* 0-100 mp/h-8.2 seconds
* Top Speed-205 mp/h |
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