2015 General WEC/ELMS/AsLMS Discussion ThreadSports Cars 

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And here we have a perfect example of why genuinely different projects are rarely undertaken. The fear of a failure such as this coupled with the armchair experts and their psychological need to turn round and say "I told you so".

It makes me wonder, would the same people have laughed in the face of those who suggested: wings, mid mounted engines and 4WD in the early days?

I have to think that they would.

We should all be saddened by this, not applauding the fact that a manufacturer who tried a different approach has now pulled out.
 
Holdenhsvgtsr
96 laps at Castellet. At least they entered more than one and should we bring up the zeod :)
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Exactly how important was Castellet? Better yet, how important IS it in comparison to Le Mans? Very sure 96 laps is nothing in comparison to 12 hours worth of racing. Last I checked, Nissan entered three cars at Le Mans so that's easily one more car then Aston Martin's 2 cars, neither of which even made it to an hour.
 
With the new LMP1 regulations for 2017 approaching, I can understand why Nissan made the decision to end the program now. Trying to upgrade a struggling car for the '16 season with the hopes of getting close the other factory hybrids and then having to build a new car for '17.

For Nissan it's best to reexamine what they want to achieve in WEC. A return in 2017 with a more conventional LMP could happen or switch to the GTE class with a GT-R. All the R&D doesn't need to go to waste, particularly the Cosworth-built V6 that have been the bright spot the program.
 
I think the car could have succeeded. But reading dailysportscar's and racer.com's write-ups, I see it more as Nissan losing patience with the car. It might have been a lot faster in it's last test... but their articles state it failed a rear crash test which would have to be redesigned (budget), the new hybrid battery wasn't powerful enough (more budget) and by the time the current battery was ready it'd be February. Just imagine the timeline for the new battery! Nissan in Japan probably had enough of the excuses and failures and said "were finished with this". How they went about it is the sad part. Seems a few people are out of a job. Wonder how GTAcademy tie-in's take this news? Don't look like there will be an American pilot for Nissan's lmp1. At least not any time soon.
 
Christian_C
And here we have a perfect example of why genuinely different projects are rarely undertaken. The fear of a failure such as this coupled with the armchair experts and their psychological need to turn round and say "I told you so".

It makes me wonder, would the same people have laughed in the face of those who suggested: wings, mid mounted engines and 4WD in the early days?

I have to think that they would.

We should all be saddened by this, not applauding the fact that a manufacturer who tried a different approach has now pulled out.
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I think they would have been treated different if they didn't come out saying they would win Le Mans within 2 years.
 
trustjab
Wonder how GTAcademy tie-in's take this news? Don't look like there will be an American pilot for Nissan's lmp1. At least not any time soon.
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"Never" would be a more realistic answer at this point. I seriously think Nissan is at the same point Toyota was back in 1999: They didn't get what they wanted so they just stomped off in frustration.
 
RACECAR
"Never" would be a more realistic answer at this point. I seriously think Nissan is at the same point Toyota was back in 1999: They didn't get what they wanted so they just stomped off in frustration.
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Yep just like 1990 when they entered 7 factory cars.
 
My dream of seeing a Nissan fighting with Toyota's, Audi's and Porsche's the top position thought maggots and Becket's has died. I hope they come back in 10 years from now and make up for it. :)
 
I'm not sad to see Nissan go, they were more of a marketing team than a racing team anyways. Pity, because we need more innovation in motorsports.
 
-Fred-
Are you guys seriously arguing which one's worse between the AMR-One and the GTR-LM? That's like arguing ebola is better than cancer...
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Might as well throw in the Pescarolo 03 and Deltawing DW12 in... oh wait... ;)

Also whilst some of you lot are arguing about mediocrity, I can beat you all....








































lemans-24-hours-of-le-mans-2010-69-jloc-lamborghini-murcielago-atsushi-yogo-koji-yamanishi.jpg


;)
 
Furinkazen
Might as well throw in the Pescarolo 03 and Deltawing DW12 in... oh wait... ;)

Also whilst some of you lot are arguing about mediocrity, I can beat you all....


































lemans-24-hours-of-le-mans-2010-69-jloc-lamborghini-murcielago-atsushi-yogo-koji-yamanishi.jpg


;)
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Well in that case, argument done :lol:
 
Disappointing news from Nissan today. The car has shown potential, and I believe it'd be successful if the suspension and hybrid component problems were fixed. Imagine if Darren Cox hasn't left Nissan... but then his departure is probably due to this project exactly...

Hopefully Nissan will return to Le Mans with an equally innovative and promising idea in the near future, that is, if they do it for reasons they believe could outrun the conventional ideas. I'm saying this, as most of the time it is these innovative ideas that produce a winner.
 
If what they were speaking of in the story above, the car would run all hybrid power on the rear with the engine doing the front. That'd be 300kw/400hp hybrid (at LM) powering the rears with front drive full time. Other teams split the hybrid power front and rear. Too bad we won't get to see it run.
 
At least there is a glimmer of hope of it's return seeing as though Carcamo said a decision on whether or not they will run it again has yet to be made.

Fingers crossed.
 
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Panoz
With the new LMP1 regulations for 2017 approaching, I can understand why Nissan made the decision to end the program now. Trying to upgrade a struggling car for the '16 season with the hopes of getting close the other factory hybrids and then having to build a new car for '17.
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At the end of the day (or the balance sheet) it's as much a French government decision as anything else until the companies are made profitable. The decision seems like it might have been F1 or LMP, not money for both.
 
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GTPorsche
Managing an F1 budget isn't going to make them profitable.
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True, but it's far easier to hit zero with their F1 customers/sponsors than with their LMP package, at least in my opinion. If it is the case that Renault would only fund one "pinnacle" programme then it's a real shame; as mentioned earlier in the thread that kind of innovation looked good for the future of LMP.
 
On a sort of related note, I think there was a Micra about a decade ago that had temporary 4WD.
 
Christian_C
And here we have a perfect example of why genuinely different projects are rarely undertaken. The fear of a failure such as this coupled with the armchair experts and their psychological need to turn round and say "I told you so".

It makes me wonder, would the same people have laughed in the face of those who suggested: wings, mid mounted engines and 4WD in the early days?

I have to think that they would.

We should all be saddened by this, not applauding the fact that a manufacturer who tried a different approach has now pulled out.
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Problem is when this "new approach" is diktated by marketing more than engineering.
They had some decent ideas though expecially the aero tunnels but overdid it with FWD and tiny rear tires. That said, Nissan PR's boasted this thing everywhere showing the real intentions behind this project: a "2.0 seasonal-media-marketing-brand-awareness-campaign-full-of-nonsense-about-alleged-innovations".
 
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GTPorsche
Managing an F1 budget isn't going to make them profitable.
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Neither is an LMP1 budget to be honest. Motorsport in general is money that you're never going to see again. If there were legitimate gains from these things, then manufacturers would never leave the sport. They can't possibly expect to make back the couple hundred million each year that they spend.
 
Kamuifanboy
Neither is an LMP1 budget to be honest. Motorsport in general is money that you're never going to see again. If there were legitimate gains from these things, then manufacturers would never leave the sport. They can't possibly expect to make back the couple hundred million each year that they spend.
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GT3? Manufactures are getting money back of the surely. You can't sell 40 cars at 400,000 Euros a piece and not get a profit. Audi do it best!
 
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