NEW YORK AUTO SHOW: Nissan unveils track-ready Leaf
Nissan's performance division gives the Leaf gets the racing treatment -- but it won't be racing any time soonNissan is using this month's New York auto show to debut a racetrack-ready interpretation of its Leaf EV. In cohorts with its tuning division, the company is displaying the Leaf Nismo RC (it stands for Racing Competition), a radical retake on the original.
Although it retains the donor vehicle's 48-module Li-ion power pack and the original motor (good for 80kW and 280Nm of torque), the RC's 0-100km/h acceleration time of 6.85 seconds is well down on the normal car's 11.9 seconds. Top speed is 150km/h -- just five kays up on the original's.
The performance advantage hails from dramatic aerodynamic modification and weight loss: at just 938kg, the RC is a whopping 40 per cent lighter. It dispenses with any concession to rear passengers and cargo -- no rear doors or seat and no boot lining. There's no carpet, no audio, no satnav. Headlamps and tail-lights have been replaced with LEDs all round.
In place of the rear seat is most of the powertrain: the battery pack, the inverter and the motor, which now drives through the rear axle rather than the front, as used in the normal car. It sits on double-wishbone suspension front and rear, with six-spoke 18-inch alloys. Handling and roadholding aids include a massive adjustable rear wing and driver adjustable brake balance.
The three-piece full carbonfibre monocoque with removable front and rear sections sits over a wheelbase 9.9cm shorter than the production Leaf's. The RC overall is 2cm longer, 17cm broader and crouches 35cm lower. It clears the ground by just 6cm -- 10cm down on the street car. As with the original, rapid-charge connection allows the battery to snatch an 80 per cent recharge in about 30 minutes from flat. The company estimates a full-blast running time of about 20 minutes.
If those performance figures sound underwhelming, it's because the RC is in fact not intended as a racing car. Rather, Nissan describes it as 'a rolling laboratory' for powertrain and aerodynamic experimentation. But the company does want to use it as a pointer towards future possibilities in low- and zero-emissions motorsports.
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