Nissan, DeltaWing Project Partnership Discontinued
Nissan just cut ties with the DeltaWing race car project, which was never Nissan’s despite the car wearing its logo.
Instead, Nissan had a partnership with the cars creators and provided the 1.6-liter RML-tuned engine that powers it. The news follows Tuesday’s announcement that the DeltaWing project will include new engines and chassis configurations including a closed cockpit car due in May.
It isn’t entirely clear why the split occurred, but Nissan global motorsports director’s comment could hint at the underlying cause. He said Nissan is “committed to developing innovative and exciting cars both on the track and on the road.”
Nissan says it will continue to support the project from the sidelines, but new versions of the car will also now include a larger twin-turbo 1.9-liter engine based on Mazda’s production 2.0-liter MXR motor. In production form, that engine powered the MX-5 since 2006.
Output from that engine is expected to be around 345 hp and 350 lb-ft or torque.
This DeltaWing suffered devastating setbacks when it was pushed off the track during its debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car suffered a devastating crash during a practice session at Road Atlanta as well that almost kept it from racing during the Petit Le Mans.
[Source: Speed]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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did anyone else hear "345 hp MIATA" ??