Nissan NP35
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Production period: | 1992 |
Class : | race car |
Body versions : | Coupe |
Engines: | Gasoline :3.5 liters (463 kW) |
Length: | 4795 mm |
Width: | 1990 mm |
Height: | 1080 mm |
Wheelbase : | 2870 mm |
Curb weight : | 750 kg |
The Nissan P35 is a Nissan- developed Group C sports car prototype that was to be used in the Sports Car World Championship in 1992 .
History
The car was developed by Nissan's US Motorsport Department, Nissan Performance Technology Inc. (NPTI), formerly named US-based Electramotive Engineering , and has already built the successful Nissan GTP ZX Turbo. The new prototype series should be ready in mid-1992 and be used in competitions from 1993, however, economic difficulties led to Nissan soon after the start of the test runs to cancel the project and so no P35 was ever reported in an official race.
During the development of the P35, Nissan's Japanese motorsport division Nismo began working on a modified P35 design to be adapted to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship . This car, known as the NP35 , could be used once in a race before this project was completed. These were the last prototypes that Nissan built until 1997.
At the end of the 1990 Nissan R90CK very successful season in the sports car world championship , they decided to withdraw from this competition in the future and instead on the used in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship (JSPC) R90CP and the GTP ZX Turbo to focus on the IMSA GT Championship in the US. Rule changes in the sports car world championship would have forced Nissan to use newly developed naturally aspirated engines instead of their turbo engines and to redesign all cars accordingly.
In 1991, Nissan re-thought his plans, as the JSPC now also allowed the newer Group C cars that would put Nissan's older vehicles on the grid. Nissan turned to NPTI, the corporate division responsible for motorsport in the US, who ran the IMSA GT Championship program. NPTI was commissioned to develop a new car and Nismo built a new engine that complied with the new rules.
The P35 was designed by Yoshi Suzuka and Trevor Harris and showed little resemblance to the NPTI GTP cars because it not only had different rules to follow, but also had other aerodynamic requirements that needed to be considered. Radiators and cooling holes for the brakes were located in the snout and the intake port for the engine was mounted above the cockpit. The side air inflow holes on the vertical surfaces of the side panel route the air to the oil coolers (and also had particular interface effects). There was a one-piece, low rear wing, even if a double rear wing was tested briefly. The chassis of the P35 should be made of carbon fiber reinforced plastic(KFK) arise, however, the first test chassis eventually consisted partly of aluminum and partly of KFK. The designers opted for this design for time-saving reasons, as NPTI had little experience in the construction of pure KFK chassis.
Nismo developed a new engine with a displacement of 3.5 liters, as prescribed by the rules of the group C. In order to be competitive, he was not allowed to just turn up like a Formula 1 engine, but had to have a high level of stability for long-distance races. Nismo built a motor with 3,499 cc capacity, which VRT35 called developed 630 hp (463 kW) and to 12,000 rpm. While Peugeot , Toyota and Mazda used V10 engines, the VRT35 was a V12.
After setting the P35 project In 1992, stopped the car for a short time for a possible successor to the NPT-90 in the IMSA GTP Championship when the VRT35 engine supercharged by a 3.0-liter V6 type VG30 would have replaced, as he was used in the previous year's car. So tests were carried out in the wind tunnel with the so-called 93GTP . Nissan, however, looked elsewhere and decided to participate in the Indy 500 race. However, this decision was only lasting for a short time (even though indy cars were developed in the wind tunnel) and soon the parent company also felt the effects of the increasing recession. This eventually led to the closure of the NPTI in 1993.
In total, three P35 chassis were created for test purposes.
While NPTI developed the P35, Nismo decided that, although permissible for the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship , this car was not ideal for Japan's short racetracks. Therefore, Nismo decided to develop their own version of the P35 with greater downforce and some mechanical changes.
Nismo used original P35 molds for their own development, which became known as the NP35. After Nismo had access to carbon fiber production, the chassis of the only ever built NP35, unlike the P35, was made entirely of this material. The V12 engine VRT35 was also redesigned and then had a higher performance, because the races of the JSPC did not last so long and therefore the stability did not play such a big role.
Only one NP35 was built before Nissan abandoned this project.
In 1996, when the NPTI closed and the sports car world championship, All Japan Sports Prototype Championship and GTP class were abandoned in the IMSA GT Championship, a group of former NPTI staff members, including John Christie , took it into their own hands to build a new car for the open cockpit IMSA WSC class (Le Mans prototype). For this purpose, an earlier P35 chassis (chassis # 01) was used, from which one cut off the cockpit cover and attached a rollover protection and a cockpit border for the protection of the driver. The VRT35 engine was replaced by a 3.4-liter V8 from Ferrari . The team named the new car X-250 commemorating the 250 employees who lost their jobs following the closure of the NPTI.
The P35 was tested several times in the course of 1991, mostly Johnny O'Commell drove. The tests were performed, among others, on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the Daytona International Speedway . The P35 was never used in a competition race and a copy was brought to Japan in the Nissan factory in Zama (Kanagawa) .
The NP35, on the other hand, was well used in competitive races, but only once. The last race of the JSPC season in 1992 (and thus the last JSPC race ever) took place at the Mine Circuit , for which Nismo reported the only existing NP35. He had to compete in his class against the Toyota TS010 and the Mazda MXR-01 and was the slowest car in qualifying with 5 seconds behind the Nissan R92CP, who won the pole position. In the race itself, the NP35 had many mechanical problems, but he was able to finish the race. Of the cars that were not eliminated, he finished last place, 25 laps behind, on the winning Toyota TS010. After this first and last race, the NP35 was stored together with the P35. Nissan occasionally presents the vehicles in exhibitions, especially the annual "Nismo Festival".
The X-250, which originated from a previous P35, also started only once in a competitive race, the Sebring 12-hour race in 1997. There, the car suffered from electronic problems and had to be the first car after only 21 laps of the race. The X-250 has never again been used in competitive races, but has been preserved and is now participating in historic events.
Undercarriage # 02 of the Nissan P35 is now in the workshop of motorsport engineers at Coventry University . It is used as a training vehicle for students of the well-known Bachelor of Motorsport Engineering degree program there.
