You might remember that the last time we decided to track a Nissan NISMO 370Z, it didn’t exactly end well. That street model’s brakes weren’t up to the task of heavy track use, but the Z-car announced today will probably fix that—and a whole lot more. The new 370Z NISMO RC from Nissan Motorsports is a turnkey race car prepared for International FIA GT4 and World Challenge GTS competition; slight modifications allow it to qualify for the Grand Am Continental Tire Challenge GS class, too.
A diet is a good place to start when you’re turning a road car into a racer, so the NISMO RC shaves about 400 pounds from its series-production sibling, coming in at a claimed 2954 pounds. The interior is stripped of most everything, leaving only a Recaro driver’s seat with a six-point harness, a dash shell with carbon-fiber filler panels where HVAC and audio equipment usually live, a roll cage, and a quick-release Sparco steering wheel.
The RC is upgraded mechanically with a bevy of parts from NISMO, including a race exhaust, a modified ECM, a high-capacity clutch, a new flywheel, and coolers for the engine oil, transmission, and differential. The car’s 3.7-liter V-6 produces 355 hp and 276 lb-ft of torque, 5 hp and 0 lb-ft more, respectively, than the Nissan NISMO 370Z street car. The car’s front and rear spoilers match those of that car, too. The NISMO RC seems to have what it takes to compete, although we can’t be sure we can trust the brakes yet: They weren’t mentioned in the press release at all. Weird.
