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NISMO University Goes Inside the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO's Engine

The Le Mans racer, Nissan's first entry into the prestigious P1 class, is powered by an engine that must withstand about 6,000 kilometers of high-speed running over a 24 hour period. Here's how it does it.

With Le Mans, the ultimate on-road automotive endurance race, speed is only one factor in the overall winning formula. The car must be capable of going fast, of course, but it also must be very robust and capable of holding high speeds and heavy driving pressure for very long periods. The Le Mans 24 Hours puts a race car through enormous stress and, more specifically, taxes the limits of engine endurance.

The Nissan NISMO team working with the GT-R LM NISMO has been endurance testing the race car's engine to 8,000 kilometers, about 2,000 more than will be required of it for the big race. With close partner MOTUL, with which NISMO has worked since 2003, Nissan has developed an engine capable of running the Le Mans 24 Hours under the kind of pressures and speeds required to win.

In this video, we'll see representatives from both NISMO and MOTUL discussing the way engine lubrication plays such a vital and key role in engine longevity during endurance racing. The things learned are bled over into the consumer market to improve performance and longevity in the engines found throughout the Nissan line. With the unique challenges of Le Mans, MOTUL and Nissan hope to learn even more ways that combinations of viscosity and lubrication potential can be utilized to improve engine lifespans on the road.