On track in Nissan Nismo Leaf RC
We sample 640bhp electric four-wheel-drive racer
NISSAN has most definitely put the excitement into the letter E with its new Leaf RC, designed and built by its famed Nismo racing division. At the moment there are no plans to put the car into production, Nissan instead choosing to present it as a rolling test bed for technologies that may or may not make their way into the brand’s production EVs in the future.
Either way, the twin-battery, twin-electric motor Leaf RC is a deeply impressive piece of kit, and is a seriously fast and potent machine as a result; the 0-62mph claim is 3.4 seconds, with a top speed of 138mph.
Each electric motor produces a maximum of 161bhp. There’s one for the front axle, and another at the rear. The combined outputs are 322bhp and a thumping 640Nm, deployed via a straight-cut single spur racing gearbox that emits enough noise on the move to make your ears hurt.
It’s a pure racing car with a full carbon fibre tub at its core and carbon-fibre subframes at each end. Having said that, the RC doesn’t actually have a series in which to race. The idea behind it is simply to explore the outer edges of EV technology, some of which will end up in future electric road cars. This includes features such as the switchable four-wheel drive and power-deployment systems, and possibly parts of the braking system, too.
In essence, the RC is powered by two Leaf e+ motors, hence its potency. The car’s total weight is just over 1,200kg, which isn’t bad for an EV road car, but is heavy for a pure-bred racer with a carbon tub at its centre. There are four different drive modes, each of which alters the spread of torque between the two axles, and again this is technology that may well make it into Nissan’s road EVs in the fullness of time.
It was unfortunately raining rather heavily when we drove the RC around the MotoGP circuit at Valencia, Spain. As a result we were only allowed to drive it in ‘Map 4’, which is the least powerful setting. Even so, the RC still felt pretty rapid and was immensely responsive, despite being some 107bhp down compared with its full-beans setting of ‘Map 1’.
There’s also no traction control and no anti-lock system for the brakes, so you need to be quite delicate with your inputs, especially under braking. But even in the pouring rain, it was obvious just how much potential lies at the heart of the RC. And how unbelievably noisy its transmission is on the move.
We need more time to get under the car’s skin to make a complete judgment, but even from this brief session, it’s clear that some of the RC’s new technology will make Nissan’s roadgoing EVs increasingly engaging to drive in the future. On this evidence, E really does stand for exciting.
“Even in the pouring rain, it was obvious just how much potential lies at the heart of the RC”