Details emerge for next-gen Nissan GT-R

It’s becoming the norm; extreme sports cars going the hybrid route. Nissan, it appears, will not be missing out on the chance to ride the wave of the hyper hybrid. In that light, their current 3.8-litre V6—which powers the GT-R—will be dropping to a more compact, 3.0L unit when it makes its way under the hood of the new Nissan GT-R LM Nismo.

Developed with motorsport and endurance in mind, the engine is—big surprise—a technological marvel. For the race car, we’re talking about a combined 1,250 horsepower rating. Naturally, Nissan will want to provide a somewhat tamer tune for the road car. So, for the 2017-18 GT-R roadie, expect the hp count to rest around the 600 mark.

This information comes from none other than the technical director of the GT-R LM Nismo himself, Ben Bowlby. In an interview with Top Gear, he divulged that “the 3.0-litre V6 is a sort of god-child of the true, road-going GT-R.”

“I think it’s very important development that we shortcut by going racing,” he told the British motoring mag. “We prove that you can do an incredibly efficient and very powerful engine – we have roughly the same power as the road car (around or just over 550bhp) but burn about a third of the fuel doing it.”

Undoubtedly, Nissan will be under a lot of pressure during the car’s development to fill the clown-sized shoes of the old car, considered to this day to be one of the best bang-for-your-buck options in the history of the automobile.

Expect Nissan to turn to the Vision GT Concept—developed in part with video game developers Polyphony Digital, of Gran Turismo fame—for styling cues for the next GT-R.