Nissan unveils its first V8 Supercar engine

Nissan has unveiled the 5.0 litre, V8 engine which will power the new Nissan Altima next season as the Japanese marque enters the International V8 Supercars Championship for the first time.

Presented at Kelly Racing’s Headquarters in Melbourne, the team that will be renamed Nissan Motorsport next season, the Nissan VK56DE developed by Nissan’s NISMO motorsport department, was shown off for the first time.

The engine is built in the United States, at Dechard, Tennessee. The engine will be the only engine in the V8 Supercars Championship which is also a production engine, which will be available in the 2013 Nissan Patrol 4×4.

“The unveiling of the VK56DE engine is a key milestone in Nissan Motorsport’s journey to the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship grid,” said the team’s Racing Director and driver Todd Kelly.

“We are very pleased to show this engine for the first time. It looks sensational and is a key ingredient to Nissan’s entry into the sport.”

“Everyone involved in Nissan Motorsport is proud of the fact that we will race a production-based engine and that we will truly be ‘Powered By Nissan’.”

“A huge amount of time and effort has gone into getting the first VK56DE completed and the result is a spectacular looking engine.”

“There is still a lot of work to do but we’re proud to unveil our Nissan engine technology today at our team’s facility.”

CEO and Managing Director of Nissan Australia, William F. Peffer Jr, added:
“We are excited to show Nissan’s engine technology in V8 Supercars.”

“Using a production engine in our Nissan Altima race car means that our V8 Supercar is truly ‘Powered By Nissan’, with the VK56 engine also powering the all-new Patrol that goes on sale in Australia at the start of next year.”

“Our Nissan Altima V8 Supercar will use the latest in engine technology and will look spectacular when it hits the track next year as a perfect example of ‘Innovation That Excites’.”

Technical Specification:

Block: Nissan VK56 – Cast Aluminium 90 degree V8
Heads: Nissan VK56 – Quad Cam, four valve per cylinder
Bore x Stroke: 102.69 mm x 75.31 mm
Capacity: 4990cc
Induction: Naturally aspirated, individual runner
Fuel: E85
Liners: Dry Cast Iron
Valve Train: Chain driven quad cam with direct acting DLC coated bucket followers
Ignition: Direct fire coil on plug
Injection: Sequential
Compression Ratio: 10.0:1
Maximum RPM: 7500