Nismo gets Williams F1 know-how

NISSAN’S performance stable Nismo is getting a shot in the arm, confirming it will collaborate with Formula One team Williams’ engineering division on future performance road cars.

Williams Advanced Engineering signed an agreement to collaborate on vehicles currently being developed by Nismo that will start rolling out of its Yokohama production facility from 2014 onwards.

Williams has collaborated with major car-makers in the past, most recently with British brand Jaguar on a prototype of its C-X75 hybrid supercar that was killed off late last year.

The all-wheel drive C-X75 combined a 374kW 1.6-litre turbocharged and supercharged four-cylinder petrol engine with two 150kW electric motors for a total power output of 634kW and 1000Nm of torque.

While Nissan did not detail precisely what the collaboration will involve, it said in a statement that Williams will use their “specialist expertise of aerodynamics, simulation and material science” in the development of the future Nismo product.

A retuned Nismo version of the Juke sub-compact SUV is already on sale in some markets, while an even hotter GT-R Nismo is currently under development and slated for international release later this year.

Last week, Nissan released official images of its Nismo Fairlady Z (370Z in Australia) and Nismo March (Micra), the latter featuring a 1.5-litre petrol engine with an extra 27kW of power for a total output of 85kW and 156Nm of torque.

These vehicles feature Nismo-brand design enhancements such as new front bumpers, rear spoilers and red external mirrors and piping for a more aggressive, sporty look than their donor cars.

Nismo president Shoichi Miyatani confirmed the agreement, saying the racing pedigree of both companies will produce some exciting future product.

“Nismo is a brand built from over 30 years of racing experience and so it is fitting that we chose to work with a like-minded company such as Williams to develop the higher performance versions of our products,” he said.

“Williams have a proven history of making racing technology benefit road cars, and we look forward to starting this relationship during such a period of intensive product development for Nismo.” Williams founder and team principal Sir Frank Williams said he was excited by the agreement because of the Nismo brand’s ambition and potential.

“Both parties share a passion for racing and cutting edge technology and this collaboration will see us work closely together to develop cars that will be at the forefront of automotive technology,” he said.

Earlier this year, Nissan confirmed plans for rapid global expansion of its Nismo brand that includes one new model per year as a part of its six-year Nissan Power 88 business plan.

The Japanese car-maker hopes to increase its global market share to 8 per cent and boost its operating profit to 8 per cent by the end of the 2016 Japanese financial year through its aggressive growth strategy.

The expansion of Nismo started earlier this year with the opening of the tuning division’s own global headquarters in Yokohama.