Nissan will officially unveil its 2013 V8 Supercars engine at a media launch in Melbourne early next month.
Coy on details of the unit to date, the company has circulated an invitation to media confirming a static September 4 reveal. Cheekily, the invite consists of a V8 Supercar engine valve, with an accompanying note referencing the quad-cam technology that the company will bring to the championship.
“You’re used to seeing 16 of these in action in each car. Now come and see what 32 looks like…,” it reads.
Nissan has previously confirmed that its Altima race cars will be powered by V8 Supercars-specific versions of its 5.6 litre, quad-cam, all-aluminium production motor, codenamed VK56DE.
The race engine has been under development since the beginning of the year, with Kelly Racing working alongside its existing component suppliers and Nissan’s Japan-based performance tuning company Nismo on the project.
The engine blocks will be sleeved and ballasted in order to match the displacement and weight of the current 5.0 litre, cast-iron, Ford ‘Boss’ and ‘Holden Motor Sport’ units. Kelly Racing co-owner Todd Kelly recently told Speedcafe.com that the Nissan motor will “fit every rule we currently have other than the overhead cam and the block”.
While Kelly Racing had hoped to begin dyno testing of its first assembled engine early this month, it is understood that continued delays in receiving components have held back the running. Additionally, the two dyno cells remain the only key areas of Kelly Racing’s new Braeside facility yet to be completed.
Representatives from both Nissan and Kelly Racing declined to respond to enquiries about the current stage of the engine program when contacted by Speedcafe.com this week.
Naturally, the Nissan engine will be parity-adjusted by V8 Supercars before the start of the 2013 season such that it matches the key outputs of the Ford and Holden engines, which will move across to the Car of the Future largely unchanged from their current specifications.
All engines will run a new and more powerful Motec ECU and a coil-pack ignition system next year, while plans to introduce a fly-by-wire throttle have been postponed until 2014.
