Nissan unveiled a Time Attack-spec Nissan 370Z built by Z1 Motorsport in conjunction with Nissan Motorsport that is bound to take the world of time attack racing by storm. With 750 horsepower on tap thanks to a pair of Garrett turbochargers, this 370Z is one of the craziest you'll ever see. The widebody is made entirely out of carbon fiber, the interior is bare, and, to shed even more weight, the body was acid-dipped. In other words, the guys at Nissan and Z1 Motorsport stopped at nothing in their mission to turn what many consider an outdated sports car into a record-breaking track beast.

2020 Nissan Global Time Attack TT 370Z

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2020 Nissan Global Time Attack TT 370Z
  • Engine/Motor: V6
  • Horsepower: 750
  • Transmission: six-speed sequential
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Nissan Global Time Attack TT 370Z Exterior

- Wider wheel arches - Massive rear spoiler - Indicator lights converted to vents - Custom wheels

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The main rectangular intake is devoid of a mesh and the same goes for the openings down below separated from the main one by a black lip. The lower edges of the bumper that act as dividers between the central lower inlet and the two placed slightly outboard are colored in red. A bare carbon fiber lip extending well beyond the tip of the 370Z's nose sprouts from the front bumper.

You'll also find extra carvings into the front bumper to the left and to the right of the front fascia, below the headlights. For instance, this Time Attack beast lacks indicators but the holes remain to offer extra cooling. Also, the vents in the widened front overhang direct air to the wheels. The hood is also new with two deep-diving inlets that feature a heightened edge.

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The standard 370Z also comes with RAYS-sourced rims but they aren't Volk ZE40s hugged by Advan Yokohama A052 315/30R18 semi-slicks. However, as in the case of most Time Attack cars, the Advans on this custom Z are road legal. Behind the rims, you'll see the enlarged Brembo discs and orange calipers.

The profile of the Global Time Attack TT Nissan isn't that different from the look of a production 370Z Nismo. Unless you peek towards the rear and notice the massive wing that hangs from the trunk hatch. Yes, the fenders are flared but it's not as insane a build as some other Time Attack machines running for outright honors that are able to outrun serious open-wheelers (this year's World Time Attack winner at Sydney Motorsports Park clocked a time within 0.150 seconds off the all-time record set by Nico Hulkenberg in an A1GP car).

Let's hope some serious flames will be set free when the car will run in anger next year. The effort to reduce weight can be visible from the outside when you look at the flimsy carbon fiber exterior rear-view mirrors or the inside of the A-pillars and door frames that lack any sort of padding. There's also no roof lining.

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In the back, the 370Z looks utterly menacing with its huge two-tier wing and a tall, protruding diffuser with six vertical elements.

But that area is now opened up for some radiators to look through at the surrounding world. As Nissan puts it, the TT 370Z comes with "multiple oil, transmission, and differential cooling systems."

You'll also notice the outboard vents of the rear bumper, typical of a stock 370Z Nismo too, as well as the 'Z1' badge on the trunk with the Nismo badge on the other side of the brake light. It all looks very serious but, truth be told, this won't be a car to challenge the mightiest TT beasts out there, not in the American Global Time Attack races, nor the Australian World Time Attack event where you'll find stuff like PR Tech Racing’s RP968 Porsche-based creature of the underworld driven by Barton Mawer. To put it otherwise, if the RP968 were a sauce, it'd be the Black Mamba Six while the Z1 Motorsport 370Z would be Tabasco.

The fruit of the labor of Z1 Motorsport presents itself in a nice combination of white, black, and some grey and red. All of these are quintessential Nismo colors and it's no accident that the car comes with this livery as many of the internals are of Nismo origin. The backbone of the build is a standard 370Z unibody. A stock Z car tips the scales at 3,232 pounds and that's far too much, something Nissan's learned thanks to the teams that have raced and are racing the GT-R R35 in time attack events where, oftentimes, its weight is dragging it back.

What followed was the installation of a full-on roll cage for added structural rigidity and driver safety. Then, the process of bolting all the custom bits to the car finally commenced: the wide arches, the splitter, and the diffuser - all made out of carbon fiber - were fitted in place, as well as the huge rear wing, the hood that offers extra cooling via enlarged vents, and the widened rocker panels. Everything's there to aid the 370Z in the corner through the art of purposeful air guidance known as aerodynamic downforce. Having said that, the diffuser and splitter also work in tandem with the floor to create some underbody downforce too - but Time Attack cars are no ground effect racers, the bulk of the downforce is made via wings and dive planes on the car since you don't have to bother about dirty air as the cars don't race each other like in your typical road racing event.

Nissan Global Time Attack TT 370Z Interior

- Race-spec interior - FIA-spec race seat - Alcantara dash and steering wheel - Painted roll-bar

You jump in an OMP HRC-R Carbon Air FIA-spec race seat with full five-point harnesses that are faced with an Alcantara wrapped dash and OMP racing wheel. The wheel lets you see through to the digital display behind it that offers you all the information you'll ever need.

It jumps right up from the transmission tunnel without impeding access to any of the buttons on the center console. All of them are circular and back-lit to make them more distinguishable but the 'engine start' button is placed to the left, next to the center console. The rollbar has been painted in cherry red with Z1 logos all over while the bare metal of the cabin is white, just like the base color of the exterior.

Nissan Global Time Attack TT 370Z Drivetrain

- 750+ horsepower - Dual GTX 3076 turbos - Six-speed manual transmission - At least 200lbs lighter - 1.5-Way rear diff - Tighter steering - Larger springs - Stock front suspensions

From behind the wheel, the driver (whose identity is unknown at the time of writing) will have to coax through the bends a car that might be a handful. The Z1 Motorsport/Nismo TT 370Z cranks out over 750 horsepower and a tsunami of torque. That's more than twice the output of a Nismo-tuned road-going 370Z. The standard Z34 develops just 332 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 269 pound-feet of torque at 5,200 rpm.

The extreme setup is set from destroying itself via new fuel management and electronics systems and a Z1 Motorsports race exhaust system. Power reaches the rear wheels only through the HGT six-speed sequential box and Tilton custom clutch. In the back, there's a Nismo GT-R Pro 1.5-way differential.

The suspension and steering have also been modified (different rack with a shorter turning circle) with Nismo-sourced beefed-up springs, adaptive dampers, all set up for Time Attack racing. Stopping power comes courtesy of a Brembo brake system. The standard 370Z features a double-wishbone front suspension with lightweight forged aluminum arms, rigid aluminum-alloy cradle, and a hollow construction stabilizer bar. The stock front suspension setup has been largely retained in the race car, as has the multi-link rear suspension.. Performance figures have also been kept a secret but we'll most probably tell how fast the car is next year when it'll be campaigned by Z1 Motorsports in Time Attack events.

Group5 Car History

In the '70s, the endurance racing scene was beginning to fade and, to save it from oblivion, the powers that be introduced a formula called 'Group 5' for modified production-based sports cars. The end result was the birth of such cars as Porsche's 935, BMW's turbocharged 320i, Toyota's Schnitzer-tuned Celica TA22, or the Lancia Beta Monte Carlo Turbo. All featured wide arches, huge wings, and, overall, very little in common with their road-going brethren. These fire-breathing GT monsters met their maker less than a decade later when a new ruleset for prototype-style race cars emerged and its popularity boomed overnight. You might've heard of it, the cars ran in 'Group C'. Nowadays, the only place where you get to see silhouette racers akin to Group 5 warriors is in top-level Time Attack competition. This 370Z will join the freight in 2020.

Nissan 370Z History

It's been a few years since Nissan replaced the 350Z (Z33) sports coupe with the 370Z (Z34). In fact, we've celebrated a decade of life for the 370Z this year, a pale celebration as the future of the Z car could very much be in danger. But Nissan tries to keep us from talking about that mule we saw testing around the Nurburgring-Nordschleife late last month by filling our pupils with this, probably the meanest 370Z race car co-developed by Nissan Motorsport.

Do you remember? The 2008 L.A. Auto Show, stage of the 370Z's unveiling. It was so long ago that the Honda S2000 was still around, Scion was a living and breathing automaker, and the Corvette was midway through the lifetime of the sixth-generation model, a generation away from the move to a rear-mid-engine layout. It may seem like it was a different world altogether and that's because it actually was in many ways. But the 370Z has soldiered on and here it is today dressed in this most astonishing of tracksuits, one adorned with huge dive planes, flared arches, and an enormous diffuser. But is it a race car worth the wait? Well, if last year's Nissan 370Z Project Clubsport 23 might just be the best track day Z car, this challenges for the title of the best racing Z car, at least for the kind of racing where one-lap pace matters the most. }

Final thoughts

The fact that the factory-backed Time Attack 370Z unveiled at SEMA isn't nearly as insane as the fastest Time Attack cars in the world isn't the most important thing. The most important thing is that an OEM has not only noticed what has been, until recently, a niche area of motor racing but also decided to invest by building a race car made for this style of racing proves that the discipline is growing a decade after the first edition of the now ultra-popular World Time Attack Challenge in Australia and 15 years after the first Super Lap Battle at Buttonwillow Raceway took place. Also, this year, the Global Time Attack events in the U.S. have been legitimized by the SCCA that became the sanctioning body).

Of course, a move away from grass roots-style events might bring an end to some endeared aspects of the sport such as the use of road tires and even some limitations on aero development might loom on the horizon. However, it's great to see that a niche discipline as exciting as this one becomes more and more professional.