Nissan just dropped a bombshell on the automotive world with the introduction of a new internal combustion engine they’ve made for the ZEOD RC. This DIG-T R unit weighs 40 kg, is only 1.5 liter big, fits in a small briefcase, and yet makes an astonishing 400 horsepower!

Measuring 500mm tall x 400mm long x 200mm wide (19.68” x 15.74” x 7.78”), Nissan’s revolutionary new engine makes 380 Nm of torque and has a better power-to-weight ratio than the new engines to be used in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship this year.

The revolutionary engine is just the thing for the Nissan ZEOD RC race car, which is quite a revolution in its own right. The car will be competing at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, working out of the “Garage 56”, reserved for the cars belonging to the ground-breaking technologies class. The ZEOD is basically an electric car, boosted with the power of the new petrol engine.

The amazing new engine is currently only a racing unit, which means it is a research project. Will they ever put it in a production car? What are the fuel consumption and CO2 emission numbers? Is it reliable? These are the questions we are going to have to wait for Nissan to answer.

“Our engine team has done a truly remarkable job with the internal combustion engine,” said Darren Cox, Nissan’s Global Motorsport Director. “We knew the electric component of the Nissan ZEOD RC was certainly going to turn heads at Le Mans but our combined zero emission on-demand electric/petrol power plant is quite a stunning piece of engineering. Nissan will become the first major manufacturer to use a three-cylinder engine in major international motorsport. We’re aiming to maintain our position as industry leaders in focussing on downsizing. Lessons learned from the development of the engine will be seen in Nissan road cars of the future.”