The Nissan ZEOD RC may not have had a very impressive showing at the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it did pretty well on the Top Gear test track.
The hybrid race car conked out after just 23 minutes of racing at Le Mans, but regained some dignity with a 1:05.3-second lap on the former airfield in Dunsfold, England.
That time beats the 1:10.7 set by Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari FXX, as well as the Pagani Huayra, which currently leads the road-car leaderboard with a 1:13.8-second time.
The ZEOD RC also beat the 1:08.5-second time set by the Pagani Zonda R, a track-only car that was essentially Pagani’s answer to the FXX. However, it fell a bit short of the 1:03.8 of the Formula-style Lotus T125.
It’s unclear what Clarkson, Hammond, and May will think about a dart-shaped hybrid obliterating so many supercars on their track, but they’d probably be impressed by the 400 horsepower produced by its tiny 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine, which is teamed with two electric motors.
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The ZEOD, the name of which stands for “Zero Emission On Demand,” can switch between gasoline, electric, and hybrid power.
Despite its unimpressive performance in the 2014 race, the car did manage to complete the first all-electric lap of the Le Mans circuit during a practice session, and achieved a record 186-mph top speed on electric power.
The ZEOD RC as a non-competitive “Garage 56” entry this year, but Nissan plans to return for 2015 with a full-on LMP1 hybrid prototype that will challenge the top entries from Audi, Porsche and Toyota.
Imagine the time that thing will clock on the Top Gear track.
