Here's what it's like when a Formula D champion drives a car designed to set lap times.
The new Nissan Z is here, and to make sure it makes a splash with the enthusiast crowd, it’s going racing. Nismo, Nissan’s performance division, revealed the race-only GT4 version of the Z in September, and now thanks to this video from professional Nissan Z drifter Chris Forsberg, we get to see how it performs up close.
Forsberg was recently invited by Nismo to Las Vegas Motor Speedway to get a few laps behind the wheel of the GT4-bound Z alongside GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter. It’s a far step from the Z Forsberg normally drives, a sideways-happy drift monster making 1300 hp from its VR38DETT twin-turbo V-6.
Unlike Forsberg’s drift machine, the Z GT4 uses a version of the street car’s smaller-displacement VR30DDTT, making roughly 450 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque, depending on Balance of Performance (BoP) rules. Even bigger disparities come in the chassis, suspension, braking, and aero setups. While the drift car is set up to slide, this GT4 car is set up to stick.
Chris Forsberg
“With drifting it’s all about the feel of the car, the rotation of the car, understanding how much grip the car has left,” Forsberg says. “The dynamics of a drift car versus this road race car are very, very different. But I’m still applying the same approach.”
Forsberg admits he didn’t get as close to the car’s limits as Heitkotter did, but says he was still grateful for the chance to be one of the first people to get behind the wheel of what will likely be a very exciting race car for the 2023 season.
Brian Silvestro Road & Track staff writer with a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.
Keyword: Watch Pro Drifter Chris Forsberg Drive the New Nissan Z GT4