A few weeks ago Slider’s Storefront were approached by the organizers of the TORA Race of Champions to create a tuning package for the Nissan Leaf to be used in the Semi final rounds of the 2012 event. There were only two requests for the car, it had to be good enough for the best of the best, and it had to remain secret until it was unveiled at the event at Tsukuba Circuit!



Being an all electric car the tuning process was a little different from the norm, and with no traditional engine to tune a Race-Spec electric motor and batteries were used from NISMO delivering 215BHP and a crushing 414LB-FT of torque all transmitted via a one-speed NISMO Race-Spec gearbox and Differential.



The handling is where the biggest focus was and with almost the same amount of torque as an Audi RS6 to tame through just the front wheels, the decision was taken by Slider’s Storefront to create a custom front splitter to create 100LB of down force on the little Leaf. That pressure pushes the 19” Work CRKai front wheels into the tarmac along with 245 wide Sport Compound tires.



The 19” Work CRKai with 245 section Sport Compound tires also feature at the rear. To get the Leaf handling through the twists and turns of Tsukuba Circuit, NISMO fully adjustable suspension was used in conjunction with NISMO adjustable front and rear anti-roll bars. Polishing off the package is a NISMO adjustable Race-Spec brake kit providing great stopping power for the tight hairpins. They were then tested and tuned by TRC World Champion and former TROC competitor Slider S15 who dialled in the package to be as neutral as possible.



The whole car was lightened by 611LBS by Slider’s Storefront by stripping the interior, acid-dipping the chassis and replacing as many panels as possible with light weight composite versions. NISMO front and rear strut braces ensure the whole car remains as stiff as possible whilst not inhibiting the accessibility of the cockpit, something which is very important with the fast driver changes required for the fast paced TROC event.



Overall the car was very well received by the TROC competitors and spectators on the innovative Live stream with the handling receiving particular praise from many drivers. The only downside being the silent running electric motors robbing the Leaf of some of the Drama of the other cars used in the event. The surprise and the racing the little TROC Leaf’s provided definitely added to the event and proved that you don’t have to burn petrol to have close entertaining racing, and with the world wide crackdown on noise limits at race venues this could very well be the future of performance motoring for us all.

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