Nissan GT-R Nismo GT500

Nismo, the motorsport arm of Nissan, entered the GT-R Nismo GT500 into the Super GT series in 2008, replacing the 350Z GT. The GT500 version of the car featured a completely different drivetrain compared to the production car. The race car was upgraded to the VK45DE 4.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine, instead of the VR38DETT engine. It used a 6-speed sequential manual gearbox and a rear-wheel-drive layout from its predecessor. A prototype was spotted testing around the Suzuka as well as at Fuji in Japan. Beginning of the 2008 season, the car went onto win the opening race at Suzuka, scoring a 1–2 finish for Nissan. In the next race, the GT-R GT500 repeated its 1–2 result, won the drivers' championship by the end of the season, through the Xanavi GT-R Nismo GT500, driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Benoît Tréluyer, although they have only came third in the teams' championship. It also won 7 out of 9 races and 10 podium finishes by 4 different teams using GT-R Nismo GT500 race cars.

The 2018 season was the beginning of an unsuccessful era for the GT-R Nismo GT500, as it only managed to score a race win, pole position and 2 podium finishes. By the end of the season, Team Nismo was 8th in championship standings. The 2019 season was also been similar to 2018, as the car only managed to score a race win, 3 pole positions, 2 fastest laps and 6 podium finishes. Team Nismo ended the season 3rd in standings, 32.5 points behind the championship winner. In 2020, Team Nismo fell back to 5th in standings, as the car only scored 2 race wins, a fastest lap and 3 podium finishes. After scoring 2 race wins and 6 podium finishes,[284] it was announced that the GT-R Nismo GT500 will be retired by the end of 2021 season, due to the regulation changes that made the car uncompetitive since the 2018 season. However, along with its 5 drivers' and 4 teams' championships, the GT-R Nismo GT500 has the most race wins for a GT500 car in the Super GT history, with 41 race wins (including 2 Suzuka 10 Hours wins) and scored 89 podium finishes from 113 race starts, making it one of the most successful GT500 race cars of all time. The GT-R Nismo GT500 was replaced with the new Nissan Z GT500 for the 2022 season after the model's 15-year absence.

Based on JT5 SHIRO by United Racing Design