THE LOLA T89/10
All pictures copyright Lola Heritage unless otherwise stated.
Lola's previous sports car design for Nissan had been the T810, the results in the IMSA series had been reasonable given the newness of the car's 3-litre turbocharged engine and the Electramotive team that ran it so, for 1989, the Japanese corporation asked Lola to design and build a car that could run in both the World Sports Car Championship and the All Japan Sports Car Championship, it would be entered as a Nissan R89C in both Series.
The chassis of the T89/10, Lola's first carbon/composite sports car design, was composed of carbon fibre over Kevlar honeycomb with the areas that were more complex to shape constructed of Nomex honeycomb. Large flat areas such as the floor were made from aluminium honeycomb and the steel roll cage fitted within the monocoque.
The fibreglass bodywork was designed with Nissan and featured aerodynamic covers for the rear wheels with winglets behind and a skirt in a recess ran between the front and rear wheels on both sides and there was a large rear wing set which, as can be seen from the photographs could be adjusted for height, the higher setting was for sprint races.
Suspension was double wishbone front and rear with the spring/damper units operated by pushrods, at the front the spring/dampers were mounted horizontally and at the rear above the gearbox. The engine was fully stressed with a oil tank bell-housing attaching to the Hewland 5-speed VGC gearbox. The cars were very expensive costing over a million pounds each (over 2.5 million at 2020 prices) and, of the six cars built, four went to Nissan Motorsport Europe and two to Nova Engineering in Japan.
The T89/10 was popular with its drivers but it had an Achilles heel, its Dunlop tyres which could not compete with the cars on Goodyears, apparently most of the races were a matter of tip-toeing through the corners and going flat out on the straights which resulted in poor fuel consumption and the drivers having to back off in the latter stages of a race to avoid running dry. The best results of the year were a pair of thirds at the Nürburgring and Spa Francorchamps (see results below).
Year(s) of Construction: 1989
Total Built: 6
ENGINE |
DATA |
|---|---|
| Configuration | VRH35Z 90º V8 - Twin IHI Turbochargers |
| Location | Mid, longitudinally mounted. |
| Weight | 185 kilo / 407.9 lbs. |
| Construction | Magnesium alloy block, aluminium alloy head. |
| Displacement | 3,496 cc / 213.3 cu in. |
| Bore / Stroke | 85.0 mm (3.3 in) / 77.0 mm (3 in). |
| Compression | 8.5:1 |
| Valvetrain | 4 valves / cylinder, DOHC. |
| Fuel feed | Fuel Injection. |
| Aspiration | Twin IHI Turbo |
| Power | 800 bhp / 597 kW @ 7,600 rpm and 2.2 bar boost. |
| Torque | 784 Nm / 578 ft lbs @ 5,600 rpm. |
| BHP/Liter | 229 bhp / liter |
DRIVETRAIN |
DATA |
|---|---|
| Chassis | Kevlar and carbon-fibre monocoque. |
| Suspension (fr/r) | double wishbones, push-rod actuated coil springs and Koni adjustable shock absorbers. |
| Steering | rack-and-pinion. |
| Brakes | ventilated carbon ceramic discs, all-round. |
| Gearbox | Hewland VGC 5 speed Manual. |
| Drive | Rear wheel drive. |
DIMENSIONS |
DATA |
|---|---|
| Weight | 980 kilo / 2,161 lbs |
| Length / Width / Height | 4,800 mm (189 in) / 1,990 mm (78.3 in) / 1,100 mm (43.3 in). |
| Wheelbase / Track (fr/r) | 2,794 mm (110 in) / 1,600 mm (63 in) / 1,560 mm (61.4 in). |
PERFORMANCE |
DATA |
|---|---|
| Power to weight | 0.82 bhp / kg |
RACE RESULTS
1989:
Entered by Nissan Motorsports International in all races21st May - Dijon 480 Kms - Bailey/Blundell/Donne11y - Qual 13th - Race 15th
10th-11th June - Le Mans 24 Hours - Bailey/B1unde11/Donne11y - Qual 12th - Race DNF (Accident damage to suspension)
10th-11th June - Le Mans 24 Hours - Brabham/Robinson/Luyendyk - Qual 15th - Race DNF (Oil leak)
10th-11th June - Le Mans 24 Hours - Hasemi/Hoshino/Suzuki - Qual 19th - Race DNF (Engine)
25th June - Jarama 380 Kms - Bailey/Blundell - Qual 8th - Race 8th
23rd July - Brands Hatch 480 Kms - Bailey/Gi1bert-Scott - Qual 4th - DNF (Accident)
23rd July - Fuji 500 Mi1es - Hoshino/Suzuki - Qual 3rd - Race DNF (Electrics.)
23rd July - Fuji 500 Mi1es - Hasemi/Olofsson - Qual 1st - Race DNF (Tire)
20th August - Nürburgring 480 Kms - Gilbert-Scott/Bailey - Qual 3rd - Race 3rd
3rd September - Donington 380 Kms - Bailey/Blundell - Qual 8th - Race 8th (Fastest Lap Bailey)
17th September - Spa-Francorchamps 480 Kms - Bailey/Blundell/Gilbert-Scott - Qual 7th - Race 3rd
8th October - Fuji 1000 km - Hasemi/Olofsson - Qual 11th - Race 8th
8th October - Fuji 1000 Kms - Hoshino/Suzuki - Qual 6th - Race (Accident)
29th October - Mexico City 480 Kms - Bailey/Blundell - Qual 8th - Race 12th.
3rd December - Interchallenge Suzuki 1000 Kms - Hasemi/Olofsson - Qual 3rd - Race 10th
3rd December - Interchallenge Suzuka 1000Km - Hoshino/Suzuki - Qual 5th - DNS (Accident in Practice)
1990:
16th-17th June - Le Mans 24-Hours - Wada/O1ofsson/Sala - Qual 24th - Race DNF (Ignition) (Entered by Team Le Mans)16th-17th June - Le Mans 24-Hours - Regout/Cudini/Los - Qual 29th - Race 22nd (Entered by Courage Competition)
