NISSAN has been testing how fast a LEAF can go backwards around a track.
Last week Terry Grant – who stunned fans at the Goodwood Festival of Speed by driving his JUKE on two wheels – and the Nissan team have been at Goodwood Motor Circuit and putting the LEAF through its reversing paces.
Because the EV doesn’t have a conventional transmission it can, in theory, travel as fast backwards as it can forwards. On his fastest lap Nissan LEAF peaked at 62mph – going forwards it will reach 90mph suggesting that there might be more to come.
The testing comes after the stunt was pulled from the Festival of Speed. Along with the JUKE, the LEAF was set to take the record for being the fastest car to go up the famous West Sussex hill-climb in reverse. But the stunt was pulled at the last minute over safety concerns.
The testing at Goodwood Motor Circuit confirms Nissan’s intentions to make the stunt happen, however, and the firm is looking at future record attempts.
Grant said: ‘Driving backwards at those speeds is very tricky. You have to be super smooth at all times: any sudden movement of the steering wheel can have disastrous consequences.’
For the moment, though the only problem associated with Nissan’s week of record breaking has befallen driver Terry Grant. After spending a weekend on two wheels and testing the LEAF in reverse, Grant confess that his neck now feels a little stiff.