2013 Nissan Altima Will Join Australia’s V8 Supercars Series

Some Nissan news from Down Under should perk up the ears of American drivers: The brand just introduced a racing version of the 2013 Nissan Altima that will compete for the V8 Supercars Championship in Australia, beginning next season. The V8 Supercars series is one of Australia’s most popular motorsports competitions and is somewhat like NASCAR here in this country. Both series field racecars that are (loosely) based on production sedans and piloted by elite drivers, with a key difference being that the Australian events are geared toward road racing, not high-speed ovals.

The 2013 Nissan Altima will enter the fray with Nissan’s 5.6-liter VK56DE engine, which also is used to drive American-market products like the Nissan Titan and Nissan Armada. Of course, while the powerplant makes something over 300 hp in those trucks, it’s previously been retuned to deliver upwards of 600 horses in the championship-winning Nissan GT-R GT1 racer—so it shouldn’t lack for power in the Altima racecar.

Which brings us to the completely unfounded rumor of the day: With both the 2013 Nissan Altima and that potent V8 engine already being built in the United States, in the automaker’s manufacturing facilities in Tennessee, putting the two together for U.S. drivers—whether it’s at NASCAR racetracks or in local Nissan dealerships—sure sounds like an interesting proposition.