With the Bathurst 12 Hour only days away, Nissan’s been busy preparing its sole Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 to defend last year’s win at The Mountain.

MOTOR joined Nismo last week at Phillip Island to watch the team dial in the Nismo GT3 for the upcoming race. And here we had the chance to peek at the hulking racecar up close.

We learned quickly GT3 cars like the Nismo, despite being based on road cars, are serious machines.

Here are five quick GT-R Nismo GT3 details worth drooling over…

1] Crazy aero

Gt-r nismo gt3 front bars

2] Monster brakes

Gt-r nismo gt3 brakes

3] Carbon fibre

Nismo gt3 carbon fibre interior

4] Serious cooling

Cooling wheel guards

5] Road car relation

Nismo gt3 turbines and front radiator support

To read more on what makes GT3 cars tick and how manufacturers like Bentley are fighting Ferraris and McLarens, and winning, check out our “Bentley & the rise of GT3 racing” feature from MOTOR Magazine’s March 2015 issue here.