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Ray Hutton mentions that part about the Cray supercomputer, 600 engineers, and hundreds of thousands of road miles of testing in his book "300ZX- An Enthusiast's Companion". If Nissan went through all that trouble to get the suspension dialed in perfectly, why do so many think that they can make it "better" just by adding different springs or stiffer sway bars? Just curious. -John P
93 black/black Stage II TT (no suspension mods)
: Hey guys,
: I was walking past an automotive bookstore the otherday and thought I'd have a look. I found a book called "Datsun 280 / Nissan 300 ZX" by Brian Long. It deals with the 280ZX, Z31 and Z32 with a teeny bit on the earlier ugly Z concept. The book is pretty good but to those in the know there isn't too much new info. US guys will probably learn a lot they didn't know about J-spec Z's, but here in Aus we are subjected to a lot of it and know a bit already. : Lots of interesting stuff for Z-ophiles here. I'm not going to type out the whole book, so I've included stuff that I found to be new. My knowledge is different to others so there may be things people didn't know which I've ommitted.... all I can say is buy the book :) There is also plenty of info on the 280ZX and Z31 but they don't interest me so much, as well as an interesting history of the Nissan Motorcar Company. : Interesting stuff (my comments are in bold): : - an early prototype released in 1987 called the MID-4 was a mid engined 4wd with the front half being similar to the Z32, and a rear similar to that of a CRX Civic. The Z31 also had a MID-4 prototype which was thought to be a contender but was never used.
: Mid engine 4wd? That would have been sweet! : - originally the VQ40 motor was considered, but was rejected as it was too tight a fit. The VH45 V8 from the Infiniti was also considered and rejected. : - 4 wheel drive was initially considered but scrapped because of weight and design considerations : - suspension designed was performed on a Cray super computer, and involved 600 engineers, 500 prototypes and 6,000,000 miles of testing! : - performance testing took place at Nurburgring, Williow Springs, Leguna Seca and country roads in Europe. Testers were first given a race car to get used to the track and make comparisons with the Z. Much of the testing involved a Z32 with Z31 body panels. Testing involved over 190 prototypes and 1,250,000 miles covered. : - media speculation in 1988 was that the Z31 would be replaced by a new Z powered by a 4 litre V8. : - first shown at the Chicago motorshow in Feb 1989, much of the excitement was stolen by the NSX, which was also released at the same show. : - in Japan, a 2 litre version was also planned thanks to considerable tax advantages if the company did so (hence the 2 litre Skyline GTS of the same period) but this changed by the time production began, and the 2 litre was never made. : - the J-spec NA apparently produces 230hp, 8hp more than the US-spec NA. : - the release of the Supra was in fact delayed in 1990 as the Z was thought to be too far ahead and time was needed to improve the Supra so that it would be able to compete! : - Australia got the Z in November 89, and sold at a starting price of A$62,950, and the auto added $4,150 to that. Towards the end of it's life the Aussie NA was at A$88,300 mark. : - the UK only got TT 2+2's, and in 1990 was allocated no more than 375. In 91 only 450 were due. The car sold poorly in the UK due to the image of a Nissan..... similar performance but with a Porsche or Lotus badge was more desirable. Hmmm.... that's the author's opinion.... don't know what I think about that. A mere 1,390 in total were sold in the UK.
: But is a lot more now thanks to whatever their equivalent grey import scheme is : - UK buyers were initially given free high performance driving lessons Woohoo! : - in Japan in 1991, Navan products were added as options, including gearknobs, alloy wheels in either Silver or gunmetal grey metallic, and 4 types of steering wheel. There was also a 2 tone spoiler for 70,000 yen. In 1994 there was also the Fairlady Z Version S Recaro 2by2, which was a 2+2TT with Recaro seats (as seen in the 1999 models) and 16inch BBS wheels.
: This is VERY interesting. I've seen enough J-spec Z's at importers etc to consider myself a connessuer (let's say I've seen in excess of 120). I have NEVER seen a steering wheel marked as Navan, and have not seen any steering wheels common to Z's. Likewise, I have never seen any Navan alloy wheels, and I don't believe they are a reference to Autostrada Modenas (which I have) which were a dealer option. The only wheel I have seen which I might suspect is an 18 inch 5 spoke 3 piece wheel, and my only reason for suspicion is that it has a little Z centre cap (in a very frilly font) and I have seen this wheel in 3 Z's to date. The gearknob's we are all familiar with.
: The spoiler I have never seen, however I believe someone in South Australia has seen one and thought it looked very nice. I can only surmise that the Navan accessories sold VERY poorly. : - In Brittain in 1991, the power output was quoted at 263hp and 269 lb/ft. Fuel economy was claimeda t 33mpg (12km/L) Wow that's some serious environmental modifications, I'm guessing. : - In the US, ASC built a one off soft topfor use as a PPG Pace Car for the 89 CART races. This car was supposedly supercharged. This company also later made a folding hardtop. I think I have a picture of the folding hard top and it looks VERY nice : - in 1993 in Japan, as well as the switch to electronic HICAS from hydraulic, surfaces of the steering gear were also microfinished to provide smoother and more responsive steering Anyone know what this microfinishing is and where? : - in 1994 the UK got heated seats : - As well as body kits, Strosek actually released a number of special edition Z's (with full Strosek gear), similar to Stillen's SMZ's. In fact, the Strosek changes were originally going to be factory modDBD::ODBC::db prepare failed: (DBD: st_prepare/SQLAllocStmt err=-2) at incl_db.pm line 314.
: els, but as sales declined, Japan scrapped the idea and allowed Strosek to sell the body kits privately. : - the Z was scrapped in the US largely due to new side impact regulations in 1997, which would require major design changes, and at this time the Z was not selling well enough to justify them (only 2000 in 1996). : - in 1995 in Japan, a hydrogen powered prototype was developed (with a large bulge in the bonnet) but never went into production. : - the Aus-NA got a raise from 222hp to 225hp in 1993. : - in 96 Japan lost the T-bar option on 2 seaters, but was retained for 2+2's. Seats got the black trim and 300ZX embroidery. NA's were also given the TT front spoiler with the intercooler slits, however for the first time in Japan the rear spoiler (previously available on both NA and TT) became an option on NA's. : - it is claimed in Japan until 96 that only TT's had ABS as standard. Huh? This statement suggests it was an option on NA's. Anyone with a J-spec NA that doesn't have ABS? I was 100% sure it was standard on all models. : - in 1997 sales of sports cars was so low in Japan (thanks to the trend towards 'sports' utility vehicles) only 40 Z's were sold Japan wide per month! To indicate how bad things were, Mazda was only selling 202 RX7's per month, and Honda could only move 13 NSX's! : - as well as the many cosmetic changes we're aware of on 1999 Z's in Japan, they also received a large central cross member and a number of strenghe
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