Z-cars Performance Engineering

[Carri Seargent]

Nissanwas a relatively small automobile manufacturer when it entered the international market in the 1960s and partnered with Yamaha to design a new sports car prototype as an update to the Nissan Fairlady. This effort resulted in the prototype Yamaha YX-30 in 1961.[1] Nissan executives saw the prototype as a halo car that would improve their company's image in the minds of consumers. By 1964, Nissan had realized that Yamaha's DOHC 2.0-liter engine was not meeting Nissan's expectations and the project was scrapped. Yamaha later finished a prototype and took their design to Toyota, resulting in the Toyota 2000GT.

Yutaka Katayama, the president of Nissan USA at the time, realized the importance of making an affordable sports car available internationally. Nissan had already produced the successful series of Fairlady roadsters for many decades that competed mainly with English and Italian roadsters. The product planners envisioned a new line of GT cars that would be stylish, innovative, fast and relatively inexpensive through the use of interchangeable parts with other Nissan vehicles. Nissan also added the engineering background and product development experience of the recently acquired Prince Motor Company, which manufactured the Prince Skyline (renamed Nissan Skyline in 1966).

In Japan, the Z was still known as the Fairlady to keep the car in line with the previous generation Datsun Sports roadster. Japanese domestic market (JDM) versions had the Fairlady Z badge on the lower fenders with the 432 badge above (the 432 designation was 4 valves, 3 carburetors, and 2 camshafts). However, Yutaka Katayama ensured the American version had all Nissan, Fairlady Z, and 432 badging replaced with "Datsun" and prevented all dealer shipments until they were replaced.[2]

The 280Z was released in 1975 for North America only (not to be confused with the second-generation 280ZX) and featured a further engine displacement increase, to 2.8 L. A major change was the introduction of Bosch fuel injection, replacing the previous SU carburetors. This resulted in a power increase to 170 hp (127 kW) (SAE gross horsepower), offsetting increased weight from added luxury features and an enlarged bumper that met US Federal regulations. Export markets outside North America however kept receiving the Datsun 260Z, until the introduction of the Datsun 280ZX in late 1978.

Known as the Datsun/Nissan 280ZX in export markets, the car continued to use the "Fairlady" moniker in the Japanese domestic market where 2-litre inline-six engines were also available and were first introduced in 1978. That same year, main rival Toyota introduced the Supra as its answer to the new Fairlady, although it also continued to produce the Celica that it was based on.

Notable models include the 10th Anniversary Edition, featuring gold emblems, gold alloy wheels, and two-toned paint in either gold/red and black, with luxury features such as leather seats, headlamp washers, and automatic climate control.

The 280ZX was wildly popular, being hailed as Motor Trend's Import Car of the Year for 1979 and going on to set a Z-car sales record of 86,007 units in its first year.[3] While on the one hand, it received praise for taking the Z-car to further levels of comfort and performance, many enthusiasts also lamented the further emphasis on luxury over driving fun. This would continue with the third generation of the Z-car, with a clean-sheet redesign.

The Z-car was completely redesigned in 1984 and introduced Nissan's new series of 3.0-liter V6 engine, dubbed the VG series. The same engine was used in the electromotive (later to become NPTI) GTP ZX-Turbo that dominated the IMSA GTP races in 1988 and 1989. These were available in both VG30E naturally aspirated and VG30ET turbocharged forms producing 160 and 200 bhp (120 and 150 kW) respectively, although some VG30ET powered Z-cars exported outside of the U.S. produced 228 bhp (170 kW) due to a longer cam duration and fewer emission restrictions. These were showcased in sleek new wedge-shaped styling and given a new name, the 300ZX. Like its predecessor, it proved to be wildly popular and was the second best-selling Z-car in history[4] selling over 70,000 units due in part not only to its new styling but also to even more added luxury features and high performance. When the 300ZX Turbo was released in Japan, it offered the highest HP available in a Japanese standard production car at the time.[5]

Much like the 280ZX that preceded it, the first gen 300ZX was thought by enthusiasts as more GT than a true sports car. It had improved handling, acceleration, and refinement than any previous model Z-car.

Nissan made various changes and claimed improvements to the Z31 model throughout its entire production. In 1983, Nissan first offered the 300ZX in Japan. It was introduced in the US one year later. All US-market 1984 model Nissan vehicles carried both Datsun and Nissan nameplates. Along with the arrival of their new flagship sports coupe, Nissan launched an aggressive marketing campaign to promote the brand name change from Datsun to Nissan. The 1984 Model can technically be considered the only year of the "Datsun 300ZX". The 1984 300ZX 50th Anniversary Edition was released in celebration of the company's 50th anniversary year. It was based on the standard 300ZX Turbo but was outfitted with every luxury feature available, a unique black interior with "body sonic" leather seats in addition to widened fender flares, requisite badging, rear quarter panel flares, and sixteen-inch (406 mm) wheels (400 mm).[6]

For the 1985 model year, Nissan dropped the Datsun name brand for good, but the car dealers were still known as Datsun dealers. Paul Newman raced in the 1985 GT1 Challenge and won. This was Newman's fourth national championship. Minor changes were made to the 300ZX including a water-cooled turbocharger and smoked taillights.

The 1986 model saw wider flared wheel wells, as well as body-color bumpers, and the rear quarter panels, were designed specifically to accommodate factory ground effect style side skirts. 1986 turbo models were equipped with an ordinary hood, markedly losing the turbo "scoop" on the driver's side.

To keep up with quickly aging aesthetics, another slight redesign happened in 1987, consisting of new rounded, restyled, and longer front and rear bumpers, new headlights, and new taillights. The black trim on turbo models was now charcoal instead of gloss black, and 1987 Turbo models came with special "smoked" turbo-finned wheels. All 1987 model year turbo cars also received an upgraded manual transmission, and larger and more powerful brakes, and turbo cars produced from 4/87 and later came equipped with a clutch-type limited-slip differential.

For the 1988 models, there were again a few small changes. The turbocharger was switched from the Garrett T3 turbo to a lower-inertia T25 turbo, and the engine was from 7.8:1 to an 8.3:1 compression ratio to reduce turbocharger spool time and provide an instant boost at any usable RPM. The interior aluminum accents and chrome door handles that adorned the earlier cars were dropped in favor of matching color parts. Another special edition, the "Shiro Special" (SS), was released in 1988. It was only available in pearl white (Shiro meaning "white" in Japanese). The SS package consisted of analog gauges and climate controls with a black interior, stiffer sway bars, stiffer springs, non-adjustable suspension, special seats (Recaro), a viscous-coupling limited slip differential, and a special front lower lip spoiler. This package had no options; all 88SS cars are identical.[7]

Upon its release, the 300ZX won Motor Trend's "Import Car of the Year" in 1990 as well as "One of the Top Ten Performance Cars". Automobile Magazine honored the 300ZX/300ZX Turbo as its "Design of the Year" and added it to their "All Stars" list. Road & Track named the 300ZX Turbo "One of the Ten Best Cars in the World", and Car and Driver added it to their 10Best for the seven years in which it was in production in America. American Z-car sales reached 1 million in 1990.

Nissan utilized the Cray-II supercomputer to completely design the new 300ZX with the form of CAD software. This made the 300ZX one of the first production cars to be developed in a CAD program. In return, it featured a whole host of technological advancements. On the twin turbo models, four-wheel steering was available under the name Super HICAS (High Capacity Actively Controlled Steering). The twin turbochargers, intercoolers, and requisite plumbing were left for a cramped engine bay; however, everything fit perfectly.

Like previous generations, Nissan offered a 2+2 model with the Z32. In 1993, a convertible version was introduced in the Z-car's history, as a response to aftermarket conversions. All 300ZXs now featured T-tops as standard, yet there were some rare hardtops (known as "slick tops") produced as well.

The 300ZX was doomed to the same fate as many Japanese sports cars of the time. The mid-'90s trend toward SUVs and the rising Yen:Dollar ratio were both influential in ending North American 300ZX sales in 1996 at over 80,000 units sold (production for other markets continued until 2000). Probably the biggest killer of the 300ZX was its ever-inflating price;[10] at its release it was priced at about $30,000, but in its final year this price had increased to around $50,000. This left many people questioning its value, and despite a final Commemorative Edition of the final 300 units shipped to America (complete with decals and certificates of authenticity), the Z-Car was on hiatus. In Japan, however, the 300ZX lived on for a few more years with a face-lift including a new front fascia, tail lights, headlights, rear spoiler, and a few other minor changes.

In the U.S., the Z-car went on hiatus from 1997 to 2002, as Nissan focused more on SUVs and was also in some financial trouble. To keep Z-car interest alive, Nissan launched a restoration program in 1998 for which they purchased original 240Zs, professionally restored them, and re-sold them at dealerships for about $24,000.

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