Z32 300ZX TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

The Z32 model 300ZX was introduced in 1989 and was an instant hit. Motor Trend named it the imported "car of the year", while Car and Driver named it "one of the worlds 10 best cars". The 300ZX mates a powerful engine with excellent road holding qualities and safety, and enough luxury to tempt the most jaded executive in need of an express. Power is provided by twin turbochargers, which require much less spool-up time that comparably powerful single-turbo set ups. The 300ZX also features HICAS 4 wheel steering, the Targa roof which has become a feature of Z-Cars, 4 valves per cylinder, DOHC, massive brakes and advanced technology, along with Nissan's justly famous quality.

The technical specifications presented here are for the 2+2 Targa Twin-Turbo, in European Specification form.

SYSTEMS::

HICAS:
HICAS stands for Hich Capacity Activly-Controlled Suspension, which is as fine an example of motor-industry nomenclature as I have ever seen. What it actually means, is that the 300ZX is fitted with 4-wheel steering. Four wheel steering was first developed in the 1930's for military vehicles, as it made them much more maneuverable, and allowed them to turn in confined spaces. Such systems where expensive, and never made it onto production cars. However, the Japanese became interested in the idea of 4-wheel steering, and continued to experiment with it. Nissan's Super-HICAS system is an electronically controlled electrohydraulic system, as opposed to the simpler mechanical system. It was felt that the more complex system offered a better result than the simpler mechanical linkage. In a mechanical system, the rear wheels turn with the front wheels at the same rate. Using HICAS, however, an electronic control unit takes data from the steering wheel, and front wheels, and together with the car's current speed and other parameters, decides on the angle to which the rear wheels should turn. The rear wheels are then turned via a hydraulic cylinder. All of this happens instantly, and the system will constantly reposition the rear wheels for optimum effect, steering them either in the same, or the opposite direction to the front wheels depending on the situation. The HICAS system is superior to the mechanical system in that it provides faster, more reliable response, improves stability on curves, and eliminates abnormal car behavior during rapid direction changes such as those encountered in emergency situations. The HICAS system contains an emergency fail safe which locks the rear wheels in the standard fore-and-aft position if anything goes wrong, effectively turning the car back into a two-wheel steering system.

Mulitlink suspension :
Nissan developed the Multilink suspension system specifically for the 300ZX, but it's success led it to be introduced to other Nissan models. The suspension geometry is defined by an upper, two part triangle which extends the ideal upper-fulcrum hinge-axis point outward. This serves to reduce wheel toe-in variations during acceleration and braking. The rotation fulcrum angle of the triangle which is lower with respect to the axle line works together with the inner bushings and lower auxiliary strut. This means that the side loads imposed when cornering, and longitudinal loads from braking and accelerating increase the toe-in of the outside wheel, improving steering and rear-end stability. This system is fitted to both the front and rear, allowing the forces generated to be assimilated by both front and rear wheels, and converted to corresponding reactions which correct the cars attitude. Having the front and rear suspension work together in this manner increases stability and steering accuracy. The mechanical nature of this system makes it more reliable than hydraulic or hydrogas systems which produce similar effects.