The Development of Nissan Skyline GT-R - Essay Example

Nissan: Nissan Skyline GT-R and Nissan Patrol (SUV) Nissan Motor Company is one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world today. The company is based in Japan and has a variety of vehicles in that market. It is based in Yokohama, KNG and was started in 1933. Since its inception, Nissan has been able to develop a variety of cars and trucks that serve various private and commercial purposes. Nissan has spread worldwide and claims a sixth position of the largest automaker company in the world. In this essay, a focus on two of Nissan’s products is considered. The Nissan Skyline Gran Turismo Racer (GT-R) is a car that falls in the range of Nissan Skyline cars. These cars were developed first in the late 1960s and have continued to be modified to adapt to the changing the changing trends to date. On the other hand, there is the Nissan Patrol is a suburban utility vehicle (SUV) that was developed around 1951 to compete with car brands such as Toyota’s Land Cruiser. This car has been advanced over the generations and currently it is in its sixth generation, which began in 2010. The Patrol occurs has a four-wheel drive and is available in either short-wheelbase with three doors or long-wheelbase with five door chassis. Both cars come in a variety of models that have continued to attract customers due to the continued development. The development of Nissan Skyline GT-R brand has a long history that is linked to the previous products developed by Nissan. Prince Automobile Company was the first company to use the word ‘Skyline’- they developed sedan cars that fell on a line of Skyline products. However, after the merger with Nissan-Datsun, it adopted the Skyline series of cars. Skyline cars were developed with rear wheel drive, an aspect that continued to the 1990s when other manufacturers started focusing on shifting the drive to the front wheels. The adoption of the GT-R cars for racing purposes made them to have direct market while at other instances some of the versions such as the KPGC110 2000 GT-R made very little sales, a situation that was attributed to a looming energy crisis at the time. Just before the development of Nissan Skyline GT-R, there was the S54 2000 GT-B that was a powerful racecar at the time. The GT-R series saw the development of PGC10 2000 GT-R, which made very impressive wins over a period of almost two years. There were a number of racing victories that were associated with this particular car from 1964 to the time it was discontinued in 1972. The Nissan Motorsport (Nismo) has been on the forefront of developing this car to ensure that it is has an improved performance especially for racing purposes (Gritzinger & Dino, 2006). The history of the Nissan Skyline GT-R cars comes through various generations. Each generation is characterized by its improvements from the previous generation that enhances the performance as well as he features that attracts customers. The first generation was the pioneer version of the cars, it remained in the market between 1969 to 1972. With the designation of PGC10, the first version of the car was developed as a sedan with four doors. The car was an advancement having been fitted with a 2 Liter DOHC S20 I6 that was capable of making the car more powerful by producing up to 160 horsepower at 7000 revolutions per minute. This was a superior development given that the previous cars had a smaller version and did not have such an energy capacity. A 5-speed manual transmission was the mode of transmitting power to the rear wheels. This car had the chassis code KPGC10 that was a two-door car with its arm strut suspension acting in a semi-trailing fashion. The two cars were able to get access to the market well but the volume of sales was not as high. It was reported that slightly less than 2000 cars were produced and sold for both the PGC10 and the KPGC10. These comprised the first generation of the Nissan Skyline GT-R cars. The second generation was a swift one, since the cars went on low demand forcing the manufacturer to withdrawal the production. The 1970s experienced fuel crisis that made it possible to reduce high efficiency and high performance sport cars that proved expensive to maintain in terms of fuel. After the previous sports car, KPGC10, the company went ahead to develop a superior car that could perform better. This led to the development of the KPGC110 variety. This car was introduced in 1972 in the Japan’s Tokyo Motor Show and was released the following year to the market. Despite its unique features the car failed to make adequate sales. It was designed to deliver power to the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual gearbox and has a 1989cc engine. A further modification to the car was in the braking system; both the rear and front brakes were installed making the car easy to control on the road. In addition, there was a modification to the suspension with an incorporation of an aerodynamics component. This second-generation car saw production of only one hundred and ninety seven cars due to the fuel crisis that was prevalent at the time. It took time before the cars returned back to production for the third generation. The third generation was to come years later after the fuel crisis and ceased and the demand for the cars started to be evident. Another improved version was developed in 1989, which relied on the basic features of the previous car. The introduction of Nissan Skyline GT-R E-BNR32 was a strategy by Nissan to phase off some of its racing cars while creating a competitive edge in the Group A racing cars. This car was developed with a turbocharged engine, according to the regulations for sport cars, they were obliged to develop a 4000cc car that had a 10-inch wide tires. This car was modified to become a four-wheel drive. This feature was advantageous in that the car became more powerful, however, it was disadvantaged by the additional weight that came with the incorporation of the feature. Compared to other 4000cc racing cars, the car was almost 100 kg heavier. This made the team of the Nissan engineers to rethink about the car; this saw the increase of the car’s displacement up to 2600cc so that it could get to the 4500 cc class. The tires were also to be modified to add one more inch to 11 inches. Depending on the condition of the track, the company developed cars ranging between 500-650 horsepower. R32 series inclueded GT-R ‘Nismo’ that sold 500 units. Then came the GT-R ‘N1’ whose production was only 228 units. This car was characterized by changes in the engine as well as development of features that would reduce the weight of the car; they had to add lightweight headlights, removed the sound system, rear wiper, ABS, the trunk carpet and the air conditioning. Advancement towards a better racing car saw the introduction of the Skyline GTR-V spec car that an additional Brembo brakes as well as 17” BBS wheels (225/45/17 tires). Later on in 1994 GT-R V. spec II was developed with a change in the tires (245/45/17). R32 was able to make more sales than its predecessors with about 43,934 units produced. The fourth generation started in 1995 and went all the way to 1998. It was characterized by the development of R33 model that had various similarities with its predecessor R32 especially the engine. The initial weight of the car was 1540 kg. When the R33 GT-R and the GT-R V spec were developed, there was also developed the R33 GT-R V. spec N1 model. In this case, the N1 model was made lighter by removal of a number of features just like its predecessor R32. The number of units sold amounted to about 16, 422 for the R33 model. This paved way for the fifth generation that was characterized by the introduction of the R34 whose production lasted between 1999 and 2002. A major development of the R34 was the reduction of the rear overhang as well as the general length of the car. However, there were also more features that were added from the previous versions including the intake and the exhaust gas temperatures. R34 M-spec was developed with some similarity to the V spec but had additional features including the setup of the suspension, and leather interior among others. The final release was done in 2002 with the R34 GT-R V spec II Nur and the GT-R M spec Nur being developed. The R34 cars made a production capacity of 12,i175 units (JL Imports, 2014). Another spectacular car from the Nissan Company is the Nissan patrol, an off-road vehicle. The development of this vehicle began in 1951 and it has since been developed through six generations. It is a four-wheel drive that is one of the constantly developed Nissan’s off-road cars. The history of the Patrol started with its first generation car, which lasted between 1951 and 1960. It began with the development of the 4W60 that had an engine capacity of 3.7 L and 75 horsepower. In addition, it comprised of a four-speed manual transmission. The car did not last for so long, since there was the need to modify some of its features resulting to the development of the 4W61 that saw a change in the engine that whose capacity improved from the predecessor’s 75 to 92 horsepower. In addition, there was added a windshield at the back, unequal seats and chrome strips. Later on, the engine was changed to a 4 L 105 horsepower Nissan NC engine. The advancements saw the introduction of the 4W65, 4W66, and 4W70 series (Farmer’s Guardian, 2008). The second generation was dominated by the 60 series that were two-door vehicles. Around 1960, the first sales of Nissan Patrol 60 and G60 made sales in Australia but the country would develop more cars for export to other countries. These paved way for the development of Y62, which was an improvement from the preceding versions. It also happened that there was the H60 version was being developed hence the availability of the car to the US market. There were three versions that characterized the bodies of the entire Nissan Patrol 60 series. These were the long, medium, and short wheelbase versions (Al Bawaba, 2007). The transmission in this car has been manual type F3B83L and exhibits an additional component in that it has part-time four-wheel drive. The P engine is the characteristic of the car with a 3956 cc and is comprised of overhead valves that are made up of six-cylinder component, the combustion chambers were also advanced from the previous versions in addition to the crankshaft that has seven bearings that have the full balance. Three doors, one at the back while two are found at the top, also characterize it. KG60 together with KGL60 were developed to mimic the features that are found in Toyota’s Land Cruiser. Between 1980 and 2003, Nissan advanced their Patrol car through its third generational model. These were divided into two phases; one characterized by the development of the 160 series and the other 260 series. The developments started with P40, SD33 and L28 engines. The cars had an additional two-speed offset transfer case having both a high and a low gear in the same ratio. The initial model of the series was referred to as the MQ Patrol but was later changed to MK Patrol. The 260 series was more of a European version of 160 series. It had almost similar features 160 series but one unique feature was the rectangular headlamps. In addition, the engines were L28, RD28T, or SD33 (Nissan Motor Corporation, 2010). All the models that came through this series had a C200 front differential. The MQ model was developed on various occasions. Some of the developments include the replacement of the five pistons with a three-piston architecture, the paper cartridge was replacement by piston oil squinters. The Datsun brand that had existed for years since the company was established were phased off from the Nissan Patrol. The fourth generation, which comprised of the Y60 series, were under production between 1987 and 1997. To create a distinction from the previous versions, this Patrol had a coil sprung suspension, which facilitated its accessibility to rough roads as well as providing additional comfort. In addition, this car was improved through the addition of the front live axle suspension setup. Engines used included the TD42 as well as the TB42 that exhibited a 4-speed automatic gearbox. The engineering of the power steering was a common feature for all the Y60 Patrols. This car was also developed by having a synchromesh on the reverse gear, a feature that was not there in the previous Patrol versions. The Japanese used a modification of the car that had a 24V electrical system, double the preexisting one. Some of the engines such as TB42 and TD42 existed having a 5-speed manual for the former while the later had a 4-speed automatic gearbox. Other engines that were developed for this car used 5-speed manual including RD28T and RB30. Australia served as the largest market for these cars while their development also took place in a big way there. Another major market was in Europe where the Spanish model of the Patrol dominated. The TB42 received a major boost in 1992 when it was successfully fitted with the fuel-injection. On the other hand, RD28T was boosted through the additional of a new set of seats, new trims, EGR valve, and the oil cooler. TD42 was made much lighter in 1993 but this resulted to the weakening of the engine. The Australian Ford company saw the Y60 as a substitute to Food maverick since they had similar features, only their colors were different. The modifications went further between 1997 and 2013 making up the fifth generational developments of the Nissan Patrol. The Y61 series characterized this period with both diesel and petrol engines being developed for the car. The model saw a change in the drive train with the car being developed to have a new body shape. The car was made to be more comfortable. Later in 2004, a new model was released that had a completely different setting of the headlights, box flares, as well as improved taillights. This car still remains one of the coveted offroad cars especially in United Arab Emirates. Its TB48DE engine is modifiable and is capable of competing with other supercars. The latest model was developed as from 2010, which is the Y62 series. It has a 5.6L engine with 400 horsepower (Al Bawaba 2009). This car has been modified to switch between four driving modes. In addition, there is it also has automatic breaking system as well as stability control features. The Infiniti version was improved to incorporate more passenger seats to make them seven. The Middle East and Australia are some of the major markets for this car. In conclusion, Nissan Motor Company continues to develop its products to cope with the rising demands and needs in the society. In addition, there is high competitiveness that facilitates the innovative that the company has made since its inception in early 20th century. Its two products that have been considered in this essay are a testimony of the growth prospect of the company. Nissan Patrol and Nissan Skyline GT-R have demonstrated growth through various models that have made it possible for the company to remain in the market and still making profit. References AUTOS & 4x4: Nissan sticks to patrols core values. (2008). Farmers Guardian, 16. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213428127?accountid=45049 Gritzinger, B., & Dino, D. C. (2006, Oct 23). NISSAN TAKES SKYLINE GT-R FROM CONCEPT TO REALITY. Autoweek, 56, 4-5. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/218891961?accountid=45049 JL Imports, (2014). Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R. Retrieved from http://www.jlimports.com.au/nissan-skyline-r34-gt-r-1 Nissan Motor Corporation. (2010). Stunning looks coupled with unstoppable 4WD Upgrades make Nissan Patrol new class-leader as Nissan’s ‘Hero of All Terrain”. Retrieved from http://www.nissan-global.com/EN/NEWS/2010/_STORY/100213-01-e.html Nissan patrol launch. (2010, Oct 09). Al Bawaba. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/757074120?accountid=45049 Nissan puts desert challenge in top gear - nissan patrol named as official car for spectacular event at climax of world cup series. (2007, Sep 06). Al Bawaba. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/194827837?accountid=45049 Revamped nissan patrol for 2005. (2004). Farmers Guardian, , 18. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/213475699?accountid=45049 Read More