Nismo

Nismo (abbreviated from Nissan Motorsport International) is the motorsports and performance division of Nissan Motor Company. Formed in 1984, Nismo cars have participated in JSPC, Formula Nippon, JTCC, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona. They currently participate in the Super GT.

Products

Tuning kits

Nismo designs and manufactures many aftermarket performance parts for Nissan cars including aero kits, aluminum wheels, engine internals, and suspension parts.

Most Datsun, Nissan, and Infiniti branded cars have performance parts available from Nismo, either in production or as old stock. For example, Nismo sells parts such as unground cam billets, performance cams, pistons, etc for the KA24E engine, which was used in the Nissan small pickup truck for several years and also used for the 1989 and 1990 model years of 240SX, a popular car among Import scene enthusiasts (especially Drifters) in North America.

In Japan, the V35 Skyline and Z33 Fairlady have both received several levels of Nismo tuning packages (E-Type, S-Tune, R-Tune, and S1 packages), with a full track spec Fairlady Z debuted at the 2005 Nismo Festival of Speed held at (formerly) Fuji International Raceway.

Announced in February 2007, Nismo announced the launch of the Nismo 380RS. The Nismo 380RS is a modified version of Nissan Z33 Fairlady Z. Two versions have been announced, the first is track-only model called the 380RS-C (C for competition), the second is a street model being sold at Nissan dealers. Both versions use a Nissan VQ series V6 engine, bored and stroked to 3.8L. The track-only 380RS-C makes 400hp, and the street version makes approximately 350hp. The Nismo 380RS is only being sold in Japan.

Complete cars

Recently, Nismo released the Skyline GT-R R34 V-Spec complete car, the Z-Tune. Because there was a limitation in the number of parts, Nismo was only able to create 20 of them. The complete version sells for 17,745,000 Yen (USD $146,600, as of December 7, 2005) in Japan. However, the parts-conversion version, where the customer's Skyline GT-R's become the base car, sells for 13,125,000 Yen (USD $108,500, as of December 7, 2005). The engine is a RB26DETT Z2 (a normal GT-R engine with a stroked displacement of 2.8 liters & Nismo parts designed specifically for the Z2). All of the Z-Tunes have been sold already. The car weighs 1600kg.

Nismo was also responsibe for the R33 Skyline 400R and S14 Silvia 270R models. Both featured comprehensive modifications to the drivetrain, suspension, brakes, chassis, and aero work. Very limited numbers of both models were sold in 1997, and both command high resale prices even today. These models stressed Nismo's link to street car tuning, and were developed (as was the Z-Tune GT-R) at their Chiba City tuning garage. Nismo street tuned vehicles have been sold at Nissan dealerships for years, and come with full warranties.

Exit and re-entry into the US Market

Nismo pulled out of the US market in the late 1990s due to parent company restructuring worldwide. The company's return in 2002 was celebrated with the launch of several US only models and tuning packages for the Sentra SE-R Spec-V, Frontier, 350Z, and recently the Titan and Murano. Most Nismo parts available for general consumers are their S-Tune and R-Tune packages. These packages are designed for street (S-Tune) and light track duty (R-Tune). Full race parts and equipment are also available to make this car a highly competitive vehicle within it's class range.

External links

• Nismo official web site (Japanese), Japanese official web site for Nismo products.
• Nissan Motorsports, coverage and information on Nissan motorsports events (available in English or Japanese).
• Nismo USA official site