Nissan's Humble Little Tuning Company
It's 1984 and Nissan wants to consolidate its two motor sport divisions into one unit. The responsible for supporting private teams, and Nissan's which dealt with the factory teams didn't make sense to split them up like that. They had to come together. Fusion Ha! This melded the two companies and created a new entity.
The New Entity Takes Shape
Nissan had revived the GT-R, and NISMO saw an opportunity. The company took the 350Z and modified the hell out of the bodywork, installing huge front and rear ducts that served to improve aerodynamics and brake cooling. The whole car was built on top of a bespoke tube chassis draped in carbon fiber.
The NISMO Spirit Lives On
NISMO also released the S-Tune, a 350Z outfitted with custom body work and wheels, but that wasn't all. It also had an upgraded cam and valve with a specially-tuned ECU. The car also featured bigger Brembo brakes and an adjustable rear wing.
The NISMO Approach
NISMO's approach to tuning is simple: find the right combination of parts to make a car go faster. They don't worry about what others think; they just focus on building a car that can handle the track. This philosophy has been successful, with NISMO cars winning championships in Japan and around the world.
The R34 and the Road to Success
NISMO's entry for the 24 Hours of Le Mans turned out to be one of the most iconic Japanese race cars ever. The yellow paint topped with a giant Pennzoil logo made for a pretty sweet looking race car. Unfortunately, their competition stepped up too, and the R34 wouldn't score a dub until the fourth race of the season.
A New Era
NISMO's driver was so consistent that he was able to grab the driver's title two years in a row in that car. This Skyline was unique from other GTRs in that it was rear wheel drive, since all-wheel drive was outlawed in the racing league's rules.
A Wide Range of NISMO Models
NISMO didn't just focus on high-performance cars; they also released NISMO versions of more mainstream models. Cars like the Juke NISMO, Note passenger car, Sentra, Serena minivan, and even the Leaf have all received the NISMO treatment.
The NISMO Name
NISMO embodies everything right with Japanese auto culture. Their incessant search for speed elevated the brand from a niche in-house tune to world-wide praise. The NISMO name is one of the few left that can truthfully say they're still pushing the boundaries of performance.
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WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(revving)- Nissan.We've talked a lot aboutthem on Up To Speed.The Skyline, the Z, the Silvia,those are some of the mostThere is no way that these legendscould get any better, right?Wrong!Because inside Nissan is ahumble little tuning companydead set on building theThis is everything you need to knowto get up to speed on NISMO.(eight bit music)It's 1984.Guys on Wall Street arelistening to Jump by Van Halen,doing lines of cocaine andthen seeing Beverly Hills Cop.- Meanwhile.- Over in Japan, Nissanwants to consolidateit's two motor sport divisions intounit.There was theresponsible for supporting private teams,and Nissan'swhich dealt with the factory teams.It didn't make no sense tosplit them up like that.They had to come together.Fusion Ha!This melded combinationof the two factorieswould be given a new name,or NISMO for short.The man Nissan chose tolead this new divisionwas a dude by the name of(man clears throat)Yes?Why him?Well, back inhe piloted a Datsun 210 rally car onaround the perimeter of thescariest nation on Earth.No,I'm talking about- Yo, where them kangaroos at?- This was Datsun's firstever motor sport eventand their cars came inshocking everyone.Fast-forward to 1985and NISMO is winning prettymuch right out of the gate.Theiris winning endurance events in Japanwhile NISMO's rally program istearing it up all over Asia,just like me on my gap year.Glug, glug, glug, glug.Konnichiwa, konnichiwa, glugglug, glug glug glug glug.Seiki, I still think aboutyou almost once a week.(grunting)NISMO modified a FairladyZ to be rally readyand even developed a widebody S-Chassis called theNissan and NISMO would continueendurance and rally competition,but the car that reallyput NISMO on the mapwas the same car thatput this show on the map.This is everything you need toknow about the Nissan Skylinein less than 10 minutes.- Who is that guy?- TheNISMO got their hands on the R32and started tuning it up for the trackand let me tell you, that tuning they did,it was outstanding.Nissan's goal with the R32 was to dominateJapanese Group A Racing,and dominate it did.From 1990 to 1993, the NISMO R32 won allThey even went abroadand won massive raceslike the 24 hours of theNürburgring, and 24 Hours of Spa.I tell ya, I could go for 24hours at the spa right now.The NISMO R32earning the greatest nickname ever.It was a true beast from The East.To celebrate the car's dominanceand to comply with homologation rules,NISMO produced a road legalversion of their Group A carcalled the Skyline GTR NISMO Edition.I've driven one, it's awesome.InNISMO took theirprototype racer to the24 hours of Daytona.They just wanted to see if they could win.They were just some hardworkingboys from all over Japanwith a humble littlerace car that happened tocompletely dominate the race!The R91C was so fast, it didwhich was a new track record.NISMO's victory was the first ever winby an all-Japanese team at Daytona.NISMO's racing exploitssent a message to the world.- You underestimate my power.- Through the nineties,NISMO continued theirSkyline campaign with theeven taking their car to the Le Mans,which is basically thebiggest race in the world.To commemorate their efforts,they made another specialedition Skyline, the 400R.(revving)This special R33 had it'sbored and stroked outmaking 400 horsepower.The tuned up engine and aerodynamic tweaksgave the 400R a top speedof 186 miles an hour.I don't care who you are, that's fast.But NISMO wasn't all aboutbuilding the most sophisticatedrace cars out there,they did some stufffor the little guy too.Inthey launched thewhich let racers with small budgetsrace tricked out economycars in single make races.The K11 March might not havebeen the fastest car out there,but if you get a bunchof 'em on the track,the racing is just as intenseand fun to watch as Group A.meant three things, thelooming threat of Y2K,the Grammy-award winninghit Smooth by Santanafeaturing Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20,and the arrival of the(revving)Theand if you don't think NISMOhad plans for that car too, well,♪ You've got another thing coming ♪NISMO's entry for thewould turn out to be one of the mosticonic Japanese race cars ever.The yellow paint toppedwith a giant Pennzoil logomade for a pretty sweet looking race car.Unfortunately for NISMO,their competitionstepped their game up tooand the R34 wouldn't score a dubuntil the forth race of the season.Luckily, their driver was so consistentthat he was able tograb the driver's titletwo years in a row in that car.This Skyline was unique from other GTRsin that it was rear wheel drivesince all wheel drive was outlawedin the racing league's rules.You might recognize this carfrom it's numerous appearancesin the Gran Turismo series.You can't use that car Lars,it's fricking cheating.NISMO also released thetheIt borrowed it's engine fromNissan's GT500 race car,each one build by hand.True to the spirit of NISMO,it was basically a race carthat you could drive on the street.Nissan didn't plan on makingany money with this car,only 20 Z-Tune's were ever built.They just wanted to commemorate20 years of NISMO tuning.(sad violin music)That's really sweet, you guys.With the Skyline GTRproduction at it's end inNISMO needed a new platformto base their race car off of.Luckily, Nissan had revived thewhich NISMO saw and immediately decided.- That'll do.- NISMO took the 350Zand modified the hell out of the bodywork,installing huge front and rear ductsthat served to improveaerodynamics and brake cooling.The whole car was built ontop of a bespoke tube chassisdraped in carbon fiber.The twin turbo VQ30 made anestimated 470 horsepower,enough to secure the championshipin the car's debut season,as well as the next.(skidding)Alongside their race car,NISMO also released thea car designed with the sole purposeof having the longest name ever.The S-Tune was the 350Z outfittedwith the usual NISMO flair ofcustom body work and wheelsbut that wasn't all,It also had an upgraded cam and valvewith a specially-tuned ECU.It also had bigger Brembo brakesand an adjustable rear wing.This was a NISMO your dad could buyif he didn't abandon your familyconsistently over and overfor your entire life,only coming back for longenough to give you hopeand then crush your dreamsagain and again and againand again and again.So NISMO kept racing theZ for a few more years butthey didn't win as muchand then went back to using the GTRwhen the new one debuted inThe new Super GT won thechampionship it's debut season,just like the Z car did,and then after that,it didn't win as much,just like the Z car did.I could get more specific but honestlyit feels like I've beentalking about the GTR all day.- Yeah, I noticed that.- InNissan introduced NISMO versionsof it's more mainstream models,which meant cars like the Juke NISMO.This might seem strangecoming from a brand focused on racingand you're right,but apparently it workedbecause next to the NISMO GTR and 370Z,there are now NISMO versionsof the March compact,Note passenger car, the Sentra,Serena minivan and even the Leaf.I mean these NISMO guys willliterally tune anything.NISMO embodies everything rightwith Japanese auto culture.Their incessant search for speedelevated the brand fromniche in-house tunerto world-wide praise.The NISMO name is one of the few leftthat can truthfully sayand that's (bleep) cool.- Cool, cool. (audience laughs)- Subscribe to Donutso you never miss anepisode of Up To Speed.Hit this yellow guy right here.Get a Donut shirt at shop.donut.media.Follow me @jamespumphreyon Twitter and Instagram.Follow Donut on both @donutmedia.For more Up To Speed, checkout this episode of the Ford GTor check out thisepisode of Science Garageon horsepower versus torque.I fricking love you! (burps)
