>>Nissan NX

Nissan NX

Nissan NX
Manufacturer	Nissan
Production	1991–1996
Predecessor	Nissan Pulsar NX/EXA Nissan Sentra hatchback
Successor	Nissan 200SX (North America) Nissan Lucino (Japan)
Class	Sport compact
Body style(s)	2-door hatchback
Layout	FF layout
Platform	Nissan B platform
Engine(s)	1.5 L GA15DS I4, 94 PS 1.6 L GA16DS I4 1.6 L GA16DE I4, 110 PS 1.8 L SR18DE I4, 140 PS 2.0 L SR20DE I4
Transmission(s)	4-speed automatic 5-speed manual
Wheelbase	95.7 in (2431 mm)
Length	162.4 in (4125 mm)
Width	66.1 in (1679 mm)
Height	50.9 in (1293 mm)
Fuel capacity	40.0 litres (8.8 imp/10.6 US gal)
Related	Nissan Sentra Nissan Sunny Nissan Pulsar

The Nissan NX is a car produced by Nissan Motors. The Nissan NX was essentially a B13 platform Nissan Sentra or Sunny with a different body shell. The NX was, loosely, an evolution of the Nissan Pulsar NX/Nissan EXA sold from 1987-1990, and it also replaced the Nissan Sentra hatchback.

Models

NX1600/NX2000 (North America)

The NX1600 was based on the standard 1.6L Sentra (engine code GA16DE), and the NX2000 was based on the 2.0 L SE-R model (engine code SR20DE). It was produced from 1991-1993 in the US (mainly competing with the Mazda MX-3 and Honda CR-X del Sol). Also, it was produced for a few more years in other countries.

The NX2000 model had some mechanical improvements over its SE-R sibling. It had larger brakes and more aggressive tires on wider 6" wheels (195/55VR-14 with 14x6" wheels vs. the 185/60HR-14 with 14x5.5" wheels and tires in the SE-R). The NX2000 brakes are a common aftermarket upgrade for B13 Sentra SE-Rs. The NX2000 also had a center armrest, a larger two core radiator, and slightly lower ride height compared to the SE-R. However, the T-top roof in the NX2000 along with the mechanical upgrades made it slightly heavier than the SE-R.

The NX2000, with its light weight, stiff chassis, and limited-slip differential, was considered one of the best-handling front-wheel-drive cars of the time. In 1992, Road & Track magazine included the NX2000 in a test of the world's best handling cars against such competition as the Acura NSX, Porsche 911, Nissan 300ZX, Mazda Miata, and Lotus Elan.

100NX (Europe)

The 100NX came with two engine options, a 1.6 L and a 2.0 L.

The 1.6 liter, made from 1990 to February of 1993 had a carburetor fitted which tended to consume excessive fuel as it aged. From April of 1993 onwards, the 100NX was sold with a more efficient fuel injected setup.

• 1.6 carbureted — 89 bhp (66 kW)
• 1.6 fuel injected — 105 bhp (78 kW)
• 2.0 fuel injected — 150 bhp (112 kW)

The 1.6 liter fuel injected version achieved 0-60 mph in 10.5 seconds and had a top speed of 121 mph (195 km/h).

The 100NX was mainly sold with a T-bar removable roof in Europe.

NX Coupe (Japan)

The Nissan NX was also sold in the Japanese domestic market as the Nissan NX Coupe. Some models were fitted with T-Tops, whilst others were hardtop. The Japanese domestic NX Coupe's came with either a 1.5 DOHC carburetted engine (GA15(DS)), a 1.6 DOHC EFI engine (GA16(DE)), a 1.8 DOHC EFI engine (SR18(DE)) or the rare 2.0 DOHC EFI engine (SR20DE). The model was available in automatic or manual transmission. The 1.5 DOHC models were all fitted with digital speedometers, whilst all other engine versions had the standard analogue gage. All Japanese domestic models were fitted with electric windows, air conditioning, power steering, electric mirrors and central locking which locked the doors automatically at 18 km/h whilst driving. The car was different in the Japanese market in that it did not have an ECO option with the A/C system. Almost all Japanese cars have this option but the NX didn't.

Safety

In Australia, the 1991-96 Nissan NX was assessed in the Used Car Safety Ratings 2006 as providing "significantly worse than average" protection for its occupants in the event of a crash.

Racing

North America

SCCA Showroom Stock B

Soon after its import into the United States, the NX2000 was classified by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) into its Showroom Stock B category for the 1992 year, pitting it against such cars as Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo (defending SSB champion Gerald Alaimo and others), its B13 cousin the Nissan Sentra SE-R (David Daughtery and others), and the sole second-generation the Toyota MR2 (driven by Dane Pitaressi). The NX2000 posted several National wins throughout the year, and garnered much attention from competitors. The 1992 SSB SCCA Runoffs championships saw two podium finishes for the NX2000, with the gold medal taken home by Mark Youngquist, followed by Ken Payson in a Mirage then Greg Amy in his NX2000 taking home third place.

The 1993 season proved it wasn't a fluke, as David Daughtery took home yet another SCCA Runoffs championship for the NX2000. However, by that time the 1993 MR-2 with its updated suspension and the much-improved S14 version of the Nissan 240SX came along; while the NX2000 continued to be campaigned nationally and sporadically posted wins throughout subsequent racing seasons, it never again won a Runoffs championship (Tony Suever won in '94 with the MR-2, and the '95 and '96 SSB championships were won by Daughtery in the S14 240SXh.) The car soon thereafter timed-out for eligibility for SSB racing.

SCCA Improved Touring

The Nissan NX2000 and the Sentra SE-R were soon approved for SCCA's Improved Touring category. At the time of its initial classification - due primarily to their larger (2.0-liter) displacement - they were dropped into the ITS, or Sports, class. This pitted them against other larger-displacement, GT-class cars such as the Mazda RX-7 and BMW 325. The cars languished in ITS for several years; despite a few sporadic oddball wins in ITS ("Crazy Joe" DiMinno at Watkins Glen International in the rain in 2003) due to its very low chances of winning it garnered very little interest from competitors. Further, despite numerous requests from SCCA competitors it was never re-classified into a lower class (such as ITA, with the Acura Integra, Honda CRX Si, Saturn SC, etc).

In 2001, Kakashi Racing from Connecticut began to prepare both a Nissan NX2000 for former SSB driver) Greg Amy and provide support for DiMinno in his Sentra (the NX of Amy was the same exact chassis he used in the '92 Runoffs). At the same time they began an effort to convince SCCA that the car belonged in ITA. They coordinated efforts with Kirk Knestis to form a sub-group called "Improved Touring 2" to bring attention to the "orphaned" 2-liter front-wheel-drive cars languishing in ITS. In 2004 SCCA announced a complete re-vamp of the IT classification process, placing both Nissan B13 cars into ITA for the 2005 racing season. The end result was a 2006 American Road Race of Champions (ARRC) ITA win at Road Atlanta for Greg Amy and Kakashi Racing.

Due to this success the car has again garnered a lot of attention from competitors, and a resurgence of entries for both the NX2000 and Sentra SE-R in Improved Touring is expected.