(revving)
- Nissan.
We've talked a lot about them on Up To Speed.
The Skyline, the Z, the Silvia, those are some of the most
There is no way that these legends
could get any better, right?
Wrong!
Because inside Nissan is a humble little tuning company
dead set on building the
This is everything you need to know
to get up to speed on NISMO.
(eight bit music)
It's 1984.
Guys on Wall Street are listening to Jump by Van Halen,
doing lines of cocaine and then seeing Beverly Hills Cop.
- [Narrator] Meanwhile.
- Over in Japan, Nissan wants to consolidate
it's two motor sport divisions into
unit.
There was the
responsible for supporting private teams,
and Nissan's
which dealt with the factory teams.
It didn't make no sense to split them up like that.
They had to come together.
Fusion Ha!
This melded combination of the two factories
would be given a new name,
or NISMO for short.
The man Nissan chose to lead this new division
was a dude by the name of
(man clears throat)
Yes?
Why him?
Well, back in
he piloted a Datsun 210 rally car on
around the perimeter of the scariest nation on Earth.
No,
I'm talking about
- Yo, where them kangaroos at?
- This was Datsun's first ever motor sport event
and their cars came in
shocking everyone.
Fast-forward to 1985
and NISMO is winning pretty much right out of the gate.
Their
is winning endurance events in Japan
while NISMO's rally program is tearing it up all over Asia,
just like me on my gap year.
Glug, glug, glug, glug.
Konnichiwa, konnichiwa, glug glug, glug glug glug glug.
Seiki, I still think about you almost once a week.
(grunting)
NISMO modified a Fairlady Z to be rally ready
and even developed a wide body S-Chassis called the
Nissan and NISMO would continue
endurance and rally competition,
but the car that really put NISMO on the map
was the same car that put this show on the map.
This is everything you need to know about the Nissan Skyline
in less than 10 minutes.
- Who is that guy?
- The
NISMO got their hands on the R32
and started tuning it up for the track
and let me tell you, that tuning they did,
it was outstanding.
Nissan's goal with the R32 was to dominate
Japanese Group A Racing, and dominate it did.
From 1990 to 1993, the NISMO R32 won all
They even went abroad and won massive races
like the 24 hours of the Nürburgring, and 24 Hours of Spa.
I tell ya, I could go for 24 hours at the spa right now.
The NISMO R32
earning the greatest nickname ever.
It was a true beast from The East.
To celebrate the car's dominance
and to comply with homologation rules,
NISMO produced a road legal version of their Group A car
called the Skyline GTR NISMO Edition.
I've driven one, it's awesome.
In
NISMO took their
prototype racer to the 24 hours of Daytona.
They just wanted to see if they could win.
They were just some hardworking boys from all over Japan
with a humble little race car that happened to
completely dominate the race!
The R91C was so fast, it did
which was a new track record.
NISMO's victory was the first ever win
by an all-Japanese team at Daytona.
NISMO's racing exploits sent a message to the world.
- You underestimate my power.
- Through the nineties,
NISMO continued their Skyline campaign with the
even taking their car to the Le Mans,
which is basically the biggest race in the world.
To commemorate their efforts,
they made another special edition Skyline, the 400R.
(revving)
This special R33 had it's
bored and stroked out making 400 horsepower.
The tuned up engine and aerodynamic tweaks
gave the 400R a top speed of 186 miles an hour.
I don't care who you are, that's fast.
But NISMO wasn't all about
building the most sophisticated race cars out there,
they did some stuff for the little guy too.
In
they launched the
which let racers with small budgets
race tricked out economy cars in single make races.
The K11 March might not have been the fastest car out there,
but if you get a bunch of 'em on the track,
the racing is just as intense and fun to watch as Group A.
meant three things, the looming threat of Y2K,
the Grammy-award winning hit Smooth by Santana
featuring Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20,
and the arrival of the
(revving)
The
and if you don't think NISMO
had plans for that car too, well,
♪ You've got another thing coming ♪
NISMO's entry for the
would turn 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 for NISMO,
their competition stepped their game up too
and the R34 wouldn't score a dub
until the forth race of the season.
Luckily, their 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.
You might recognize this car
from it's numerous appearances in the Gran Turismo series.
You can't use that car Lars, it's fricking cheating.
NISMO also released the
the
It borrowed it's engine from Nissan's GT500 race car,
each one build by hand.
True to the spirit of NISMO,
it was basically a race car
that you could drive on the street.
Nissan didn't plan on making any money with this car,
only 20 Z-Tune's were ever built.
They just wanted to commemorate 20 years of NISMO tuning.
(sad violin music)
That's really sweet, you guys.
With the Skyline GTR production at it's end in
NISMO needed a new platform to base their race car off of.
Luckily, Nissan had revived the
which NISMO saw and immediately decided.
- That'll do.
- NISMO 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 twin turbo VQ30 made an estimated 470 horsepower,
enough to secure the championship in the car's debut season,
as well as the next.
(skidding)
Alongside their race car, NISMO also released the
a car designed with the sole purpose
of having the longest name ever.
The S-Tune was the 350Z outfitted
with the usual NISMO flair of custom body work and wheels
but that wasn't all,
It also had an upgraded cam and valve
with a specially-tuned ECU.
It also had bigger Brembo brakes
and an adjustable rear wing.
This was a NISMO your dad could buy
if he didn't abandon your family consistently over and over
for your entire life,
only coming back for long enough to give you hope
and then crush your dreams
again and again and again and again and again.
So NISMO kept racing the Z for a few more years but
they didn't win as much
and then went back to using the GTR
when the new one debuted in
The new Super GT won the championship 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 honestly
it feels like I've been talking about the GTR all day.
- Yeah, I noticed that.
- In
Nissan introduced NISMO versions
of it's more mainstream models,
which meant cars like the Juke NISMO.
This might seem strange
coming from a brand focused on racing
and you're right,
but apparently it worked
because next to the NISMO GTR and 370Z,
there are now NISMO versions of the March compact,
Note passenger car, the Sentra,
Serena minivan and even the Leaf.
I mean these NISMO guys will literally tune anything.
NISMO embodies everything right with Japanese auto culture.
Their incessant search for speed
elevated the brand from niche in-house tuner
to world-wide praise.
The NISMO name is one of the few left
that can truthfully say
and that's (bleep) cool.
- Cool, cool. (audience laughs)
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For more Up To Speed, check out this episode of the Ford GT
or check out this episode of Science Garage
on horsepower versus torque.
I fricking love you! (burps)