New ground for Nissan

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Nissan New Zealand likes playing Santa, spreading Christmas cheer and springing a surprise here and there.

It, like every other carmaker, sends out the standard invitations to new-car launches. But unlike the others, its invitations sometimes arrive bearing gifts, things like a compass, or a pair of Nissan overalls, or gold mining pan.

The compass, for instance, was an emergency ration of sorts, in case scribes became bushed on a four-wheel-drive trek. The overalls kept them clean on a factory tour, and the pan kept alive their hopes of striking it rich on another launch on the West Coast.

But it has kept the surprises to itself lately. There was no rubber band, or some such oddball item suggesting a change in transmission, to indicate a couple of months ago that it would launch its 2-litre Primera station wagon with CVT - continuously variable transmission.

Neither was there a similarly obscure lure to the launch the other day of the new-generation Maxima; and there was certainly nothing in the mail to point to its biggest surprise, the mid-range people-carrier the Tino.

It did suggest, however, that its next surprise - much further down the track - would be a Maxima with CVT. This is indeed significant because coupling CVT with a powerful engine like the Maxima's six-cylinder, 3-litre unit has always been seen to be beyond technology.

But Nissan has been thinking outside the square - it is already using an advanced CVT unit mated to a turbocharged 3-litre engine in its Gloria sedan in Japan. More about CVT later.

The Maxima is a long-time favourite in New Zealand, but the Tino breaks new ground for Nissan and bears some visual resemblance to the Renault Scenic.

The new Maxima is longer, wider, higher and with more interior and boot space than the model it replaces. It has an all-new body, with steeper rake on both front and rear windscreens, and new bumpers, grilles, headlights and taillights.

Its reworked 3-litre V6 engine delivers 10 per cent more power (157kW at 6400 rpm against 142kW at 5600 rpm) and five per cent more torque (291Nm at 3600 rpm against 278Nm at 4000 rpm).

It is an award-winner, judged one of the 10 best engines in the world for the past five years. Industry publication Ward's Auto World calls it the "smoothest, rev-happiest V6 on the planet."

Nissan has also revised the car's multi-link rear suspension, relocating the lateral link behind the torsion beam and using a thicker anti-roll bar for improved handling.

The standard ST model costs $40,995 and comes with 15-inch alloy wheels, dual front airbags, anti-lock ABS brakes, air-conditioning, alloy wheels, leather steering wheel. cruise control, power windows and mirrors, remote central locking, alarm, six-stack CD with six speakers.

The Ti ($44,495) gets 16-inch wheels with lower-profile tyres, climate control air, woodgrain trim, electric driver's seat and optional trim colours. The luxury Ti ($47,995) has all the bells and whistles plus leather.

The Tino (Spanish for "good judgment") is Nissan's first entry into the medium people-mover market and aimed at active lifestylers. The seats can be configured every which way but loose and there are plenty of interior pockets, bins and cubby-holes.

"Potential buyers include those who want practical transport with stylish, futuristic looks and something different from a conventional sedan, wagon or hatchback," says John Manley, Nissan's marketing boss.

What you see is what you get with the $35,995 Tino. There is only one model available, powered by a 2-litre four-cylinder engine coupled to a CVT unit similar to that used in the Primera wagon.

It sits on 15-in wheels with MacPherson strut suspension in the front and a multi-link set-up at the rear.

Standard equipment includes climate control air-conditioning, electric windows and mirrors, central locking, four-speaker stereo with CD, dual airbags and anti-lock ABS brakes with an electronic system which distributes maximum force under braking.

CVT is a self-shifting electronic gearbox, confined in the past to small-capacity engines.

It differs from a conventional automatic in that it has no specific gear ratios. Instead of four or five mechanical gears, CVT uses an opposing pair of split conical pulleys, linked by a steel belt.

One pulley receives the torque generated by the engine and the other transmits drive torque to the wheels. The system varies the width of each split pulley, allowing the steel belt to revolve further up or down the conical pulley, thus providing infinitely variable gearing.

The effect is to have acceleration that is both efficient and unusual. The car will seamlessly speed from, say, 60 km/h to 100 km/h without much of an increase in revs.

In a conventional step-system automatic, say those who think CVT is the bee's knees, engine torque is lost when the transmission shifts up a gear.

But engineers say the downside of CVT is that its steel belt system is subject to slippage and its designers have yet to match the mechanical system's lock-up torque converter, which provides a direct mechanical link at cruising speeds and minimises the efficiency lost through hydraulic slip.

However, Nissan says it has developed a hydraulic system to generate the higher pressures that are applied to the pulleys that squeeze the steel belt.

This system applies more pressure when the engine is at full power, but reduces the squeezing force on the belt when less power is been used.

Nissan is the first carmaker in New Zealand to couple CVT with a 2-litre engine, firstly in the Primera wagon and now in the Tino. CVT is seen by almost all carmakers as the transmission of the future.