Engines
The first two generations S30 (240Z/260Z/280Z) and S130 (280ZX) of Z-car were powered by a Straight-6, (part of the L-series of Nissan engines, which powered most of their vehicles until the early 1980s) with a displacement of 2.4 L in the first incarnation, and increasing to 2.6 L and 2.8 L in the 260Z, and the 280Z and ZX, respectively.
The second generation, the 280ZX, introduced in 1979 was a complete re-design, retaining only the L28 engine and other driveline components. A turbo option was introduced in 1981, bringing performance surpassing that of the original 240Z.
The third generation, the 300ZX, switched to a 3.0 L V6. There were 2 generations of the 300ZX, the Z31 from 1984 to 1989, and the Z32 from 1990 to 1996. Both the Z31 and Z32 came in either non-turbo or turbo trims. During the 90's the cars price continued to elevate and sales continued to fall. Even a major design change in 1998 couldn't save it, and production finally ended in 1999.
While the model names were based on the engine capacity for the US markets, with the 240Z having a 2.4-litre L24 engine and the 260Z having a 2.6 litre L26 engine and so on to the 300ZX 3.0 litre V6, due to Japanese taxation laws relating to engine capacity some second and third generation (S130 and Z31) Fairlady Z cars were produced for the Japanese domestic market fitted with 2.0L engines. The S130 was available with an L20ET inline 6, while the Z31 had either a RB20DET inline 6 or a VG20ET V6.
In the 2003 model year, Nissan reentered the US sports-car market with the 350Z, powered by a 3.5 L V6 (VQ35DE), and styled in an attempt to create a more modern interpretation of the 240Z's lines. It had a new six-speed manual gearbox, and is capable of over 155 mph (249 km/h). The 350Zs engine was updated twice during the cars life cycle with mechanical changes that also brought modest bumps in power. One of the features initially available was a twin turbo feature. That feature was later taken off but still added by many drivers today as a modification at their own expense.
The 2009+ 370Zs feature a 3.7L V6(VQ37VHR) producing 332HP (350HP in NISMO trim).
Read more about this topic: Nissan Z-car
Famous quotes containing the word engines:
“America is like one of those old-fashioned six-cylinder truck engines that can be missing two sparkplugs and have a broken flywheel and have a crankshaft that’s 5000 millimeters off fitting properly, and two bad ball-bearings, and still runs. We’re in that kind of situation. We can have substantial parts of the population committing suicide, and still run and look fairly good.”
—Thomas McGuane (b. 1939)