Slower-Phy?

I had a chance to take some quick snap shots of the Sylphy when I was @ TCEAS doing my rear disc brake and beam conversion. This is what happens when the major criteria in a car's design is NVH, comfort, cost and less cost.

The G11 Sylphy rear beam. The much maligned Scott-Russell lateral link fitted to the N16/G10/B15 is MIA which is a good thing for starters. The beam, arms and shock absorber mounts are all in one piece and integral with the beam. Can't do much here in terms of adding aftermarket anti-roll bars and chassis bars. Any upgrade on stiffness would mean upgrading the entire beam assembly. Ouch!

The lines in blue are hydraulic brake lines. Closeup of the hydraulic brake lines. The trailing arms have a bend so Nissan had to mount the brake lines on the straight beam itself.

Holy cut-outs on the beam Batman! Got flex?

No these are not reversed super aero brake cooling ducts but merely the platform to locate the rear coil springs and damper/shock absorber.  The Sylphy is the only current market 2 litre car still on rear drum brakes. Some 1.5 litre cars have better rear disc brakes.

Here's an ESM picture of the G11 rear beam and suspension. Don't ask me where I got it from :)

These are bout the pictures I managed to take. Other "interesting" design decisions include: PCD denoted Pitch Circle Diameter and is the distance between 2 opposite wheel or rim lugs and is a good indication of wheel bearing size and hub or upright stiffness. The Japs have settled for 2 sizes. 100mm PCD 4 bolt pattern for smaller cars (A and B segment ie. Myvi, Vios, City)  and 114.3mm PCD with 5 bolt pattern for larger C and D segment cars (Civic, Altis, Lancer, Accord). The 2 litre Sylphy is approaching D segment in size but uses the 100mm PCD 4 bolt pattern. Erm. Obviously the designers are not worried about caliper piston knock pad under performance or track driving conditions. Stop Tech has a good explanation on what piston knock back is here.

And finally (I forgot to take a picture but you can check it out on the web or better still go ask a TCM salesman. I am very interested in the answer) the Sylphy's speedo goes to only 190km/h max. JDM meters on a Bolehland car? I find it hard to believe. When I asked my TCEAS technician he just shrugged his shoulders and mentioned "CVT". You make the judgement. I admire the frankness and honesty.

Interestingly Impul in Japan (not the MYDM ripoff) has a 170hp engine package including throttle body, cams, pistons and even ECU upgrades. You read it from me first here. :) While the MR20DE engine like any other modern 2 litre engine shouldn't have an issue with such a power output I would really like to see how the flexi, truck like suspension and CVT gearboxed Sylphy cope with the additional power and stress. The brakes are also going to have a field day! As I mentioned in an earlier post, what a crying shame from the same company that spawned the 200ps 1.6 Pulsar VZR N1, Skylines, Sylvias and now R35 GTR. Bolehland Nissan performance driving enthusiasts deserve a better car!