| Nissan NX | |
| Model Code: | B13 |
| Manufacturer: | Nissan |
| Class: | Sports car Sport compact |
| Production: | 1990–1996 |
| Assembly: | Oppama Plant, Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan |
| Body Style: | 2-door coupé 2-door Targa top |
| Layout: | FF layout |
| Wheelbase: | 24300NaN0 |
| Length: | NaN0NaN0 |
| Width: | 16800NaN0 |
| Height: | NaN0NaN0 |
| Weight: | 940- |
| Designer: | Jerry Hirshberg |
The Nissan NX is a front wheel drive 2-door sports car produced by Nissan Motors. The NX was, loosely, an evolution of the Nissan Pulsar NX/Nissan EXA sold from 1987 to 1990 and the Nissan Sunny Coupe lines of the 1970s and 1980s, merging the Nissan B13 and N14 lineages. The NX was released in Japan in 1990.
The NX1600 was based on the standard 1.6-litre Sentra (engine code GA16DE), and the NX2000 was based on the 2.0 L SE-R model (engine code SR20DE). Most models were fitted with T-Tops, whilst the remainder were hardtops. Constructed in Japan, it was sold from 1991 to 1993 in the US (mainly competing with the Mazda MX-3, Isuzu Piazza, Toyota MR2, and Honda Civic Del Sol). It was produced for a few more years for other countries. Its body was designed at NDI (Nissan Design International) in San Diego under the direction of NDI President Jerry Hirshberg, Blue Studio Chief Designer Allan Flowers, and staff designers Bruce Campbell and Doug Wilson.
The NX2000 model included some mechanical improvements over its SE-R sibling in the form of 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.
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 1993 had a carburetor fitted which tended to consume excessive fuel as it aged. From April 1993 to 1996, the 100NX was sold with a more efficient fuel injected setup. In November 1993 a version called the SR appeared. This stands for "Steel Roof" as this slightly sportier model was lighter and more rigid. The SR's engine produced somewhat more power than the regular GA16DS thanks to a modified control unit and an enlarged intake manifold. The gearing was also shorter than for the regular 1.6.
The 1.6 liter fuel injected version achieved 0mph60mph in 10.5 seconds and had a top speed of 1210NaN0.
The 100NX was mainly sold with a T-bar removable roof in Europe although this does vary from country to country. Specialised Badged Editions sold only in 1995 include the "Pacific" in Ireland and the United Kingdom and the "Sail" in the Netherlands. Features vary from country to country, such features include heated seats, electric windows, other differences although rarer include cup holders, umbrella holder embedded in the driver's side B-pillar, and headlight wipers.
The Nissan 100NX was initially introduced in the UK in April 1991 as part of the Nissan Pulsar range replacing the Nissan Sunny 1.6 GSX Coupe. At this time Nissan UK, the British importer were in a heated dispute with Nissan Motor Corporation over profit margins. In an attempt to deliberately shrink market share Nissan UK launched the entire Pulsar range with no promotion as well as only providing a limited colour range and pricing all models well above their position in the market. At launch the 100NX was only available with the 1.6L 95 PS carburetor engine, and in a basic specification, priced at £14,585, the same price as a 2.0 L Toyota MR2 and £1,000 more than the 2.0L Honda Prelude. T-bar roof and automatic transmission were optional. In January 1992 Nissan Motor Corporation set up their own importer (Nissan Motor (GB) LTD) and relaunched the entire Nissan Range, the 100NX now coming with alloy wheels, T-bar roof and front foglights as standard at a lower price of £11,817 and was available in a full range of colours.
From February 1993 to 1996, the 100NX the carburetor engine was replaced by a more efficient fuel injected setup.
The Nissan NX was also sold in the Japanese domestic market as the Nissan Sunny NX Coupé. Some models were fitted with T-Tops, whilst others were hardtop. The Japanese domestic Sunny NX Coupés 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, and was exclusive to Nissan Cherry Store Japanese dealerships.
The Nissan NX was sold in the Australian market as the Nissan NX Coupé. A range topping model known as the NX-R included an added front lip with fog/driving lights, side skirts, lip rear spoiler, 14" Alloy Wheels (N14 SSS Pulsar), cruise control, leather steering wheel and gear knob, electric windows and ABS (Anti-lock Braking System). Both models were only ever offered with the powerful 105 kW/178Nm 2.0L naturally aspirated inline 4 cylinder engine (SR20DE). The NX also came with a choice between a smooth 4-speed automatic gearbox or a sporty 5-speed manual. Unfortunately, no LSD (Limited Slip Differential) was offered in Australia for the NX range. It has a claimed 0–100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of 8.2 seconds[1] and with a combined fuel consumption figure of just 8.4L/100 km would be considered above average.
In Australia, the 1991-94 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.
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 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.[3]) The car timed out for eligibility for SSB racing soon thereafter.
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 in his Sentra SE-R 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 Greg Amy was the same 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.[4]
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.