Nissan was very smart the way they have their cars this year... (im not familar of the past years but 03 / and 04 i am)

350z
Altima 3.5
Maxima (04)
Murano
(the truck thingy?)
G35 Coupe / Sedan
FX35

all share the SAME ENGINE!

Cost of making more of the same part is much cheeper then the cost of making a specific engine for a specific vehical...

So if the Z engine was made just for the Z im sure the Z would be much more expensive...

now the other parts are different... but those are much cheeper parts to manufacture...

only 1 type of engine block needs to be made for the above vehicals... tranny / intakes / etc... those are different.. but much cheeper to manufacture...

so why am i thinking about this...

All these nissans that use this engine.. would probably cost a few grand more each at minimum if they werent sharing the same engine..

 

been inside the plant that makes SOME of the engines(NOT the Z engine, as they are produced in japan).

but they do have a plant in deckard tenn.

stacks and stacks of blocks on pallets, along with machinary as far as the eye can see with a overhead line moving the engines from one stage to the next.

a sight to behold indeed.

 

Nissan decide to use the same engine on many car for the exact reason you stated.

From what I heard, Nissan was in financial trouble so they decide to do that. They could not afford to put more capital on building new engines.

Also, Infiniti sales are not helping very much.

 

i dont suppose they'd allow cameras in a place like that? cuz that would make a great wallpaper

 

actually none at all. you gotta leave it all at the door.

it really is incredable, for anyone in tenn near there, just go there and drive around the facility, the entire thing is on a few thousand acres of "free trade zone" basicly japan in america. all fenced off and whatnot. most of it is unused, but there is a full sized driving range on the grounds, as apparently japanese love golf.

as for the plant itself.... well Ive never seen anything like it.

for some idea, tho the one in miss is larger by a HUGE margin it is 2.5million square feet. a football field is 67000square feet. so yes the one in miss is the size of 373 football fields!!!

ponder that for a while and then just TRY and understand how big that is... I mean it literally when I say as far as the eye can see.

 

itskind oflike how ikea furniture has all the same bolts / connecters on all their furniture...

I dont konw of any other car company really doing this...

i mean.. ford - focus 2.5 duratec / mercury cougar 2.5 duratec / etc..

 

Yeah, he one in Mississippi is gigantic. I'm from there, so I've seen it quite a few times - from construction to finished facility. It sits right beside the highway (I-55) and it really is a sight to see.

 

GM uses a lot of the same engines in different GM cars.

Toyota has jumped on the modular philosophy, as well.

 

Most of the companies use common 'parts bins' in their cars. I just think, IMHO, that Nissan has done it the best out of any company out there. All of the cars that Nissan makes have their own 'identities' and it is hard to tell that the parts come from the same bin (e.g. the instrument cluster on the Murano is similar, but not identical to, the Z). Now, compare this to Ford for instance. Look inside the 'stang...notice how the instrument panels are IDENTICAL to the ones in most other Ford vehicles....same for the instrument cluster, same for the steering wheel. Finally, notice how on the 'stang the passenger side dash has the same shape as the driver side dash. Ever wonder why this is? Makes it easier for them to make right hand drive cars...it's completly modular. Notice how on the Nissans/Infinitis this is not the case. This is why Nissan has done the common parts bin exercise better than anyone and why it's been a great stock to own.

And, Nissan did start using this system because of financial problems...it's worked out great for them (and for us).

 

How is the Z's engine different from any of the models it? What components actually make the Z's version of the 3.5 litre engine unique?

 

intake... ecu... maybe cams... (thinking)

 

As far as I know the Z shares the platform with either Pathfinder or Xterra (one of the SUVs) that's why it's so heavy. Now I don't exactly remember where I read this and I don't know how true that is but at least it's a somewhat reasonable explanation for the weight and low price.

 

that is inocorrect MadMax, the Xterra shares the same platform with the frontier, the Pathfinder is a seperate frame.

 

the Z shares the same platform as the G35 sedan and coupe and the FX....the FM(front midship) platform

 

nope!

the Z and the G35coupe are not onthe same platform... the G35 coupe has a longer wheel base...

that just about gives away that it doesn thave the same chassie

 

Well the 3.5 isnt a new engine and its been around since 2000 in the Pathfinder, it just didnt get any hype until it showed up in the 2002 Maxima! It just just made its way into the other cars within the next 2 years.

 

I was talking to a friend about this, and we were thinking that the wheel base doesn't have to be the same in order to share a "platform". We figured you can easily lengthen a frame (and driveshaft, of course) while still retaining the same "platform".

This would explain how the 350Z, G35, and FX series could share a platform. Same engine, tranny, and even frame design. It's just the frame is lengthened a bit for the longer vehicles.

I don't know for sure, of course. This is just something we were tossing around to help explain it.

 

The heavens opened, lightning flashed....and all that crap my college econ professors taught me about economies of scale suddenly made perfect sense...

The 350z...brought to you by the miracle of microeconomic theory.

 

same platform would be taking the whole body and putting it onto the chassie without any other changes...

ie...

1996 ford ranger / 1996 ford explorer

 

This is nothing new to Nissan and other manufacturers (i.e Ford's modular V-8). Prior to the VQ, the VG series of motors were used for literally all Nissan V-6 applications and the VG is still used in some of Nissan's lineup today.

Regarding the platform, the 350 is built on a shortened "FM" platform. Actually, "FM" is a misleading term. Nissan has 2-3 FWD platforms and 2-3 RWD platforms. FM is their marketing term for any of the RWD platforms.

If you want to get very technical about the platforms, then the VQ in the 350 is not the same VQ in other Nissans due to intake and exhaust differences.

Michael.