Nissan MID4

Nissan MID4
Overview
Manufacturer Nissan
Production 1985–1987
Body and chassis
Class Concept car
Body style 2-door coupe
Layout Mid engine, all-wheel drive

History

First unveiled at the 1985 Frankfurt Autoshow, the MID4 was a concept car designed by Nissan to originally go on sale in the mid-late 1980s. Nissan had aimed the MID4 to compete with European supercars from Porsche and Ferrari. It featured a mid-engined all wheel drive layout as well as a wide array of technology and features that would eventually find their way into other Nissan production cars. The MID4 prototypes would evolve into the MID4 II, though it would never be put into production.

Early Development

The responsibility of creating the MID4 was given to a team of designers headed by Shinichiro Sakurai in the spring of 1984. The progress of Sakurai's MID4 team was amazingly rapid, the first four prototypes were completed by March 1985.

MID4

MID4
Body and chassis
Body style 2-door coupe
Layout Transverse, Mid engine, all-wheel drive
Related Nissan 300ZX
Powertrain
Engine 3.0 L (2,960 cc) VG30DE V6
Transmission 5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase 2,435 mm (95.9 in)
Length 4,150 mm (163.4 in)
Width 1,770 mm (69.7 in)
Height 1,198 mm (47.2 in)
Curb weight 1,230 kg (2,712 lb)

The MID4 was first unveiled at the 1985 Frankfurt Autoshow. The AWD system distributed the power from the newly designed VG30DE engine with 33% to the front and 67% to the rear, and was the predecessor to the ATTESA system. The MID4 was also the first car to feature Nissan's brand new 4 wheel HICAS steering system and had a claimed top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h).

Rear

MID4 II

MID4 II
Body and chassis
Body style 2-door coupe
Layout Longitudinal, Mid engine, all-wheel drive
Related
Powertrain
Engine 3.0 L (2,960 cc) VG30DETT V6 twin turbo
Transmission 5-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase 2,435 mm (95.9 in)
Length 4,150 mm (163.4 in)
Height 1,198 mm (47.2 in)
Curb weight 1,400 kg (3,086 lb)

The MID4 II made its debut at the 1987 Tokyo Motor Show and featured many revisions to the previous design. The MID4 II sported the twin turbo intercooled VG30DETT which put out 330 PS (243 kW). The MID4 II was ultimately never produced due to cost.

Rear

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nissan MID4 and Nissan MID4 II.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 1/19/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.