[Rusty]

According to reports, the GT-R is going to be getting a a 48V mild hybrid setup as early as 2022.

It makes sense given Nissan's goal to stop producing internal combustion engined-only cars in the 2030's and increasing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations.

If this is happening to the GT-R I imagine it's going to happen to Z as well?

Nissan GT-R To Finally Get Hybrid In Swan Song Edition

Under the pressure of electrification, which is pushing all carmakers to stop selling internal combustion engined-only cars by 2030, the GT-R is finally destined to get a hybridized powertrain.

www.forbes.com

Under the pressure of electrification, which is pushing all carmakers to stop selling internal combustion engined-only cars by 2030, the GT-R is finally destined to get a hybridized powertrain in the form of a 48V mild hybrid setup as early as 2022. The new model should inherit the current sleek body seen above in this Nismo GT-R, but receive significant aero part upgrades.

Nissan’s ability to offer a large range of electrified vehicles, which includes pure EVs, hybrids and plug-in hybrids, will help it clear CAFE, or Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations. In addition, after 2021, stricter regulations on noise emissions are expected to be enforced, further squeezing the GT-R out of the market. In fact, these regulation changes will ultimately force Nissan to cease production of the gasoline-only GT-R by 2022, which of course ties in nicely with the new hybrid version’s debut.

Nissan bosses felt that the GT-R still had some life left in it, and that it can beat those emissions and noise regulations for a little time longer, especially if it can be electrified in some way. So after careful thought, engineers decided to attach a 48V mild hybrid unit to the stock 3.8-liter twin turbo V6, an upgrade that would develop upwards of 600-hp and 481 lb-ft of torque. What that means is that this swan song edition GT-R would employ an integrated starter generator (ISG) which replaces both the starter motor and the alternator, and supplies power in certain driving conditions, thereby saving fuel and improving performance.

The $64,000 question is ‘when to expect this last-ever GT-R with the mild hybrid?’ According to one source close to Nissan, we should see a near-production ready version by late 2022, with a proposed on sale date of 2024 and with a sticker price hovering around $150,000.

 

[MCN1SMO]

There is alot to unpack there. First with the GTR hybrid news it's a bit of the telephone game. Nissan hasn't said anything about a hybrid. The original source of all this information is a small blurb in a Japanese magazine called Best Car. They simply mentioned japan has a new noise restriction coming next year and the GTR would need this mild hybrid to comply. A bunch of outlets ran with that and added to it. The noise restriction is odd because the GTR in stock form is fairly quiet and the 2017+ added a butterfly valve to shut off one side on cold starts. But yeah the rumor is it will only facilitate the gas engine and not actually drive the wheels

As for if this applies to the Z my opinion is not for the foreseeable future of the Z35. The new Z is sort of being positioned as a purist car. I think the only possibility for the Z35 is something late in the life cycle with some sort of NISMO RS like I mentioned what they were experimenting with on the Q60 project black.

Now with that said nissan has committed to all their major models going electric by early 2030s and the fact that the new Z won't be sold in europe because of emissions... This all points to the Z having to transition one day if the name will live on. But for this immediate future of the new Z? Nah I don't see it

 

[MCN1SMO]

Here was the original article I posted about last month along with a few of the magazines renders.

R36 Rumors: Hybrid Or Not?

In the latest issue of Best Car Japan. The Magazine is out with few new speculative renders and a blurb about an interesting direction for the R36. The source claims the GTR will switch to a 48 volt Mild hybrid system that is mainly directed toward noise reduction and fuel economy so the car...

www.gtrlife.com

 

[Rusty]

There is alot to unpack there. First with the GTR hybrid news it's a bit of the telephone game. Nissan hasn't said anything about a hybrid. The original source of all this information is a small blurb in a Japanese magazine called Best Car. They simply mentioned japan has a new noise restriction coming next year and the GTR would need this mild hybrid to comply. A bunch of outlets ran with that and added to it. The noise restriction is odd because the GTR in stock form is fairly quiet and the 2017+ added a butterfly valve to shut off one side on cold starts. But yeah the rumor is it will only facilitate the gas engine and not actually drive the wheels

As for if this applies to the Z my opinion is not for the foreseeable future of the Z35. The new Z is sort of being positioned as a purist car. I think the only possibility for the Z35 is something late in the life cycle with some sort of NISMO RS like I mentioned what they were experimenting with on the Q60 project black.

Now with that said nissan has committed to all their major models going electric by early 2030s and the fact that the new Z won't be sold in europe because of emissions... This all points to the Z having to transition one day if the name will live on. But for this immediate future of the new Z? Nah I don't see it

I agree that it won't happen in the immediate future for the Z. But if Nissan is dead set in the next 10 years or so to go electric then a hybrid or EV is likely. I don't think they'd scrap it so quickly.

For the GT-R I had no idea about the noise restriction angle. I just thought it was about regulations. Hopefully Nissan can sell a lot of Ariyas to offset their emissions.

 

[MCN1SMO]

I agree that it won't happen in the immediate future for the Z. But if Nissan is dead set in the next 10 years or so to go electric then a hybrid or EV is likely. I don't think they'd scrap it so quickly.

For the GT-R I had no idea about the noise restriction angle. I just thought it was about regulations. Hopefully Nissan can sell a lot of Ariyas to offset their emissions.

yeah it seems if this rumor is to be believed the hybrid is out of necessity for noise regulations in Japanese market. with a mild hybrid you could start the car in full EV mode for almost a total quiet start.

The GTR is in a weird position and i dont think this type of hybrid will help it. from a strictly performance standpoint the standard non NISMO car plateaued in about the 2014 model year. there wasnt much more they could get out of it raw numbers. Since then they focused on the GT part as the R was pretty much maxed out for the platform.

The new cars are more quite better interiors and smoother transmission, refinement ect, ect. The car is now more of a BMW M5 fighter than a lap time king like it used to be as the 0-60 and lap times ect never really surpassed the 2014/15 years.

the problem with that was many cars caught up and surpassed the GTR in performance in those last 5 years. The GTR used to hang with the Porsche Turbo/ Turbo S but those cars have really progressed in the last half decade where the GTR hasnt. the GT3 and cayman GT4 have surpassed it as well as the C8 corvette. Adding a hybrid of this nature wont really make up that gap without a new platform. the NSX seems like an amazing car to drive but it was kind of dead on arrival with sales because it was very expensive in relation to the performance and the GTR hybrid could risk repeating this. the 2009 GTR I initially bought cost about $72K the base GTR today is about $112. a hybrid GTR starting at $150K that still doesnt compete with the Turbo/ TurboS seems like a non starter to me

if I had $150 to spend on a new car I would also go look at even something totally different even beyond the a half step hybrid to something like that new Audi e-tron GT RS ive seen advertised. that thing looks crazy

 

[S30R32]

yeah it seems if this rumor is to be believed the hybrid is out of necessity for noise regulations in Japanese market. with a mild hybrid you could start the car in full EV mode for almost a total quiet start.

The GTR is in a weird position and i dont think this type of hybrid will help it. from a strictly performance standpoint the standard non NISMO car plateaued in about the 2014 model year. there wasnt much more they could get out of it raw numbers. Since then they focused on the GT part as the R was pretty much maxed out for the platform.

The new cars are more quite better interiors and smoother transmission, refinement ect, ect. The car is now more of a BMW M5 fighter than a lap time king like it used to be as the 0-60 and lap times ect never really surpassed the 2014/15 years.

the problem with that was many cars caught up and surpassed the GTR in performance in those last 5 years. The GTR used to hang with the Porsche Turbo/ Turbo S but those cars have really progressed in the last half decade where the GTR hasnt. the GT3 and cayman GT4 have surpassed it as well as the C8 corvette. Adding a hybrid of this nature wont really make up that gap without a new platform. the NSX seems like an amazing car to drive but it was kind of dead on arrival with sales because it was very expensive in relation to the performance and the GTR hybrid could risk repeating this. the 2009 GTR I initially bought cost about $72K the base GTR today is about $112. a hybrid GTR starting at $150K that still doesnt compete with the Turbo/ TurboS seems like a non starter to me

if I had $150 to spend on a new car I would also go look at even something totally different even beyond the a half step hybrid to something like that new Audi e-tron GT RS ive seen advertised. that thing looks crazy

Lots of good points here, the 400Z will probably be my last ICE sports car, an e-hybrid makes good future sense and can be made/upgraded to insane powers; where the world's technology is going to.

I just can't pull the trigger on an EV, see more and more Teslas on track, but can't warm up to them without the glorious engine and exhaust sounds.

 

[THaskins]

Interestingly enough Nissan claims to have updated its e-Power hybrid system to reach 50% thermal efficiency. Which is pretty damn impressive compared to the competition.

Nissan Claims Gasoline Engine Tech Breakthrough

Not all automakers are abandoning the internal combustion engine but are rather reinventing it to make it capable of meeting future emissions standards. Nissan is one of them with its updated e-Power hybrid system. In fact, Nissan calls this a "breakthrough" in engine efficiency because it has...

carbuzz.com

Not all automakers are abandoning the internal combustion engine but are rather reinventing it to make it capable of meeting future emissions standards. Nissan is one of them with its updated e-Power hybrid system. In fact, Nissan calls this a "breakthrough" in engine efficiency because it has reached a 50 percent thermal efficiency. Thermal efficiency, for those who don't know, is the percentage of heat energy that is transformed into work. Toyota's Dynamic Force Engine, for example, has a 40 percent efficiency. Most internal combustion engines are only 20 percent thermally efficient.

"Nissan's latest approach to engine development has raised the bar to world-leading levels, accelerating past the current auto industry average range of 40 percent thermal efficiency, making it possible to even further reduce vehicle C02 emissions," the company said in a statement.

Nissan's latest e-Power system consists of an on-board gasoline engine to charge a battery that powers the wheels with electric motors instead of a transmission. Achieving that coveted 50 percent thermal efficiency was made possible with the newly developed STARC system, or "strong, tumble, and appropriately stretched robust ignition channel."

This system allows for improved thermal efficiency by strengthening in-cylinder gas flow, which is the air-fuel mixture that's pulled into the cylinder, and the ignition. The result is a more diluted air-fuel mixture at a higher compression ratio. Engineers were thus able to reach 46 percent thermal efficiency during testing, and the last 4 percent came from unspecified "waste heat recovery technologies."

The e-Power technology was first revealed back in 2016 though it has not yet appeared in a US-market vehicle. We fully expect this to change because Nissan has also announced a goal to become carbon neutral by 2050. As part of the plan, every new Nissan will be electrified in all key markets by the early 2030s.

No timeline was provided regarding when the latest e-Power tech will reach production, but we think it'll happen fairly soon. Could it potentially be used for the next-generation Nissan GT-R? Anything's possible but Nissan may instead prefer to utilize a pure battery-electric powertrain for its halo supercar.