New Ve HICLe NISSAN SUNNY 10th Generation NissaN suNNy Debuts iN iNDia Nissan Sunny as a brand wouldn’t sound unfamiliar to many, as it has a 45-year-old history and has come a long way from the Datsun 1000 it was born as, to the latest 10 th generation Sunny we’ve featured here. The car was originally named by more than eight million Japanese people through a competition run by the carmaker. 48 www.autotechreview.com SucceSSful Brand sensitive segment, which pushes car Another technical highlight of the “V” manu facturers to squeeze everything they platform is its ability to provide light- Over the past four and half decades, the can right from supply chain to logistics. weight manufacturing through usage of Sunny has been one of Nissan’s most suc- Technical innovations and features are plastic instead of steel in many places and cessful brands globally. Sold under differ- a strong USP in this segment and on lending smaller dimensions to parts such ent brand names such as Sentra, Pulsar paper the Sunny seems to have a sound as the fuel tank. In India, Nissan has and Tsuru, the car has been offered to presence in this area. made good use of Renault’s knowledge consumers across 140 countries in various about local sourcing and the present local- body styles, ranging from a small hatch- isation stands at about 80 %, which leads back to a station wagon. Overall, the ear- new “V” Platform to great savings in areas such as logistics lier nine generations of the Sunny has and import duties. accounted for a combined sale of more Nissan’s “V” (Versatile) platform is an This is the first time that the Japanese than 16 million units world over. important link in the chain for Renault- carmaker has moved away from tradi- The Sunny started out as a rear-wheel Nissan towards their future strategy for tional manufacturing in developed mar- drive vehicle before transitioning into developing markets such as India. The kets to growing, yet more challenging a front wheel drive layout in the early platform allows the company to bring out markets, such as India. Nissan expects the 1980s. The brand was one of the few different body styles without the need to “V” platform to go a long way towards success stories during the oil crisis in the invest in areas such as LHD to RHD con- fulfilling its ambitions in such developing 1970s with the key USPs being high fuel- version, powertrain options, meeting markets. efficiency and low-buying cost. Over the crash test norms and emission norms of last decade or so the production of Sunny different regions. This flexibility results in stopped in Japan, which led to absence of significant cost-savings for both brands Powertrain the brand name from many large Asian and added room for development of new markets such as China and Japan. technologies, specific to local markets. The Nissan Sunny is powered by a 4-cyl- At the 2010 China International Auto The “V” platform is essentially an evo- inder 1.5 litre DOHC petrol engine, code- Show, Nissan launched the 10th generation lution of the older and still operational named HR 15, from Nissan’s HR engine Sunny, a global compact-sedan in collabo- “B” platform, which is the base for cars family. The same range of engine also ration with Dongfeng Motor Company of such as Clio, Cube and Twingo. The finds place in other Nissan products such China. The car expectedly found its way strength and potential success of the plat- as the Tiida, Bluebird and Juke. The HR into the Indian market and is presently form stands tall on the foundation of the family of engines, along with MR series, manufactured at the company’s plant in extensive knowledge sharing between are Nissan’s global engines for volume- Chennai. The car will be sold in 170 Renault and Nissan. The platform pres- selling models. The key focus for these countries under various names, including ently uses diesel engines and transmis- engines is to reduce energy losses, while “Versa” for the United States. sions from Renault, while the petrol maximising power output and fuel-effi- Nissan didn’t have a desirable run in engines make do with a common ciency. The key to achieving the result the Indian market until it launched its 1st Nissan-Renault engine block. Technical though lay in overcoming several small car based on the “V” platform, the Micra synergies such as these help the technical humps such as friction-reduc- hatchback. The Sunny is an attempt to company save millions in the field of tion, improved combustion & cooling expand in a growing yet extremely price- R&D and manufacturing. efficiency and better intake & exhaust The Sunny’s exterior is easy to the eye without any radical curves and the The HR15 4-cylinder 1.5 l engine produces 99 ps @ 6,000 rpm and a torque of sloping roofline helps improve aerodynamics 134 Nm @ 4,000 rpm with an ARAI certified fuel-efficiency of 16.95 kmpl. autotechreview November 2011 Zero Issue 49 New Ve HICLe NISSAN SUNNY efficiency. In India, Nissan claims an the piston velocity and allows more meter: 130 µm) in a multi-hole fine ARAI-certified mileage of 16.95 kmpl. efficient usage of combustion energy, spray injector. The new parts help We explain below how each technical while improving thermal efficiency. reduce the particle size by about area within the powertrain was B. imProVing comBuStion efficiency: 40 %, while increasing the range. addressed*: a. PlaStic intake manifold with integrated d. imProVing cooling efficiency: Cooling a. reducing friction: tumBle control ValVe: In order to make efficiency of an engine is directly pro- a. Bore circularity matching: Cylinder the combustion process more effi- portional to its anti-knock capability bores on a conventional engine might cient, Nissan claims that the HR during combustion at higher compres- undergo some deformation due to the engines have an improved tumble sion ratios. In the HR engines, Nissan axial forces, when a cylinder head is control valve capable of generating reduced the water jacket wall thick- bolted to a cylinder block. On the HR optimal longitudinal vortex of the air- ness around the combustion cham- engines though, the bore is exposed to fuel mixture to enhance combustion bers to 4.5 mm, a reduction of about circularity machining, which prevents stability. The cylinder walls and pis- 25 % over the previous design without bore deformation due to axial forces ton crowns too are designed to induce compromising on strength and rigid- acting upon the cylinder head bolts. tumble swirl. The combined result of ity. The increased room for the cool- This leads to reduced friction between these applications is better fuel econ- ant thus results in better cooling. the piston ring and cylinder bore and omy due to optimised air-fuel mixture e. m12 SPark PlugS: The HR engines use hence a significant reduction in power consumption. M12 spark plugs of smaller size allow- losses. b. large caPacity egr SyStem: The EGR ing for added flexibility in the water b. mirror finiShing: The crankshaft and system directs a part of the exhaust jacket and thereby aiding cooling camshaft journals are finished with a gases to the intake manifold and efficiency. polishing-tape to bring out a smoother hence enhances fuel efficiency, while c. oPtimizing intake/exhauSt efficiency: front intake/rear exhauSt layout: and shinier surface, which in turn keeping NOx emissions down. Nissan a. The helps reducing the friction of these claims its enhanced combustion proc- HR family of engines sport a front components. esses such as the tumble control valve intake and rear exhaust layout with c. offSet cylinderS: The HR engines are help the engine use more amounts of long intake runners, which are fitted at an off-set to reduce friction exhaust gases and thus return better claimed to be capable of increasing arising from the angle of the connect- fuel efficiency and power delivery. the torque in the low and mid-range ing rod, when a piston travels down c. fine SPray injectorS: It’s a well-known and achieve smoother exhaust flow. into a cylinder. The smoother func- fact that a finer particle size of the d. engine acouSticS: tioning of pistons enhances power injector’s spray helps achieve better a. equal length manifold BrancheS: The output and fuel-efficiency in-turn. In combustion and reduce hydrocarbons. intake manifold on the HR engine fea- addition, the engine architecture In the HR engines the 4-hole injector tures four branches of equal acoustic allows the piston to have a lengthier nozzle plate (diameter: 250 µm) is length. This design brings out sounds upper movement, which slows down replaced with a 12-hole version (dia- created by lighter and clear sounding Internals of the C-VTC controls VVT operation and controls valve timing increase torque HR15 engine in the range of 2,000 rpm. 50 www.autotechreview.com components and dampens those cre- the AC compressor, power steering way into achieving the objective. The drag ated by heavier parts. Nissan claims pump, alternator and other engine coefficient for Sunny is 0.318, a very good this application to significantly reduce components. Herein, the pulleys are number since the segment it competes in the rough engine noise during put in a single plane resulting in is very sensitive towards fuel-efficiency. acceleration. shorter engine length while usage of Overall dimensions aren’t too large b. Silent chain driVe: A camshaft drive auto-tensioners lowers the belt load and a short hood aids in manoeuvrability chain creates sound when its pins and enhances part life.