Rain sensor, collision warning, navigation, downsize engine, touchscreen, cruise control…
Nissan was way too modest when it built the NRV-II in 1982. The car that you could wear out all too easily for a weekday Sunny with crazy hubcaps was really a top-level study model. And you can even call that an understatement; the small sedan was a true visionary. Only no one saw him.
Spectacular concept cars set the tone at the 1983 Tokyo Motor Show. The Japanese brands tumble over each other to catch the attention of the no less than 1.2 million visitors who shuffle through the exhibition complex in the fall of that year. A leading role is played by the Toyota SV-3, a small mid-engined sports car, which would go into production a year later as the MR2. Elsewhere on the stand, the super-sleek FX-1 towers over the crowd. Mazda is very successful with the MX-02, whose lines would not look out of place on a Citroën, while Nissan counters with the NX-21, which has wide gull-wing doors and a gas turbine in the rear. And what’s with that little gray saloon back there on the Nissan stand? Looks like a Sunny with Japanese specifications – just look at those crazy mirrors and hubcaps and the different color on the sides. It says NRV II, no idea what it means. Keep going, because there is so much more to see…
Rehabilitation for this concept based on Nissan Sunny
Journalists who take another look at the press kit that was handed out in the hotel room in the evening read that the apparently insignificant NRV-II (in Nissan’s communication with a hyphen) has very high technology. Only this Nissan Research Vehicle seems to want to keep it all to itself on the show floor – it was just short of a camouflage suit. And whether this was Nissan’s intention or not, it led to that timid but important ‘Sunny’ retreating to his room after the stock market closed. Never heard from again. Unjustified, as we want to emphasize with this story. Time for rehabilitation.
NRV-II example of Japanese modesty
The more you read about the Nissan NRV-II (let’s hold onto that dash), the more server space you’ll need to adequately describe it. It doesn’t stop with inventions that are now very topical and of which you would never suspect that they were already screwed onto a small family car 37 years ago. If the world had valued this model at the time, and given it the attention it deserves, we would have been able to form a very good picture of motoring in 2023 at an early stage. This makes the NRV-II a feather in the cap of the Nissan engineers, but a red cross behind the name of the marketing people, who missed an opportunity for a lot of positive publicity. Well, it must be Japanese modesty not to build all the beauty into a spectacular supercar, but into their most everyday model. Nissan had been building this Sunny for two years.
Conceived for a congress for scientists
Still, there is an answer to the question why the NRV-II looks so ordinary. And that is that this car was not conceived for the show ballet of the motor show, but as a talking piece for a congress for scientists. Then a glamorous appearance is only a distraction, was perhaps the thinking. For the backgrounds of this we switch to the city of Kyoto, 450 kilometers west of Tokyo. In addition, we step back in time an extra year, because Nissan is present with the NRV-II at the beginning of November 1982 at the ninth international conference for experimental safety vehicles. There, roughly 450 experts (mainly accident investigators and safety developers) from eleven countries gather there to demonstrate their experimental designs and findings and to discuss them. Nissan sends twelve clever minds, who together represent three areas of expertise. They have a lot in store for their professional audiences.
Doors with beams
The first group of Nissan engineers brings up the topic of side impact, and then, of course, the measures they have devised to reduce the risk of injury. They explain that they reinforced the doors and body. Not an innovation in itself, because Volvo and Saab have been doing that for years, but it does enter Nissan at the level of the smaller, more affordable car. Nevertheless, it would take until the 1990s before things like the famous beams in the doors would become commonplace. The second group discusses a topic related to the above, but at the level of the crash test dummies, which they believe can be much better attuned to side impact observations.
Radar that should prevent collisions
The third Nissan group discusses their new stereo radar system that should help avoid collisions. Such systems already exist, but they often give an incorrect signal because they have difficulty distinguishing between harmless objects on the side of the road and obstacles that actually block the path of the car. The Nissan team will be presenting a new radar system at the congress, developed jointly with the Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. It includes two transmitters in the front bumper and two receivers behind the grille. Electronics calculates the speed difference at which the radar beams are emitted and returned, allowing the system to determine whether there are objects in the vicinity of the car and at what speed they are approaching each other. It then calculates, based on the current speed, the potential available braking deceleration and the steering angle, whether it should intervene to avoid a collision. The developers happily argue that their system is smaller, lighter, and potentially less expensive than anything else comparable on the market. It is also easier to install.
And then Nissan’s speaking time is up. The story of the three teams is impressive, but only covers a fraction of what else new finds have been incorporated into the NRV-II. The Nissan quietly disappears from the scene, only to experience its public debut a year later, on the Tokyo stock exchange floor. After which it becomes quiet again around the study model. And it will remain that way, because we now know that the brave NRV-II no longer exists. But in this article he can show what he had in his march. Honor where credit is due.
All inventions in a row
DOWNSIZE ENGINE
In 1982, to get 118 hp to the crankshaft, a two-liter engine was soon needed. Turbos were only used sparingly at the time, but the NRV-II already had it. As a result, 1.3 liters of swept volume was enough. But then you had to give him 100 percent methanol to drink.
RAIN SENSOR
The rain sensor, which controls the windshield wipers, is housed in the dark area in front of the interior mirror. It would be 1994 before the first car appeared with such a feature: the Peugeot 406.
LIGHT SENSOR
A light-sensitive sensor determines whether the headlights come on or not. The driver no longer has to worry about it.
RADAR
Like a pair of watchdogs, sensors monitor the area in front of the car and then activate when something appears in the intended trajectory that could threaten a collision.
PLASTIC WINDOWS
No windows made of glass, but of plastic. This is not only potentially safer in a crash, Nissan claims, but also makes the car significantly lighter. The target weight of the NRV-II was 850 kg.
BELT PRETENSIONERS
The belt tensioners that Nissan already installed in this study model in 1982 are now commonplace. In the event of a collision, they briefly pull themselves tight to give the seatbelt wearer space again immediately afterwards.
SIDE CROSS PROTECTION
Nissan conducted several crash tests that learned how best to reinforce the A and B pillars. There are two bars each in both front doors.
TOUCH SCREEN
A mini-television with – and that is new – buttons that appear on the screen itself and therefore have to be touched there. The application is multiple, because the screen shows the time, the selected radio station and the navigation system.
NAVIGATION SYSTEM
GPS data had not yet been released for civil applications, so the driver must first tell this navigation system what his current position is. If you deviate from the prescribed route, a warning will appear.
VOICE RECOGNITION
For the sake of convenience, shouting ‘hey Nissan’ was not an option in 1982; the owner first had to recite up to 26 commands and enter them into the car’s memory. Once he had learned this lesson, you could call out the desired command at the touch of a button. Just like today.
MULTI-FUNCTION STEERING WHEEL
It is impossible to imagine the modern car without the steering wheel with all kinds of buttons and wheels in the steering wheel spokes. The NRV-II has twelve in the heart of the steering wheel, which, like some earlier Citroëns, does not turn with the steering wheel rim. They are linked to the on-board computer, the radio, cruise control and a ‘multi meter’.
FATIGUE RECOGNITION
The ‘drowsiness monitor’ assesses how fit the driver still is and sounds a visual and acoustic alarm when he is about to drift off to sleep. Volvo has been using this system since 2007 (Driver Alert Control).
DISTANCE CONTROL
If you drive too close behind your predecessor, a light will flash, a speaking computer will express itself in warning terms and the cruise control will lower the pace. In 2001, the Nissan Primera was the first mid-size car (in Germany) to be equipped with these features.
DIGITAL SPEEDOMETER
No analog speedometer in the NRV-II, but LCD crystals that form numbers just like a calculator and thus indicate the pace. That was not entirely new at the time (Cadillac and Aston Martin already had it); the somewhat broader application followed from roughly 1983.
SPEED CONTROL
When a preset speed is exceeded, the ‘speed alarm’ indicator lights up red and a computer voice sounds warning words. This function can now be found in practically every car that also has cruise control.
TIRE PRESSURE CHECK AND RUN FLAT TIRES
Tires that you can drive on for a while if they get flat and sensors that warn when tire pressure drops are used in new cars from the mid-1990s; since 2014, assembly within the EU is mandatory.
ANTI-SLIP REGULATION
A computer compares the circumferential speed of each individual wheel with the actual speed of the car and can prevent the car from skidding by applying targeted braking interventions per wheel. It is a predecessor of ESP.
PLASTIC FUEL TANK
Light, rust-free, more easily deformable and therefore safer in a collision: the plastic fuel tank really took off in the 1980s.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl