Hicas - is it really that bad ?

Oestergaard

Oestergaard

Well-Known Forum User
Hello folks.
In this forum and on different websites i've heard bad about the Hicas system. You can even buy some kind of plate that is mounted instead of the Hicas actuator, so the rear wheels has a fixed angle (probably straight forward :D )
My question is : Is it really that bad ? After all it was built to make the heavy car more stable and better performance to change steering direction - or what ?.
Finest regards,
Michael, Denmark
 
TT has HICAS but NA has not. The designers thought that only sustained high speed stability needed the HICAS. I have the exact quote somewhere at home in the Enthusiasts Companion book. IIRC it only works above a certain speed (40 or 50mph ish - I'll check later) and gives the rear wheels a fraction of opposite steer before reversing that to go round the steered curve. Allegedly a little like a rally driver's twitch. When it works, I like the rock-solid feel it gives. When it doesn't (like it hasn't since last August) it makes the whole thing twitchier than a very twitchy thing.

In this case, I can understand that people will simply want to eliminate the action and lockup the rear end - after all, the NA doesn't have it. And I am sure there are reasons for eliminating - say perhaps drag racing or drifting or as part of weight-loss - which make sense. Eliminating because you can't be bothered to fix it is just a lazy bodge. IMO.

For me (as a dedicated fan of the stock design) I will be getting mine fixed and prefer to have HICAS working as Nissan intended.

Cheers, Gio
 
would i be right in saying,

Hicas only does it job properly on standard rims,suspension and the right tyres sizes?

Paul.
 
This is opinion only as I am not engineer (can't even draw straight lines with the aid of ruler). HICAS turns the rear wheels (slightly) left and right so would have an effect no matter what rims, suspension, tyres.

Nitpicker would say yes, but if you have different amount of rubber vertically (eg lower profile tyres on bigger rims or wider rims etc) then the twisting / steering effect will be different between standard and non-standard. As an ex-physicist, my guess would be that these differences would be small compared to the gross HICAS effect.
 
Hi,
Nissan technicians were originally quoted as saying that the real benefits of HICAS are only felt above 120mph!....And that they were happy with the handling of the standard car without it.
I think it was more of a sales gimmick when the car was first launched as rival firms were about to offer 4 wheel steer and all wheel drive etc.
 
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Jez has a point - that's exactly what the book says:
NTC’s testers say that the real benefit of the rear-steer become apparent at over 120mph and that they are happy with the handling of the regular car without it.
Click to expand...
In context it's clear that regular = na.
It also says
The 300ZX Turbo, with its considerably higher speed potential, needed Super HICAS if it was to achieve the ambitious handling and stability standards they had set themselves.
Click to expand...
So why did they fit HICAS to the JDM Turbo which is restricted to 114mph or thereabouts? No idea - but they did and that's good enough for me :p
More of the article is here.
 

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I hated it on mine, completely runined my confidence in the car if it acted part way through a corner as you tightened your line or corrected a slide.
Without it I was back on the gas 20-30ft sooner as I knew there would be no odd feeling coming from it.
 
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