wtf does the "SX" or "ZX" stand for

Does anyone know? Does it even have a meaning?

Does anyone know? Does it even have a meaning?


probably just origional design codes while the cars where still kinda in their prototype stage. like code names and in a way. you know how designers do that til they release a car, like the enzo was some # designation before it was the enzo. maybe it just stuck.

or maybe it was one of those late '80s ploys to make the car sound "modern" and "edgy".

240SX!!!

sounds better then 240.

or maybe it was simply another random alphanumeric designation, like M30 or Z28.

or maybe it was one of those late '80s ploys to make the car sound "modern" and "edgy".

240SX!!!

sounds better then 240.

or maybe it was simply another random alphanumeric designation, like M30 or Z28.

yeah but,
what about Mazda, they have always had alphanumeric model designations...

R100, RX-2, Cosmo 110S, RX-3
etc etc...

there are more like ferrari.
308GTS
xxxSWB

for example... the "SWB" stands for "short wheel base"

The RX in RX-7 means: "Rotary eXperimental"
what does the "SX" in 240sx represent...

or maybe it was simply another random alphanumeric designation, like M30 or Z28.

come on bud, the 30's not that random; it refers to the 3.0L displacement :P. As for S/ZX--not a clue, dayna. S usually stands for sport, and as you said, X, for Mazda anyway, is experiment. But that doesn't really tell us much about Z....maybe Z for zenki? as in the 240Z was a whole new thing? just a thought....er, wait...zenki is old and kouki is new. so that wouldn't work. who the hell knows? : ).

good question dayna :bigthumb:

you guys will hate me for this, but Z stands for Zora Arkus Duntov, the man behind development of Chevy's first performance engine. so yes, my chevy small block has some correlation to the 'Z' :biggrin:

as far as i know SX stands for sport cross country, i could be wrong.

it's amazing what you can find on google.

how was Zora related to the development of the Z car?

how was Zora related to the development of the Z car?
who knows. maybe he just did the Z car for chevy, and then nissan copied them.

edit: or the other way around.......

S Chassis and Z Chassis maybe???? :screwy: :screwy:


The X part is beyond me though

I found the following from a Suzuki site (couldn't find a Nissan one):
...SX, stands for "Sport Crossover,"...


If I find a better site, I'll let you guys know.

sx = sexy

:dunno:

i read a book about it, and s in sx stands for sport, the x stands for whatever u want to use it as, so sport and whatever else u use it for. the z in zx stands for the group of style its in and the x, same as in sx. thats why both have this and that and this blah blah blah, kidding i dont know.

i think z stands for zero, take a look at this link
http://www.zhome.com/History/Truth/Prince.htm

sx = sexy

:dunno:


I agree. 9 10

Z, is on some japanese military flag thats stands for a bunch of good stuff, Mr.Z (whatever the hell his name is) saw it when he was on a ship and a few years later the 240Z was born. I think i read it on some zcar history book.

let me put in my 2 cents to add even more confusion...

I would say the ZX and SX thing is chassis designation, sounds resonable, Z31-Z33 , S13 etc....s12=200sx,not just 240sx usdm as well.....

I have no idea about the zX, however it doesn't mean too much maybe just some advertising ideas, the first Z cars were only called 240z. Then you had the 280ZX, 300ZX etc... but the latest Z is only called the 350z.

while we are kinda on the topic, I understand 240 stands for the engnie 2.4 but why 180 in japan if its a 2.0? just cuz it sounds better or what?

welp you know how the early years of our cars had the SOHC and the later had the DOHC engine. Over in Japanaland the early years got the CA18DET, while the later got the SR20DET.... the name 180sx was popular and the car had a following as that so they kept the name when the new engine came out. You know what would the corvette be say if next generation they called it another name for instance......

i think z means zero, take a look http://www.zhome.com/History/Truth/Prince.htm

i heard that sx stands for sports crossover.

just to clear up my credibility, i know that the 30 in M30 stands for the 3.0L displacement. i meant the M was random.

i think the "S" and "Z" chassis argument is the most feasable so far. S13, S14, Z31, Z32 etc....

the X is just added to add pizzazz maybe? or make it sound modern? or something?

i have no idea.

i don't see how either of the cars could be considered "cross-overs" of any kind...

what about that link i provided? the site says the z stands for zero, named after a japanese ww2 plane. that weight was the enemy or something that. and that the engineers that built the plane built the z.

another thought I had as to Z or ZX, I believe all Z cars that were called ZX were types that had a turbo version availble.

The 280zx, 300zx's, then you get to the z33 and its just called the 350z again, and its naturally aspirated like the original plain Z, the 240z. I like the plain Z tag better

All I know is that it was popular back in the day to name sports cars using numbers..the number is for the displacement of the motor(somebody prolly already mentioned this)

ex. 280zx,300zx, and now 350z and who can forget 240sx:biggrin:

but all the Z cars are still called Fairlady Z in Japan though..

Must be a U.S. thing then I guess...

trust be Z, is something from the japanese or chinese military. I think it stood for strenght and courage or something. ZX is luxory (X for luxory). SX is probaly sport luxory but i might be wrong about that, im positive about what the Z stands for.

damn this only adds to the confusion. There are like 4-5 different theories in this thread as to what the Z stands for, and most seem confident their answer is the right what. WTF, maybe the z is just a nice letter to put after the engine size. Look at other cars, a lot just have random letters. Like the z28, zo4, etc...

What about the ZR as in the Z31 200ZR and 300ZX?

im going to go up to northcoast nissan sometime this next week to show off my v8z, ill ask the owner's son. im sure he knows.

Thank you! Finally someone has the resources to talk to a Nissan rep! The Nissan car dealers I talked to didn't have a clue.

i think the "S" and "Z" chassis argument is the most feasable so far. S13, S14, Z31, Z32 etc....




All credit to the original theorist of course :naughty:

What about the ZR as in the Z31 200ZR and 300ZX?


I believe that stands for Z Racing.... that was an upgraded Z, I believe it had more stuff then just a RB20det, I think it might have been lighter weight, more sporty interior, and might have had different brakes/suspension setup.....

I know this is a relativly old thread but, anyone find out what the ZX or SX stand for??? I think the SX does stand for sports crossover though...

Super eXtremo driftability

as you can tell I have no clue..... carry on...

i'm probably wrong but i think sx = silvia crossover and since you said the old z were 240z then the newer would be zx = z crossover ..z= i dunno

To the Nissanmobile!!! I'll drive up to the corporate Nissan and demand answers!

the first letter designation is the chassis type. but the reason they named it the Z is because many of the engineers who designed the ZERO warplane came to nissan after the war, through a merge with Prince Motors (the producer of the Fairlady, Gloria, and the Skyline). the new car was called the Z, and incorporated many design concepts from the ZERO plane (aerodynamics, weight, materials, fittings). "Datsun 240-Z". The 240 was a shortened version of the 2400cc engine displacement, and the "Z", which had been the new car's product file designation within Nissan's Design Department. http://zhome.com/History/Truth/Prince.htm

the reason they used S in the 240SX is simple, Silvia. the original car was the Silvia Sports Coupe. it had a 1600 inline 4. so i guess it could be called a 160s


things get weird for the SX line though, because the old US spec 200SX was RWD and not only came with a 2.0 liter NA engine, but even had a 1.8 liter turbo engine. good luck finding one though. that car was sold in the US in 1987+88. then the 240sx came out in 1989 and ran until 1998 in the US. but it gets weird here, the name 200SX comes back in 1995-1998, but is FWD and replaces the 2 door sentra, and runs on a B chassis. why call it the 200sx? conflict of tradition in japan and tradition and selling power in the US.

then theres the NX, also called the pulsar NX. the N was originally the chassis code, but when the name pulsar was dropped and the car became based on the sentra chassis, aka B, it became the NX1600 or NX2000 depending on the engine. heres another moment where nissan continues to use a letter/number designation even though the letters no longer designate the chassis code.


i dont know for certain on the significance of the X, but next time i go to the nissan training center for school, ill ask. BTW, im an ASE and nissan certified technician.

looks like the civicman explained it to us nissan people, we should be ashamed of ourselves :crying:

all the letters and numbers used in the cars developed by nissan are represent something..its not randomized. Some has already been revealed....such as Zero(fairlady), GT Grand Tour(skyline), and S(silvia). Those letters seem to represent the model or chasis/body to distinguish what the car is. The letter standing alone would probably represent the chasis holding its standerd tune levels without the addition of sports car modifications.

X, R, G, and M seem to represent the performance level of the chasis. G seems to be one of the lower grade performance levels...(240ZG), X representing a standered level of performance a true sports car should have..(240sx, 300zx), M for maybe a specific tune level beyond standerd sports cars(GTS-M), and R for Racing Tune..(GTR, 200ZR)

Even nismo took into consideration of changing the performance level letter when they tuned various Nissan sports cars.. S14 240sx = 270R, BNR33 GTR33 = 400R...

V and Nur was probably used for sports cars that had already achived beyond the standered Race tuning, and mechanics modified the chasis further to achive a higher grade than originaly built. GTR Vspec, GTR Vspec II, S15 Vspec (euro), Sentra Vspec, BNR34 Nur-Spec

K & Q obviously used for the silvia 89+ were engine variations, K for Turbo equiped engines, and Q for Non-Turbo equiped engines.

As far as the 180sx Type-X goes...its an option grade. With minor aero tuning. Same goes for S14 K's Aero, and S15 Spec-R Aero...which is the most recent "type-X" avalible from nissans silvia collection.

Then again i could be wrong..