Defining the Edge in Sports Driving

The multifunction meter is set above the center console, and is displayed through the OEM CARWINGS navigation monitor.

The Nissan GT-R debuted with a variety of new innovations, such as the trans-axle layout and dual clutch transmission. The multifunction meter is also one of those innovations.

Imagine holding the key of a sports car, and starting the engine in the garage. The interior panel oil temperature meter starts to move after some time, and in turn, the revving of the engine becomes smoother. If the outside temperature is cold, you would feel the engine power to be stronger than normal. If your car exhibits understeer in a corner a bit faster than normal, you should be wary that your tires grip performance is dropping.

To continually feel the change in cars and their surroundings when you drive, can be said to be the core of sports driving. However these things, these attractions, were often concluded as the opinion of the driver, and rarely used or indicated as an actual index.

But if you could know exactly the turning G-force of a corner you took, if you could know the braking G-force at the entry point of a turn; we would be able to have a clear index of our own driving skills and the status of a car.

“To clearly define the edge in sports driving, that had always been spoken of vaguely until now-.” This was the evolution of sports driving that Mr. Yamauchi had in mind. With the avant-garde proposal by Mr. Mizuno, Mr. Yamauchi was offered an opportunity to make this concept a reality, and immediately proposed to “create a high performance, highly visible meter that accurately tells the driver their condition” on the spot. Mr. Mizuno accepted this proposal, and so the development of the Multifunction Meter began.

Balance of Visibility, Design, and Usability

There were three key phrases that Mr. Yamauchi told his staff in the development. “To know the status”, “To know the environment”, and “To record the driving conditions”. Various ideas were borne from these ideas, became sketches, and ascended into meticulously detailed design. The first job was to identify information required by the driver. The massive amounts of data sensed by the vehicle were made into a list, and items thought to be pertinent and worthwhile for driving where extracted. This involved a long and serious communication with the personnel in charge of vehicle data at Nissan. Once this was resolved, the visualization of this data began. The selected information was to be expressed while balancing visibility and quality. For successful examples of precision and visibility, the design team researched aircraft instruments, chronograph watches, etc., and succeeded in meshing a hard, Spartan image in the design.

Meanwhile, the feature that was applied as a result of optimizing the user interface was the user customization feature. The displayed information on the GT-R’s multifunction meter can be configured freely according to driving location and conditions. Mr. Yamauchi made full use of the touch panel feature of the CARWINGS navigation system in the GT-R, and created a user friendly system that can be operated intuitively.

A scene from the development of the multifunction meter. Every notch on the dial, even slight variations in color graduations are evaluated from a driver’s standpoint.

The created meter was tested in race tracks and roads all over the world. This is a photo of Mr. Yamauchi, performing an operations check during testing at the Sendai Highland Raceway.

A photo from the test on the Autobahn. The "Gran Turismo" staff accompanied the Nissan development team, and checked visibility of the meters at near top speed conditions.

After over a year of desktop development had been completed, the stage then shifted to evaluation testing in locations throughout the world. In Arizona, at the Laguna Seca, Nurburgring, Sendai Highland and others, Mr. Yamauchi himself got into the driver’s seat of the prototype car in some of these locations to check validity, response, visibility under direct sunlight and other fine details. Feedbacks from these tests were continually integrated into the design, gradually raising its level of completion. And through this painstaking process, the multi function meter was then finally equipped on the dashboard of the New GT-R.

* The meter screens pictured are from during its development, and may differ from those used on the actual production car.

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DOWNSHIFT SESSION 2008(1/2)