Gas-Filled Shock Absorbers
In place of the traditional air/oil shock absorber, these units feature a nitrogen gas chamber that is used to pressurize the shock absorber to provide more stable damping for a variety of conditions, improving ride and road contact.

Gasket
Any thin, soft material, but usually made of cork, cardboard, asbestos or soft metal, installed between two metal surfaces to ensure a good seal.

GAWR (Gross Axle Weight Rating)
GAWR is the maximum total amount of weight -- vehicle weight plus load -- that an axle is designed to safely carry. Both the front and rear axles of a truck have a GAWR.

GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating)
GVWR is the maximum allowable weight of the loaded vehicle including optional equipment, occupants, luggage or cargo, hitch, and trailer tongue weight. The maximum recommended GVWR should never be exceeded.

Gearbox
The device in the drivetrain consisting of an input shaft, a system of gears (used to multiply engine torque) and an output shaft. A manual transmission consists of a clutch assembly plus a gearbox; an automatic transmission generally consists of a torque converter plus a gearbox.

Gears
Wheel-like parts with teeth cut into the rim. Meshing of the teeth of two gears enables one to drive the other, thus transmitting power. By using gears of differing diameters, a torque multiplication effect is achieved.

Halogen Headlamps (See: Quartz Halogen Headlamps)

Half Shaft
Rotating shafts, normally one of two, that transmit power from the differential to a driving wheel. These shafts are found on front wheel drive cars and cars with independent rear suspension.

Head-Up Display
The digital projection of pertinent data (speed) onto the lower portion of the windshield on the driver's side. The driver does not have to take his eyes off the road to read his instrument panel. The 240SX XE Coupe and Maxima GXE offer the HeadUp display as optional equipment.

Heated Intake
An anti-pollution device to help vaporize the gasoline supplied to a cold engine. The system consists of an air cleaner with a thermostat and a hot-air pipe connected to a heat stove on the exhaust manifold. When the engine is cold, the thermostat closes a damper, shutting off the air passage into the air cleaner from the engine compartment. All the air going into the air cleaner passes through the hot-pipe connected to the heat stove. Thus hot air is supplied to the carburetor almost as soon as the engine starts. As the engine warms up, the thermostat opens to the damper so that the air is then taken from the engine compartment and not from the heat stove.

Hemispherical Combustion Chamber or Hemi Head
A combustion chamber that is dome-shaped like "half a sphere." The valves are often centered at a 45 degree angle to the piston top. This design is known to increase power output of an engine. Our E16 engine features a "hemi-spherical" combustion chamber.

HICAS (HI Capacity Actively Controlled Suspension).

HICAS works by steering the rear wheels in phase (the same direction) as the front depending on the speed. Nissan literature says : "Steers the rear wheels in phase with the front wheels to enhance the stability of the vehicle during abrupt maneuvers at normal road speeds". SUPER HICAS includes "phase delay" which adds "opposite phase steering at high speed built into the system logic which delays turning the rear wheels to improve vehicle turn-in. This 'phase delay' includes opposite phase steering at high speed" - Super HICAS involves the front as well as the rear in activation.

Hitch Ball
The hitch ball connects the trailer to the tow vehicle hitch and provides the means by which the trailer pivots during cornering. Available in a number of sizes, it must correspond to the trailer coupler size.

Horsepower (HP)
A unit of power equal to a rate of 33,000 foot pounds per minute. This measurement is used to rate the output of an engine. (Also see: Brake Horsepower)

Hydrocarbon
Any compound composed of hydrogen and carbon, such as gasoline and other petroleum products Various hydrocarbon by-products are produced when gasoline is burned in an engine and these compounds constitute one of the ingredients of photo-chemical smog.

Ignition System
The system that provides the spark to ignite the mixture in the combustion chamber. Basically, it consists of the battery, coil, distributor, ignition switch, spark plugs and wiring.

Independent Suspension
A type of suspension in which each pair of wheels, either front or rear, is sprung so that a disturbance affecting one wheel has no effect on the opposite wheel. This type of suspension gives a better ride. (Also see: Four- Wheel Independent Suspension)

Induction System
The system that delivers the air/fuel mixture to the cylinders. It includes the carburetor or fuel injection system, intake manifold, intake ports and intake valves.

Intake Manifold
An assembly of tubes, usually of cast iron or aluminum, through which the air/fuel mixture flows on its way from the carburetor in carbureted models or the air valve in fuel injected models to the intake ports.

Intercooler
A heat exchanger which extracts heat and reduces the temperature of a gas between stages of compression. This device is found on turbocharged or supercharged engines.

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