Facts On The 4 Doors

[Nic_A31]

OK, so I just did some searching through the old posts and it seems over the years, there is some serious confusion about Cefiro's and Laurels. I propose we clear up the facts and myths in here and sticky it.

Im using this for most information:

http://www.alljapanesecars.com/viewmd.php3...n&md=Cefiro

FACT:

MOST A31's were manual, approximately distrubuted in a 50/50 of auto/manual from the factory, however special editions, Autech's, etc were all manual slightly favoring the number of manuals produced.

People say 95% were auto, so where does everyone get the centre dash trim when they convert Ceffies to manual ? ...most were manual.

Even the Laurels had the option of manual, so I dunno where this confusion comes from.

RB25DE WAS offered, M Selection, 25 SE, and a few other lines offered the RB25DE with a 5 speed manual gearbox only. Later models only, so not many can be found in Aus.

All-Wheel-Drive Cefiro's WERE produced in the factory, "ATTESTA" now these are actually rare as f**k, you'd have better luck collecting a full set of hen's teeth before picking up one of these. Same drivetrain and suspension as R32 GST-4 / GTR, the chassis is slightly different to other A31s, and these were produced towards the later years of the A31 cycle, further limiting how many were imported into Australia under the constantly changing import regulations.

4WS / HICAS was offered standard on most of the "upper" models of each release in each year of production.

RB24S & Left Hand Drive models were produced for the Asian market. Yep, Carby 2.4 SOHC RB FTW.

MYTH:

Cefiro / Maxima ? A31 Cefiro (88 - 93) & J30 Maxina (89 - 94) were not related. In 1995, the Maxima claimed the A32 chassis, the Cefiro became FWD, and was a 2.0l or 2.5l alternative to the Maxima (3.0) and also provided a station wagon option to the Maxima (Ceffy wagon...they should have kept it RWD...), the A32 chassis is similar in design to the A31 (A32s have a big openeing in the firewall, a tunnel in the floorplan, the rear end has similarities, despite all being FWD). The Cefiro continued being a smaller / lesser a luxary version of the Maxima until the Maxima split becoming a standard 3.5 litre, USA continues using the A35 chassis, Middle East / Japan / Australia now uses J31 / J32, and Cefiro now rides on the Teana bandwagon. The Cefiro held its name in Japan, in place of the Maxima, but contrary to popular beleif, from A32 onwards, it was never again RWD / AWD or released in a turbo setup, and manual transmission eventually phased out.

TAXI's : It sounds cool, but they were never used as Taxi's in Japan. This has been covered before, some Asian countries did use them as taxi's, but no English man on a business trip looking for a cheap hooker and a hotel would ever fit in the the back of a Cefiro, we all worked this out the day we bought a Ceffy.

---

Other shit:

Sold pretty well in 88 - 89, until the R32 Skyline was released, which offered slightly higher power output, for a considerably lower price, if anybody wanted luxury, the Laurel seemed obvious, so Cefiro sales dropped. It seems Nissan attempted to make the Cefiro more appealing, by upgrading options to standard features, revised tail-lights, headlights, grille, revised interior, etc, but had no luck, hence why they shifted the Maxima onto the A3x platform and re-aimed the Cefiro away from being a "sports car" when it had "failed" its introduction into the market.

Sat around in Japan unused or even unsold for years and years before drifters found them.

OK, now, I've killed 30 minutes, now you guys add your knowledge.

What's true, what's a crock of horse shit.

PS

+1 FACT: They slide f**kin awesome-like!

[RB25DETC33]

Laurels were never sold as a turbo manual package. They were either sold as a non turbo manual or a turbo auto model.

[4core]

R32 two and four door exhausts ARE compatible.

The only thing that will have to change is the placement of the hangers for the muffler.

I currently have an x-force stainless system on my 4 door with that only mod. All other hangers line up fine.

The whole system sits rather neatly to.

[VVL2NV]

Laurels were never sold as a turbo manual package. They were either sold as a non turbo manual or a turbo auto model.

Not sure if this is true because I was looking at buying a C35 laurel when I was living in NZ and they came standard with a manual with NEO rb25det although obviously much more rare then the auto variant

[RB25DETC33]

Not sure if this is true because I was looking at buying a C35 laurel when I was living in NZ and they came standard with a manual with NEO rb25det although obviously much more rare then the auto variant

Excuse my poor choice of words I failed to be more specific hahah, I actually meant the c33 model. Not sure about any other models.

[Nic_A31]

OK guys, here's a draw out of the external differences of the early, mid, and late models.

Its only the headlights, grille and taillights.

I'll get around to working out the differences between the front/rear bumpers on both standard and Autech versions when I can find enough decent pics.

Series 1:

Headlights + Grille, clear, and have black bars running through them, the grille and lights sit flush,

Taillights are 80s looking, lines running through them.

Series 1a:

Briefly in production before Series 2 kicked in, these have the same headlights, but the grille is letterbox, and matt black (not clear, no bars, doesnt match the headlights). The taillights become darker, and CEFIRO is written across the centre garnish.

Series 2:

The grille is now chrome, hellp VIP style, which stuck on A3x Cefiro and Maxima's in pretty much all countries except America/Canada.

Headlights are no longer clear, now a crystal type, and only clear around the projectors.

Taillights now modern looking, no bars, the colors seem to 'blend'.

45 second Photoshop job attatched!!

LEGAL DISCLAIMER THING: You posted these pictures online - so forever hold your piece - or, get a good lawyer (no...dont really).

Yeah, the S1 pictures are mine, so dont bother taking me to court over those.

Edited October 25, 2009 by Nic_A31

[a31rb25]

Which one had the square headlight?

Edited October 31, 2009 by a31rb25

[Nic_A31]

Like the one on this page?

http://www.7tune.com/mini-feature-a31-nissan-cefiro/

Could be Autech or very late, like S3 ?? Dunno

Maybe even S13 Silvia headlights of some kind crammed in.

[a31rb25]

yeah like those, i've read it somewhere before but can't recall which model it was from.

[Mr Eps]

noobs.

the 1988 short run had the non projector "square" headlight - that cefiro has the square headlight with the aftermarket clear plastic shield from the silvia chopped to fit...

that's why they look so "new"

and there's the series 3 tails which hav the red border around the outter tail

[Nic_A31]

Pics of f**kin ban!! ??

[Nic_A31]

Autech editions came with leather from the factory, two tone of white and dark gray type shit:

http://www.toronto-subaru-club.com/forums/...ad.php?t=105135

http://www.importconcern.ca/stock/100080/11.jpg

Dunno wtf headlights they are. Eps ??

Edited November 3, 2009 by Nic_A31

[Lum]

Series 2 cars are identifiable by the L in the first part of the VIN (except for the 25SSE where there is an E instead) eg. LA31 would be a S2 RWD Cefiro.

An N in the chassis number indicates a 4WD car. The 4WD variants are the "ATESSA Cruising" in the S1 and the "SE-4" in the S2.

I'm curious as to why the S2 and 4WD variants are so hard to register in Australia though?

[Nic_A31]

I'm curious as to why the S2 and 4WD variants are so hard to register in Australia though?

Well we have 2 import system's here, 15 Year Old Rule which was changed to pre-89 where import is easy, compliance isnt needed, any mods permitted as long as theyre legal, etc, & SEVS which is post 89, harder to get vehicles in if theyre already sold here under a different name at any period (Maxima), harder to comply and register. You can still apply to bring these in, or there are a few loop holes bu its less of a headache to just find an older one.

[Philr32]

Dragging up an old thread here, but just wanted to know what similarities the a31 cefiro shares with skylines and Silvia's etc mainly engine/drive train and suspension. Obviously RB engine but are most ones using and R33 box? Do they use a skyline diff? I believe most suspension is similar to Silvia rather than skyline, is that true? Are they 4 or 5 stud then?

Cheers

[Lum]

A31s use S13 suspension except for the 4WD versions which use R32 suspension.

Rear diff is S13 in all cases, even on 4WD.

Auto gearbox is S13, not sure on manual but it probably is too.

Engines are all RB execpt for one really crap version which used a 75hp CA18i

All of them are 4 stud.

Edited January 17, 2013 by Lum

[Philr32]

A31s use S13 suspension except for the 4WD versions which use R32 suspension.

Rear diff is S13 in all cases, even on 4WD.

Auto gearbox is S13, not sure on manual but it probably is too.

Engines are all RB execpt for one really crap version which used a 75hp CA18i

All of them are 4 stud.

Cool thanks. Anyone put R32 rear subframe and diff etc in?

[toffy]

drive train is r32 , gear box is rb jatco , diff is r200 for turbo and r180 for most non turbo .

[Philr32]

drive train is r32 , gear box is rb jatco , diff is r200 for turbo and r180 for most non turbo .

R200 is Silvia diff isn't it?

[toffy]

and skyline , and pretty much anything Rwd Nissan in that era i think (except gtr and 300zx)