A new approach to achieving the "flat ride concept" in pursuit of human-centered comfort. FM stands for a front midship package. Nissan designs and engineers cars with of a human-centered philosophy, to provide a comfortable ride that minimizes fatigue, offering the ultimate driving pleasure. When driver fatigue is not a factor, they can concentrate on driving and enjoy operating their vehicles safely and with complete peace of mind. Additionally, not only drivers, but also all passengers can enjoy the pleasure of a comfortable drive. This is new approach to automotive design and engineering that is a complete departure from the past. The cars designed using this new approach, possess the response capabilities that maximize driving performance. We call this new approach the "flat ride concept". In 20th-century automotive design and engineering, there were various elements that were difficult to reconcile. For example, sporty driving performance and supple ride comfort. A compact body size and a spacious interior along with a big trunk. Or, the attainment of world-class safety performance packaged in a stylish, high-quality design with excellent aerodynamics. The new-generation FM Package makes it possible to reconcile these contradictory elements at exceptionally high levels. It transcends conventional body styles to achieve the flat ride concept as a common performance attribute, along with securing comfortable interior spaciousness and top-level safety. Created as a packaging concept for 21st-century front-engine, rear-drive cars, the FM Package has already been adopted on the latest generations of the Skyline and the Stagea. Following those applications, it is also featured on the Fairlady Z concept car displayed at this year's Tokyo Motor Show. In the future, this package will also be capable of accommodating other types of powertrain, such as a V8 engine, and thus contribute to the development of products that create greater customer satisfaction. Revolution in performance attained with the new vehicle layout The FM Package positions a compact V6 engine in a front midship layout, locates a large-capacity fuel tank under the floor and adopts a new center muffler system. These features make it possible to adopt a long wheelbase and large-diameter tires, achieve an optimum front/rear weight distribution and control the airflow under the floor. As a result, an optimum balance of various conflicting performance attributes is achieved, including an exceptionally comfortable, spacious interior combined with superb handling and stability and superior ride comfort. Long wheelbase and large-diameter tires The FM Package allows a long wheelbase and a spacious cabin as a result of positioning the tires at the four corners of the body. With the tires located at the four corners, vehicle load changes are minimized to uncomfortable pitch and roll motions. This performance is supported by a newly developed multi-link suspension system. Both the front and rear suspensions incorporate shock absorbers with damping control lips for suppressing high-frequency, micro-amplitude vibrations. As a result, tiny ripples in the road surface are absorbed to deliver a silky smooth, comfortable ride. The use of large-diameter tires provides a wide contact patch area in the longitudinal direction for superb cornering performance. Additionally, a long contact patch also improves ride quality by absorbing road imperfections with the tires. Optimum front/rear weight distribution The role of the engine in the FM Package is not simply that of a power source, but is regarded as an integral part of the vehicle package and is directly related to handling, stability, ride quality and interior comfort. Therefore, positioning a compact V6 engine in the front midship layout so that its center of gravity comes just after the front axle. This results in an optimum front/rear weight distribution of 52:48 in the new Skyline. The front-wheel portion has deliberately been made two percent heavier, instead of using a 50:50 split, so that the front wheels are already pre-loaded at the time a steering angle is applied to them when the vehicle enters a curve. The weight distribution becomes a 50:50 split when accelerating while coming out of a curve. This enables the driver to enjoy the superb cornering capability and acceleration performance that one would expect in a front-engine, rear-drive car. Superior aerodynamics: zero lift The FM Package achieves superior aerodynamics by controlling the airflow over the upper and lower surfaces of the vehicle body. Additionally, the effect of the basic silhouette of the underfloor design smoothes airflow under the body of the car reducing lift. Because the airflow over the body surfaces is controlled, water drops and dirt are less apt to stick to the front-end. The underfloor surface from the bottom of the front bumper to the rear edge of the engine undercover compresses the airflow to increase its velocity. Increasing the velocity works to reduce lift. The faster moving airflow is diffused at the rear edge of the engine undercover, and the fuel tank and centrally located muffler again compress and repeat the diffusion action so that the airflow is controlled as passes under the floor. Airflow is ultimately released at the rear edge of the spare tire panel. The entire underfloor surface thus serves to control airflow, including reducing lift. As a result, stable handling equal to that at low speeds is also achieved in high-speed cruising. For example, the use of the FM Package on the new-generation Skyline gives the car superior aerodynamics characterized by a low Cd (Coefficient of drags) figure of 0.27 and zero lift. Technological improvements made to individual parts Along with the revolutionary performance improvements attained by the new vehicle layout of the FM Package, the technologies of individual parts have also been improved over previous levels. These two elements have been integrally linked to accomplish the flat ride concept. 　・Newly developed 4-wheel multi-link suspension 　・Bulkhead construction that functions as a body stabilizer 　・Seat cushions built with a double-layer urethane pad World-class safety performance Nissan has set a goal of cutting the number of serious-injury accidents in half by delivering and implementing real-world safety. This involves thoroughly researching and analyzing the various types of traffic accidents that actually occur in real-world driving and utilizing the resulting information in the development of new products. In line with the actual circumstances of accidents, the FM Package incorporates measures for preventing head and chest injuries, which have a high possibility of resulting in a serious accident. It also embodies comprehensive measures for minimizing leg and neck injuries that tend to occur in serious-injury accidents. Innovative body construction The FM Package successfully protects occupants from strong impacts and large vehicle body deformation in a collision by efficiently absorbing crash energy. Front-end collisions include full overlap impacts in which a crushable body construction is needed to reduce the deceleration G force of the cabin and offset impacts in which a sturdy body construction is needed to decrease the amount of cabin deformation. The FM Package achieves an optimum balance of these hard to realize crash safety properties to provide world-class crashworthiness. In a high-speed frontal collision, for example, the crushable zone crumples while the engine moves as if to drop under the floor. This has the effect of expanding the crushable zone, thereby reducing deceleration G force and simultaneously minimizing cabin deformation, especially in the leg area. Moreover, the brake pedal is constructed to prevent rearward movement. Even in violent crashes, this construction restrains rearward movement of the brake pedal to minimize leg injuries. Many other features also contribute to improved occupant safety, including the breakaway construction of the propeller shaft and the double-wall construction of the bulkhead. Improved occupant protection The FM Package enhances occupant restraint in a collision to provide occupant protection. One of the measures adopted to achieve this effect is an "active seat cushion" that is featured on the new Skyline and the new Stagea. When a large impact force is applied as a result of a frontal collision, a crossbar incorporated in the seat cushion frame moves upward instantly to decrease forward movement of lumber position. Other measures include "active head restraints" that help to minimize neck injuries in rear-end collisions and the curtain airbag SRS that works to protect the head in side impacts. The latter system is available on the new Skyline and the new Stagea.