HICAS

HICAS is Nissan's rear wheel steering system found on cars ranging from the more recent Skyline

Nissan Skyline

The first Skyline was introduced in April 1957, by the Prince Motor Company, and was marketed as a luxury car. It featured a 1.5 L GA-30 engine producing 44 kW @ 4400 rpm. It used a de Dion tube rear suspension and was capable of 140 km/h . The car weighed around 1300 kg...

 and Fairlady Z (300ZX) iterations to smaller models like the Nissan Cefiro

Nissan Cefiro

The Nissan Cefiro is a intermediate-size automobile range sold in Japan and other countries. The 1989 model was introduced initially as a 4-door sedan, however a wagon was later produced. A large proportion were equipped with automatic transmissions....

 (A31), 240SX

Nissan 240SX

The 240SX is a two-door compact car that was introduced to the North American market by Nissan in 1988 for the following model year. It replaced the outgoing 200SX model. Most of the 240SX were equipped with the 2.4-liter inline 4 engine . The KA24E being single over-head cam and KA24DE being dual...

/Silvia (S13 & S15)

Nissan Silvia

The S12 was produced from 1984 to 1988, with revisions to the exterior trim in 1987 . It was sold in three configurations—a coupe , a hatchback, and a widebody chassis called grandprix .A number of different engines were equipped in the S12 chassis, depending on production year and more...

/180SX

Nissan 180SX

The Nissan 180SX was a hatchback coupe based on the S13 chassis from the Nissan S platform, and sold in Japan; and in some other countries under the 200SX name....

 and Nissan Serena

Nissan Serena

The Nissan Serena started life as a very small people carrier, but grew larger with each generation over the years. Earlier versions were FR layout with a live axle mounted on leaf springs. Later versions had a multilink independent rear suspension, and were FF layout or 4WD...

/Nissan Largo

Nissan Largo

Largo was the model name used for a Nissan passenger van built over 2 different platforms from 1989 to 1998 in Japan and other markets. Most were 7 or 8 seater coaches and competed with the Toyota Tarago....

. It is also found on models from Nissan's Infiniti

Infiniti

is the luxury division of automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989 in North America. Marketing operations have since grown to include the Middle East, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, China, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Infiniti began sales in additional...

 division, such as the Q45

Infiniti Q45

The Infiniti Q45 was a full-size luxury car sold by Nissan's Infiniti marque from 1990 until 2006. It is a rear wheel drive, four-door sedan powered by a V8 engine. Early generations were based on the automaker's Japanese-market flagship sedan, the Nissan President, while models produced after 1997...

, M45/M35 and G37. Unlike other four wheel steering systems, HICAS and Super HICAS are fitted to improve handling rather than as a parking aid.

Earlier HICAS versions used hydraulics to steer the rear wheels. The hydraulic system was powered by the power steering pump and used speed sensors to determine how much and in which direction to steer the rear wheels. Later versions, called Super HICAS, moved to an electric actuator for the rear steering rack, making the system much lighter. The Super HICAS system also used its own computer to control the system instead of speed sensors. HICAS and Super HICAS rear wheel steering is limited to about 1 degree in either direction.

HICAS was introduced on the 1986 Skyline GTS coupes (GTS, GTS-R, and GTS-X). The system was later adapted to work on many models in the Nissan range, beginning with the Passage GT.