# HICAS All Wheel Steering



## JDM Styled (Jun 16, 2004)

Hey, a newbie here. I was just wondering, how can you tell if a 240sx has HICAS all wheel steering because I know that drifting is nearly impossible to drift with it.


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## zlr101 (Nov 17, 2003)

it will say hicas on the side second you will have a lsd.


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## kaptainkrollio (Jul 29, 2003)

or the hicas light to the right of the rear windshield wiper button


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## FLIP (May 18, 2004)

zlr101 said:


> it will say hicas on the side second you will have a lsd.


Is there a difference between HICAS and SUPER HICAS???


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## vsp3c (May 15, 2003)

hicas are old, super hicas are new


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## kaptainkrollio (Jul 29, 2003)

its super.


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

JDM Styled said:


> Hey, a newbie here. I was just wondering, how can you tell if a 240sx has HICAS all wheel steering because I know that drifting is nearly impossible to drift with it.


1. Its not 4 wheel steering
2. How do you know? The primary reason for locking the HICAS on drift cars is that you have no choice if you install a mech LSD, which to any serious drifter, is the first thing you get.


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## yeap (Jun 23, 2004)

Joel said:


> 1. Its not 4 wheel steering
> 2. How do you know? The primary reason for locking the HICAS on drift cars is that you have no choice if you install a mech LSD, which to any serious drifter, is the first thing you get.


According to Nissan Motor corp. HICAS are four wheel steering that gives quick response at moderate speeds and outstanding stability at high speeds by verying the angle of the rear wheels in relation to those up front.

http://www.socal240sx.org/faq/hicas.html


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## ronaldo (Feb 23, 2004)

your point...


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

Joel said:


> 1. Its not 4 wheel steering
> 2. How do you know? The primary reason for locking the HICAS on drift cars is that you have no choice if you install a mech LSD, which to any serious drifter, is the first thing you get.


Actually, HICAS is four wheel steering. At low speeds, HICAS behaves the same was as a mostly-mechanical 4ws. It's different from the 4ws systems you see in like the 3000GT, the Prelude, et cetera in that:
1. It works at highway speeds as well.
2. During high speed turns, it will first turn the rear wheels in towards the direction you are turning in to, then after a short period of time turn the rear wheels out in the opposite direction. The reasoning for this is that it will make lane changing smoother (less steering effort required), and that it will help the chassis turn more without putting undue load on the rear wheels.

The primary reason people complain about it is that the system tends to activate during high speed cornering, which causes a bizzare "rocking" feeling in the rear, and at the limit, has the possibility of causing a complete loss of traction in the rear. It is possible to control and avoid this rocking and the loss of traction through accelerator pedal modulation though. That's also why a lot of my one-track-day-a-month friends have not cancelled the HICAS in their car.

Super HICAS is an evolution of HICAS, with more sensitive sensors and a different program, which supposedly allows for better yaw control without causing the abovementioned interference.


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

I know how it works, the common misconception though is that it is the same as the 4WS system on the prelude - which it is not.

In drifting the whole point is to cause a complete loss of traction in the rear 
But my point still stands. Adding a mech LSD requires locking the system - on an s13 it does anyway.


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## kaptainkrollio (Jul 29, 2003)

isnt there a fuse somewhere that one could pull to disable hicas? nobody seems to know where this fuse is, either.


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## FLIP (May 18, 2004)

kaptainkrollio said:


> isnt there a fuse somewhere that one could pull to disable hicas? nobody seems to know where this fuse is, either.



Thats wouldn't be to smart, because the HICAS brain would be off, but the mechanical parts would still be free to move with no resistance from the brain. This would allow the tow angle of the back wheels to change without any control = not very safe.

You would still need to lock the tie rod arms into position using shims.


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

Yeah - use one of these:










HICAS/ HICAS II Lock kit - (non super hicas)
http://www.japanesemotorsport.com.au/partsinstock.htm


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## ReVerm (Jan 13, 2003)

kaptainkrollio said:


> isnt there a fuse somewhere that one could pull to disable hicas? nobody seems to know where this fuse is, either.


The fuse is supposed to be in the HICAS computer rather than with the other fuses. I haven't seen it myself though, and I have yet to hear of anyone blowing it out.


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## FLIP (May 18, 2004)

Joel said:


> Yeah - use one of these:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



So if that one is for non super hicas, is this tomei one for super hicas?










And if so then there must be some kind of difference, the hardware is totally different.


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## Joel (Jun 11, 2003)

Possibly - theres more than 1 way to skin a cat.


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