I have seen a detailed comparison between Toyota Fenglander and Nissan Qashqai from the outside in. So what about the engines of these two cars?What's different about CVT gearboxes?Today we will take it apart for everyone to see!
Motor. 
The Flander was equipped with a 2The 0L self-priming four-cylinder engine, model of the classic M20 series, has a maximum power of 126 kW and a maximum torque of only 205 Nm.
The Nissan Qashqai is equipped with a 13T turbocharged four-cylinder engine, model HR13, with a maximum power of 116 kW and a maximum torque of 270 Nm. This engine was actually developed by Nissan Renault in cooperation with Mercedes-Benz, so it can be seen in Mercedes-Benz A-Class, B-Class and Nissan and Renault cars.
The M20 engine is made of aluminum alloy from top to bottom, using Toyota D-4 hybrid injection technology, which is compatible with both manifold injection and in-cylinder direct injection, and the thermal efficiency of the whole machine is as high as 40%.
This M20 engine features laser side-skirt pistons for improved oil retention and scratch resistance. In addition, the cylinder is made of diamond-like carbon electroplating material, which is coated by physical vapor deposition technology to achieve the effects of high hardness, high elasticity, high inertness and low friction.
The Qashqai's engine is also an all-aluminum alloy block from top to bottom, and the difference is that this engine uses a triangular cylinder head to bring the exhaust closer to the center of the engine, and the compact design reduces the weight of the engine by about 3 kg. In addition, Nissan's next-generation Nanoslide cylinder bore coating technology is used inside the cylinder block, which instantly melts the coating materials such as iron or carbon through a high-voltage arc and evenly sprays it onto the inner wall of the lightweight aluminum alloy cylinder, reducing the mechanical friction loss of the cylinder by 50% compared with the traditional gray cast iron cylinder liner, and at the same time has very high wear resistance.
In addition, the Qashqai engine also uses an electronically controlled wastegate valve, which can change the opening pressure of the bypass valve, the later the opening time of the solenoid valve, the greater the boost pressure, and the higher the power torque of the engine. In fact, this is what many engines do for high and low power adjustment, and on the external characteristic curve of the engine, the speed at which the torque curve begins to decline is the time when the bypass valve is opened.
Looking at the exhaust part, the Fenglander uses a normal exhaust manifold. Qashqai is the latest integrated exhaust manifold, the high temperature of the exhaust manifold can quickly heat the coolant when the car is cold, and the coolant can also cool the exhaust when the engine is under high load. When the exhaust gas temperature is lowered, the contaminant content in the exhaust gas is significantly reduced, helping the engine to meet more stringent environmental regulations. At the same time, the integrated exhaust air is almost integrated with the cylinder block, which further reduces the weight of the engine by about 3 kg.
The particle trap of Fenglander is far away from the engine, and the temperature is relatively low, which is not conducive to burning off the particulate matter, and it is easy to cause the particle trap to clog. The Qashqai's particle trap is close to the exhaust end of the engine, which can use the high temperature of the exhaust to restore the particle trap, so that it is not easy to clog.
CVT gearbox.
Both the Fenglander and the Qashqai are matched with CVT gearboxes, but after disassembling them, it is found that they are not the same.
The Flander uses a steel belt structure, which is currently the case with the vast majority of CVT gearboxes. The first business of this steel belt is Bosch, which is made up of countless wedge-shaped steel sheets connected together by two flexible steel strips. The biggest benefit of steel belt drive is the low cost and the fact that it can also reduce the size of the gearbox. However, the disadvantage is that the maximum torque of power output is not very large, and there may be a "slippage" phenomenon when accelerating sharply, and the instantaneous power transmission efficiency becomes low. Moreover, it is sensitive to high and low temperatures, and the probability of steel belt fracture is relatively high.
Although the Qashqai is also a CVT gearbox, it is no longer the Nissan CVT of the past, and the steel belt drive has been replaced by a steel chain drive from Schaeffler in Germany. Steel chains are countless perforated steel sheets connected in a chain way, and the strength and durability are much stronger than steel belts. The friction between the pulley and the pulley will be greater, it can withstand a large torque of 450 Nm, the power loss during rapid acceleration is smaller, and it is not easy to "slip". However, the cost of the steel chain is high, the volume is relatively large, but it is more "resistant", so it often appears in some cars that pay attention to power, such as Audi A4 and Subaru XVV, which are driven by Schaeffler steel chain.
The Fenglander's CVT transmission uses Toyota's "DRIRECT Shift-CVT" technology, which adds a gear to the front of the CVT transmission wheel. When starting, it can be directly driven by gears to avoid the "slippage" of the starting steel belt and lose power, which is also a remedy for Toyota's CVT transmission weakness.
Because the CVT of the Fenglander is driven by a steel belt, it cannot output a large torque, so it is only equipped with a mechanical oil pump to spray lubricate the inside of the gearbox. The Qashqai uses steel chain drive, which requires better heat dissipation during the transmission process, so it uses an electronic high-pressure oil pump to provide higher oil pressure.
Summary
Who to buy?At a glance
Through the dismantling of Toyota Fenglanda and Nissan Qashqai, Toyota is still the Toyota, and it is still the Toyota that pursues "enough is good". On the other hand, Nissan Qashqai is trying to change, "getting out of Asia and entering Europe", using a higher-level Loulan platform, using a large amount of aluminum alloy to reduce weight, and using a new 13T turbocharged four-cylinder engine with steel chain CVT gearbox. To be honest, I really didn't expect such a change in daily production capacity!
So, how to choose these two compact joint venture Japanese SUVs with similar prices?If you just want to buy a cheap, family-friendly one that doesn't have much to do with driving and power, then the Flander will do. And if you want a young and fashionable appearance, high configuration, and a certain pursuit of power and driving control. That obviously the Qashqai is better value for money!(The conclusion of the measurement data in this article and ** is only responsible for this vehicle, and the measurement data is responsible for the published experimental method.) ）
2023 Toyota Fenglanda overall score
2023 Nissan Qashqai overall score