The Short Version
- Three Nissan kei nameplates, three different donors.
- The Otti is 56 mm because it is a Mitsubishi. Its Suzuki-based sibling is not documented at all.
- The Moco has no published bore on either database, while its donor does.
- The Clipper has two entirely different donors depending on the era, and one unresolved figure.
Two Nissan Kei Cars, Two Different Bores
We established recently that Honda and Mitsubishi kei cars use a 56 mm hub bore while Suzuki and Daihatsu use 54.
Nissan does not build kei cars at all. It badges other people’s. So the prediction was that Nissan’s kei range should split by donor — and it does.
| Nissan | Chassis | Is really a | Donor chassis | Bore (Nissan page) | Bore (donor page) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otti | H91W, H92W | Mitsubishi eK Wagon | H81W, H82W | 56 mm | 56 mm |
| Moco | MG21S, MG22S, MG33S | Suzuki MR Wagon | MF21S, MF22S, MF33S | Not researched | 54 mm |
The Otti confirms the pattern cleanly — a Nissan-badged kei car on 56 mm, because a Mitsubishi built it.
The Moco is the sixth badge-twin data gap we have documented. Its donor, the Suzuki MR Wagon, carries 54 mm on every grade. The Moco carries nothing on any grade — and we confirmed that on both Japanese databases, including an individual grade page for a DBA-MG33S which prints 調査中 outright.
So the practical advice for a Moco owner is the same trick that keeps working: read the donor’s page. The MR Wagon says 54 mm, the cars are the same vehicle, and that is the best evidence available. It is not published for your car, so measure it if it matters — our hub bore reference covers how.
The Clipper Changed Donors Entirely
The Clipper is the complicated one, because Nissan switched supplier mid-nameplate.
| Era | Chassis | Donor | Bore |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003–2013 | U71T, U72T (truck), U71V, U72V (van), U71W, U72W (Clipper Rio) | Mitsubishi Minicab | 56 mm |
| 2013– | DR16T (NT100 truck), DR17V (NV100 van), DR17W (Clipper Rio) | Suzuki Carry / Every | See below |
So a “Nissan Clipper” is a Mitsubishi before 2013 and a Suzuki after. Same name, different vehicle, different bore convention.
Note the reversal on the older cars: the Clipper pages carry a confirmed 56 mm while several Minicab grades of the same era are marked unresearched. The rebadge is better documented than the donor — the same thing we found with the Mazda Scrum and the Suzuki Carry.
One Figure We Cannot Reconcile
We have to flag this because we could not resolve it and we would rather you knew.
On the current Suzuki-based Clippers, the database gives:
- NV100 Clipper Van, DR17V — 60 mm. Matches the Suzuki Every DA17V at 60 mm. Clean.
- NT100 Clipper Truck, DR16T — 54 mm, on every grade.
- NV100 Clipper Rio, DR17W — 54 mm.
But the donor Suzuki Carry DA16T reads 60 mm where it is populated. Same truck, same generation, two different bores recorded.
Our own reading of the Carry page adds a wrinkle: of 234 DA16T rows, only 23 carry a bore figure at all — the rest are blank. So the “60 mm” on the Carry side rests on a minority of rows, and the discrepancy is on thinner ground than it first appears.
We cannot find a mechanical reason for a genuine difference between two badge-identical trucks. Our position: this looks like a database inconsistency, we are reporting both figures as found, and if you are buying wheels for an NT100 Clipper or a Clipper Rio you should measure the hub rather than trust either number.
Why Nissan Has Three Donors
Briefly, because it explains the mess. Nissan stopped making kei cars long ago and has sourced them from whoever suited at the time — Suzuki for the Moco and the modern Clipper, Mitsubishi for the Otti and the older Clipper, and now Mitsubishi again through the joint venture that produces the Dayz and Roox.
There is even a fourth: the 2009–2013 Roox on chassis ML21S is a Suzuki Palette rebadge at 54 mm, unrelated to the later Mitsubishi-built Roox at 56.
So a Nissan kei badge tells you almost nothing. The chassis code tells you everything. We have mapped the whole thing in the rebadge reference.
What We Could Not Verify
- The Moco’s hub bore, on either database, on any grade.
- Whether the NT100 Clipper Truck is genuinely 54 mm where its Suzuki Carry donor reads 60. Both figures are recorded consistently within their own pages and we cannot reconcile them.
- Hub bore for most older Mitsubishi Minicab truck and van grades, marked unresearched on the donor page.