Because they had one already in inventory and to stabilize the flow [not allow rail flucuations] when injectors open.
Since 35 lbs per hour x a 55% duty cycle = 19.25 x 2= 38.5 HP per injector x 8= 308HP........................some engineer felt that 2.6 times the maximum demand was needed to insure that after 100,000 miles it still met specs.
Not a rail design expert but it stands to reason that to minimize psi variations you would need to return at least as much gasoline to the tank as you sent into engine. A significant reason too OVER VOLUME the system is to remove the excess heat from the rails [under plenum] by returning the hot gasoline to the colder fuel tank.
Today GM uses +/- 3 psi pressure as the standard, I am assumming Nissan bettered this number 15 years ago. At 43.4 vs 40.4 psi that would translate into a 3.5% reduction in flow.
Also variable rpm resonance occurs in many undersized designs.
http://www.visteon.com/utils/w...df%22
Only takes 6 engineers months and massive computer time to deisign a fuel rail much less than the entire fuel system.
Returnless systems now measure the temperature of gasoline passing thru fuel pump and compute the rail temperature based on ambient sensor in MAF and coolant temp...........precise control vs the crude over design method.