Rampage

You are partially right. The exchange rate did have a negative impact on the purchase price of those cars. However, look at the evolution of the cars from 1985 to 1995. They got a lot bigger and a lot faster. Twin turbos, full aluminum bodies, four wheel steering, four wheel drive, double overhead cams with variable valve timing, bigger displacement engines with exotic materials, none of that comes cheap.
I am not sure that the SUVs had that much of an impact on the sports car market. I think the poor reliablity of the sports cars had more of an impact. Replacing high tech parts that broke way too often caused buyers to shun those cars. There were so many turbo, motor and brake problems with those cars that cost thousands of dollars to fix. Buyers of Japanese sports cars were used to bulletproof reliablity and low repair cost. They did not want cars that cost as much as a Porsche or Ferrari to maintain.
Todays Z shares many parts with the others cars in the Nissan line. That keeps the purchase price repair cost within reason and provides for excellent reliablity because many of the parts, including the motor, are the same parts that people depend on to drive their families around town every day. Taking the Z upmarket to take on Porsche whould mean a new motor and more high tech, lighter and most likely less reliable parts. If they don't take a hard look at thier mistakes of the past they could very easily repeat them.

They need to watch gas prices too!

KenWH

iTrader: (1)

It's funny that the most technically complicated and probably most unreliable car of that era, the 3000gt, stayed on the market long after the Supra, 300z, and rx7. I still see a ton of them around, way more than the other asian "super" cars. Though it's mostly the "stripped" sl model. The top line(vr-4 i think it's called) must be a nightmare to work on...let's see, it has awd, 4ws, bi-turbo, wings that raise at speed, etc,etc... It really was a technical marvel back then. Too bad it was such a porker that performance was toward the low-end of the class back then.

jasonintoronto

yup - you are right - combined with the economic slowdown in the early nineties porsche almost went bankrupt and the rx-7/300zx disappeared from our lots.
...the porsche 968
...the rx-7 and supra turbo (and 300zx to a lesser extent)

alex12

iTrader: (5)

+1. i agree that most of the pricing on 350z's above the base model are a little overboard. i expect more improvement over the base model from track if it costs $8000 more. (base=26800, track=34600, 35th=36200, grand touring roadster=39300!) track model doesnt even weigh lighter than the base if i remember correctly. a re-made Z with better performance for the current track price, now i think that is a resonable deal. however it is unlikely that this will happen...

KenWH

iTrader: (1)

I agree...the track model needs to really be a bit more trackable compared to the the other model Z's. Look at what chevy does with the Z06 compared to a standard C. It's lighter, has more power, better brakes, better handling suspension, etc. It's practically a model unto itself.

I think nissan in the short term could just do couple things to the standard Track model like shave some weight and maybe have it come standard with a Nismo tuned suspension. That would be a good start to give the track model some individuality.

defex

Americans wont pay upwards of 60K for any japanese automobile. It's been tried. Leave the expensive cars to the europeans who know how to do it right. I love the Z for what it is, but if they try to compete with the likes of the BMW M's, Mercedes AMG's, and Porsches, they'll be sorry. I'm not talking HP or peformance.. I'm talking marketting... No one will pay the same amount for a car labeled a nissan or infiniti as they would for the trademark of BMW or Mercedes and ESPECIALLY Porsche...


Strike that.. MOST PEOPLE WONT! It might be a great car for a great deal but it won't make them money and that is what matters at the end of the day for a car manufacturer..

NA350Z

iTrader: (2)

Well, last I remember the NSX cost in excess of 80,000 and Americans did buy those for 15 years mind you. Granted it was produced in very limited numbers, but still bought nonetheless. Im not criticizing your comment, just correcting it a bit, not offense intended.

Denny

zland

I think most 350Z owners that installed or plan to install a SC or Turbo in their car would have purchased a factory TT and gladly paid 10K more for it.

The 300TT was a very reliable car.

KenWH

iTrader: (1)

10-15yrs. ago you be exactly right. However Japanese automakers have made BIG strides into the "high-end" car segement here and elsewhere in the last decade or so. At the same time reports show that the reliability of the luxury euro brands has fallen some. With Toyota's Lexus division carrying the most name recognition, as a luxury brand, it's very solid. Honda's Acura division is strong also along with Nissan's Infiniti division which is also doing fairly well.

tekk

the Z will remain the affordable sports car that nissan will always need to have, if anything being a lower costing cayman/boxster

the gtr will compete with porsche and bmw, if anything being a lower costing AWD 911 or M6.

zpak

Only once. The NSX.

zedated

What is amazing is that Nissan was able to produce such a high-performance car in the $25K-35K range in 2003. I bought a 1990 300ZX na fully loaded new in 1990 for $28K (list was around $32K), and that was a good deal back then.

The beauty of this car is that *lots* of people can afford it. If you double or triple the price, you're competing with Porsches and other high-end cars. The people who buy those cars can afford whatever they want, so the Z would be less "special" to them. They're probably inclined to buy for status as much as performance.

A new high-end car would have to be better than Porsche and Corvette and Viper in almost every respect in order to displace them and get any decent sales volume, but still that market would be small compared to the current market.

tekk

M45's can get there, LS430s can get there, SC430s get there...albeit many can be had for $5X,XXX

Yes it has, and I would call the above attempts successful.

The new GS and M45 are as good as the 5 series/E class. The G35 and new IS are as good as the 3 series and C class. Of course, I am not including factory tuned models.

I agree...

It's already happening. Porsche is not immune either.

Kanyon71

iTrader: (2)

No Porsche isn't immune and has had failures in the past, I mean you need look no further then the 928 to see this. Porsche strayed from what made it popular and had horrid sales for it. The car wasn't bad looking, handled VERY well and was fast yet the sales where horrible. The next big failure from them is just around the corner (rumor has it a sedan is on the way). Now for Nissan to try and compete with Porsche in their space wouldn't be wise, just like it wouldn't be wise for Porsche to build a 30k car to compete with Nissan, when it comes to the point of Z or Cayman I would have a Cayman sitting in my garage, Porsche is one of the brands that simply stirs the soul and brings of feelings from the past, the history of the brand. The Z is a beautiful car, is just as fast as the current Boxster S, though I am not sure how it compares in handling. Nissan would be intelligent to keep doing what they are doing and keep building a beautiful car at a great price. Old saying goes always know your audience and play to them.

Joeys_z

iTrader: (-1)

Porsche is really good at what they do...probably one of the best in the world. The above statement is the same thing I heard and read when the Cheyenne was coming out....it is now the best selling Porsche that is made. Going to have to disagree with most of that statement.

Agent ONE

Guys, stop bringing up the NSX, that was a tremendous failure for Honda.

350zQ45a

I don't see any reason the Z can't start in the 30s and still remain affordable.

The new IS350 is running 13s at mid 100 traps.. The new toyota engine is clearly better then the VQ.

The competition is closing in and Nissan has said it wants to be #1 inclass hp.



It seems like the Cayman S is not getting much respect, and I wonder why? This is a car that should tell porsche that rear engine is not optimal and should go to mid engine. The new cayman will be one of the best cars in the world if you like to drive. Perfect balance, steering, braking feel everything about it is what makes it unique. It's why a premium is commanded, just for the feel of the car. Italians and Germans have this, and the Z needs more of it.

The Cayman S is a fine car to imitate. Has less HP then a 911 and has ran the 'ring faster.

Drop the rear engine!

Someone said something about the dollar to performance ratio being low on a Porsche.. So?

It's high in the mustang, is that a good thing? Wouldn't you rather have a perfectly balanced piece of automotive engineering then a rattlebox with a big engine?

The Z strikes a good balance, but could be much better.

350zQ45a

So what if the NSX failed at sales in the US. Americans by in general in masses at least buy garbage. So many of the Z sales are soley based on looks and have nothing to do with the engineering or performance of the car.

I'm sure Honda would have liked more sales worldwide for the NSX, but it still stands as a piece of brilliant engineering.

Toyota has 40 billion in cash and they stopped Supra production and replaced it with RAV-4s.

Honda let the car continue despite poor sales. They are proud of the car and should be.

Zquicksilver

iTrader: (5)

For shiz in grins this would be my version of the 2009 track model Z...


Zquicksilver