spacemn_spiff

iTrader: (3)

I am impressed with Carlos Ghosn's revamping of the entire company in just 3 years from the brink of failure and that happened when they came up with the new Altima. That was the turning point, Nissan has been boasting highest double digit growth in all carmakers for the past few years.
Nissan has hired young engineers and designers to revamp their line replacing the aging conservative kind.

I think Toyota is following their lead with the new line up in Lexus, they are starting to look good and sound exciting. Not that I have tried any, but now at least I will give them consideration if it comes to that.

Honda, I have always admired their engineering and R&D that goes into the product line.

If like reading, there are two books that I would recommend about Honda and Toyota and how/why they are what they are today.
1. Honda Motor: the men, the management, the machines /
2. Against all odds : the story of the Toyota Motor Corporation and the family that created it /

spacemn_spiff

iTrader: (3)

That is just because of the obsession of the American buyers with high displacement engines, but worldwide people still prefer high revving high horsepower engines and Honda provides that. Honda wants to provide their racing heritage in the car form to the people, while Americans love drag racing and not track racing as much. So that goes against what Honda stands for.

For example, S2000 is available elsewhere in the world outside US with the 2.0L engine.

engiNERD350Z

iTrader: (2)

I love Hondas. They're my favorite car company and providing people with automobiles that reflect their racing heritage is a great strategy, both in marketing and R&D. What I found though when I test drove the 2005 S2000, (before I bought the Z) is still the lack of torque, and for me, low to mid range torque is used mainly in daily driving. I see the great performance of the S, expecially at the track and auto-x events when that engine opens up and shines(lets not even mention its handling), but my daily driving does not consist of keeping the tach above 6000 all the time just to get that feeling of power. Which is of course why I'm on this board and not a Honda board

pavster

HAha. If you watch Top Gear -- the UK auto show, you will notice that they always refer to hondas as old people's cars.

buho62

Sorry if this is off topic, but someone posted earlier that the Z is made in Japan. Is that true? All 350Z are made in Japan?

davidv

iTrader: (2)

The manufacturing plant is annotated in your VIN. Use the Nissan VIN decoder to figure out which plant.

PoWeRtRiP

my z was a nightmare.

i had 17 different trips (some with multiple issues) for warranty works.

4x for feathering
2x for window motors
1x for clicking in rear axle
1x faulty amp
etc...

ended up filing a lemon law suit on the z. but traded it in cuz it would take too long.

let the buyer beware.

pacificwindsurf

I still have my 1993 Nissan Pick-up, and after about 145,000 miles I have only good things to say about Nissan reliability. I never had a single problem with the truck outside of normal maintenance such as brakes, shocks, tires, and a couple tunes ups to replace belts and hoses, etc. The truck was a big reason I stuck with Nissan and bought my Z.

streetracer

iTrader: (1)

I had to change my passanger window motor. Also an ABS/Bake light came a few months after I bought it and they replaced the sensor. Still goes on once in a while. It rattles a bit on top of the dashboard were the A/C vents are. The part which I really don't like is that the car has nonlinear steering. It pulls to the right and yes, it is aligned.