Hideous IMO

 

Looks interesting. If this thing handles well, it would be a nice low cost fun car. When DSM came out with turbo Talon/Eclipse back in the 90's, they were FWD/AWD and 190 hp. The FWD is marginally faster, mostly on paper. Drivers made most of the difference. The 190 hp was very usable at the time. I would be watching this.

 

It's essentially a Sunny Gti-R.

 

Or an NX2000

 

Those didn't come AWD, the biggest thing people do with those is do a Neo VVL swap. Apparently they handled very well but it was simply a Sentra chassis.

 

looks koo

 

Merged.

 

Haven't been on the forum for a couple months. I come back and find this. My first reaction is the question of whether this will consume Nissan's attention and put off a new Z car to replace the 370 for a while...OR (and worse)...is this all we will see for a new Z, period.

Still glad I only drive my 350 about 5K a year. Currently about 6.5 years old with a little over 31K miles on it.

 

While I like the styling of it.. why is it called a "mini Z"? Will Nissan stop developing the 370? If so Nissan is truly lost. The 350z is what resurrected Nissan from the brink of being a forgotten car company. Well I think Nissan lost it when they introduced the 370.. From a styling stand point there really wasn't much wrong with the 350 and it could have been tweeked/refreshed etc. without reengineering a whole new car. Waste of $$ imo.

 

Everything I find online regarding this development tells me this will be the next Z from Nissan. I can't say I'm surprised really, given what has happened economically with the auto industry of late and that these companies must make hard decisions to remain in business. But I am disappointed they are taking what is essentially a niche market vehicle and trying to use it to gain market share. I think it will end up another mistake.

 

I like the first concept. The chances of the car ACTUALLY looking like that (or better) are slim to none. I have to say its a so-so looking concept, but still looks **** (A- cup)

 

I'm hoping it won't look like the drawing. Although if it does, I'd rather have an FRS/BRZ.

 

If Ford can make a 420hp 30k car and a $60k 662hp car...

 

I wouldn't worry much on this actually REPLACING the Z. Haven't they already said the Z will get refreshed for 2015?

 

The articles I've read all say the same thing. This new "mini-Z" is the next generation Z. Granted they are all based on the same information from an interview with Nissan's design boss Shiro Nakamura. One article comes right out and states how the 370 has pretty much been a failure in that it never impressed the buying audience as much as the 350 did and Nissan hopes to address that with this new design.

Less weight means less power necessary to achieve the same performance as a heavier, more powerful car. Let's hope this is demonstrated in whatever they end up releasing. I personally am not interested in driving a glorified Celica.

 

Really very, very stupid move on Nissan's part if this actually happens. With the recent popularity of drifting and everyone wanting a RWD car on the cheap, I think Toyota/Subaru are still going to be destroying the market with the FRS/BRZ, even if this thing is released as AWD.

In my personal opinion, Nissan's best bet (if they wish to join the "cheap" entry-level sporty coupe market) would be to make a cheap little RWD car with the Juke motor. If they were to bring back the s-chassis right now that would be absolute money. This is not a proper direction for the Z chassis to go, and if this is the route they go it's downright disgraceful to the Z car heritage.

 

Nissan unfortunately seems to have a knack for making such mistakes. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my 350Z and I can't complain a bit about my old '94 Pathfinder (that I drove for 17 years and sold last year with just over 420,000 miles on the original motor/transmission/4-wheel drive system! The guy that bought it is still using it as a pack mule while gold prospecting in the North Georgia mountains, lol). My mother STILL drives a little 94 Nissan truck that we bought at the same time as my Pathfinder. But they seem to have a habit of killing off good designs (240, 1st gen Pathfinder to name a couple), or trying to go mainstream with niche vehicles instead of catering to and capitalizing on those smaller markets. Nissan has always seemed to me to struggle a bit with deciding on what business model they want to follow. They want to be Toyota or Honda, but they're not and they probably never will be. But they make some awesome vehicles that tend to cater to folks who march to the beat of a slightly different drummer --- and they need to do their best to retain that market because that is part of why Nissan owners tend to be very brand-loyal.

 

Well, in Nissan's defense most of the designs/models they tend to kill off are ones that are no longer making a profit. I assume you were talking about the 240SX and not the 240Z. Despite a good media following and a lot of cult fanfare, in truth the 240sx never lived up to the sales hype that Nissan was hoping for. Most of that was due to the car being neutered to meet the US Market, and the thought that Americans prefered low end torque over a high reving fun motor. The Success of the Sentra B13 SE-R should have dispelled that but I wonder how much thinsg would have been different if pending US emission laws had allowed Nissan to bring the SR20T in that chassis.

They also floundered for 10 years or so being on the edge of bankruptcy and had to find a way to just not go under. We can really thank Goesen, and the Altima for saving Nissan. While having the Z back, and a decent Maxima it was really the designand sales of the Altima that brought Nissan back from the dean and a powerhouse in the Automotive world once again.

 

Then they REALLY need to be careful in their decisions I would say. Having strong sales in a mainstream vehicle or two gives them some wiggle room with the niche market. But now they are trying to make their niche market car more appealing to a broader audience.

What happens if it doesn't work?

 

Doing a little more research, the Z is being redesigned but everything points to another RWD V6 powered car, but one that is smaller and lighter than the current one.

This is NOT that car, but a competitor to the Fiat 500C, Mini Cooper, and the like. It will thrive in markets where larger, large displacement cars do not. From the article posted:

Despite what the article states, this is not a competitor to the FT-86 twins, but an effort to compete in the hot hatch segment where others are thriving and Nissan doesn't have a player. I think a Versa SE-R based off the Nissan Sport Concept is a better answer, but who knows.

Other players coming on strong in this arket include Ford with the Focus st and Fiesta ST.