Comments on: Nissan: The Z Is Gonna Be A [Porsche] Contender!

By: doctorv8

doctorv8 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:54:43 +0000

John R,

If they slice 200 lbs off the FM chassis to make the next gen Z car, I’ll eat my hat.

That would require extensive use of aluminum and other lightweight materials, and I doubt Nissan is dumb enough to move the 370Z far enough upmarket to warrant the increased costs.

By: John R

John R — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:51:42 +0000

@ doctorv8

I did read my link.

The figure I quoted is the assumed weight of the 370Z. 3346 lb – 200 lbs = 3146 lbs.

By: hwyhobo

hwyhobo — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 06:58:44 +0000

I normally don’t care much about car’s looks, but this thing better had a rocket of an engine if it wants to succeed. The only thing it’s missing stylistically is a pair of fart cans and articulated purple side skirts, and it would fit very well in some of the neighborhoods around here. Then again, it’s a bit on the expensive side for the pimped-out Civic market.

By: DearS

DearS — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 03:01:22 +0000

I agree It better drive well. A used 3, 350Z, Vette or AMG have the engine thing down pretty well.

By: Usta Bee

Usta Bee — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:26:36 +0000

Will it still have the goofy rear strut tower brace taking up all the cargo room ?.

By: Michael Karesh

Michael Karesh — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:32:39 +0000

Well, the proof will be in how it drives.

By: matt

matt — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:23:53 +0000

as a current owner of a 2005 Z, i’d rather they improve the interior than give it more power/displacement. but the weight loss idea is great.

By: doctorv8

doctorv8 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:39:18 +0000

John R….you need to re-read your own link…the current Z weighs 3346 lbs in coupe guise, which is heavier than all Corvettes built in the past 11 years. Not porker, but for a V6 powered compact…still quite heavy.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:44:55 +0000

If the base price jumps to $35k or slightly more, it better outperform a sub-$30k RX-8 in every respect. The 350Z interior appears to be designed by a committee of blind men; so, I hope they put a little thought and money into the interior layout and materials. As stated above, at that price you’re runnig into Corvette territory. The current 350Z certainly doesn’t compete with the Corvette, and a little bump in horsepower won’t change that.

By: Detroit-Iron

Detroit-Iron — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:30:10 +0000

Color me corrected. I thought it was in the 3700-3800 range.

By: rpn453

rpn453 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 20:38:02 +0000

. . . but Nissan is saying that improved performance will put the 370 Z on par with Audi’s TT and Porsche’s Cayman.

The TT? I haven’t driven one, but everything I’ve read and seen indicates that’s not what they should be aiming for. Watching The Stig plow that thing through the corners was hilarious!

By: ferrarimanf355

ferrarimanf355 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:46:57 +0000

You guys forgot something. Autoblog is suggesting that the 370Z will be 200 pounds lighter than the outgoing 350Z. If that’s about right, and if the motor gets about 50 more horses, than we may have a new contenda…

By: whatdoiknow1

whatdoiknow1 — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 19:39:42 +0000

Is the news of this substaintial price increase coming from Nissan or is this a guess on the part of the writer?

Not for nothing but the engine will basically be an off the shelf item that already exist and will be shared amoung a few Nissan products.

The platfrom will NOT be all new and will also be shared with other Nissan products.

There is a very good arguement that can be made that Nissan will NOT increase the price too much.

One needs to remember why the 350z exist today. It exist simply beacuse Nissan was able to use both a multi-purpose engine and platform to produce it. IF not for the FM platform and VQ engine Nissan would NOT have invested in a sports car.

By: Howler

Howler — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:45:54 +0000

Porsche performance or not, this cars design language hasnt aged well. From that photo it seems the redesign is going the wrong way too. From what I read the Z great car on a track, but when I drove it in RL cases around town, or even down an expressway its a total pig, heavy with lots of lateral backlash and rubbery sloppiness I feel a 89 944 puts it to shame. The only design/redesign I actually thought worked was the Honda Prelude, too bad it was so bland on the inside and so fwd. This segment of asian sports cars is just headed for mediocre land(Eclipse), they tend to all look overbaked, like a jet ski or something. The same of the RX-8 R3 Im sure its a great car but I dont watch enough anime to appreciate its japanopop looks or cheapo materials. Plus why keep pushing that oddball rotary engine just make it an option or something it should be ovious to Mazda it scares away potential buyers.

By: John R

John R — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:29:25 +0000

Damn. That’s pretty close. I was hoping it would look like this.

By: Edward Niedermeyer

Edward Niedermeyer — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:19:49 +0000

John R: This looks like a more plausible guess at the production look.

By: beetlebug

beetlebug — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:19:01 +0000

I agree that pricing it upmarket is going to hurt it. It’ll be the same story of how the 300Z and the Supra got knocked out of the market. There’s a spot for reasonably priced sports cars, especially now that the economy is tanking. Not a big spot, but bigger I think than the premium priced side. The current 350Z is in the “reasonably priced” niche I think (at least the base car). I hope Nissan understands that.

By: SunnyvaleCA

SunnyvaleCA — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:13:15 +0000

The Z350 is already more powerful and torquey than the TT or Cayman. More engine power isn’t what they need.

By: John R

John R — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:09:58 +0000

@Detroit-Iron

http://www.kbb.com/KBB/NewCars/Specifications/2008_Nissan_350Z_224031.aspx?SelectedTabIndex=1&trid=23

So…3146 lbs is too heavy? Its going to be lighter than the Corvette (if your figure is correct).

Secondly, anyone keen on getting a Z may not cross shop with a Corvette.

[@Niedermeyer]

Lastly, the renderings above look like they are from Japanese mag, Best Car maybe (?), not the manufacturer. The headlamps are supposed to be reminiscent of those on the new Maxima (not that that’s any better depending on your tastes).

One last thing about the whole”…well they’re going to price themselves out of the market…” business. Seeing as how this same rhetoric has been bandied about with the introduction of the 350Z nearly 6-8 years ago and the car still sells I think it may be wise to have a wait and see attitude.

By: argentla

argentla — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:08:44 +0000

Er, didn’t the earlier ZX (and RX-7, and Supra) die because they priced themselves out of the market?

I don’t love the Z’s burly-linebacker looks, but I would still consider one because it’s reasonably attainable. If it goes after the Cayman, that will no longer be true, and its appeal kind of goes away.

I loved the Acura NSX, but I couldn’t afford one of those, either.

By: Detroit-Iron

Detroit-Iron — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:48:59 +0000

That thing is an Challenger/Camaro style porker. It could lose 200 lbs and still be way too heavy. If it goes too far over 35k it is going to run into base Corvette territory and have to compete with 3200 lbs and 420 hp.

By: Jeff Puthuff

Jeff Puthuff — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:45:36 +0000

Finally, they’ve rid the car of its ridiculous door handles.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:44:09 +0000

Last time they tried going up market they had to pull it from lack of sales.

By: arapaima

arapaima — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:42:28 +0000

That front end is really ugly. It kinda like those cats with the squished faces.

By: Robstar

Robstar — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:37:44 +0000

I think for a little north of $35k territory, I’d rather have an 2 year old elise.