As a (now former) Toyobaru owner, yes, the same things could almost be said about that, but Toyota has a controlling stake in Subaru IIRC and the rest of the car didn't scream Subaru the way the Supra screams BMW (interior and engine mostly).
As a (now former) Toyobaru owner, yes, the same things could almost be said about that, but Toyota has a controlling stake in Subaru IIRC and the rest of the car didn't scream Subaru the way the Supra screams BMW (interior and engine mostly).
They were in the same place at the same time a few weeks ago
I'm going to say this now: SRO America is bringing GT America to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville this year. That would be a great place for them to announce the 400Z Nismo road and GT4 cars, to be raced in SRO/GT America the next year (with Forsberg Racing, hint wink nudge).
Get that weak shit off my track
I'm dredging this thread up only to yell to the ether:
Nissan, make a successor to the S15 Silvia, you fucking cowards.
That is all.
Similar thought expressed here http://gtxforums.net/showthread.php?...823#post179823
The S-bodies were fantastic, easy to live with, fast, fun, good looking, affordable to run. They also (at least in non-North American markets) anticipated the benefits of downsized turbo engines to give performance, driveability and economy. Not perfect, but really great blend of attributes for a broad target market.
There were to some extent also a product of a Nissan which had lost focus and were engineering and producing a huge, sprawling range of engines, chassis and body styles and was losing millions of dollars a month as a result. The 'Ghosn' strategy involved reuniting the 'Z' and 'Silvia' product lines, split in the 60s, with the 350Z, a cheaper car than its predecessor.
Logical, but by basing everything on the larger Skyline FM platform it lost the lightness and responsiveness of the S-bodies, as well as costing more to run especially in emissions-conscious Europe.
Unfortunately the willingness to engineer FR platforms for small light cars is near non-existent - the '3 series' class is the best we have, but that's the same as the current Z etc anyway.
With manufacturers looking to an electric future, I'm afraid that era has passed, just as the muscle car era of huge V8s in everything ended after the Sixties.
There are realistically two ways forwards that I see
- buy an S-body, or your preferred 90s car, look after it, improve it sympathetically, and enjoy it
- campaign for a future EV coupe that's RWD and not too big, heavy or expensive
Sadly samoht is right. There's no financial incentive for a modern 240sx, for the reasons he mentions and also the long time lack of interest by average commuter drivers for small FR cars. It's all hatches and CUV/SUVs. Therefore there's no economy of scale to speak of. Maybe with an engine but that's about it.
When the IDx debuted I bent the ear of anyone I thought might have any influence. It was a show hit and the Twins either weren't out yet or were just getting started. I had been seeing an emerging market for a FR 4-seat compact great-handling 2-door coupe. Not a huge market, but enough. Subaru and Toyota ended up filling that void pretty well and it soon became too late for Nissan to get in with a good share of that market.
Hyundai, though, is teasing us with an incredible looking concept car that really gives me modern retro S-chassis vibes:
That may be the only way we get another light RWD car from Nissan - as an alternative fuel or EV car. Though EVs are not light, they at least have low center of gravity and good torque/weight ratio.
Trivia: how many of you knew the 1999 concept for a new Z built on an S chassis?
Nailed it.
SUVs/CUVs replaced sporty cars and coupes as both commuter vehicles and as aspirational vehicles. The vast majority of that market growth is FWD based CUVs (Suburban/Yukon XL sales are down over 50% from the 1999-1994 heyday, Tahoe/Yukon sales are down about a third from their peak 20 years ago), and those FWD/AWD CUV platforms shared with front drive sedans/hatches/minivans aren't starting points for a FR sports car.
Fuck you Nissan, fuck you!
How could you drop this ball?
acket.