Drifting and its positive impact on US markets

Nissan dominates the drift scene - Always has, always will.
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Onizuka
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I have heard a little of bashing of drifting from guys on here and it seems a little assbackwards from guys who love RWD cars. Here is why i belive drifting is a good thing:

According to economics, manufacturers will increase the production of specific products if the demand is there. Drifting and its popularity undoubtedly has had tremendous effect on the younger population and since drifting is primarily a sport that requires RWD, the demand for vehicles in this configuration goes up.

This may seem simple enough to you, but its the car companies that have to catch on to this, and the best way for them to find out is media attention. At one point or another, they will catch on and say "there are .5 million young kids out there who like drifting, alot of these kids are buying small, light weight RWD cars we made 5, 10, 15, 20 years ago and spending thousands of dollars modifying them. Each one of these persons is a potential customer"

Magazines wants to feature drifting? Good I saySCCA wants to start a highly publicised national drift comp? Even better!

At some point they will want a peice of the growing pie, and the only way to do that is to make a cheap RWD car. Good for me, good for you, good for motorsports as we know it.

What do you think on the matter?


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MainEvent212
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you mean like the manufacturers are gonna start making lightweight RWD cars? i'm down :)

that'd be awesome if they converted the civic to RWD...i've always wanted one...a civic hatch that's rwd...

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Altiman94
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I agree with J-Spec on this one. Getting more small rwd cars in production woudl definitely be a godo thing. Either way, it will benefit the car companies in the end.

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HongKongChick
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even if the car manufacturers see the demands, u think the US government will allow it? i mean they might, but only a limited amount, u know how that goes, in the US, we never get the great cars with the great engines, we get the great cars in the US standards and the crappy engines.

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Megaseth
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the problem is, it costs a LOT to build brand new cars. if you keep the name, and just redo the car, its easier to get it passed the testing stuff. if you make a new car, and give it a new name, then they have to start all over again. sooo, if nissan made a small hatchback RWD compact, none of that "crossover" **** or 4dr big *** wagon type cars, but a small 2dr hatch, then they'd have to out a lot of money into gov testing instead of using an exsisting platform or name. they could call it the sentra x or something.

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Mr1der
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you know, I'm thinking the biggest impact is gonna be dumb drifter videos...

I'm gonna start practicing and become a "drifter punk" similar to a skater punk, but with a car...

this is just an excuse for me to get money and do stupid stuff:D

I'm all for some more RWD cars, that'd be groovy. Seems everyone is trying to pump out AWD right now, but that's ok too I reckon.

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Megaseth
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haha, if we start the drift punk fad, we're gonna need some kind of clothing style. like straight leg jeans, adidas old skewl shoes, and tee-shirts or something. and with big *** helmets and gloves!!

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Onizuka
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HongKongChick wrote:even if the car manufacturers see the demands, u think the US government will allow it? i mean they might, but only a limited amount, u know how that goes, in the US, we never get the great cars with the great engines, we get the great cars in the US standards and the crappy engines.


The government doesnt dictate wheather or not a car is RWD or FWD, or if it has a Crappy motor or a Turbocharged demon under the hood. All the government wants is for it to pass saftey and emmisions standards, Unless all those 300hp+ and RWD bmw's, mercedes, porches, infinitis, ferraris, fords and chevys running around are illegal.

The only thing holding back manufaturers from producing cheap RWD cars is lack of a valid excuse to do so.

Mitsubishi, dodge and subaru have already proven that there is room for turbo 4 cylinders in this market. Car manufaturers spend millions of dollars every year developing prototypes, and introduce new model lines all the time.

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GEO
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Yeh but, RWD isn;t for everybody.. 800 post btw..

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Onizuka
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Vengeance wrote:Yeh but, RWD isn;t for everybody.. 800 post btw..


poptarts arnt for everybody, whats your point?

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Megaseth
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i like poptarts, and RWD!!!! YAY!!!!

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TachyonS14
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RWD cars cost a lot more to make. Car companies look at It from the money aspect, and they would have to sell enough RWD cars to make up for the time and money to plan new designs, and the extra cost of building them. I highly doubt honda/acura will because they like to pump as much as they can out of their engines to put more power to the wheels, which means FWD. I think It would be cool If car companies started doing It, but I really doubt It.

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Onizuka
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TachyonS14 wrote:RWD cars cost a lot more to make.


same goes with AWD, but that hasnt stopped the sale of WRX's and EVO's etc....

I dont see where you guys get that RWD is so expensive, the 350Z is RWD and relitively cheap (can be had for $26,000) even though it uses an expensive V6 and expensive standard equipment like alloy wheels.

It is totally posible for a company to design and make a RWD car and sell it for under $20,000.

Turbo motors are more expensive to make than NA ones, that hasnt stopped dodge from selling a 250hp turbo car for under $20K.

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Onizuka
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Nissan also sells the RWD 4 cylinder Frontier for $13,290 Base Retail Price (MSRP).

thats pretty cheap IMO.

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Megaseth
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what motor do they use in that? is it a QR?

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lessthanjakejohn
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Not a QR... 143 hp, 154 lb/ft

TurboKA37
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one way to make them realize the demand for cheap rwd 4 cyl. cars is for all of us to send emails demanding them from multiple car companies. just think if they got like 1000 emails requesting a cheap rwd in a few days. that would be cool

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lessthanjakejohn
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affordable, not cheap ;)

besides we want something we can abuse, not something that deserves to be thrown away like a 4cyl mustang

TurboKA37
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yea, by cheap i mean not expensive. not cheaply made. i just want the craftsmanship and quality of a bentley with the price take of a civic! is that too much to ask?

BuudWeizErr
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Megaseth wrote:what motor do they use in that? is it a QR?


i think it's KA.

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Megaseth
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they still use the KA? hmmm, i wonder if that 3.3 sohc supercharged motor will fit in my 240, or maybe just the SCer

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Onizuka
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thats the VG33R or something like that.

In not even talking nissan only though, it would be nice if a bunch of manufacturers got in on this.

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Megaseth
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mazda, toyota, nissan. those would be the only ones i'd give any credit too. i dontk now about domestics, since most of them only use V8s and the only thing ford and GM have in 4cyl is the ecotec and zetec motors, nothing to write home about. oh well, its all a pipe dream.

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Onizuka
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Megaseth wrote:its all a pipe dream.


i dont see it that way :)

This could be very real very soon.

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Megaseth
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i really hope im wrong.

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vwluv10338
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Here is what I want (of course I work for Lexus so I am jaded). I think the IS300 should come over here as the Altezza. The 2JZ just doesnt fit in that car well and I think the 4cycl turbo RWD 5sp toyota for around $22-$25K would be awsome. Nice competition with the WRX. I like the IS and I can get a deal on one but $30K is steep I think, and I need a turbo.

Eric

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TachyonS14
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RWD is a symbol of a sports car. They will not make a RWD civic, RSX, SRT-4 etc. We got lucky Nissan made the 240sx here. And the only reason we get AWD car's like the EVO and WRX is because the platform was used for rally already. They will not make a new RWD platform because It will cost too much. All they really care about is money, and don't you think If they could make money by building a Sub 20k dollar RWD car, don't you think It would already be here?

BuudWeizErr
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We are lucky Nissan brought the 240 here.

I mean, even the japanese are getting screwed out of RWD cars right now, albeit not as badly as we are, but they still don't have the current production cars of 5 years ago.

And the IS should not come over here the way you described it. If I was Toyota, I would modify the chassis to a 2 door coupe and offer it as a coupe or a sedan It would have cloth interior, manual windows, a 3S-GE, and none of that fancy crap like HID, etc and sell for <$20k and be done with it. But we know they won't. They already proved that by yanking the 4 cylinder and putting in the 2JZ. They are convinced that to complete the luxury car image they are drying to portray to the Amerian populous, it needs to have a 6 cylinder engine.

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lessthanjakejohn
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Besides half of America doesn't know the difference between a V4 :rolleyes and a V6 engine.

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Onizuka
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TachyonS14 wrote:They will not make a new RWD platform because It will cost too much. All they really care about is money, and don't you think If they could make money by building a Sub 20k dollar RWD car, don't you think It would already be here?


No, i dont think it would be here already, because there was no demand for such a car.

Where do you get that it would be too expensive to make? Car manufacturers design and produce new cars EVERY YEAR. There are TONS of rwd platform vehicles out there. You might have this mixed up, consumers control the market, not the manufacturers. If the consumers want to pay for the added cost of RWD, manufacturers either meet the demand or loose profits to be gained.

Current RWD cars are epensive because 1) the F&F trend has got manufacturers thinking the low income performance market wants "front wheel drive hotrods" and 2) almost all current RWD cars are in the luxury catagory except for the 350Z and RX8 that are aimed at middle aged men who want a weekend warrior car with all the creature comforts like A/C and navigation.

If they can sell a RWD pickup truck for $13,000 tell me what prevents are RWD car from being sold at the same price?

oh yeah i forgot, RWD cars have to have gold plated driveshafts and platinum U-joints. That must be why they are SOOOOOOO much more expensive to make.


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