Nissan No Show at Annual L.A. Auto Show

[SDRonEbay]

Well, the 05 Xterra popped up in New York but not even a Sentra could be seen at this year's Los Angeles Car show. Looks like there were Honda's galore and people stood in simple-minded awe, gaping at the 05 Lotus Elise. (all 190 hp of it )

http://www.cars.com/go/feature...ional

Alas, Nissan will have to catch the next show. To my understanding that will be in Dallas next March. Can't wait. Maybe Erik Estrada will come.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Hmmm...interesting. There's not really anything new to show, though. The Xterra has been shown plenty...

I can't figure out what it was that Honda had so much of to show. What new stuff have they got to be showing off?

The Lotus Elise would be impressive if it wasn't powered by a freaking Toyota powerplant--especially one from a car that is to be discontinued due to poor sales and performance. If it still had the original european Lotus powerplant...then it'd really be impressive.

[KDashy]

Have you ever seen that "freaking Toyota powerplant" in an MR-S? Its not a slouch by any means when in a light chassis.

[SeVa-S13]

The Elise is an amazing vehicle (despite its ugliness. Don't give me that "exotic" BS, it's just ugly) and makes a mockery out of plenty of much higher-powered and more expensive cars on a track.

It would decimate any car Nissan/Infiniti made or makes, save the GT-R.

[MinisterofDOOM]

First, I never said it couldn't out-do anything at all. All I said was that there were better powerplant choices available, if only Lotus had taken the time to get them legalized for use here in the U.S. I realize that the toyota engine is no slouch. But there are better options. It's just another case of a rush to make a deadline. The elise, as amazing a car as it is (I'm a huge Lotus fan--especially the Esprit, but all Lotus cars are icredible) could have been so much more--have you ever heard someone who has driven the real european Lotus with the real Lotus engine in it after they drove an american toyota powered one? I have. There is no comparison. Its like putting a VH45 in a Ferrari 360 Modena--just a completely different realm. I was hoping to see a Lotus be offered to us American buyers, but all we got was a Celica with an Elise body.

Second, I love the elise's looks. It's got nothing to do with "exotic" it has to do with minimalism. It is one of the best looking cars in production right now.

Sorry to hijack the thread, though. I hope we'll see more of the new Frontier at future auto shows. 285 lb-ft!!!!

[Jesda]

The Toyota engine lends the Elise much-needed credibility. Lotus didnt exactly have a reputation for making dependable cars.

[maxhopper]

The Toyota engine was only used in order to comply with US emissions standards.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Where did you get that from? First off, that toyota engine has had some reliability problems of its own. Go read up on it. It'll make you wonder what the hell Lotus was thinking--just like I do. Second, you make Lotus sound like their cars are all notorious for being horribly unreliable. While they may not be the most reliable auto-maker in the world, they are far from the bottom. Besides, who cares if they aren't exactly well known for making reliable cars? At least those cars are more fun to drive while they are running. I'd gladly sacrifice some reliability for that additional fun-to-drive-factor (which is far more than any of you who are arguing against me will admit)--fun to drive is what makes a Lotus a Lotus!! What is the point of one if it isn't all it can be in that department.

You can argue in favor of the engine or against Lotus all you want, but it doesn't change the fact that the Lotus Elise that we can buy here in America is not even close to the car it could have been, or the car that its European counterpart is.

"The Toyota engine was only used to pass U.S. emissions" is only half the story. The other half is that it would have taken two years to get the Lotus engine legalized for American use. They could have done it but they didn't because they had promised a deadline. So instead they found a small, high revving four cylindar and messed with the tuning a bit. It was a stupid mistake that cost the car in performance, and it made Lotus look like fools.

Put it this way, what if they finally brought the Skyline GT-R over here, but since they didn't want to have to deal with emissions problems, they just put a VTEC Honda V6 in it...its the same thing here.
Modified by MinisterofDOOM at 5:26 AM 11/1/2004

[maxhopper]

I never said I liked, agreed, or cared about the fact that they are using a Yota powerplant. Just lending explaination as to why it was done.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Right...I know. I just wanted to clarify...finish it off. I dislike half-information, so I figured I'd finish it off.

[w1ngzer0]

Didn't the europeon counterpart have a motor with the same HP/TQ figure? It's not an esprite, it's a elise. So, it doesn't need a 6 cyl motor.

[MinisterofDOOM]

No, nothing wrong with a four cyl. That's not what I'm saying...Man, never mind. Just go drive the things and then come back and argue.