Why Nissan NEEDS an Affordable RWD Sports Car

[float_6969]

They're sooo going to make that now. Way to go.

[dre1507]

Yea, Bex is spot on about altimas and versas on rental lots. Nissans, infinitis included, make up for about 25% of the rental cars I drive at work. Mostly Altimas. And as expected, they don't excite me. Versas are worse. Ford, Corollas, Chevy, and VW make up the rest.

I do, however, love the power in the Maxima, but i'm disappointed it will never come with a proper manual transmission. It is as Krash says. Nissan right now, besides the Z and GTR which aren't cheap, is simply a lineup comprised mostly of people-movers. Profitable, yet extremely forgettable.

[BusyBadger]

I do, however, love the power in the Maxima, but i'm disappointed it will never come with a proper manual transmission. It is as Krash says. Nissan right now, besides the Z and GTR which aren't cheap, is simply a lineup comprised mostly of people-movers. Profitable, yet extremely forgettable.

No love for the Xterra? I know...not really anywhere close to a rwd sports car, but at least it's got a conventional automatic trans and power going to the right set of wheels.

Always makes me smile when I watch Holli use the X's torque to put a ragged out sport compact in its place when they jack around in traffic.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The Maxima only seems powerful until you drive something more powerful. Yes, I know that's stating the obvious. My point is: the one thing that still matters about the Maxima barely even matters. In 1993 you could get a 190hp Maxima, which was hot stuff. Today? Camrys make 270hp. Let's get with the program, Nissan. The Maxima has had the same engine for ELEVEN YEARS NOW. It's time for some ADVANCEMENT of the model. It has stagnated, and lost direction. Nothing noteworthy has changed since 2004. The styling got weird, rear seat room went away, and that's it. Handling hasn't improved (once the car's major bragging point). Power hasn't improved. Luxury hasn't improved. Nothing has improved. We just tack a new model year on the window sticker and keep on truckin'. It's as though Ford took over Nissan.

[TurboSauce]

340hp rwd cvt maxima?
A step in a better direction?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Or 340hp FWD with cogs and clutch.

[TurboSauce]

Imagine the torque steer of 340hp to the front wheels though, For your average everyday a to b person *who often really could care less about the hp* there probably wouldn't be much that would like it. That could correlate to less cars sold to rental car companies, which would lead to a smaller profit margin for Nissan.

Unless they design a New motor with a flatter torque curve and high peak horsepower, with say variable valve timing, and a surge of increased power at around 4500rpm, but anything below that would be as if it's running on half the cylinders... or one. Oh Did I mention that the motor should rev over 9000?



On a serious note however, I Don't think it would be a bad idea to make an AWD hybrid altima, Let's say 3.9 liter v6 in a front wheel drive setup, with an electronic motor powering the rear wheels, and a computer that can be switched from Hybrid awd, to electric rwd (only), or fwd (only), by choice of the driver. Give it a beefy alternator that can charge the battery for the electric motor while it's running, and give the battery the capacity to go for let's say 60-70 highway miles on full charge at about 70-80 mph from the electric motor only.

Let's say from standstill till the desired speed the gasoline motor is in use, then once the speed is reached switch over to electric motor to keep the speed.

Or am I just spewing utter hopeless nonsense that I think would be cool?

[dre1507]

Badger, I didn't mean to insult the Xterra. I was only referring to cars from Nissan. I've never driven an xterra, so I can't pass judgment.

MoD, i still think that with a proper manual option, the maxima would have been a lot better than what it is right now. Even though all it's other selling points are gone.

Turbo, build it and they will come?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Imagine the torque steer of 340hp to the front wheels though

Caddy managed torque steer just fine 300+hp FWD Northstar vehicles. They just weren't lazy about it like Nissan. Later VQ-powered cars don't have excessive torque steer. Dropping the engine helped reduce forces on the CV joints and improved things a lot. Wider cars are easier to "fix" because you can equalize the halfshaft lengths. It can be done.

[nissangirl74]

Four? Huh? MSPD 3, MSPD MX-5, what are the other two? Does Greg still have the non-turbo NB? I'm out of the loop

MSPD 3, MSPD MX-5, Mazda Protege (Hunter), Mazda 3 sedan (Dar)

[TurboSauce]

Compare the MZSP 3 and the 3 sedan for me please bex.

Is it like night and day? or?

[flohtingPoint]

Compare the MZSP 3 and the 3 sedan for me please bex.

Is it like night and day? or?

Drove and timed a Speed3 and regular 3, I was about .7- 1 seconds faster in the regular 3 around a course. The Speed3 doesn't rotate at all very well, it's power delivery is not good (claims to have a diff but it just spins one wheel), and it's just too much power for what it can do with it. The regular 3 just felt better all around and was a much more composed vehicle.

[RicerX]

Welp after that announcement we had a bit back, I can say it's safe to quit holding my breath.

I think I may have bought my last Nissan for a while. When I considered them to be very competitive at one point, I'm now finding them to be increasingly boring.

That's what happens when you put a bunch of pencil pushers that have come from a life full of mass transit in charge of a car company. I wouldn't expect them to build anything other than people-movers at this point. The GT-R is there to serve as a reminder of what the company once was, but that's it. It's there as an argument to the criticism of being a boring company. "But wait... we make this!"

I'm cringing at the thought of what is to become of the Z. With some of the press I've seen, we can likely expect it to be CVT-driven with paddle shifters and a hybrid powertrain built on the Pathfinder platform. "There's a switch that puts power to the back wheels, though! Post it on Facebook as being part time RWD!"

[MinisterofDOOM]

The first rule of business:
It doesn't matter how "cost-effective" your product is to produce if you can't convince anyone to buy it.

[Loki]

340hp rwd cvt maxima?
A step in a better direction?

My source inside Nissan claims the next Maxima is more like a big Altima. Continue not holding your breath.

[nissangirl74]

Compare the MZSP 3 and the 3 sedan for me please bex.

Is it like night and day? or?

I haven't driven either one of them on a road course / track but on the street, the MZSP 3 is undeniably faster. It's 160 hp non-turbo vs. 263 hp with turbo. I like the 3 sedan. Power delivery is great plus it has a manual so it all just flows very smoothly. Dar loves it and it's a good fit for him. Plenty of power but not too much. I wouldn't trust him in the MZSP 3.

[Bubba1]

I have no issue with a stretched Altima becoming the next Maxima, as the Maxima stopped being a 4DSC or interesting many years ago. That bird is long extinct, buh bye. It's certainly not something remotely appealing to us enthusiasts, but it would be logical progression for a management team focused on making profitable transportation appliances.

[IBCoupe]

That's what happens when you put a bunch of pencil pushers that have come from a life full of mass transit in charge of a car company.

Eh. Nothing wrong with mass transit, and I would have demanded that my mass-transit people come up with what's missing from mass transit, and make that a car: outrageousness.

[AZhitman]

Want to know how I know you're ?

just too much power for what it can do with it.

Good to see you back, homey.

[AZhitman]

340hp rwd cvt maxima?
A step in a better direction?

My source inside Nissan claims the next Maxima is more like a big Altima. Continue not holding your breath.

Won't matter.

Park the Maxima, Altima, Sentra side-by-side and you've got a picture-perfect example of the Law of Diminishing Returns.

I love the Max and the Alty, but there's no denying that for the money difference, the Sentra clobbers them both.

[jbracy7]

^ agreed,

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Park the Maxima, Altima, Sentra side-by-side and you've got a picture-perfect example of the Law of Diminishing Returns.

I love the Max and the Alty, but there's no denying that for the money difference, the Sentra clobbers them both.

Part of the reason why we do test drives hah. The Sentra gets clobbered come test drive time.

[AZhitman]

Well, because we're looking for acceleration.

Beyond that, there's not $15k worth of difference in the lineup.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Well, NVH and such as well. Essentially driving dynamics, but yeah, I see your point.

[nissangirl74]

It wouldn't cost $15,000 to upgrade the performance of the Sentra to match either of the others

[krash]

but then you'd have spent $15,000 upgrading a Sentra

[TurboSauce]

And your sentra would kick A$$ in all sectors.

Also, the speed3 vs regular 3 is interesting.

(Although personally I think that anything under 200hp is lacking. *unless you're in something like... a miata for example.* )

[dre1507]

but then you'd have spent $15,000 upgrading a Sentra

[nissangirl74]

but then you'd have spent $15,000 upgrading a Sentra

i said it would NOT cost that much

[krash]

haha just joking around