Why Nissan NEEDS an Affordable RWD Sports Car

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krash
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Jesda wrote:
Amen. I want to be spanked and have my hair pulled once in a while.
:inout:
Jesda wrote: When Buick came out with this Riviera, it was because guys like Bill Mitchell were given free reign to express themselves individually:
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God that is some gorgeous metal.
MinisterofDOOM wrote:Yeah, first gens could be had with a V6 and were still great cars. But the new ones are even better cars, so it's extremely disappointing that the V6 option disappeared.
Wow thats some burrrrchet. I didn't know they nicked the V6.


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RicerX
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krash wrote:
s13drifter88 wrote:For what you get for the dollar amount, its a joke. I could get a d*mn nice Z06 for the price of a 370. Yes Ive driven one and it drives great but if I was going to buy a brand new car in or around that dollar range it would be an STI
You can't compare new car prices to used cars.
Krash beat me to it. If you're building a sports car, and you're trying to make it competitive against a 6 year old car, you're not thinking forward, you're thinking backwards and that is what most of the problems with the auto industry are stemming from. Not innovative.

I will admit that the Z is a tad overpriced for what you get, but then again, that is even relative. The suspension setup in the Z is worlds above the new GT500 Mustang if you're a road course/curvy track driver. Obviously the Mustang will decimate the Z in a straight line, but in a tightly packed road course, I will be willing to bet that the power advantage would be largely negated by its live rear axle solid rear suspension setup.

The 370 is also a lot lighter than its competition (nearly A THOUSAND POUNDS lighter than the SRT8 Challenger) so comparing HP to HP makes it look like the Z is sorely behind. If you DRIVE (not in a straight line) the Z is still a pretty good performance purchase compared to its competition per 2012 new car standards in an economy where the price of goods is making everything expensive.

Which brings me back to the point of this topic - Nissan needs to meet Subarota/Toyobaru with a car. Given the current economy, it makes perfect sense for the image of your brand. Get something EXCITING on the road that is affordable and it will attract buyers to your BRAND. You pump out a competitor to this Toyobaru deal that is in the low 20s and people looking for a fun car that isn't $40,000 will come out in droves (as evidenced by the success for the FRS/BRZ already). I drive a 370z and my GF's parents just bought a 2013 Altima when they had never even considered Nissan for a purchase in their lives. Case in point.

I personally think the Z, GT-R, and the Xterra are the best cars Nissan is making right now with respect to bold, sporty options that represent the potential of the brand.

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AZhitman
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XenonSE-R wrote:Nissan needs to meet Subarota/Toyobaru with a car. Given the current economy, it makes perfect sense for the image of your brand. Get something EXCITING on the road that is affordable and it will attract buyers to your BRAND. You pump out a competitor to this Toyobaru deal that is in the low 20s and people looking for a fun car that isn't $40,000 will come out in droves (as evidenced by the success for the FRS/BRZ already). I drive a 370z and my GF's parents just bought a 2013 Altima when they had never even considered Nissan for a purchase in their lives.
THIS. :yesnod

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XenonSE-R wrote:
I will admit that the Z is a tad overpriced for what you get, but then again, that is even relative. The suspension setup in the Z is worlds above the new GT500 Mustang if you're a road course/curvy track driver. Obviously the Mustang will decimate the Z in a straight line, but in a tightly packed road course, I will be willing to bet that the power advantage would be largely negated by its live rear axle solid rear suspension setup.
A better comparison would be the Boss 302, not the GT500. Also, the amount of people that actually track their new 370 is extremely small. Ford did the Mustang right and there's a model for every demographic.

The main point Nissan needs to realize is simple, if you don't build it, you can't sell it.

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There are a lot of valid points being brought up here in this discussion. I wonder if any of the Nissan USA executives are actually reading this. Or are they falling on deaf ears.
Nissan used to be such a proud brand. It was kind of sad to seeing the comment that was made by the current leadership of the company. I don't know many drifters that would be caught dead sliding a Nissan Juke at an event.

This reminds me of the comment that Henry Ford made, almost a hundred years ago. Regarding new color options for the Model T.

"They can have any color they want. Just as long as that color is black"
--Henry Ford

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That's because that special chemical composition of black was the only paint that would dry fast enough to meet Henry's production demands.
Dude was building a s*** load of cars.

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It was Henry Ford that said something along the lines of 'we never stopped making the Model T, people just stopped buying them'. Nissan has the opposite problem on their hands. People can't buy something that doesn't exist.

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AZhitman
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ALL good points.

I just had a discussion on the SEMA Members' LinkedIn page about this topic, as soon as my comments are posted, I'll link it up.

For a company to underestimate the forethought and intellect of its purchasers is just foolish... You guys know a hell of a lot more about the auto industry than you get credit for. I'm gonna suggest they hire www.jesda.com to replace the current Product Planning Manager. :)

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Can we just put Greg in charge of Nissan already? Seriously, this beating around the bush stuff is getting old.

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krash
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It would be great if they even listened to what we're saying, but they seem to be more interested in the CVT lovers on facebook that praise things like the Terra concept.

Greg's rise to the Nissan throne must commence!

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krash wrote:It would be great if they even listened to what we're saying, but they seem to be more interested in the CVT lovers on facebook that praise things like the Terra concept.

Greg's rise to the Nissan throne must commence!
:werd:

Well this thread has been posted at the top of Nissan's Facebook page. But not many people have made any note worthy comments as of yet. I say post away. let our voices be heard. Let them know what the people want, until they tell us to shut the efffe up. :chuckle:

http://www.facebook.com/Nissan/app_249175185131573

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Alright Nissan stop teasing us and lets get to the point. WHAT THE F$@K ARE YOU GUYS SMOKING OVER THERE??? Toyota, subaru, and hyundai has all your customers in the small sporty compact rear drive market pretty much............BOUGHT!!

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krash
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That avatar is disturbing.

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lol.....I KNOW, always knew they had something going on ;)

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AZhitman
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SpecR1 wrote:Toyota, subaru, and hyundai has all your customers in the small sporty compact rear drive market pretty much............BOUGHT!!
Exactly - and here's more evidence that Mr. Palmer's missing the boat: http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/ ... -is-wrong/

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AZhitman wrote:
SpecR1 wrote:Toyota, subaru, and hyundai has all your customers in the small sporty compact rear drive market pretty much............BOUGHT!!
Exactly - and here's more evidence that Mr. Palmer's missing the boat: http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/ ... -is-wrong/
Agreed!
krash wrote:That avatar is disturbing.
Agreed!

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I liked the Forbes article as well. Hopefully Mr. Palmer's views will evolve.

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krash
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I see what happened here, good call.

An article like that in Forbes magazine HAS to catch someones attention at Nissan right? The problem is, Mr. Palmer thinks that the Juke is the car that Forbes is talking about.

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That Forbes article seems to sum up rich spoiled kids rather than the typical millenial. If my kids demanded a red convertible from me at age 17 I'd laugh in thier face. You earn s*** in this house, I don't care who you are. Poorly written article that only reprsents a marginal percentage of actual teens these days. I ask, how many teens spend $30K on a car?

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I'm with the Rev on this. I don't think that article is an accurate representation of the population. I'm sure there is a demographic out there that meets that description, but I don't think it's the majority.

Maybe we need chanting.

S 16, S 16, S 16...

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AZhitman wrote:
XenonSE-R wrote:Nissan needs to meet Subarota/Toyobaru with a car. Given the current economy, it makes perfect sense for the image of your brand. Get something EXCITING on the road that is affordable and it will attract buyers to your BRAND. You pump out a competitor to this Toyobaru deal that is in the low 20s and people looking for a fun car that isn't $40,000 will come out in droves (as evidenced by the success for the FRS/BRZ already). I drive a 370z and my GF's parents just bought a 2013 Altima when they had never even considered Nissan for a purchase in their lives.
Broke folks like to have fun too lol

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Like I said in my article, I don't know a whole lot of people under 30 buying NEW cars.

...and I know a LOT of people. ;)

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I still stand by my idea for the S16. Take the Altima coupe, make it RWD chuck a turbo variant of the QR25 with a 6 speed manual and 2 way LSD and call it a day. The AC already has a rabid fanbase, massive aftermarket support, and it's actually a very good looking car. I don't think a chopped 370Z chassis would work very well because it would pretty much destroy the handling and frankly would look like a turd.

Renault can make sporty cars, just look at the V6 Clio Sport and the Megane, plus they have a stellar F1 team, so we can't necessarily blame them. This is more of an internal problem with Nissan itself. I think that if Nissan actually utilized Renault's R&D department maybe, just maybe we could actually get some sporty and attractive cars. Not to say Nissan doesn't have it's own awesome R&D program, but frankly if the only thing they can come up to put a GTR motor into a Juke or make the next generation of the Z a turbo 4 cylinder Hybrid then frankly I think they have a problem. This is after all the same department that came up with the GTR and 350/370Z to begin with, and unless they kicked out all the old heads when they merged with Renault, they have to have some of the same minds that created the Silvia, 300Z, and previous generations of the Skyline still on the books.

Frankly, Nissan has lost there way, they seem to think that all we want are 4 door sedans, minivans and, with the exception of the Titan and the 370Z, a bunch of mindless boring cars with no sex appeal or spirit to them.

Greg, I'm over 30 and still have never bought a new car, and I'm pretty sure there's more than a few like me out there.

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Brilliantly stated, my friend.

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I'm doubtful of a two way lsd, at least as standard equipment. Hell, the Z only had a crappy VLSD and the base model didn't even get that.

If Nissan was smart it would go about this the way that Toyota marketed the Scion nameplate, make a base level car and then have dealer installed bits available. The Nismo name is already well known to most all the enthusiasts that would be picking the car up already and Nismo had been making performance parts four street driven cars for years.

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BusyBadger wrote:I'm doubtful of a two way lsd, at least as standard equipment. Hell, the Z only had a crappy VLSD and the base model didn't even get that.

If Nissan was smart it would go about this the way that Toyota marketed the Scion nameplate, make a base level car and then have dealer installed bits available. The Nismo name is already well known to most all the enthusiasts that would be picking the car up already and Nismo had been making performance parts four street driven cars for years.
Ah, good point. Why doesn't Nissan make a line of cars (or just one-two models) with a 'Nismo' badge like Scion does? *shrug*

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Crappy VLSD is still LIGHTYEARS better than an open diff.

Q had a VLSD and the LS has an open diff. Peg leg sucks.

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Here's a very telling article... http://www.mediapost.com/publications/a ... tions.html

Mr. Palmer gets what they've done wrong, so hopefully we'll all see the day when the company decides to address it.

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...and, in other news:

Mark Perry, Nissan's Director of Product Planning and Strategy, retired this week.

Let's not read too much into this, but it's very, very coincidental.

The lack of a competitive product in the small sports car niche, the recent troubles with the Leaf, and consumer surveys which indicate a less-than-exciting image for Nissan, all appear to point to a major shake-up at Corporate.

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"fingers crossed"


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