Nissan Z: 400hp, $40k, manual

[sdifox]

I'd be all over this car if:

-No ABS
-No TPMS (or allow it to be turned off, or removed)
-No power windows
-No power door locks
-No cruise control
-No infotainment/entertainment system or computer/driver interface
-No Power seat controls
-No Sunroof
-No remote start or security alarm system
-MUST have limited slip
-Must have coilovers
-MUST have available "track/off-road only" computer (or tune) as a purchase option for race days.

I don't feel confident that they would have a model like this....but I can dream......

Basically, I'd like a simple, well-sorted sports car. There really aren't any affordable ones other than the Mazda MX5, and that's 38000 if you pick the go-fast parts and ignore "style" parts, or the Toyota 86 GT at 32000. Neither is going to be very fast at the track compared to the Nissan Z.

It looks like Nissan is trying hard to not go against the Toyota Supra, and if they can do that, they have a unique niche going on.

Get an Ariel Atom? It even omits the roof!

 

[maluckey1]

I've never heard of disable-able airbags and can't find any source for this in searching, a citation would be appreciated. (Excepting of course the option to manually disable the passenger airbag, intended for children/cargo/etc.)

Also very few big manufacturers offer first party/OEM "not street legal" parts. In addition, none of them sell a car already donning these parts.

If the only way Nissan could interest you in "the new Z" is to sell a not road legal, totally stripped down version you have to trailer everywhere, well.... No other big manufacturer will ever do that, either.

Your desires are a fantasy only a kit car or buying a road legal car and stripping it down yourself will achieve.

Judging the new Z by your standards, along with literally any other new car will result in failure. You've set your standards up to be unattainable.

It's my fantasy, after all, and I'm certain there are others out there that feel the same way. Maybe enough to make a limited run. I see guys like me at the track all the time. I drive my car to the track (my buddy drives the pickup/recovery/parts hauler), and we swap out tires, tune and fuel when we get there, but more than a few people trailer their car to the track.

I did mention kit cars, and If I can free up one of my garage bays, it might happen next year. As far as major manufacturers supply race parts? Dodge, Corvette and Ford all do. They even offer some parts that carry CARB exemption for those living in emissions states.

Get an Ariel Atom? It even omits the roof!

Quite a bit more expensive! Give it a roof, and some sort of heater, and 20000 dollar price cut and I'd be all over that.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

It's my fantasy, after all, and I'm certain there are others out there that feel the same way. Maybe enough to make a limited run. I see guys like me at the track all the time. I drive my car to the track (my buddy drives the pickup/recovery/parts hauler), and we swap out tires, tune and fuel when we get there, but more than a few people trailer their car to the track.

I did mention kit cars, and If I can free up one of my garage bays, it might happen next year. As far as major manufacturers supply race parts? Dodge, Corvette and Ford all do. They even offer some parts that carry CARB exemption for those living in emissions states.


Quite a bit more expensive! Give it a roof, and some sort of heater, and 20000 dollar price cut and I'd be all over that.

Listing 3 manufacturers is still "very few". Also, those CARB compliant parts are road legal. That's the entire point of CARB. Race only parts do not need to be CARB approved. Shit, Honda makes a goddamn supercharger kit for the Fit that is CARB approved. Still not a race only/not road legal part.

Take your race track fantasy and go start a thread about track cars. This thread is about a road legal production car.

 

[maluckey1]

Wow! Touched a raw nerve? What's your point, because I truly don't see where your anger is coming from? CARB approved/CARB not approved? Race/street? NHTSA/NHRA/SFI approved? I don't race on the street if that's what you're thinking.

Z cars have been at times a true sports car and at others almost a boulevard cruiser. Aftermarket companies fill specific needs that many car companies are now cashing in on (AMG, BMW M,, Chevrolet Performance etc)

Additionally, many manufacturers have direct racing program involvement with "spec" cars and drag racing. Race on Sunday, sell on Monday is a Maxim as hot-rodding itself. Many have also offered a limited run of production cars with almost no amenities, destined for niche customers and racing. Dodge/Chrysler, Ford, Chevy, Mazda, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche have also done it. Some even have channels to get cars directly to race teams (1994 Dodge Neon ACR was one, and the new Dodge Demon was/is one).

Lastly, BMW, Mazda and Porsche also sell racing-only parts direct to customers. There are others but I don't care enough to look them up.

 

[sdifox]

It's my fantasy, after all, and I'm certain there are others out there that feel the same way. Maybe enough to make a limited run. I see guys like me at the track all the time. I drive my car to the track (my buddy drives the pickup/recovery/parts hauler), and we swap out tires, tune and fuel when we get there, but more than a few people trailer their car to the track.

I did mention kit cars, and If I can free up one of my garage bays, it might happen next year. As far as major manufacturers supply race parts? Dodge, Corvette and Ford all do. They even offer some parts that carry CARB exemption for those living in emissions states.


Quite a bit more expensive! Give it a roof, and some sort of heater, and 20000 dollar price cut and I'd be all over that.

Well you can always live dangerously in a Morgan Three Wheeler.

Or one of these

The Best Complete Kit Cars You Can Buy Right Now

DIY rides.

hiconsumption.com

 

[Vic]

There's hope for Nissan yet.

 

[Kaido]

Yum

 

[zinfamous]

hmmm, lot's of very good for that price. I like it.

It also looks 1000x better than anything Honda makes in that class right now, so it has that going for it.

 

[zinfamous]

If I were looking for a toy, this would definitely be added to the list of cars to check out and lived closer to a track.
It's more interesting to me than a Vette.
The unfortunate part is that it would require a visit to a Nissan dealership and become a Nissan driver.
Nissan drivers are predictably horrific on roads around here.

oh man. so much this thing here. ....and I used to own a Maxima for some reason!

 

[Fenixgoon]

i'm curious just how much this will sell, period. not because it's a bad car - it hits all the right buttons - but just because there aren't many people who want MTs anymore. at some point the bean counters will say "we're breaking even and that's not good enough" (and breaking even might be lucky)

 

[pauldun170]

i'm curious just how much this will sell, period. not because it's a bad car - it hits all the right buttons - but just because there aren't many people who want MTs anymore. at some point the bean counters will say "we're breaking even and that's not good enough" (and breaking even might be lucky)

It has a 9spd auto as well.
Biggest obstacle is going to be its a 2 seater

 

[Heartbreaker]

i'm curious just how much this will sell, period. not because it's a bad car - it hits all the right buttons - but just because there aren't many people who want MTs anymore. at some point the bean counters will say "we're breaking even and that's not good enough" (and breaking even might be lucky)

As pointed out it's not MT only.

But the old Z didn't sell that well, so I expect once the new has worn off, this won't sell that well.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Not saying its ugly, but I think I prefer the looks of (certain versions of like the Nismo) the 370Z. Not a fan of the front fascia at all, with the half grille (if it was higher and separated by a body color piece I think it'd look better). The way the hood is straight then slopes is a bit awkward to me as well, reminds me of the current Mustang and not a huge fan of it. Also not a fan of the taillights (especially the way its like half body painted of that big plastic piece, feel like that whole part should be blacked out, and then lower the body paint height on the bumper - feel like that lower blacked out part should be smaller and not gloss black). I think I'd prefer a more gentle sloped and more curved roof - honestly I wish they'd offer a stretched shooting brake hatchback!). I'd probably forego the chrome bits on it as well, and the black gloss paint. And lastly the rear spoiler. Hate tacked on bits like that (either mould it in or something - attach it on the flat edge of the little lip of the rear canopy that hangs down so that it looks more flush with that piece).

Interior looks better, although I wish we could have gotten a retro 80s digital look theme for many things, especially if they'd have let you configure the 3 little gauges on the dash. Actually looking at it and the 370Z they didn't change the interior as much as I thought (maybe I'm thinking of the 350Z?).

We'll see if they improved the chassis much though. Seems a better value than the Supra, but not sure that's enough, especially since the Supra doesn't seem that popular.

I gotta say, I feel like they should have merged the Z and GTR into the same platform and send both out with a better final ICE version. Seems like we're gonna get a similar update to the GTR where its extending the current car. If they'd planned ahead (they kept waiting on both the Z and the GTR) they could have merged the two and given a comprehensive update that would make both more compelling. Also would've let them offer an Infiniti version that could fill the spaces between (so the Z goes 35-55k, the Infiniti in the 60-80k, and then the GTR in 85k+).

 

[darkswordsman17]

That's what I thought too, but there's at least one dissenting view in this thread.


I assumed it's because we already know this won't sell very well, and there is about 0.3% chance you'll see an 8th gen Z ever. ;P

We'll see a new Z after this, but it'll be electric (which means it will be probably 5-10 years away if not longer).

 

[manly]

We'll see a new Z after this, but it'll be electric (which means it will be probably 5-10 years away if not longer).

According to this thread, Nissan reintroduced the Z for MY2003 and sold it once updated for the next 17ish years. Carlos Ghosn famously rescued Nissan, but over the past decade before his ignominious departure, he also cost-cut them to death in part to pad his own bank accounts. There's been nothing special from Nissan/Infiniti for a long time, but they've sold a lot of Nissan Rogues...

With the transition to electrics, I'm far from certain a marque like Nissan will survive in its current form. Technically they're part of a stable, large "alliance" but for years they've groused about being pushed around by Ghosn/Renault. Global automaking is a competitive business with way too many small national players, and many won't survive the death of ICE. For regulatory/legal reasons, we haven't yet seen Chinese auto brands enter the U.S. market and that would seriously reshuffle the deck.

Adding to that uncertainty, Japanese sports cars were and are a dying breed. You're right that the next Z would be unlike this one entirely (see "Mustang" Mach-E).

Anyway, the CNN Biz article about the new Z said it was put together fairly quickly in the midst of the Ghosn saga. Personally I like the design more than the 370Z, but the rear lights are a bit weak. They have the impression of the old 240SX rather than 300ZX.

 

[Vic]

We'll see a new Z after this, but it'll be electric (which means it will be probably 5-10 years away if not longer).

There would be entirely no point in an electric Z.

 

[A///]

Can't say I like it much. Too much throwback and inspiration from other cars several times its cost. Given it's a Nissan, I suspect Nissan financing will be handing these out like candy given how Nissan financing would give a child a brand new Nissan, too.

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

This Nissan USA official "review" spills the beans on a lot of standard equipment for the base 'Sport' model and stuff that is added in the 'Performance' trim.

A short list I threw together of things the performance trim gets:

'Sport' exhaust with active sound control/active noise cancellation
Upgraded brakes
Mechanical LSD
9 inch infotainment with 8 speaker Bose audio
19 inch rays wheels 255/40R19 front 275/35R19 rear
Aluminum 'sport' pedals

(Not confirmed officially) upgraded/stiffer suspension


I rewrote the list from memory so I probably missed a couple things.

Amazingly every model gets a carbon fiber driveshaft. But not every model gets a mechanical LSD? Wtf?

Something something standard high performance/sport exedy clutch, but no details on flywheel type/material. Hope it's not dual mass, that would be a deal breaker based on my experience with dual mass flywheels in other cars.

 

[Muadib]

Any plans for a convertible for this? A friend had one in the last model, and it was fun, but needed more power. 400HP might work.

 

[pauldun170]

This Nissan USA official "review" spills the beans on a lot of standard equipment for the base 'Sport' model and stuff that is added in the 'Performance' trim.

A short list I threw together of things the performance trim gets:

'Sport' exhaust with active sound control/active noise cancellation
Upgraded brakes
Mechanical LSD
9 inch infotainment with 8 speaker Bose audio
19 inch rays wheels 255/40R19 front 275/35R19 rear
Aluminum 'sport' pedals

(Not confirmed officially) upgraded/stiffer suspension


I rewrote the list from memory so I probably missed a couple things.

Amazingly every model gets a carbon fiber driveshaft. But not every model gets a mechanical LSD? Wtf?

Something something standard high performance/sport exedy clutch, but no details on flywheel type/material. Hope it's not dual mass, that would be a deal breaker based on my experience with dual mass flywheels in other cars.

No mechanical lsd on the base model definitely sucks and it's probably going to be the same setup that they have on the Infiniti Q cars with perhaps some brake assisted nonsense.
That being said, it's probably fine for the audience of the base model.

 

[darkswordsman17]

There would be entirely no point in an electric Z.

Right, because people wouldn't possibly want electric sports cars...

 

[Hail The Brain Slug]

Right, because people wouldn't possibly want electric sports cars...

I'll take an electric sports car, but only if it doesn't have any electric features of any kind and comes with an ICE and a 6 speed manual.

 

[Vic]

Right, because people wouldn't possibly want electric sports cars...

I wasn't saying that at all. What I was saying is that very few people would want an electric Z.
EV's are more than just electric powered, they have changed the entire way in which cars are designed. There's no need for an electric sports car to have a long nose and be RWD only. Or an MT. All of those were design requirements to accommodate the ICE.

 

[Kaido]

Preview on Jay's garage. Man, it looks great! Very excited to see one in-person! I'm always amazed at how in-touch he is with both the automotive world & with pricing sensitivity:

 

[repoman0]

I wasn't saying that at all. What I was saying is that very few people would want an electric Z.
EV's are more than just electric powered, they have changed the entire way in which cars are designed. There's no need for an electric sports car to have a long nose and be RWD only. Or an MT. All of those were design requirements to accommodate the ICE.

There is so much wtf in this post I don’t even know where to begin