Sept 15 we get to see the new Z, which is exciting for me at least because it is stated to be an ICE car with a traditional manual.

https://www.motorauthority.com/news/...d-by-z32-300zx

At any rate, new teased image:

 

I'm intrigued, should be a good car as Zs tend to be, but I feel like it might be too late. Supra came out, shall we say reception is meh. New vette has swam up stream and is now a thoroughbred super car. People are going to expect the Z to be cheap, but considering the Supra starts at 50k essentially with the 3.0, im sure the nissan execs are thinking ooo let's do a 15k price increase on the base model.

So it has to punch above its weight... it doesnt. It needs to he honda civic reliable and easy to repair, it won't. It needs to be a bargain, probably won't.

Early rumors was that they were looking at the 86 and miata and was inspired to do a back to roots type of car, focus on affordable, simpler, fun to drive, and perhaps throw in some power, but it looks like its going to be a 370z with a potentially moster engine. Sounds cool, but considering all the brake cooling issues they had, and nlw cramming a twin turbo motor in an already tight engine bay, I dunno, I think the instagrammers and youtubers will have a field day with it.

But I'll pay attention, maybe they'll surprise me.

 

Nissan will be lucky to still be in business by the time this gets to market. Taking forever to get the NSX to market didn't work out so well for Honda, but at least they have viable mainstream vehicles to pay the bills. Nissan, not so much. Maybe by the time it lands, the consumer love affair with stupid sport utility lumps will wane and cars will rebound. With Nissan's great leadership there will probably nothing but trucks in their lineup at that point however.

 

Nissan knows how to make a sports car, apparently better than Toyota. This car will have a manual transmission so they "get it". Price creep is my biggest worry. I would have been perfectly happy with maintaining the power of the 370Z in a smaller/lighter package starting at $30k. But this model, I suspect, will be about 200 lb heavier and probably start at $40k. Making it too similar to the 4 banger Mustang IMO.

Fingers crossed.

 

I won't be purchasing any time soon so I'll avoid the "I'd buy it only if it had (insert one pedantic item here)" In my humble and otherwise useless opinion, they've got to find a way to create a lighter vehicle that gets it out of a class of vehicle that is too expensive to compete in for Nissan. I've owned a few Nissans in my day (240sx and 370Z). While I enjoyed the styling and quality of "feel" of the 370Z, it was too heavy and did not perform in a way that was exciting to me...not without modifying. Keep in mind I was coming out of my first S2000 so that's a high bar to live up to. Mazda, for example, did exactly that with their ND Miata and it's doing pretty well for a sports car/roadster. Made the vehicle smaller and lighter..now of course it's expensive (my wife drives our 2018 RF GT) for what you get but if it can stick in that $30-35k market, it will make it much more attainable than if it ballooned to $40k+ which puts it at a different level affordability-wise.

 

Definitely interested in seeing all the details, not as a prospective buyer, but just because it needed a complete design overhaul.

 

Manual.... hooray! I don't know which youtuber I was watching the other day maybe it was Savageegeese and they were saying that turbos have really taken the character out of a lot of cars. They dull the exhaust note, the NA power delivery is gone, etc. I know that huge power is the game today and that has lots of benefits, but I guess I am just an old fart who wants more analog, old school cars. For that reason, a used Z even if it is slower probably would appeal to me more than a new one.

I never cared about exhaust notes before until I got the Cayman, now it is actually something I look for more than a faster 0-60. That's is why I have been watching used F-type prices lately. SC's don't muffle the sound like a turbo.

With that said, I am still glad Nissan is making sports cars.

 

Yeah, just car sounds in general is what I look for now as well. It doesn't have to come stock with sounds, but at least the potential of it. To me, it's a big part of the ICE driving experience, just hearing the engine note, feeling the vibrations, etc etc.

I don't necessarily agree with Savagegeese's assessment on turbo engines, they make tons of usable power and some of them even sound good. I'd take a turbo 4 over alot of regular 4 bangers that just sound like weed wackers, at least the turbo gives it a lower engine note and all the induction turbo noises. The I never thought the S2000 was a particularly good sounding car, just that the high redline makes it feel and sound really frenetic, and with exhausts they just sound worse. Ok, at redline they sounds pretty good though.

 

With the Supra at least, no matter how hard people wanted it to be great, its a BMW at the end of the day, and there really isn't a good case to buy one beyond nostalgia.

The Z I hope will avoid the missteps of the previous generation, but 400 hp number alone promises it could be overweight and overly complicated.

Still, its exciting to see if Nissan can do what Toyota has failed to do twice before - with the original 86 and the Supra - which is build an in-house sports car from its own, pure DNA. If Mazda can do it, Nissan should be able to.

 

I doubt Nissan will go anywhere - its actually quite large, second only to Toyota in Japan, and I think the largest Japanese auto company in China, where markets are growing. Renault merger value dried up years ago and the American-European market has been ignored for too long though - the Leaf has been the cash cow for a while I think. Hopefully this car kick starts a new generation of Nissan products, (and stops trying to push fwd sport sedans).