Quote:
Originally Posted by SS 376
That's a shame they want to go backwards to a 4 cylinder. Why are they going backwards with the Z when they're doing the exact opposite with the GT-R?? |
I am guessing that the main reason is fuel economy.
Nissan should go for an I6 engine a la 240z. Porsche has been quite successful offering small displacement I6 engines with over 300 hp for quite some time now. I think the biggest reason that they won't do this is because the 370z proved to be a very niche market. Nissan priced themselves out of the market place with their z for a few years. This is not entirely Nissan's fault given the massive fluctuation of the dollar/yen ratio since inception in 2009. Both the 370z and GT-R are built in Japan and are more sensitive to changes in economic realities between the two countries (US and Japan) over the other higher volume vehicles built in TN, for example. In response, a bit late in my opinion, Nissan has recently dropped the price on many models. Given the low number of sales, they probably lost money on the Z34 platform. The R&D costs to get them the engine they need are probably too great to justify for their low volume sports car.