This situation looks pretty bleak now. Nissan has only used the Z in one set of commercials that I have seen; the one where a Z is stretched into a Maxima. When sales slump on a specialty car, the only justification for its existence is the ability to use it to generate excitement about the brand. I haven't seen Nissan do that with the Z.

Certainly with projected sales under 20,000 cars, it is virtually impossible to imagine that the Z would get any special engine or transmission. Expensive-to-produce parts like engines and transmissions would have to be shared with other, better selling cars. I think it was a very good decsion to use the G37 engine and transmissions in the Z.

When I had my 240Z, its value grew every year because the successor cars just didn't have the excitement of the original. I suspect that if Nissan stops selling Z's (though I can't see why they wouldn't simply keep selling 370's since they have the tooling) then those of us with Z's would see our cars jump in value.

Sadly, in a world where for little more than a sport touring Z with nav, you can buy a Porsche, Nissan has to do more than just make Z's and ship a few to each dealer. It has to decide if the Z is a halo car. The GTR is a world class rally car. The Z is a true sports car.

I suspect the exotics and the midrange sports cars are also feeling the pain from the recession and gas price rise. Car sales in general are starting to decline.

I would hate to see the Z line disappear again; or worse, morph into some ugly sedan with the Z imprint. The good news is that we have our Z's and from my point of view, the 370 is the most wonderful Z ever. It is at least as beautiful as the 240, and has more power than I ever imagined a Z would have.

My forecast is that there will be a 2012 370Z with minor body tweaks. The hybrid Z is years and years away.

IIRC there is a new G37 coupe coming out soon and I think it's safe to assume that any engine upgrades the G37 gets will be coming to the Z next. The VQ37 isn't only used for the Z, it's used on several Infiniti models as well. If Nissan makes improvements to the engine for Infiniti, it shouldn't be too hard to start putting those same engines in the Z.

I don't see its competition advertised often, either, such as the Audi TT, the Porsche Cayman, the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, the Ford Mustang, the Chevy Camaro and Corvette. I don't think advertising performance cars is good PR right now.
But you can still get in a Z for 30k.
The GTR is not a rally car. It's much too heavy to fit in that class, and it's used more as a GT race car if anything. It's a super car, competing with Corvette Z06's and high level Porsches.
:iagree:

We went from 1995 when the last 300ZX was sold in the US until 2003 with the introduction of the 350Z which transformed the market at that time.

I think Nissan needs to take some time off and come out with a competitive Z that can go head to head with the current market out there.

A V6 is no going to cut it anymore unless they put a Turbo or SC. :stirthepot:

My $0.02.

It was 1996 when the 300ZX was last sold, and it was sold in Japan until 1999/2000. Not sure about other countries though.

Would a retuned version of the gtr engine be a viable choice for the next z? Mercedes does this all the time with their 6.2 Amg engine.

Actually the older z's were straight 6s. But I agree. If anything I bet they go direct inj and/or turbo 6

A 370Z Touring with Sport+Nav is still considerably cheaper than a Cayman - I was looking at used Cayman's when I was deciding to get rid of the NSX.

I see a used Cayman S PDK is still close to $60k, and I paid $32k for my 2009 370Z, with a $3k drop probably available if I hadn't traded.

Agree. I wish all these pessimists would find something positive?

The new G37 coming out next year should be a good indication of what's coming for the Z (at least engine wise) :tup:

Direct injection would make since with the current engine. It would help Nissan make MPG goals and an added bonus of a bump in HP. However in terms of making the Z more profitable so it doesnt go the way of pontiac a turbo 6 for the regular Z would greatly increase overall cost of production with the inability of Nissan to raise the price.

I fully believe that the NISMO should be around $50k with a TT setup.

:iagree:

i agree with the statement about the Z getting leftovers from the G37........

ain't nothing wrong with that... pretty good leftovers.......

As long as Carlos Ghosn is running the ship, the Z will be made. He loves Z cars and knows what it means to his company.

The point is that here in the US we went without a new Gen Z for 7 to 8 years. ;)