Nissan VP of product planning drops hints of possible next Z and iDX?
 

quoted from an interview between autoguide and Nissan VP of Product Planning, Pierre Loing:

Previous to that, Loing was less than open on the brand’s plans for its next-generation of sports cars, though he did provide some hints at the future. He described the two opposing sports car formulas, the first of being a car with a big engine and equally big horsepower ratings. This concept he referred to as “US centric,” commenting that such a car, “becomes almost unsellable in Europe and China because of CO2.” He even admitted that the appeal of such cars is dwindling in the US saying that, “it still sells in the US, but not in as big of numbers as it used to in the early 2000s.”

Commenting that the big horsepower, big engine philosophy is, “the current recipe of Z,” the alternative is a smaller vehicle with a lower displacement engine utilizing turbocharging. “We are still studying between those two,” said Loing, though it would appear the decision for the latter has already been made.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...duct-boss.html

No shock at all. Smaller displacement motors are in vogue to stay. Coupled with a light-weight chassis the drive can be very very good. Remember the first Z was anything but large and powerful. I welcome what Nissan can do. Should be interesting and fun to see what the future Z holds.

Well I jumped ship last week. Traded in my '13 Z for a '14 Hyundai 3.8 Ultimate. Loved driving the Z in perfect weather, on cool(er) days, with no traffic. It was the perfect car for that. here in, south florida, with the traffic, the horrible traffic, heat and every dude in a Stang, Camaro, civic revving at you to race. The Z was just so high strung. Maybe in two years, with a new Z platform ill get back into one.

2016 240Z here we come!

Lightweight + turbo would make me consider upgrading my Z

If it's another V6 with similar power and MPG there is no real reason to upgrade for me

Exactly, needs to be a +300hp 4 banger turbo, simliar to what the 2015 Mustang Ecoboost is doing, with comparable numbers for me to look. If this happens I would make the swap.

lighter and twin charge would be kinda fun in a different way. also needs to look good. not like that idx or watever.

I believe Nissan will be going back to the roots of the Z with the next platform.
That is,if they are smart.The large displacement guys,weight?Who cares,add more
HP...will be disappointed.
Lets get back to a sports car.Light,great power to weight ratio.
The kicker will be an acceptable price.A new 370 loaded can cost 50k.
Rediculous.
Lightness with safety costs money.The use of carbon fiber and other composite
materials plus aluminum is needed.For sure,a turbo 4 is the answer.
Many years ago,Colin Chapman started Lotus with the light car with
the right HP.I've got a 71'Lotus Europa with a tweaked twin cam 4 that puts out
about 180hp.The total car weight is around 1,400 lbs.It would never pass today's safety
standards.Its sure not the car to let a teenager drive with the massive understeer.
But it goes...
Possibly along with a lighter package,Nissan may offer a innovation that nobody else
has.
I'd be interested.

For me, it has to make 400hp with either a twin scroll turbo or twin turbo that is lighter than the current car for me to even consider selling my car for it.

oh yah, and smaller side mirrors and improved visibility is also required...

My guess is that the next Z will be more of the same.

Slightly larger engine and a lighter car due to the use of more aluminum. I still don't see Nissan introducing a turbo due to costs and warranty issues, but maybe someday they'll offer it with the Nismo Z. Nissan is still very conscience of keeping the Z affordable especially after getting priced out of the market with the 300ZX. Thus, I don't think we'll see a turbo for a while.

considering the Q50's are running basically the same engine, that could be....

you also have to consider the fact that Nissan has went ahead with the production of the iDX, but as has been quoted by one of their higher ups before, they currently don't have a platform that would work with the iDX so there is a very good possibility that they are developing a new chassis structure to work with the iDX and with that being said i can definitely see them using that same chassis the iDX would be using in the next Z, which while keeping the weight down, they could stick with a larger engine in the Z and still make it affordable due to platform sharing between the 2 models and do a 4 cylinder turbo in the iDX while they are at it. This is all of course just theoretical, but i wouldnt bet against Nissan doing something along those lines if they had the chance

damn.... you have this all figured out! :D

I can see nissan making the Z share the same platform with the Q50 before sharing it with the iDX just because the last two generations of Zs shared the same platform with the G35 and G37.

is the G37C the same platform as the Z34? i dont think so? :confused:

i know the Z33 shared the same chassis as the G35C.

i would have said the same thing too, but i have seen more than one article pop up stating that nissan themselves have set a target weight of no more than 2800lbs for the next Z and with the Q50's chassis, i just dont see that happening

I know Nissan is extremely strict what they say about their upcoming cars like Z, but I have a feeling TT car with lightweight chassis will be our future. A car that will yield slightly faster than current Z 0-60, braking, handling etc.

We all know how Nissan cut $3000 from Z msrp last year to compete with BRZ/FRS. If that's not a sign, I dunno what is. I have a feeling it will be a 3000 lbs-ish (almost 350 lb savings) 300 HP TT engine. Maybe a new more aluminum based (full aluminum?) chassis and more Al on body panel to save weight(current Z has hood and side doors al) . Maybe we will see (body color painted) cf hood/rear hatch? However, I will make a comment. Z is an iconic mass produced Japanese muscle car. Nissan knows that very well. Z is the Ford Mustang of Japan. Keep that in mind. Also keep that in mind new will MUST be better than the current Z. With that in mind, I don't think I'm nervous at all. I don't think it'll be disappointing. I have faith in Carl Phillips :tup: . I am actually getting a little excited about it :excited:

so basically this is nothing more than another thread of speculation and rumor about the new z.......

keep in mind Nissan has Turbo cars out there for a long time. Just because we dont get them in the US doesn't mean they dont have them. They have tons of Turbo cars in Japan.

And the Juke / GTR here

in regards to the cost, your right, a touring w/ nav, automatic, sport w extras and convertible can be close to 50k. but a base 370z is 30k.

I would prefer Nissan cut down on the options, its a damn sports car why should the sports package be extra. everycar should have good brakes, tires, etc. Luxury items should be the only option for those who want a racer vs GT

It's been a few weeks. We're overdue for another. :rofl2:

whoa, didnt expect this thread to get moved from the "other cars" section lol. in any case my original post was only meant to update people on some more hints that got dropped by one of the higher ups at Nissan, not meant to start speculation, but i can see how it can lend itself to that. i myself am with AK on this topic, im actually excited to see what they do with the next Z, but as for any details...well i'll just sit back and be patient for Nissan to reveal those.

I'm afraid Nissan will simply kill the Z which they did before :shakes head: and sell smaller turbo 4 sport car under the Silvia (200SX or 240SX) name plate. Btw, how are FR-S (GT86) and BRZ doing in Europe?

I don't know why people keep saying this when nissan has been quoted as saying over and over again that they will not get rid of the z as it is an iconic car in their line up that attract people to the brand

Let me remind you that Nissan had done multiple upgrades for the 350Z during its life cycle and that is what you would expect a car company to do with the iconic car. The truth is Nissan is giving the GTR upgrades almost every year and even the Juke is getting a Nismo RS version with higher engine output while our Zs have no upgrades at all in 5 years. I count what they do but not what they say.

Yeah, they for sure didn't change the front, add an oil cooler, change the cooling system, suspension..... Oh wait, they did. You're saying "they didn't add power". That's not the same thing.

:iagree: and the last i counted, the 350Z had only about 2 updates in its entire run, those being the uprev engine in the 35th anniversary edition if you want to count that as an upgrade and then there was the full refresh which was the VQ35HR engine with a couple of changes in body styling to go with the engine upgrade

Agree...Look what both Ferrari and Porsche have done. Lighter materials
and unique composites........In time Nissan will join in....

There is certainly nothing 'official' but just looking around the car world shows 'change' is coming. The next Z will reflect this and as AK has stated its going to be exciting.

Technology yields better power, in a smaller package, improved chassis dynamics and handling. I feel pretty good about Nissan's ability to harness that change and make a car worth considering!

+1. Porsche is now going to produce 4cyl engines in the Boxster and Cayman! With technology 4cyl power gains major respect.

Agree again. I went to our Local Porsche dealer a year ago to test drive
a new 2014 Cayman...The color was Yellow with Red hides.. The fit and
finish was second to none.. It was perfect... The ride and performance
met and exceeded all my expectations...Porsche is moving forward in
the correct direction year after year hands down....

Hybrid, like Q50, with perhaps a NISMO version.

I'm just surprised we haven't heard anything more definitive at this point

By late summer 2008 the 2009 370z was in final production and I even had a chance to see if at a focus group

We should have something more definitive in the next few months is my educated guess

They made changes, not upgrades. The front is a refresh for the look mostly, no significant aero dynamic improvement as far as I know. I consider the oil cooler is a fix, not an upgrade. The retune suspension is tricky since I haven't seen a lot of discussion about how the car has improved because of that. I will give you the cooling system though since it is news to me that they did something to the cooling system.

:facepalm:
Really? So if we argue semantics long enough your post turns out to be right? Isn't an upgrade something that makes the car better? So, the oil cooler and suspension doesn't do that?

Take this w/ a grain of salt, but I spoke to a Nissan employee and he doesn't have all the details on the next Z, but he said they were thinking of keeping the current powerplant, doing some tweaks and introducing a new trim (hybrid turbo maybe?).

I am excited to see what Nissan puts out. I am a huge fan of the Z platform and there are few cars besides the "Z" that I would rather drive. Personally, I feel the the turbo'd 4 cyl or even a turbo'd 6 cyl are long overdue. It is what the 370Z should have come with from the factory. I enjoyed my 350Z and loved it up until the day I watched it drive off. I have no plans to ever get rid of my 370Z, but I am sure I will eventually find myself owning the next gen "Z" car. Just please for the love of God...give it a manual gearbox.

I doubt a significantly different Z will be developed at this point.

They have a potential pocket rocket/twins figher with the idx, and given the tendency to build the Z based on the G (now Q), I am not expecting a major overhaul just yet.

But we'll see... hopefully soon.

i believe in the 2012's and up they switched over to using a pressurized coolant resorvoir as opposed to the unpressurized ones in the earlier model years

so you spoke to the janitor? lol