Official: 2012 Boss 302

FL 4Motion

I would take this boss302 over a GT 500, it looks like an amazing track car. THIS is what nissan needs to do with the NISMO Z, Ford went all out and it's going to be a hit.

Pharmacist

i'd love nissan to give the z the porche rs treatment and make a hardcore race car out of the box, possibly supercharged making about mid 400's hp, stripped and gutted interior, racing seats, roll cage, aerodynamic kit, brake and suspension upgrades, oil cooler, and lightweight carbon fibre body panels weighing around 3000 lbs or so, with a price mid point between the current z and the gtr

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

FL 4Motion

I have daydreams about this scenario, I'd be all over something like this in a heartbeat. Nissan, are you ******* listening???

Pharmacist

the problem from nissan's perspective is that the z is their second car in the line up, overshadowed by the gtr which is their main performance vehicle. they will never make the z too fast for fear it may cannibalize gtr sales and make the gtr irrelevant. that's also why chevy will never make a camaro fast enough to encroach on the corvette turf. ditto with porsche's cayman and 911 carrera

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

shadoquad

In fact, the Pontiac Fiero was, in its day, the only GM car that was profitable every year of its run. Rumor has it that it was squashed because it was too competitive against the Corvette. Reliability and safety issues aside, the Vettes of that era weren't much quicker.

FL 4Motion

Totally agree, it would be a very fine line that Nissan would have to walk to get a more track/aggresively oriented Z produced that slotted in nicely between a "regular" Z and the GTR.

It can be done. like others stated, forget the carbon fiber and the roll cage,, just get the car to around 400-430 bhp (small twin turbo set up would do that the easiest), oil cooler std, clutch type lsd std, aggressive brake pads std, and sell it for around 45K.

I don't think this would cannibalize GTR sales, /\ that car, will never match the performance of a GTR (7:26 'ring time is haulin ***), but it would be competitive against all the cars we constantly compare the Z too. I believe there's room in the Z linup for this. Base, Touring, and tt Nismo basically. If they really went crazy, they could have a tt touring with sport pkg for those that want the power but not the track oriented stuff, but that puts the Z closer to what the 300zxtt was and it died off here in the us so that probably won't happen.

m4a1mustang

My guess is a Z built as you described would well beyond the mid point between the Z and GTR. You're pretty much talking a full on race car which would probably go for $100k or more.

Not to mention they need to build the car to fit SOME specification. What you described is just a race car that could compete in what? Track days?

A better option would be something more like what Ford did with the Boss 302. A track day car that can still be driven around on the street. Maybe a TT or SC tuned to make 450hp out of the box with an aggressive street/track suspension, interior, and not much in the way of creature comforts. That would be something that they could have priced between the base Z and the GTR.

But when you start talking roll cage, carbon fiber panels, etc... the prices skyrocket.

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- Steve

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Pharmacist

perhaps something like the boxster spyder. basically lightweight racing seats, and a gutted minimalist interior with no a/c or radio. upgraded pads and cross drilled slotted rotors. bigger wheels and wider tires. supercharger and oil cooler. mechanical lsd. and shortersprings/firmer dampers. i'd imagine this ca be done for an extra 15-20k increase in price, and then we'd have a cayman and exige killer.

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler

m4a1mustang

That makes sense, except I'd keep the radio and A/C because from a sales standpoint you'd want the car to still be desirable for someone who wants a track car for the street that has SOME creature comforts...

But yeah, I'd throw in some light weight seats, manual windows, get rid of what little sound deadening is installed in the base model car, upgrade the brakes, suspension, and engine (and add an oil cooler!!!). I'd say at a ~$60k price point it'd probably work.

The only problem is NISSAN really doesn't have the money... lol. And it's painfully clear that they don't really care in the first place. They'd rather show off their new Leaf.

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