Nissan IDx (Toyobaru competitor) axed

Appleseed wrote: Remember when Nissan had balls?

Hardly...that was a looong time ago.

I remember they put paddle shifters on a cvt Sentra.

chiodos wrote: Makes me wonder if the only reason mazda still makes miatas is the converable aspect. Old people and women love a vert but dont care about any of the good stuff we enjoy in a miata. Kinda like mazda says "heres your enthusiasts car, sorry we had to disguise it as a convertable its the only way it would sell enough"

You sir, get it.

The geriatric and lumpy species demographic are paying the bills so that we enthusiast can have a capable toy.

The majority of Miata owners have no idea what the cars superpowers are and could care less as long as the thing is bombproof.

NOHOME wrote:

chiodos wrote: Makes me wonder if the only reason mazda still makes miatas is the converable aspect. Old people and women love a vert but dont care about any of the good stuff we enjoy in a miata. Kinda like mazda says "heres your enthusiasts car, sorry we had to disguise it as a convertable its the only way it would sell enough"

You sir, get it. The geriatric and lumpy species demographic are paying the bills so that we enthusiast can have a capable toy. The majority of Miata owners have no idea what the cars superpowers are and could care less as long as the thing is bombproof.

I disagree.. I love a convertible. I like the fact that I can make a Miata into a track beast by bolting in more safety (a bar), but on my ride to work I can put the top up or down at a stop light because it's instant and manual, not slow and powered like my (former) Boxster's top.

They hit their mark by trying to create a modern "little british roadster" that's reliable. The fact that it's good on track and fun for enthusiasts is part of the design requirements. How many little british roadsters weren't fun to drive and mod sports cars in their hey day?

This was never going to get made, there was no cancelling of the program. I feel like these design studies are basically like halo cars. They get people talking about the company, but nobody actually has to buy the car to get the PR.

Thank goodness.

As a nissan fan and owner of two Z cars I hate seeing this. Nissan used to be cool now they suck eggs.

chiodos wrote: Probably cause there was so much enthusiasts hype about the twins yet when it came to sales, they didn't do like anyone hoped

Do you have some inside information to back up these common claims of what the sales expectations are/were for Toytoa and Subaru? The only public acknowledgement of disappointment that I've ever seen has been exclusively in regards to lagging European sales.

I don't know, Nissan still have the 370Z, albeit aging, and the GTR. That's two sports cars in a small lineup. They are still planning on replacing the 370Z with a less expensive and smaller car too from what I understand, so they aren't abandoning the market. Something like this may still pop up again once they have a suitable starting point. Compare that to Toyota, Honda, Subaru, Chevrolet, Mazda, and even BMW, and they have a pretty high percentage of sports car per product line. Now we as a group may not want to buy one, or can afford one in the case of the GTR, but they still have them.

I mean, come on, even Clarkson likes the GTR!

WonkoTheSane wrote:

NOHOME wrote:

chiodos wrote: Makes me wonder if the only reason mazda still makes miatas is the converable aspect. Old people and women love a vert but dont care about any of the good stuff we enjoy in a miata. Kinda like mazda says "heres your enthusiasts car, sorry we had to disguise it as a convertable its the only way it would sell enough"

You sir, get it. The geriatric and lumpy species demographic are paying the bills so that we enthusiast can have a capable toy. The majority of Miata owners have no idea what the cars superpowers are and could care less as long as the thing is bombproof.

I disagree.. I love a convertible. I like the fact that I can make a Miata into a track beast by bolting in more safety (a bar), but on my ride to work I can put the top up or down at a stop light because it's instant and manual, not slow and powered like my (former) Boxster's top. They hit their mark by trying to create a modern "little british roadster" that's reliable. The fact that it's good on track and fun for enthusiasts is part of the design requirements. How many little british roadsters weren't fun to drive and mod sports cars in their hey day?

Actually Wonko...you are making my point for me.

In reply to NOHOME:

Good, I thought we were disagreeing.. I interpreted that as negative..

This is better :)

Really the only thing that is missing from the Nissan lineup is a really fun FWD car. If you look at the early nineties, They had the twin turbo halo car, the capable but really uninspiring stock RWD coupe, the fun compact, and the decent to drive mid-size.

They have all of that today and I would argue that offerings today are much better than the STOCK offerings from then. The only real difference is that the Halo car is now the GTR and the RWD coupe is the 370Z, the sporty mid size is the Altima, and the Sentra is still there.

The GTR and 370Z are more expensive than the older 300ZX twin turbo and the 240SX but in line with where they would be with inflation.

Maybe Nissan is messing with us and will come out with this car laughing all the time at us - "we were just screwing with you guys, here's that cool retro 510 you were waiting for - do you guys know how to drive stick shift?"

jimbob_racing wrote: They say they can't afford to do a stand alone rwd platform and sell it profitably.

Then don't limit it a to a single model. Bring back the Datsun name and make it a whole parallel family of compact RWD cars sharing the platform. Just spitballing here, but say maybe a 2-door, a 4-door, and a wagon. You know...Just like the original 510.

chiodos wrote: Makes me wonder if the only reason mazda still makes miatas is the converable aspect. Old people and women love a vert but dont care about any of the good stuff we enjoy in a miata. Kinda like mazda says "heres your enthusiasts car, sorry we had to disguise it as a convertable its the only way it would sell enough"

That's actually a really decent point. While the original idea was to copy the "British sports car", this whole recipie worked. Would the FRS enjoy many more sales if it was a convertible?

Driven5 wrote:

jimbob_racing wrote: They say they can't afford to do a stand alone rwd platform and sell it profitably.

Then don't limit it a to a singlestand model. Bring back the Datsun name and make it a whole parallel family of compact RWD cars sharing the platform. Just spitballing here, but say maybe a 2-door, a 4-door, and a wagon. You know...Just like the original 510.

Funny you should say that. In 2011, I typed the following on this board and on the Japanese Nostalgic Car forum. For some reason, it always seems to be taken down by the people in charge, probably at the request of Nissan.

No, here’s a better idea. Nissan stays Nissan but they create a new brand like Toyota did with Scion. And, they call it Datsun. The mission of the new Datsun, build small, sporty cars that are retro inspired, get good gas mileage and are all rear wheel drive. Here’s the line up: The Roadster. A two seat convertible styled after the Fairlady roadsters that preceded the Z car. More minimalist than a Miata, no power folding hard tops, power windows or mirrors. Just an honest, fun and light sports car. The Truck. A real mini pickup, sized like the last of the Hardbody pickups. Give it a six foot bed, a regular or super cab, and make sure that it’s tough as nails. The sport truck guys are starving for something fun to drive and reasonably priced, plus all the projected fleet sales would be a big bonus. The Patrol. A two door, four cylinder, four wheel drive sport utility offered with real solid axles and a real low range. Small like the original Ford Bronco but not as small as the Suzuki Samurai. Soft top with an optional hard top. Basically build an inexpensive, stripped down Jeep now the Chrysler has taken theirs too far upmarket. The 510. Yes, bring it back. Coupe, sedan and wagon versions should all be available. Sized like the real deal, just updated for today’s market. It’s gotta look like a 510, handle like a 510 and most importantly, be factory raced like a 510. Bean counters and enthusiasts will rejoice if the Roadster and 510 share the same fully independent suspension front and back and give the Truck the same front suspension with a typical solid rear with leafs. Four cylinder engines for all, no sixes for options, just a turbo on the sportiest versions. All start off with a base line, then a sport which gives you a better suspension and wheels and a top of the line which is the GT with a turbo engine. No paddle shifters or tipronic BS, just an honest 5 or 6 speed manual and an optional automatic on the base and sport lines (not available on the turbo). Retro styling for all vehicles for the first generation with retro advertising (Datsun Saves, Drive a Datsun and Decide, etc). This puts Datsun back in all the Nissan dealerships where they won’t overlap any existing products and can cash in on the existing goodwill and name recognition the brand still enjoys after decades of being off the market. Keep prices low and offer dealer installed options like Scion. Throw some free vehicles to noted tuners and customizers so they show up at Sema, drifting events, custom car shows and get a ton of free PR. How is this not a winning idea? People are cutting back, gas prices are rising and classic Japanese cars are gaining attention. Nissan needs to try something new, target some new markets and build some niche vehicles that will garner some very positive press for them. In return for these awesome ideas, I only ask for a tour of the plant they build them in and a free Roadster. Nissan can PM me for details on where I want to take delivery of my car.

chiodos wrote: Its all the bean counters fault... im sure there are plenty of engineers at nissan that miss twin turbo 300zx and s30 datsuns but the accountants and whathaveyous are the ones in charge of which cars make it to production and which dont.

Seriously, if Bob Lutz can't get sporty cars made and well marketed, nobody can.

jimbob_racing wrote: They say they can't afford to do a stand alone rwd platform and sell it profitably. Right. Mazda sure doesn't seem to have a problem with that.

Nissan is the company that pretty much made one RWD chassis through the late 80s into the mid 00s, only doing differences in the upper front suspension, track width, and wheelbase. 240SX, 300ZX, Skyline, derivatives... all pretty much the same chassis. People have LHD converted R32 Skylines with 300ZX parts and they "bolted in". Etc. The front drive cars are also similarly similar.

Maybe Nissan has a corporate structure that greatly favors this level of commonality and doesn't mesh well with differing layouts.

bmw88rider wrote: Really the only thing that is missing from the Nissan lineup is a really fun FWD car. If you look at the early nineties, They had the twin turbo halo car, the capable but really uninspiring stock RWD coupe, the fun compact, and the decent to drive mid-size. They have all of that today and I would argue that offerings today are much better than the STOCK offerings from then. The only real difference is that the Halo car is now the GTR and the RWD coupe is the 370Z, the sporty mid size is the Altima, and the Sentra is still there. The GTR and 370Z are more expensive than the older 300ZX twin turbo and the 240SX but in line with where they would be with inflation.

Seriously, where do you guys come up with this stuff?

You can buy a 370Z for $30k, new. 20 years ago a 300ZX TT was over $40k, and that's not accounting for inflation, that was in 1995 dollars.

Sure complain about the exchange rate on the Yen, blah blah blah, I'm really starting to think this place is an echo chamber of people who have lost grip on reality.

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Remember when Nissan had balls?

That about sums it up.

pure. bull. $#!+.

z31maniac wrote:

bmw88rider wrote: Really the only thing that is missing from the Nissan lineup is a really fun FWD car. If you look at the early nineties, They had the twin turbo halo car, the capable but really uninspiring stock RWD coupe, the fun compact, and the decent to drive mid-size. They have all of that today and I would argue that offerings today are much better than the STOCK offerings from then. The only real difference is that the Halo car is now the GTR and the RWD coupe is the 370Z, the sporty mid size is the Altima, and the Sentra is still there. The GTR and 370Z are more expensive than the older 300ZX twin turbo and the 240SX but in line with where they would be with inflation.

Seriously, where do you guys come up with this stuff? You can buy a 370Z for $30k, new. 20 years ago a 300ZX TT was over $40k, and that's not accounting for inflation, that was in 1995 dollars. Sure complain about the exchange rate on the Yen, blah blah blah, I'm really starting to think this place is an echo chamber of people who have lost grip on reality.

The comparison was GTR = 300ZX and 370Z = 240SX, as far as position in the lineup goes.

I can see that.

belteshazzar wrote:

BlueInGreen44 wrote:

Appleseed wrote: Remember when Nissan had balls?

That about sums it up.

pure. bull. $#!+.

Wait. Are you saying Nissan never had balls? Or that they still have balls? Or that my statement has no balls?

Please explain balls.

Appleseed wrote: Please explain balls.

That's what she said....

To Z31 Maniac,

Not quite seeing your point. GTR is the current Twin Turbo halo Car just like the 300ZX TT was in the early 90's. The GTR is more expensive than the TT was but it's got a lot more toys than the TT did.

The 370Z is the entry level sporty RWD coupe just like the 240SX was in the early 90's

The Altima is the reasonably sporty Mid size just like the Maxima was in the early 90's

Nissan has done just what Honda did. They moved the classic brand names upscale and slide in lower lines below the classic titles (versa and Note)

I find the current lineup a lot better in both driving dynamics and class than what I owned from the 90's Nissan (300zx and hardbody from the 90's with a considerable time spent in a P10 G20 and I own a G37 now)