heavy, overpriced AND difficult to get some real HP out of, since the V6 is already tuned to 10/10...some of the people on the 350Z boards are spending $$$$ for full exhaust, intake and a chip reburn resulting in +10HP at the wheels...to buy, install, and tune a FI kit can run close to $10K, with very shaky reliability.

 

Let's see...

The base 350Z is $27K+ and the loaded Corvette C6's I've been seeing are almost $55K. Is the 'Vette twice-as-nice-for-twice-the-price?

I could knock the 350Z up by $10K to around $37K and I might find a find a stripped 'Vette for sub-$45K. (Good look getting the "cheapo" C6 with all the dealers salivating.) Maybe Tom "Aztek" Peter's hideous design of the C6 has made me warm to the 350Z. The C6 might be Z06 quick, but that doesn't make up for the appearance, let alone the pricing, at least where I stand.

In any case, the hot Nissan is on the way - like it or now. I expect a $45K MSRP for the Z-version, even though the GT-R will probably push $60-70.

 

Again..... A fully loded 350z has the same or less equipment as a base Vette. So. you have to compare a loded Z to base Corvette.

Yhe Anwser is yes. Yes the vette is worth twice as much but no. it doesnt cost twice as much for the same level of fetures.

 

Um, the vette and 350z are slightly in different markets. Fact of the matter is, most the people that buy the Vettes for that matter is you know, to compensate for humn humn.... right?

If you spend 10 mins out of the track and in real life, you will realize there is more to life and cars than a quarter mile time. Both the c6 and the 350z are selling like hotcakes, and who cares really? As far as nissan is concerned, they are pretty damn hot right now, Altimas, Maximas, Muranos, 350z's, a very exciting lineup and they have no problems pushing sales.... obviously the gm boys will push the c6 as that is the only thing that makes it stand out in a crowd of boring midsize sedans. Personally I think the c6 is hideous compared to the perfected c5, but that is my opinion, and everyone is entitled to theirs.

 

I didnt think it was possible to take a **** into the internet. But you have proved me wrong.

 

As a CEO of a large automaker, I'd like every car to be on the same platform.
As a Customer, I'd like a unique platform optimized for the car I'm going to buy.

More plaftorms are not necessarily a bad thing. If they can reign in costs and have more optimized cars (packaging, styling, weight, handling) then it could be just fine.

 

Amen...

 

redzed, where are you getting the info on this super Z?

You said it's using the Skyline GT-R drivetrain? The GT-R is not currently in production. The last GT-R, the R34, had the RB26DETT with AWD tuned for RWD. This is a twin turbocharged inline 6. It's also a drivetrain/engine that was never used in a car in the US. So Nissan is going to do the re-engineering neccesary to fit a twin turbo inline 6 into the 350Z where a V6 now sits (if it will even fit at all), create a drivetrain that'll power that engine to the rear wheels instead of AWD, and certify this engine for the US emissions, where they only have 1 V6 engine across almost their entire car line here?

I somehow doubt that.

 

Maybe this 350Z can drive on water and split the red sea?

 

I believe this super Z is supposed to get a V8 probably derived from the M45 Motor. But that is just Rumors I have read.

 

No. 1 General Motors Corp. said Wednesday that truck sales were off 4.6 percent and car sales down 5.5 percent in October.

Combined sales for Nissan Motor Co. and its luxury Infiniti division were up 27.3 percent in October from a year ago, the best October ever for Nissan North America. Truck sales climbed 46 percent on strong demand for the new Nissan Pathfinder and Titan full-size pickup, the Japanese automaker's first entry in that category.

 

That makes sense, since Nissan is all about sharing motors, the 4.5L V8 would make sense. But that raises a lot of issues...can they balance the car with the extra weight of a V8? Will it fit? That V8 only has 340hp in the infiniti, that's not a huge jump over the stock Z. And wtf would they call it, the 450Z? Doesn't feel right

 

So all GM/Nissan bashing and other rabbit trails aside, if we use Nissan FM platform variation for all the products it's used for as a baseline, it would be correct to say that GM could have as many as 5 essentially unique RWD platforms in the next 3 to 5 years? I'm not asking if that is good are bad, just if it is a correct statement.

 

This months Road & Track gives the curb weight of a C6 Coupe as 3,300lbs. In Nissan's 2005 Z-car brochure, a base 350Z weighs in at 3188lbs, a 350Z Track weighs a full 3,225lbs and an Enthusiast Roadster is also 3,225lbs.

It turns out that our resident Pontiac Salesman is a liar. I guess the car salesman gig is one day a week, but the habits of a car salesman are full time.

 

1. The old twin turbo inline-6 is deader than dead.

2. If you haven't noticed already, FM stands for "Front Mid-Engined." A straight 6 wouldn't have fit, anyway.

VK-series V8 versus VQ-series V6 w/ twin turbos? I'd have to get out a tape measure.

Am I the only one that's done some research on Nissan's VK-series V8? More later....