New 240sx???

[sykikchimp]

From a Post on FA.... The important part is at the bottom in Bold


from http://www.drive.com.au

'Godzilla' set to roar again
By Cameron McGavin
The Age
Thursday February 6 2003
Nissan's revival gathers more speed, reports Cameron McGavin.
NISSAN will go head to head in a power war with the world's top sports-car manufacturers when its new GT-R sports coupe makes its debut this year -- and it could be heading to Australia.

Speaking at the Australian launch of the 350Z sports car this week, Nissan chief product specialist John Yukawa said the upcoming GT-R would break through the unofficial 206kW power limit, which Japanese manufacturers have adhered to for decades to appease their government.

And it won't be by a nose, either. Yukawa's benchmark for the new GT-R is Porsche's 911 Turbo, which pumps out 309kW and is regarded by many as the best sports car in the world. Expect to see a power figure of about 300kW when the GT-R is revealed at the Tokyo motor show this year.

"The GT-R will exceed 206kW (the Japanese limit)," said Yukawa. "The Porsche 911 Turbo has about 400hp -- we're aiming for that. Porsche is my ambition."

Japanese car makers have long been suspected of exceeding the self-imposed power limit and then simply quoting 206kW (or 280hp) to keep officials happy. Now that the decision has been made to abandon the agreement, Japanese performance-car makers can get serious about challenging their European counterparts.

The new GT-R is expected to be powered by a twin-turbocharged V6 engine.

The rest of the GT-R package is a secret, though there have been clues. The styling is likely to show influences from the rakish GT-R concept car shown at the 2001 Tokyo motor show. Meanwhile, four-wheel-drive -- a signature of the model -- is a certainty.

Price is another unknown, although suggestions are that it will not be cheap, stretching beyond $150,000.

Previous GT-Rs have been built purely for the Japanese market, although 100 of the original -- and, some would say, the best -- R32 model were sold through Nissan dealerships between 1991 and 1993.

The new car, however, is designed with foreign markets in mind as Nissan continues its much-publicised revival under the guidance of leader Carlos Ghosn.

Leon Daphne, managing director and chief executive of Nissan Australia, said the new GT-R was on his wish list, though he stressed that any decision would come from Japan.

"When it's available in right-hand-drive, we'd like to take it," he said. "But it would be in very limited numbers."

The GT-R name has a glorious history in Australia, despite no presence in almost a decade.

The legendary R32 GT-R earned the nickname "Godzilla" for its performances in Australian touring car racing; it was ultimately ruled out of the competition through fear of upsetting car makers Ford and Holden.

Road-going models, many of which have been privately imported over the years, won similar favour for their explosive performance and excellent handling.

Sitting below the GT-R in Nissan's planned three-tiered sports-car line-up is the 350Z, which went on sale this week for less than $60,000.

Ironically, the arrival of Nissan's new Z-car comes just as its sweet-driving 200SX sports coupe sibling bows out of the Australian market because of problems meeting future emission regulations.

But fans of affordable sports cars need not fret, because a replacement is already under development.

Nissan's John Yukawa confirmed that a new 200SX was on the way and that it would stay true to the philosophy of its predecessor. Don't be surprised, then, if the 200SX replacement is another compact, rear-drive, turbocharged coupe.

"The 200SX is an entry car for the young guy, the Z-car is a car for the macho guy and the GT-R is a car for the enthusiast," said Yukawa. "Nissan is always seeking to provide fun-to-drive cars for the customers, especially for enthusiasts. This is the Nissan way."






-----Come on.. you KNEW it had to happen... -----

[christopher]

YES!!!!

I still wont be able to afford it

[tnord]

if it really is gonna be released.........don't expect it for at least another year, so don't get too excited just yet. and there still isn't anything mentioned about a US release.

[christopher]

Still, the possibility of having a new one to swap parts out of is a nice idea. Even if it never reaches our shores I am exited.

[some guy]

If it does make it to the US, expect no turbo engine, probably a QR25DE thats in the SE-R right now. But still pretty cool 250SX S16.

[SilviaDriver]

awsome..wonder how its gonna look. more swapping options for us haha

[whateverjames]

it should have read:

"Nissan is always seeking to provide fun-to-drive cars for the customers, especially for enthusiasts**. This is the Nissan way."

(**This may exclude North America where millions of people would appreciate the cars as well as the rest of the world.)

[KiDyNomiTe]

I was more interested in the 400HP GTR (first time I read anything about the new GTR, wow )

And about the new 200SX, I am a poor HS student so blah, and I kinda hope its not a 2 liter, and its like 2.5 or something, you figure all the other cars have been increasing in displacement, Z went from 2.4 - 3.5, Skyline went from 2.0 (prolly lower for the older ones) to 3.5 (I think), Sentra went from 2.0 to 2.5, keep tradition and give it that unreplacable displacement.

Nissan better make it look good, Infiniti seems to be stealing all the good looks (G35 > 350Z, FX45 > Murano). bring back the flip up lights

[DSC]

It'll prolly come to the US a year late, and with the KA. I mean, it worked for nearly 10 years w/out hardly an upgrade...it can work for another 10!
Go Nissan!

[KiDyNomiTe]

Originally posted by DSC
It'll prolly come to the US a year late, and with the KA. I mean, it worked for nearly 10 years w/out hardly an upgrade...it can work for another 10!
Go Nissan!

come to think of it they shoudl juss give us another truck motor, try and cram that titan motor in there

[sykikchimp]

I would be willing to bet we do get a 200sx here .. maybe not named that.. but Nissan knows the 240 has a large following here.. and they know there is a trend moving to that type of car here in america. There is most definately a market for it. If it was to come out in a year or 2 that would be perfect timing for me..

I would expect it to come to america with at least 200whp. They already said they want to be the most powerfful cars in their respective classes.. they would be competing against the Celica, and RSX, and IS300, and possibly even the new BMW 1-series.

[tnord]

if they bring it here at all........it won't be half assed. their first attempt a "sport-compact" has been anything but a success with the SE-R Vspec. everybody else is getting a slice of the "25 yrs old and 25 grand" market segment, and it's not outlandish to assume nissan will make a genuine attempt at getting their piece of the pie. my guess will be yet another RWD coupe, with possibly a de-stroked turbocharged version of the QR25DE........so it'd be more like a 2.2-2.4.....making around 225-250hp, rumor has it the the Q would respond very well to FI. the key element in all this (if it happens), is what chassis they will use. after the "red years" of the 90's with multiple platforms, there's no way they'll create an all new chassis just for this car. so.........will it be a sentra chassis (most-likely), the Z (a shortened version of it), or the maxima (turning a 4 door chassis into a coupe doesn't seem like a good idea). chassis selecton determines everything from style to engine to suspension design.

there's so much more speculation i could go into.........but it's just that........SPECULATION

[toddnappi]

who here would even seriously be interested in one, not me. i will have my car until i can afford my 911, even if that's 10 years from now.

[sykikchimp]

I was thinkin the exact same thing.. destroked, MAYBE turbo... I would guess they would use a shortened Z-chassis. use the same concepts as the Z with the engine mounted farther back in the bay.. man that would be SCHWEET.

would the B-chassis even be compatible with a RWD layout?

[kurissuS13]

if a new S-chasis, or Z/S or whatnot, is released, i'm assuming that this will be their "Sport-Compact" Car. does that mean that they'll end production of the Sentra? i don't think they'd want to have 2 cars from the same company, in the same category and, hopefully, price range fighting for "Sport Compact" supremacy.

also, if a new S-chasis is released and becomes a huge success, would this mean the return of cheap & affordable RWD compact cars?

[tnord]

who here would even seriously be interested in one, not me.

i would. and i'm sure many others my age would be. who isn't interested in a 225+ hp rwd coupe for around 25k??? can you think of anything else like that in the market.......well there's the mustang, and that's about it. don't even try and tell me there isn't a market for this.

"would the B-chassis even be compatible with a RWD layout?

i have no idea.....that's the question, what chassis would it go into?? it would seem that the firewall would have to be moved back amongst other things to get a RWD config in there, but keep in mind it is a cheaper starting point than the 350 chassis, which would likely still need some modification. it seems that shortening a chassis would be a better idea than making one longer (how much harder is it to bend a 2'' long piece of steel than a 12'' one?).

of course........this is all what i would do if i was the designer.....but i'm not, so my opinion really doesn't matter.

[tnord]

Originally posted by kurissuS13
if a new S-chasis, or Z/S or whatnot, is released, i'm assuming that this will be their "Sport-Compact" Car. does that mean that they'll end production of the Sentra? i don't think they'd want to have 2 cars from the same company, in the same category and, hopefully, price range fighting for "Sport Compact" supremacy.

also, if a new S-chasis is released and becomes a huge success, would this mean the return of cheap & affordable RWD compact cars?

1) i HIGHLY doubt there will be a new S-chassis. as i have already stated, the new "Silvia" will be based on another chassis, most likely the Z or the Sentra
2) the sentra is not a sport compact. it's a compact economy commuter car which was inneffectively modified to fit the "sport-compact" profile. if any change was made to the sentra line-up, the SE-R would be discontinued.
3) one is FWD, the other is RWD........that gives the two pretty good separation to start with. i know price is the same, but there is enough difference that they both could happily co-exist.

[240fluke]

I also highly doubt that Nissan is going to introduce an all new chassis just to have a new Silvia type car, UNLESS they were introducing a new chassis to use for MULTIPLE platforms, which does not seem likely to me.

Well, the SE-R (sentras) had co-existed with the 240sx for nearly 10 years before, probably can still do it again, but only time would tell for that. Plus there is a whole lot of fans of the SE-R's (240sx/S-Chassis enthusiasts aren't the only ones in the Nissan Family) .

225+ RWD, $25K, hmmm, are you talking about the V8 GT's of the V6 Stangs? Because the V8's have closer to 265 HP (and with how Ford rates there cars, that is probably on the low side for what the car ACTUALLY puts out). But remember, Mustangs are typically HEAVIER than the S-chassis based cars, so if we got a car up into the 225HP range and still weighed in at under 2900 lbs, that would be a real contender for Nissan (however, with HP ratings up that high, it would probably be pretty close to on-par with the 350Z currently in power-to-weight, so unless they raise the HP of the 350Z, I doubt it would get this high.

That is awesome that the GT-R is really moving up into Super Car Status, going to go play with the Big Dogs now. The idea of an S16 is cool, but I am curious as to how it is going to end up looking. Because the new altima is koo, the Sentra I like, the new (not yet released) Maxima I am not liking at all (Way too bland and looks like it RIPPED off the Altima styling) and the new 350Z is one of the SEXIEST cars I have ever seen (if you haven't seen a track model in Redline, just wait till you do and you will know what I'm talking about). So if it does come, I hope it does has good, fresh styling to it and maintain it's sexiness.

Hmm, maybe when the go to release a new version, instead of going with a coupe like the S14 and S15's were, maybe they will go by way of the 180sx and go with a fastback/hatchback design for the new S16, what do you people out there think? I mean the 180sx was around longer than any of the coupe based chassis'. Could be cool.

Tim '95 SE

[KiDyNomiTe]

Hmm that whole chasis thing is a tough one, a coupe version of the Sentra/Max/Altima would not good at all, thier best bet IMO is the 350Z chasis.

If they are smart they will put a turbocharged engine in there, and the Sentra engine is the only one they can really put in.

The chances of bring a car similar to the 180SX are very slim, considering the new look the cars are getting, which is more of a bulky look, it'll basically look like a tall and short probe

[elevator]

This is already showing itself to be a popular car here. I have seen several on the road. Nice car!!

As for the new GT-R....... it won't be seen in the states much as you won't see Nissan introduce a Skyline with a left hand drive configuration. They just won't do that for some reason. Cosequently, the GTR is not a common muscle car in the states. Pitty....it is a GREAT automobile. One of the fastest production automobiles in the world.

[Anubis]

Originally posted by gladhatter

This is already showing itself to be a popular car here. I have seen several on the road. Nice car!!

As for the new GT-R....... it won't be seen in the states much as you won't see Nissan introduce a Skyline with a left hand drive configuration. They just won't do that for some reason. Cosequently, the GTR is not a common muscle car in the states. Pitty....it is a GREAT automobile. One of the fastest production automobiles in the world.

Nissan IS going to market the new GT-R in the USA. I believe they said that it was to become their first "Global" Supercar.

[tnord]

the fewer words you speak..........the lesser the chance you have of being perceived as a fool.

[christopher]

I would be very interested in one. I hope that they do not half a** it.

[drifterX87]

So lets see...if they make the new Silvia/200SX whatever they said, on the chassis of the 350Z/G35 wouldnt that be like the third car on that chassis? Sure its cheap, but its a load of ****. All have V6's (what in the **** is wrong with you Nissan? wheres the I4's and I6's?) and hatchback style body. GT-R going for around 70-80K? That was Australian correct? BAH I have no more respect for Nissan...

Mike

[tnord]

Originally posted by drifterX87
So lets see...if they make the new Silvia/200SX whatever they said, on the chassis of the 350Z/G35 wouldnt that be like the third car on that chassis? Sure its cheap, but its a load of ****. All have V6's (what in the **** is wrong with you Nissan? wheres the I4's and I6's?) and hatchback style body. GT-R going for around 70-80K? That was Australian correct? BAH I have no more respect for Nissan...

Mike

so you would rather not have Nissan be sold here at all? because that's what would have happened if they didn't start doing some platform sharing. not only does platform sharing make the cars profitable for Nissan, it makes them cheap for us to buy. I sure as hell don't remember any 240hp cars for under 30k in nissan's lineup back in the 90's. each car having its own chassis was a main contributor to the discontinuation of the Z32 and S chassis here in the US. why do you want an I6 over a V6 so bad? the VQ is a pretty good engine. i have quite a bit of respect for nissan for being able to go from a company on the verge of bankruptcy to one that's making huge profit 3 years ahead of schedule. ya know what drives profit in the auto industry? good product........

[KiDyNomiTe]

Originally posted by drifterX87
So lets see...if they make the new Silvia/200SX whatever they said, on the chassis of the 350Z/G35 wouldnt that be like the third car on that chassis? Sure its cheap, but its a load of ****. All have V6's (what in the **** is wrong with you Nissan? wheres the I4's and I6's?) and hatchback style body. GT-R going for around 70-80K? That was Australian correct? BAH I have no more respect for Nissan...

Mike

Last time I checked 350s are H/bs and prolly G35s too.

[sykikchimp]

Originally posted by KiDyNomiTe
Last time I checked 350s are H/bs and prolly G35s too.

Thats an EXCELLENT point.. if they DO use the 350z chassis, I bet the car would end up with at least a hatchback model..

Also if you look at the s-chassis cars historically, they Always took styling cues from the GTR's.. My bet is it will look like the mini GTR it always has, but a bit lower key.

[drifterX87]

Im not saying that sharing a platform is a bad thing, but having three/four cars on one? The Skyline and the Silvia are different cars. So is the Z and the SKyline. Why in hte hell would you make it the same hting? All Im saying is that they should make the car more what it was like, rather then having one car with three names.

Mike

Edit: one sentance was fugglemucked.

[HippoSleek]

I just can't buy this whole thing. Granted, maybe this guy knows something special about the Aussie market, but whatever it is can't apply in the US.

1. The 350z, when adjusted for inflation, costs about what an s14a cost new.

2. The US doesn't buy turbo cars. We have a history of hating them.

3. Insurance on turbo cars is outrageous.

4. RWD coupes don't sell well in the US. There's a reason all Japanese sports/sporty cars except the NSX disappeared from our shores. We didn't buy them. Now the Camaro/Firebird is gone. Nissan brought back the Z and so far so good - but based on history, I wouldn't look for more cars like that to appear.

5. As has been discussed ad nauseum, where in the Nissan line up is there room for this car? Granted the Se-R Spec-V sucks - but is there really room for a car b/n the Se-R and the z? Isn't that what got them bankrupt in the first place?

[some guy]

I think Nissan will probably shorten the FM chassis for the new Silvia. When you think about it, it doesn't really compete with the SE-R. The SE-R is a 4 door FWD compact sedan. The new Silvia will be a 2 door RWD coupe. Their target buyer is totally different. The new Silvia can use the QR25DE (180hp)or maybe for the higher end model even a VQ30DE (222hp) cost about $18,000 for the I4, $22,000 for the V6.

So the line up will look like this:
Sentra SE-R (165-175hp) $16k-$18k
Silvia 2.5S (180hp) $18k-$22k
Silvia 3.0S (222hp) $22K-$25K
350Z (287-300hp) $27K-34K
Skyline GT-R (400+hp) $50k-$60k

There's no conflict in the line up.
I sure hope Nissan do it.