Ekona

Guess I must be missing the point here. Y’know, after admitting I was wrong and all that. Although I bet I’m bang-on about the auto bit

My point was I don’t hate all Zeds after the 350, rather than differentiating between the minutiae of the various models. And the mk1 is just fugly compared to the mk2, that’s my beef with that If the Z35 is indeed the same chassis as the Z34, as it looks like it is, then I’m gutted. That’s a ten year old car, not a new chassis like the Supra is even if it’s a BMW underneath. I want new Z cars to push boundaries and give prospective owners a budget car that keeps up with the competition, not merely plods along and is happy with selling a few hundred auto boxed cars in the States. Basically, I want a Zed that does for Nissan what the Mustang did for Ford five years ago.

Any new performance car should be welcomed, but I just want one to be fresh and decent rather than a rehash. Like I said before, I want it to be brilliant, but Nissan seem to struggle giving us much hope on that front of late. I’m sure I said it’ll never happen, so if you want me to admit I was wrong I’m happy to do so. No problem at all with that, but I won’t get too excited until it’s here. I think that’s probably the same feeling for most of the naysayers too: No one here hates the Zed at all, we’re all fans (I’d still love a 370ZN mk2!), we’re only asking for a decent product at the end

At least one person has said exactly that, scarily enough! I’m interested in a new Zed, but it doesn’t excite me from what I’ve heard and seen so far and how the car industry has evolved in recent times. The recent MX5 facelift/power hike and the 4.0L engine in a standard 718 have been about as exciting as it’s gotten for me, pure cars with more power

Which is brilliant, and also I don’t think you can buy a bad car any more, standards have really come up over the last ten years or so which has led to finer details being the difference between it being a car people will buy or leave on the showroom floor.

I guess people can’t afford to be blinkered and get excited by a new car just because it has a certain badge. It has to be a decent product, simply being cheap or more of the same won’t wash. Ford got it spot-on with the Mustang, it’s continued success today proves what a perfect product it actually was.

But the 350Z was a brand new car offering the enthusiast a budget but muscular drivers car, not a rehash of a ten year old model with an auto box and a price tag that won’t let them get away with poor plastics inside again. Look, even I realise how negative I sound. If it comes out and it’s modern but classic, offering two transmissions and an engine that’s genuinely interesting for a price that dips under the £40k tax barrier, then I’ll be very interested. Hell, if it can offer three of those I’ll still take a serious look.

F*ck the purists, that’s amazing.

They really don’t. The 911 sells twice as much as the 718 series put together, in any region. And those sales are about 20% of how many Cayennes and Macans they sell! But really who cares about how many cars VAG sell, that’s a massive company who have huge successes across all segments. Nissan have to be way more careful, and if they are delaying the GTR then the new Zed has to be even more important to them as a halo model.

Even if it’s bang average?

Which is why I’m concerned, as the Z34 never did the business. And ultimately, this is business. I’m not even going to go there on the flat six sounding worse than the VQ. Apart from recommending Otex to you.

The Cayman, Z4 and TT were always the main competitors to the Zeds, price wasn’t relevant to the masses when buying a sports car as (usually) a 2nd or 3rd car. What makes you think this time will be any different? The extra cost can be financed away, and the tempting resale value (compared with a Nissan) makes having a premium badge worth it for some. Put it this way, Alpine have struggled with a class-leading car that genuinely stands out from the crowd: why would a rebodied 370 which wasn’t even class-leading when it came out ten years ago fare any better?

Hey, compared to how long Nissan have dragged out the Z33 and Z34, Porsche look positively proactive in that department!

Not sure I’d bother tbh, if it was a decent map in the first place then there should be enough play to account for a couple of tiny mods like that. But the safe answer is yes, remove it.

Hey, I was hoping that it would be cheap given that the Z34 has been around for years and it costs them nothing to design that

Cayman and A110, both significantly better to drive and also more interesting to look at, if that’s your main thing. Cayman available as a manual as well, Alpine a complete one-off that you’ll very rarely come across (I’ve still not seen one in the flesh round here!).

Nope, hence poor maths

The legendary Supra only sold 3600 models last year, so what will this sell? Half that at best? And how is making a car with retro styling going to attract younger buyers? I really hope Nissan didn’t spend £250M on this, as that’s way too much going on some crap maths by me. Assuming £35k selling cost (hey I’ll be optimistic!), 2000 cars a year over four years gives £280M income. Now assume each car costs £10k to build (incl labour and sell through costs etc) and you can see why I’m worried. This will need to be a £40k plus car minimum, prob nearer £45k, and then you’d be bonkers to buy one over the rivals. Just like how you’d be bonkers to buy a Supra over the rivals too.

I’ll never be a fan of those cars, but even I cannot fault the execution. Bravo sir.

Over a year from launch still? Honest, I’m still having my doubts we’ll see this, that’s a long time in motoring and if it is just a rebodied 370Z then it’s not going to set the world on fire either. Genuine question, but is there even a proper market for this car? Thinking of the competition and how poorly (in comparison) the 370 sold. Nissan could still pull the plug if reception is poor and just claim it was another concept.

Personally I’m a huge fan of the Performance Friction pads, they used to be called 01 on the front and Z-Rated on the rear but I believe they’ve changed the names in the last few years. Amazing on both fast road and heavy track use, but obviously not the cheapest. Out of the ones you’ve mentioned I’d go DS2500. The Yellowstuff are very good, but only on low weight cars in my experience for track stuff. I’ve never tried the Hawks.

Yup, MPS4 again! Uniroyal Rainsport are worth a punt.

You’re also 67 with a bad hip. That’s the demographic for Civic Estate drivers, right?

C-Class would be a good shout too, epically comfortable seats in those. A Class too, but almost certainly more expensive to buy than the C. Wouldn’t even look at a Swift for long drives. Civic maybe, but I’d rather get RWD so that way you at least have the option of a fun drive should you find yourself in that position at any point.

Let’s not mess around here: that is bloody awesome.