"area man" (hurrburgring)
05/22/2015 at 15:57 • Filed to: None
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"area man" (hurrburgring)
05/22/2015 at 15:57 • Filed to: None | 0
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In case you haven’t heard, both !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! have posts up today confirming what everyone feared the second the car was announced - Nissan has all but dropped plans to move forward with a production version of the IDx.
Of course, you already know the reason. It’s prohibitively expensive to develop a new small RWD-based platform when only ten people a year will buy the cars. The Z is doing well enough, and they don’t see a reason to move downmarket. This is sad, of course, because this was by far the coolest concept they’ve had in a long time and I think I speak for most when I say it’s nice to see some goddamn straight lines and corners on a Nissan again.
It’s not all murdered kittens, though - TTAC managed to get Nissan VP Pierre Loing musing about the the possibility of the retro styling living on in a FWD performance compact coupe or hatch. That might not suck!
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> area man
05/22/2015 at 15:59 |
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It will suck though, because it will probably be based on the Versa.
djmt1
> area man
05/22/2015 at 16:01 |
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Nobody wants light RWD coupes do they or do they just want power.
Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
> area man
05/22/2015 at 16:01 |
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area man
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
05/22/2015 at 16:01 |
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yeah, youre probably right.
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area man
> djmt1
05/22/2015 at 16:02 |
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Americans just want power. They don’t know what the numbers mean, but they damn sure want them to be high.
LongbowMkII
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
05/22/2015 at 16:04 |
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Micra Coupe! $9,500!
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djmt1
> area man
05/22/2015 at 16:06 |
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Brits want value thus why the Toybaru twins have been such a disaster sales wise. Further proof of this is how well the Mustang has sold out here with 70% of them being the V8 (100% manual) for preorders.
Spaceball-Two
> area man
05/22/2015 at 16:09 |
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I had just about convince my wife that this was to be on the short list of my next car. ugh.
1111111111111111111111
> area man
05/22/2015 at 16:39 |
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Damn. I loves it’s looks. Like a reborn 510.
MultiplaOrgasms
> area man
05/22/2015 at 16:43 |
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Long live the Cherry!
Et tu, Hellcat?
> area man
05/22/2015 at 16:57 |
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Pity. I was looking forward to it.
Looks like I have to go back to not caring about Nissan...
swaptastic
> area man
05/22/2015 at 17:29 |
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This is what I ultimately hate about manufacturers parading concepts out as if there is a good chance it will go into production. I know there is no promise a concept is ever going to be built but it really rips a fan’s heart out when something this unique is paraded around and then scrapped.
BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
> area man
05/22/2015 at 17:52 |
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Yes, performance coupe buyers DO know what the numbers mean, and the really knowledgeable ones know that the PEAK number means very little, because cars are very seldom at PEAK output, especially on an engine with such a sharp peak and steep torque curve.
Money isn’t free, and a car with little practicality, little adaptability, merely passable (not gorgeous) looks, and barely passable amounts of peak power, and insufficient off-peak torque is not a recipe for getting people to open their wallets for that.
A bit more practicality - a fastback hatchback.
A bit more adaptability - again, a hatchback. AE86, A60/A70/A80 Celica/Supras, and ST160-on Celicas were all hatchbacks, to good effect, as well as Celica predecessors, and the legendary 2000GT was also.
Better, more gorgeous looks... they can be improved, simplified, and more graceful, rather than looking like generic melted plastic.
More power, especially off-peak torque, is easily achievable with an FA20DIT turbocharged flat-4, or a re-designed EZ-series flat-6 with a 92mm bore and 86mm stroke for 3.4 liter displacement, variable valve timing and lift, with direct injection.
That could easily produce between 270-340-ish horsepower, respectively, and make a sub-3000lb car go from having to make excuses, to being a class leader in power-to-weight ratio for an affordable price.
Failing to meet potential is a big deal. Exceeding expectations and being MORE than people ask for in a car like that, is also a big push.
People aren’t spending money like water... they have to have more than one passable reason to get a car that isn’t a jack-of-all-trades sort of vehicle, like a CUV, sedan, or truck.
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BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
> area man
05/22/2015 at 18:10 |
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I can’t really blame them.
I knew FT86 was going to be a flash in the pan before it was released. The hype was way to high for the specs... and even early on there was down-playing of a turbocharged engine option.
No up-power optional engine. No convertible or targa roof option. Not enough useable torque... and it sure as hell isn’t, and can’t possibly be AWD equipped for the Subaru lineup...
The people with that narrow desire got the cars they wanted, and then the hype died off.
It can’t compete with Miata for image or lifestyle, or purity of handling (Miata is still lighter, and has 4-wheel SLA suspension, not struts, and is a true 2-seater, without having to make layout compromises for useless rear seats.)
It can’t compete with bigger cars for touring/distance capability and power. Or, at least they are choosing not to give it enough power to be taken seriously.
The FT86 triplets aren’t unreasonably ugly, but they aren’t gorgeous, either. Looks aren’t selling those cars as ‘instant classics’ the way the original 65 Mustang did... which itself had much more configurability back then.
Nissan doesn’t have a platform to put these on, as I doubt the platform under-pinning the Z and infiniti Q-whatever-coupe platform is likely not easily both re-engineered to be even smaller, and also less expensive than it already is.
So I can see why they aren’t eager to fight tooth and nail to pay a bunch of R&D money, a bunch of tooling costs, and then a bunch of federalization costs, only to go after a few buyers who want a somewhat boxy alternative to the slow-selling Toyota/Subaru triplets.
What I do hope, though, is that the positive feedback about the nice design details, and the fact that the Idx isn’t guano-crazy in it’s design like some other Nissans are...
That this will inform the next Z-car’s design, and perhaps also spawn a different coupe.
Nissan should DITCH Altima coupe. Place a new coupe between Sentra and Altima, with Sentra’s size, and up-option available with Altima’s features and some of the design traits, as well as perhaps a bit of Nissan Sway Concepts’ tapered lines... and IDx’s BRE inspired sport attitude. Make it a 3-door fastback hatch, like the old S12 and S13 Silvias.
With Juke’s 2.0T engine, an automated clutch gearbox, and AWD, (maybe not Ford Focus RS levels, but a hint of that...) it may not be RWD like the Z or FT-86 triplets, but it could still be good... and it would be on an existing, shared-development platform.
AMC/Renauledge
> BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
05/22/2015 at 18:17 |
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ALL of these are reasons I agree with. And once the turbo-4 base Camaro on its 6th Gen diet comes out for about the same money as a Toyobaru, there won’t be any real reason to buy them anymore, except brand image.
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AMC/Renauledge
> BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
05/22/2015 at 18:18 |
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The Altima Coupe died after the 2014 model year.
EDIT: No it didn’t. They’re still selling the old thing! Not too many, I imagine. Nissan is making SO MANY CARS that time forgot: Altima Coupe, Frontier, XTerra, Armada, Rogue Select, and the old Titan.
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BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast.
> AMC/Renauledge
05/22/2015 at 18:22 |
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http://www.nissanusa.com/cars/altima-co…
Wow. Then Nissan’s website SUCKS. I googled just to double check the lineup before I made that comment.
They still have the 2013 Nissan Altima coupe listed. I hadn’t noticed that it said 2013.