GT-R's U.S. Nameplate Announced

[DARKEST_HOUR]

"Since the unveiling of the GT-R PROTO at last October's Tokyo Motor Show, Nissan has continued development of the legendary GT-R sports coupe. And while details about the next generation GT-R have been few, one important piece of information was made public today.

Mr. Carlos Ghosn, President and CEO of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., kicked-off the New York International Auto Show with the exciting revelation that the GT-R will be sold in the U.S. as the Nissan GT-R.

As part of his keynote address at the International Motor Press Association Breakfast, Mr. Ghosn said that when he unveiled the GT-R PROTO, Nissan had not yet decided whether the GT-R would be sold as a Nissan or an Infiniti in the United States.

Mr. Ghosn also expressed enthusiasm that the heart-pounding GT-R will build on drivers' passion for the Nissan brand."

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

 

[95GTIVR6]

👍

Good decision.

 

[BMWteamPTG]

awesome...god for the nissan fans

 

[YSSMAN]

Probably a good idea that it is sold as a Nissan, and not as an Infiniti... It just wouldnt fit the brand's image. Its going to be kinda weird not having the 350Z on top...

 

[niky]

Finally, the debate is over. Good choice for Ghosn. 👍

 

[JCE]

Probably a good idea that it is sold as a Nissan, and not as an Infiniti... It just wouldnt fit the brand's image. Its going to be kinda weird not having the 350Z on top...

Yea, the Z will be the "budget" sports car for the Nissan brand.

 

[Sniffs]

just in time for the nameplate's big 5-0 i hope. i seem to remember reading at nissan's homesite that the Skyline name was created in 57, and GT-R is tied to it.

Talking of Goshen...thre's also a rumor that he's hauling RENAULT back over here to the states, again...around '10

 

[Jay]

I'm glad they will name it Nissan.

just in time for the nameplate's big 5-0 i hope. i seem to remember reading at nissan's homesite that the Skyline name was created in 57, and GT-R is tied to it.

1955 was the first Prince Skyline (ALSIS-1)

Plus this GTR is seperating its self from the Skyline hence Nissan GTR not Nissan Skyline GTR.

 

[Sniffs]

glad I bought the prince tuned one in GT2, then.

nissan's anniversary for it might be next year. either way...happy BIG 5-0 to Skyline and GT-R!

 

[Jay]

glad I bought the prince tuned one in GT2, then.

nissan's anniversary for it might be next year. either way...happy BIG 5-0 to Skyline and GT-R!

No Skyline was first made in 1955 just like I said, so 2005 was the Skylines 50th.

Prince tuned? Prince didn't tune them, Prince made them, even in 1955 (ALSIS-1) and 1957 (ALSIS-2) models, Skylines wern't badged as Nissan's untill 1967.

 

[Onikaze]

Ideally, Nissan makes the Urge or something based off it, Toyota and Honda crap themselves when they see this (new?) huge market take off all over again (affordable, lightweight, RWD cars) and enter back into it.

Then enthusiasts can stop pretending FWD cars aren't absolutely ass.

Good on the choice too, it should be a Nissan, Infiniti's should be loaded with leather and make my girlfriend want to drive them.

 

[SRV2LOW4ME]

Good move for Nissan in my opinion. Infiniti screams "hey dentists, drive me to work and park me in front of the office for everyone to see", which I don't really see fitting for the GT-R. With the GT-R as the top model for Nissan now, I wonder if 350Z sales will drop at all with the introduction of a better model?

 

[Wolfe]

Ideally, Nissan makes the Urge or something based off it, Toyota and Honda crap themselves when they see this (new?) huge market take off all over again (affordable, lightweight, RWD cars) and enter back into it.

Then enthusiasts can stop pretending FWD cars aren't absolutely ass.

👍 👍

Yea, the Z will be the "budget" sports car for the Nissan brand.

Well, the Z was originally a budget sports car -- the poor (or smart, depending on how you look at it) man's Porsche 911.

 

[95GTIVR6]

Good move for Nissan in my opinion. Infiniti screams "hey dentists, drive me to work and park me in front of the office for everyone to see", which I don't really see fitting for the GT-R. With the GT-R as the top model for Nissan now, I wonder if 350Z sales will drop at all with the introduction of a better model?

I dont think the sales will suffer at all. If anything, I think the introduction of the GT-R will increase sales of the 350Z because of the association of the Nissan nameplate with such a high profile vehicle.

Besides, when people go to dealerships to look at the new GT-R, many are bound to be distraught by the sticker price and most likely going to go for the "budget" vehicle instead.

I personally think its a scheme to increase their overall sales of all Nissans cars in the US but, HEY, whatever works.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well, baising my inference on facts:

1) The Nissan GTR will be using an all new variation of the FM platform, as well as an updated VQ-series V6 and presumeably a transmission as well
2) The Infiniti G35 (read Skyline here) will also be riding on a new variation of the FM platform as well as using the updated mechanicals

Thus, it is my hypothesis that the Nissan 350 (Fairlady) Z will also be recieving an update for 2007, that of which will probably debut at the Tokyo show a little later this year. I would expect the styling to recieve a minior tweak, similar to how the G35 was changed, all riding and using the same bits and pieces that will underpin the new GTR and G35.

With that, I presume the performance of the 350Z should increase, marginally (it is still a VERY heavy car), but of course be nowhere near as good as that of the GTR. The 350Z will still be regulated to playing games with the Honda S2000, BMW Z4, Porsche Boxster, etc. while it's big sister, the GTR, will probably attempt to knock gloves with the Corvette, Cayman, Elise, etc.

Both cars are still going to sell well. My friends at the local Nissan dealership are excited to finially get the GTR, but they are still almost a year away from anything hitting the showroom floor. The 350Z is still selling exceptionally well for them, as the few models that they do get in a month are usually gone by the next.

 

[95GTIVR6]

I'll second that ^

The new Altima is very 350 based IMO But I could deffinatley see some design changes in the upcoming model....its such a beautiful car though, I hope they keep to the roots.

 

[YSSMAN]

?Huh?

The Altima is based on the FWD D-Platform, which will underpin the new Maxima and Murano.

The FM cars include the GTR, 350Z, G35, and Infiniti M and FX classes. I would also not put it past Infiniti to have the new Q45 based on an enlarged version of the FM platform as well.

 

[Jay]

Yeah they announced a while ago that the GTR will share the updated FM platform with the upcoming V36 Skyline, I didn't know of any 350Z updates but I assumed the would.

 

[JCE]

I don't get it, everyone keeps saying the 350Z is "very heavy"...it's only 3400lbs for christ sakes. 3400lbs isn't that heavy you want heavy buy a CL65 AMG that weights an unbelievable 4750lbs according to these people: http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/m_cl65amg.asp. My '05 ZX5 Focus weights 3415lbs for contrast.

 

[niky]

I don't get it, everyone keeps saying the 350Z is "very heavy"...it's only 3400lbs for christ sakes. 3400lbs isn't that heavy you want heavy buy a CL65 AMG that weights an unbelievable 4750lbs according to these people: http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/m_cl65amg.asp. My '05 ZX5 Focus weights 3415lbs for contrast.

First of, rsportscars.com isn't a very good place to pull numbers off of... but then, the numbers are almost right... it's 4654 for the CL65, and 2600 kg for the Focus (these are all "dry" curb weights)... if you have a 1.5 ton Focus, I think your subwoofer is too big...

Most people (including me) see the 350Z as a heavy car because if you consider its size and horsepower, it's hard to image where the weight is coming from... many current V6 sedans weight less, like the Altima SE and SE-R, which share the same engine but are roomier, seat four, and are just about as quick in the real world as the Z is (excluding corners... but then you don't buy a front wheel V6'er for corners... )

Granted, it's not a pig like the 300ZX was before it went the way of the dinosaurs, but there's not much reason for it to be so heavy.

But then, all new cars are getting porky. Compacts are now approaching midsizers in weight, and superminis are all hovering around the ton mark.

 

[RenesisEvo]

But then, all new cars are getting porky. Compacts are now approaching midsizers in weight, and superminis are all hovering around the ton mark.

Simply because of the ever tighter crash regs requiring more metal in places and more airbags. At the rate things are going, when you hit a kerb too hard you will be instantly cocooned with about 50 airbags, each coated in thick bubble wrap, so that there is no way in hell anything could hurt you. When will people accept that they will, at some point, die? So stop being boring and nanny-like and have some fun in the meantime.

</rant>

 

[YSSMAN]

...The 350Z may not be as porky as some people make it out to be, but the problem is that a lot of the car's weight isnt in the right places. The weight balance of the car is way off, not nearly as balanced as say an S2K or even the mighty Corvette.

 

[Jay]

If I remember correctly of a BMI video when they were talking to a Nissan engineer that talked about the 350Z he said the car had a 51/49 front/rear weight distribution.

 

[skylineGTR_guy]

odd nissan usa has a page up already: http://www.nissanusa.com/09gt-r/

 

[Jay]

Letting people know to get their wallets ready.