Nissan hints to a new RWD sportscar?

homeforsummer
The Freeflow looks better of the two, I reckon. Both inside and out. The Nismo is a bit too cartoonish. Would look better without the BRE graphics and weird bolted-style arches.

It was also better before Nissan glued its stupid corporate Nissan grille badge on there. The original concepts as they were launched in Tokyo look better without the chrome monstrosity on the front.
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Nissan-IDx-Nismo.jpg


Turtle approves turtle looking front end.
turtle_face.jpg
 
@Omnis -- I like the lights and the addition of actual bumpers, but I think the side mirrors and roof ought to remain as they are. :)
 
IDx sports car may not happen
Despite reports it is on the way soon, a small Nissan sports car remains an uncertainty, a top company official says.

Pierre Loing, vice president-product planning for Nissan Americas, says a small, rear-wheel-drive sports car, affordable enough to compete with the under-$30,000 Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S, is a conundrum for the automaker, whose current RWD platforms underpin much more expensive models.

“It’s not easy to do, (and) if you do something like this and you manage to do a vehicle at (a low) price, what else would you do on this platform? Because frankly to do a platform for 50,000 or 60,000 (units) a year – it’s not worth it,” Loing tells WardsAuto here during a recent Nissan full-line media event.
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Wards Auto
 
Boo. And everyone at my work keeps asking me why I bought my GTi over a Nissan. Nissan has ZERO cars around $20k that are even remotely exciting. I had plans to keep the GTi until the IDx came out, but I guess that won't be happening.
 
R1600Turbo
Boo. And everyone at my work keeps asking me why I bought my GTi over a Nissan. Nissan has ZERO cars around $20k that are even remotely exciting. I had plans to keep the GTi until the IDx came out, but I guess that won't be happening.
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I was holding off on another car purchase in hope the idX would be out in 2015/2016.
I think it's midlife crisis miata time for this old fart.
(why has no one ever mentioned that it's cheaper to insure an mx5 than a civic?)
 
Here's an idea: With all this talk about Nissan needing a small, rear-drive platform to put the new IDx into production, why don't they dig into partnerships that they already have?

So, you want to build a small rear-wheel-drive car. Well, everyone does now that Toyota/Subaru pulled it off last year with the FR-S and BRZ, and with it selling reasonably well, its a rush to get into the market. So, low and behold, Nissan throws out the IDx last year at the Los Angeles and Tokyo Auto Shows, and they've been trotting it around for months asking us to tell them to build it. Because they want to. Because Toyota bad, Nissan good.

But then you get into problems with economies of scale, development costs, production numbers, and any kind of ROI, GDP, OPP, OCP, TGRI, MGM, and any other acronym that means something but you probably forgot what we were talking about. Yes, it costs a lot to design a new car. Yes, it costs a lot to release a car that you know won't sell in particularly high numbers. But, when you're a corporation as large as Nissan, you've got some money to do that, right? Well, yes and no.

Let's be honest. The car market is as cutthroat as ever, and with every new product launch, you need it to be at least a minor hit in order to make money off of it. That's why we see so many new products coming out with the same engines, transmissions, switchgear, screws, nuts and bolts as every other model on the shelves. Larger size, but same formula. Money, money, money. So, why doesn't Nissan reach out to someone who has the same problem?

We're left with a simple equation.

IDx = Code

MubCM7z


I mean, why not? Nissan wants to do a small, lightweight, rear-drive coupe just the same that GM does. Both of them have competent engineers and designers, and each have their own distinct advantages that they could bring to the table. Save on costs, save on price, and I'm sure each would probably end up being radically different adventures by the time they hit the streets. Small displacement turbo Nissan? Big cubes on a regular I4 from the Chevrolet? It'd all depend on how nice they would want to be to one another, or, probably depending on what kind of gearbox you want. As horrible as it may sound, Nissan knows how to do a damn-good CVT, and a part of me is really curious to know how it'd perform in a small sports coupe.

Excuse me while I dress appropriately for automotive crucifiction...

Only problem is that Nissan just signed a partnership with Mercedes for future development of models and construction of the CLA down in Mexico. Would that mean that they'd never be able to work for GM? I'm not entirely sure. But, how hard would it be to steal the bits and pieces that are going underneath the new C-Class or the SLK to do something with? Would that be a better decision from the outset than a chassis that's already (presumably) ready to go?

Either way, I'd like to see both happen. And I'm happy to get chocolate in my peanut butter if that's what has to happen.
 
I thought that would happen, even the FRS sales are getting a bit meh. It'll be a big investment on their behalf, maybe go the Toyota way and get another manufacturer to help you.
 
I'm not totally bummed over it losing the retro styling (though I still think the IDx Freeflow is one of the best-looking concepts in a long time) provided whatever does emerge still looks good.

What I did like about the IDx though was that at its heart it was quite a simple design. Three-box, square edges, good proportions. My concern is that they overcomplicate it with a corporate face and narrow windows and shove it full of equipment that bumps up the price.
 
I think instead of telling people it'll lose the retro styling, they should have just announced that they couldn't make the car and instead would give us something that was easier to produce but would still be exciting. (which is kind of what they are doing) Which we all know Nissan needs right now. I constantly get asked at work why I bought my GTi over a Nissan, and the explanation every time is that Nissan doesn't make anything in my price range right now that's even remotely exciting. There's the Pulsar Nismo coming.....in Europe. :indiff:
 
homeforsummer
What I did like about the IDx though was that at its heart it was quite a simple design. Three-box, square edges, good proportions. My concern is that they overcomplicate it with a corporate face and narrow windows and shove it full of equipment that bumps up the price.
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I just want the Nissan Versa S of performance, rear-drive coupes. Literally nothing inside, pennies on the dollar.
 
R1600Turbo
Not sure if you guys have seen the "Nismo Mashups" that Nissan posts on their facebook page, some of them come out pretty horrible (like a Juke mixed with an Xterra, or a GT-R mixed with a Titan) but this 370Z/Versa Note mixup is actually pretty awesome. Although maybe a bit over the top on the aero...

1072389_909343995747087_3770607506815147565_o.jpg


10647131_909343989080421_928134864415331095_n.jpg
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I'd buy that so quickly I'd break the sound barrier.
 
I'd imagine a rwd car like the Rondo or that mashup would sell like hotcakes if it was cheap and hauled ass.

Remember this thing?

Picture1.jpg
 
IDx concepts may be come the next gen. Z

Motor Authority
Could a completely new production model based on the well-received IDx Freeflow and IDx NISMO concepts be the same model that's also a fully reengineered next-generation Nissan Z and successor to the current 370Z?

They very well could be merged into one, conceded design chief and senior vice president Shiro Nakamura, in an interview with Motor Authority at the Paris Auto Show this past week. According to Nakamura, Nissan wants to continue the lineage of the Z, but it only has room for two sports cars in the lineup. And the flagship GT-R isn't budging.
.....................
Nakamura added that the automaker needs to think about how it can make the Z more affordable and approachable for the customer. And when asked about the success of the Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S / Toyota FT86 trio, Nakamura acknowledged that it's generated a lot of enthusiasm, and “we have to follow it.”

No doubt, the IDx concepts have generated a buzz. Harking back to models like the original 1960s and '70s Datsun (Nissan) 510, and lean coupes like the classic BMW 2002, the IDx simultaneously pays homage to company heritage while wooing a new generation of drivers.

“The Z is a simple sports car; it has nearly 50 years' history,” said Nakamura, hinting that the challenge lies in how you combine the spirit of Nissan's two models. Adding to the progress of the Z as a contemporary sports car, Nakamura pointed to the IDx concepts as not so futuristic, yet very fresh.

“How we can use that kind of approach to get the next-generation Z, that can be our homework,” he said, adding that the project to synergize such a new affordable sports car will take several years and cannot be done quickly.

“And that's two directions,” summed Nakamura. “We want to keep a very high end super performance sports car; and Z or IDx—whichever—a more affordable, approachable sports car."
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Motor Autority
 
Why not both?

Honestly. Make the IDx a four-cylinder sedan and the Z a six-cylinder coupe based on the same chassis. Use the same wheels/tires, hell, even use the same interior bits. Nobody cares. And, I'd be willing to bet they'd sell a bunch more of the IDx models than the Zs... Because practicality, yo.

Just, uh, someone remember to cancel the Sentra, alright?
 
YSSMAN
Just, uh, someone remember to cancel the Sentra, alright?
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No need, Xterra and Quest are finished after '15. Sentra sales have been good lately, surprisingly. There's plenty of room in the lineup, and saying you only have room for 2 sports cars (one of which is out of range for normal people) is down right stupid. The problem with Nissan right now is that they are so focused on releasing the new Titan, they hardly show interest in anything else. Even the new Frontier was put on hold so they could focus 100% to the Titan.
 
Nissan leveraging that much on the Titan? A truck that didn't mean all that much even when it was comparatively good against the other pickups? Seems a bit odd, eh?
 
YSSMAN
Nissan leveraging that much on the Titan? A truck that didn't mean all that much even when it was comparatively good against the other pickups? Seems a bit odd, eh?
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They are expecting a lot from it, especially with the Cummins. It's due to be unveiled at Detroit. The new Maxima is ahead of it in development but the truck will be revealed first.
 

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