Nissan engine/car lineup

[bullitt]

Since we don't really have a section for anything non-Integra Just figured I'd post this here. Been something I've been tossing around in my mind lately.


So, I've been thinking about Nissan's engine and car lineup lately and been really wondering why they don't seem to be trying to really compete in some markets at all. Much of the ideas below, other than development of some LSD/suspension parts makes use of a LOT of off the shelf stuff they have from other cars already.

Here are some examples. I'm not even a huge Nissan fan, they just stick out as the brand that is most often not taking advantage of the obvious stuff they could mix/match.

A Versa NISMO with the Sentra 2.0 or the 1.6T with LSD and some suspension tweaks - They would really have the tiny and fun car market to themselves now that the Fiesta ST is gone.

A Sentra NISMO with suspension tweaks, and either the Altima 2.5 or the 2.0T, with LSD - Really lack of LSD and power bump is why the last NISMO failed. It just didn't go far enough to make it not just a Sentra turbo with suspension bits.

Altima with 2.0T AND the AWD option. - Personally, as I've never had a problem with an Altima in the past, even the CVT, having the 2.0T and AWD would put it in sales competition with the WRX. A small tune and suspension upgrades could be a NISMO version.

Put the 3.7L into the Maxima or move to the base VR30DDTT engine that Infiniti uses. A NISMO version of the VR30 could bump the tune a bit. A NISMO version of the 3.7 could just be the same changes the outgoing 370Z NISMO got. They like to claim the Maxima is a 4 Door Sports car, why not give it the base engine of what's going in their actual Sports car?

The most unrealistic possibility:
A return of a 240/200SX the Altima platform supports AWD. This could be used for an AWD or potentially RWD coupe with the 2.0T to rival the BRZ/86. It would be a bit bigger and heavier, but it would also pack more power. It would slot itself as a cheaper alternative to the 2.0 Supra, and a more powerful/AWD alternative to the BRZ/86. Its closest direct competition would be the 2.3T Mustang. If AWD they could potentially market it as the GT-R for people that can't afford 100K+

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[RobbJK]

I also feel that Nissan... considering not only their own assets but as well as those that their Renault partnership affords them, doesn't do enough... their cars and crossovers largely are just... ok... nothing more nothing less. They don't have the best styling... but it's not bad... their cars aren't top of the class in power or handling... but they're not the worst. For a company that is completely and totally capable of great things, as evidence of some of their past products, and given the large portfolio of engines, parts, platforms that they have direct access to, they seem perfectly content to be middle of the pack OK with all their offerings. I will say overall their interiors are pretty nice looking, but that's about the only thing I'd really consider a big plus for them.

I feel like when I was growing up in the 90s and early 2000s when I started to drive Nissan existed almost in the same category as Mazda.... they built exclusively sport leaning vehicles. They were a tad more expensive compared to other mainstream market automakers but the tradeoff was more performance... but maybe that was just an illusion in their marketing.

The sentra specifically took a sharp downturn around 2005-2006 when they gave it the toaster on wheels redesign and their god awful first generation CVT... and they finally have made the new Sentra something desirable looking. But it lacks the performance for me to ever consider one. And they seem to rest any of their street cred on the Z and GTR which are not widely attainable for most people, and offer a very restricted access to anything performance oriented from the brand.

 

[bullitt]

It's very much like after the Sentra SE-R SpecV Nissan just kind of rested on what was in the pipeline (350Z and future GT-R projects) and did NOTHING after that. NISMO was basically just a name that floated around other than some Z/GT-R work and even then focused mostly on the GT-R.

If you look at a NISMO catalogue they make stuff for EVERY Nissan car, even their vans and mini vans, but almost all of it is sticker kits, lip kits, mufflers, rebranded intakes, and RAYS wheels. If you look at the stuff for 90's car though they have steering wheels, engine rebuild kits, gaskets, intake manifolds, oil filters, oil, intakes, catbacks, shifters, it's clear they stopped caring about any cars really after the R32/33/34 and 240/200SX ended.

A perfect example is that the Juke NISMO RS has a nice 215hp 1.6T they could have used in the Sentra NISMO but instead all they managed to do was take a regular Sentra turbo, add a lip kit, stickers and some struts/springs/bars. Not only did it lack an LSD what every Sentra SE-R since the mid 90's had, but it was also lacking 17hp, and the LSD vs the Civic Si. So not only was it slower but it didn't handle as well. Making the package pointless. It oddly felt like NISMO decided to try to put effort into the Juke NISMO, for some reason decided they could do better and also made the RS, then just decided to give up again with the Sentra.

There are also some tests where a base 350/370Z end up faster than the NISMO version that cost THOUSANDS more.

 

[Steve182022]

Since we don't really have a section for anything non-Integra Just figured I'd post this here. Been something I've been tossing around in my mind lately.


So, I've been thinking about Nissan's engine and car lineup lately and been really wondering why they don't seem to be trying to really compete in some markets at all. Much of the ideas below, other than development of some LSD/suspension parts makes use of a LOT of off the shelf stuff they have from other cars already.

Here are some examples. I'm not even a huge Nissan fan, they just stick out as the brand that is most often not taking advantage of the obvious stuff they could mix/match.

A Versa NISMO with the Sentra 2.0 or the 1.6T with LSD and some suspension tweaks - They would really have the tiny and fun car market to themselves now that the Fiesta ST is gone.

A Sentra NISMO with suspension tweaks, and either the Altima 2.5 or the 2.0T, with LSD - Really lack of LSD and power bump is why the last NISMO failed. It just didn't go far enough to make it not just a Sentra turbo with suspension bits.

Altima with 2.0T AND the AWD option. - Personally, as I've never had a problem with an Altima in the past, even the CVT, having the 2.0T and AWD would put it in sales competition with the WRX. A small tune and suspension upgrades could be a NISMO version.

Put the 3.7L into the Maxima or move to the base VR30DDTT engine that Infiniti uses. A NISMO version of the VR30 could bump the tune a bit. A NISMO version of the 3.7 could just be the same changes the outgoing 370Z NISMO got. They like to claim the Maxima is a 4 Door Sports car, why not give it the base engine of what's going in their actual Sports car?

The most unrealistic possibility:
A return of a 240/200SX the Altima platform supports AWD. This could be used for an AWD or potentially RWD coupe with the 2.0T to rival the BRZ/86. It would be a bit bigger and heavier, but it would also pack more power. It would slot itself as a cheaper alternative to the 2.0 Supra, and a more powerful/AWD alternative to the BRZ/86. Its closest direct competition would be the 2.3T Mustang. If AWD they could potentially market it as the GT-R for people that can't afford 100K+

Brilliant. Versa and Sentra already have great style. And manual transmissions.

A few suspension tweaks and a few more HP and they could grab entry level buyers that will be buying a Z in future. And the Versa is well under $20k.

If only Honda would import the Made in Mexico "City" sedan and offer a similar package. They have completely abandoned the under $20k market.

 

[bullitt]

Brilliant. Versa and Sentra already have great style. And manual transmissions.

A few suspension tweaks and a few more HP and they could grab entry level buyers that will be buying a Z in future. And the Versa is well under $20k.

If only Honda would import the Made in Mexico "City" sedan and offer a similar package. They have completely abandoned the under $20k market.

I had been hoping for a Fit Si. one of those with the base 1.5T or even the 160HP 2.0 would have been a VERY fun car.

 

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[E-Rod]

It's the same situation with Mitsubishi. There's lots of cars they could bring back or modernize with a 4-cyl turbo setup. It's a bit of a head-scratcher how they could have such history with the 3000GT and Evo series cars, and now...you can't even get a standard Eclipse (no, the bastardized Cross does not count).

Is their 4G (Sirius) engine design really that bad for modern day? I remember wanting an Eclipse when I was in high school, my dad turned it down because "it doesn't have ABS", and a few car friends said they were unreliable so that was that.

I can't imagine they couldn't spruce up the 4B from the Evo X days and put that into a fun little car.

As for Nissan, I think they've shifted most of that "fun stuff" to the Infiniti brand for years now. The SE-R and Spec-V days are over. The new Z is... well okay I guess but you're starting at $43k and going up to $66k for the Nismo Z (auto). It seems the better buy are the G37 or Q50 Red Sport editions. With some basic mods like downpipe + tune you can get a LOT of power out of them and still get AWD if you want it.

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