Nissan's Future: Good Or Bad?

[MINES_DATSUN]

all those drifters will be angry at nissan.

[funkymonkey]

as if, drifters don't care much for having the newest car, they only care about what car would perform best in their driving style (which is why you don't see many soarers doing the D1 laps).

[Rezz]

I'd hate to see Nissan become "Euro-ised" and lose the character their cars are known for, sportiness, speed and handling. Just a matter of time to see whether they turn old favourites like the skyline or whatever they're calling it now into a sports wannabe luxury tourer and target that market...

But the Z33 Fairlady Z (350Z) and and the V35 Skyline have sportiness, speed and handling, don't they?

I think alot of people (in Aust/NZ at least) pass of the new (Japanese market) cars from Nissan without even seeing them in the flesh. You can only draw so much from a photograph.

I disliked the V35 when it first came out, I couldn't make any connection between it, and the R34 it replaced. That was until I thoroghly inspected the V35 and had a ride in one. I think the V35 is a natural progression of the R34... it's hasn't gone soft or whatever... trust me!

Add to that the March, Primera, Cima etc (which are all winners in my book), and you'll come to the conclusion that Nissan, although evolving, is far from declining as an exciting car maker.

[Villainous_J]

You make a good point Rezz, I admit I haven't seen them in the flesh. I concede some (including myself) of having a knee-jerk reaction to the changes, but I'll be the first to admit it'll be an exciting change at the end. Even if things go south, they'll learn from their mistakes and come back even better than before, I just worry about the short term future.

Edit: (after a few mins hard thinking (yeah it hurt)): Who knows, maybe Renault will bring some F1 technology to Nissan, like BMW and the M3.

[funkymonkey]

there's no doubt that Nissan CAN produce a sports car, and do a really good job at it (I mean the 90's were filled with nissans sports S, R and Z cars).

I think its more of a debate over styling and engine choice than overall car performance. And knowing the Skyline enthusiasts in Japan, I doubt Nissan would realease a GTR that didn't live up to its heritage (as was seen with the R33, backlash was felt by nissan, hence the reversion to the aggressive styling of the R34 and the updated front for the S2).

Think what most people object to is, if its not styled like a skyline (jap style not euro style) and if it dosen't have an RB engine, does it deserve to be called a skyline? Same question was asked when the skyline went from the DR30 to the R31 styling and engine change... and look what that created... the R32 GTR, revolutionising the Skyline name on the whole.