Lets bitch about 'Euro-styled' Jap cars

[Rezz]

Guys, guys... theres a whole "quality improvement" era happening in Japan now (has done for the last 4 - 5 years) and the european style cars being produced in Japan at the moment are what the Japanese think is "logical progression". European styling = quality. All Japanese car makers were somewhat caught up in over-spending and bad business decision making during the Bubble economy years, and what we're seeing now is the end result: cars that are build to world standards, that cost less (parts sharing across the entire range) and cheaper... unfortunately for us, that means that Japanese styling has immitated European styling to an extent, as a means of showing the *Japanese Public* (forget about overseas markets for a moment) that the cars being produced now are a step away from old, tired, bubble economy-type cars.

No, the 350Z, Skyline, Accord Euro, Mark II etc are very much styled along European lines to separate the "new era" of Japanese cars from the old. This way the Japanese car makers want the public in Japan see "immitation" as a form of respect for a superior product, while also... and this is the most important part... protecting their local industry!!! Why buy that C-Class Mercedes when you can buy a Toyota Brevis that looks almost exactly the same?

[predator]

kill kill..

I think euro design franky sucks.. especially like the new beamers, peugeots, fiats, vauxhalls, euro fords... :throwup:

pentae: looks like u have copped a hiding for throwing 350z in that bucket and rightly so What european car does the 350z look like??

So many people think, oh, skylines are the king. They drive alright, but not the best either. Anyone ever driven a 350z in stock form? let alone with new susp setup? it'd kill a skyline anyday in the bendies. And need i remind you, that it is also capable of putting out more power too with the extra 1L displacement. All in all, it's a better car. Much more modern, looks modern, drives modern.

:bs!: maybe your skyline is a badly setup piece of crap.. but you can't compare it to others out there. Every major comparison I have read says that the 350z is quite nice at handling, but doesn't set the world on fire. Despite the fact that most claim the performance is lacking with the aide of 3rd party turbo or supercharger solutions. If Nissan had built the 350z to be a turbo performance car rather than just look sporty, then things might be different.

[ChaserV]

Rx8 is dammmmmn fugly......

[pentae]

pentae: looks like u have copped a hiding for throwing 350z in that bucket  

Its cool, only idiots who didnt actually understand the point flamed me

What european car does the 350z look like??

Why the Audi TT of course.

Rezz: Thanks for popping in and clarifying a few things

[seraphyn_r33]

its the latest trend now that every new car that comes out is "euro styled" its the in thing in the car industry at the moment. i for one dislike how all the jap brands are adopting european looks, but hey there aint much we can do to stop it. You either love it or hate it. some of the cars that come out look pretty good though, such as the new liberty b4, i really like the look of that, the mazda 6, honda accord, the new holden vectra also looks ok in my opinion. then there are the cars that look fairly ugly, such as the rx8, mazda 3 and the v35. (in my opinion anyways)

i have to disagree with you 97r33gtst, the skyline does look sporty. although the r33 is not the most aggresive looking car, the r32 and r34 definitely look the goods in my opinion in terms of sportiness and aggressiveness. ive never driven a 350z, so i cant comment on how they drive (although most likely phenomenal) but thats not the subject of the thread. its wat everyones opinions are on the euro style trend. i actually dont mind the look of the 350z, but i can see why people dislike it.

In other words, im not a fan of the saturation that is euro styling, it should be kept to europe. every car these days is beginning to look the same, with a lot of new cars ive seen having very very similar curves and shapes. lets just hope that the trend dies off relatively soon

[racsov500]

i know there "euro" (after all thats what there called) but i rekon the new honda accord euro and oddeseys look sweeeeeet.

just think black, slammed, 21" chrome deep dishers. VIP. maybe even rice.

but the "crazy" new styling of the 350 is just world progress. if we didnt get new modern styling, car look trends would never change. we would just get these dull sedans we had 5 years ago (but then they were moden and crazy!)

crazy stylings like on these euro cars are just helping world trend progress.

think about it.

[LTSJayce]

My two cents worth:I've driven both types of Nissan(a Track Spec 350Z ,R33 GTR,R32 GTR and a few GTs-T's...and a SR20 Pulsar,if it matters!)and they're both damned nice.Depends on "what blows your skirt up".The final verdict for me?I'm the VERY happy owner of Nissans R32 GT-R V Spec....

[ChaserV]

I didn't like the v35.... Untill i saw the top secret one I think in, HPI?

Looks so hot, they got rid of the front grill slammed it and some TE37's if i remember correctly..

Its orgasmic!

[Laurence]

Today has been my post pictures day

[predator]

yeah.. but the audi looks an awkward korean experiment.. the 350z actually has some smoothness about it.

[racsov500]

but you have to admit- there is 350z in the new maxima. even a bit of v35 350gt.

[racsov500]

thata a good point, gojira. the resemblelence is uncanny. or a jim.

[INASNT]

I driven both 350Z and Rx8. Rx8 is alot better i thought but needs a nice turbo strapped to the side

[Mitch_Is_Da_Man]

The Good thing about japanese car makers going into a euro style may help the car brands such as BMW, Audi, Mercedes pull their finger out,

observe BMW roadster vs Nissan 350z Roadster:

Inline-6 V6

172.3 kw / 231 bhp @ 5900 rpm 208.8 kw / 280 bhp @ 6500 rpm

300 nm / 221.3 ft lbs @ 3500 rpm 352.51 nm / 260.0 ft lbs @ 4500 rpm

77.54 bhp per litre 80.05 bhp per litre

Point proven.

[INASNT]

what points proven??

[Terreto]

Of course they're going to copy European designs.

I mean what is Japanese styling?

Does such a thing even exist?

Most Japanese car makers have no real styling philosophy which is why so many japanese cars look like toasters or rip offs of European designs (usually because the designs on those more interesting japanese cars come from European or American design divisions anyway).

Could you imagine Mercedes or BMW copying Nissan or Toyota's styling!? Not gonna happen.

[krawler]

Yes, you're right ... The Supra _IS_ the toughest looking car ever made.

Oh wait noone said that. Well dammit, it needed saying.

Also I reckon the 350Z looks orright from the side, but that arse just makes me wanna poke it with a stick. A really large, long stick. Possibly a barge pole of some sort.

BMW is turning ugly too I reckon. The old M3/M5 looked about 925% (may be 1% margin of error due to rounding) better than the new ones. Mercedes has never made a good looking car. Neither has saab. Peugots only good looker is the rally 206 Very tough. Whee, I'm rambling. Why couldnt nissan follow the styling rules from 32 -> 33 -> 34 -> .... ? The 32 was nice. I think the 33 looks better. The 34 definately takes the cake though. Then the 350Z comes along and its a piece of arse. Shame nissan. Hmm I wonder what the next era of supra would look like? Will that be arse too?

[predator]

its all personal taste.. it varies..

to me the Supra doesn't look like anything hot either with its oversized plastic bug lights so nur

the concepts of the "next supra" looked quite good though from what I saw somewhere.

[krzysiu]

The skyline atleast has its own shape. All the shapes of the 350Z and G35 Skyline all look the damn same. From the front even the damn maxima looks the same as a 350Z. Looks like nissan is just running out of ideas.

[Terreto]

Supra used to look good, but there are so many of them around now and the design has started to date a lot, at the end of the day a 93 Supra is a good 12 years old already. It looks alrite from the back still, but the front with the big droppy early 90's style lights has aged, specailly when they get all dirty, which most of them are.

Does the skyline have it's own shape? I don't think it necessarily does, the skyline,and 200sx look kinda similar, r33, s14, before I new about them they were all much the same muchness to me looks wise, which is how I imagine they look to the general populace.

Something like the TT is a distinct design (even if it's a bit rolly polly) Next gen Audi TT sure should look meaner though: