While I would love to see a TT version of the 370z, the best we will probably see is a hybrid model. Truth be told, I honestly feel this is the best route to take and in the best interest of both Nissan as a brand and for the 370z as a car. My reasoning is this.
The 370z is listed at 332hp out of a N/A 3.7L engine and gets between 19 and 26 mpg(if memory serves). Pricing is $30k - $40k. RWD platform. The GTR (Nissan's flagship vehicle) is listed at 480hp out of a TT 3.8L engine and gets between 18 and 21 mpg. Pricing is in the $80k neighborhood and I'm leaving out the V-spec model (is there a NISMO model?). AWD platform. Nothing new here, we have all known this for a long time.
So on one hand you have Nissan's more affordable sports car, the 370z, and on the other hand you have Nissan's less affordable sports car, the GTR. This is where the problem starts because both cars are pure-bred sports cars (GTR less so imo, but I'm not arguing over a definition
), so they are aimed at the same general market share (those interested in sports cars).
Quick business 101 lesson, its business suicide to have 2 in-house products competing with each other for the same market share as they cut into the companies profit margins. I know most of us here understand this concept, but some do not, so there it is.
Anyway, Nissan's saving grace and why they are able to offer the market 2 pure-bred sports cars revolves around the TT engine of the GTR. Think about it. How much hp would that 3.8L engine make WITHOUT the TT's? 350hp? Maybe 370hp? I honestly couldn't tell you because I am not educated in these things, but how many people out there would buy the GTR with its $80k price tag if it only produced 370hp? How many would buy it for $70k? $60k? See what's happening? The GTR is losing its luster and appeal, all the while coming closer to the 370z in price and competing for the same customers as the 370z.
In the end, Nissan loses money this way and one car will chopped from the line-up. So!!! The solution is put a TT on the GTR, bump it to having almost 500hp, charge $80k for it while marketing the GTR as a super-car killer for half the price of a super-car and boom, the GTR and 370z are in separate market segments due to pricing while still appealing to the general "I love sports cars" market segment.
Quick tangent here and I may be wrong. This may be the partial reason for Nissan discontinuing the S family...
Anyway, back on point, this is partly why we will probably never see a TT model 370z. However, if by some miracle Nissan upgrades the GTR's powerplant to a V-8, and probably 550hp, while bringing the GTR's current V-6 into the Z line to replace the VQ engine (please, PLEASE do this Nissan), I think we could see one. On a similar note, if Nissan DID release a TT model 370z, chances are they would be capping the engine output (I am assuming they would keep the 3.7L VQ) to probably no more than 400hp and who wouldn’t be upset about that when you consider they also have a 3.8L engine pushing 480hp with a similar setup? It would just be frustrating… However, if they didn’t bump the price much (I am thinking fully loaded ending up like $45k MSRP because remember, it has to stay in the “affordable” category) it could work.
That’s enough TT talk, so I will move onto why I think the hybrid idea is the way to go.
Hybrid technology is probably going to be coming to “maturity” pretty soon and considering how obsessed the world has become with the whole “Go green” concept (and rightly so imo) it is a cash cow marketing idea to get in on the forefront. After seeing the article about a potential hybrid 370z in 2011, I think Nissan is on the right track with this one.
If they manage to successfully combine the current 370z with electric technology as they want to do, everyone wins and reaps the benefits. The responsible side of us gets to sleep easy at night knowing we got great gas mileage because of our electric motors while contributing very little to pollution and the child side of us gets to wake up happy in the morning knowing that outside we have a wonderful toy to play with that is even faster because of the electric motors.
There are some other points I could bring up supporting the idea of a hybrid z, but this is already too long for my liking so my apologies for the wall of text.
[EDIT] I failed at copying this back from Microsoft Word.
