Quote:
Originally Posted by UNKNOWN_370
I don't think Nissan is trying to slot a RWD under the Z. That's why they're exploring other drivetrains. At best there will be a low end motor and high end motor for the Z.
Not quite. The AWD platform is in the Juke, it's cheap and very advanced... The chassis of the juke is 2800 lbs in FWD 2900 in AWD. A sport coupe would be lighter than a coupe by 250lbs at least. As long as they stay away from CVT in the sport coupe, it could work.
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In the grand scheme of things, I don't consider the Juke AWD to be very advanced, so agree to disagree there. I find the Impreza WRX AWD system to be a notch above it, and they can both be obtained for the same price point.
I would bring up the Altima Coupe as the reason why the sport coupe idea from Nissan needs to try something different (CVT-FWD I4 is the only 2013 option). That car is likely going out of production as Nissan removed the V6 option and the manual tranny altogether and has been completely mum about a redesign to line up with the 5th gen Altima Sedan. What could be fun is even the AWD CVT drivetrain built into a new Altima Coupe, but the Altima platform isn't built for it, so the likelihood of that even happening is slim to none.
As it stands, Nissan doesn't have a MT-AWD platform in production for the American market (I'm not even sure they have that anywhere else either). They would have to build it. They have at least a couple more options for MT-RWD (and even MT-FWD) that would cost them less in R&D dollars. If it costs them a lot in R&D, they won't be able to produce a competitor on their own because the vehicle would be priced too high to compete even if they built it. This is the same reason why Subaru and Toyota had to go in on it together, and they even reused many parts (the transmission is from a Lexus IS).
The reason the BRZ works is because RWD is the desired platform for a fun-to-drive sports car, and the car is relatively inexpensive. AWD is indeed great, but it is more expensive to produce and maintain, so to make a budget minded vehicle like the BRZ and make it meet it head on, it has to be RWD or it's just another car in the mix. Fun to drive usually also includes rowing through gears, and going CVT only will not be the answer, either.
The ball is in Nissan's court though. I hope they can show a bit of the "nissan of old" spirit and make something really fun.