A lot of you are decrying an "upmarket" move. But you forget, that the Z32 TT was that upmarket move 26 years ago. The Z32 was Nissan's 3rd or 4th iteration of the Z car, and it was time to make that move. The Z was always meant to be a cheaper alternative to a Corvette. But the Z32 TT met that generation Corvette in terms of price, performance, yada yada...If anything, a car maker, a movie actor, etc. stays too long in some mold, then it becomes typecast as that mold forever; I know, this is getting philosophical.
Plus remember, the Skyline R32 GT-R wasn't legal for the U.S. then, so the Z32 TT was Nissan's halo car. Now that the GT-R R35 has been here, Nissan won't put as many of their eggs into the upcoming Z-basket. It's too intensive for carmakers to do this in terms of investment, time, energy. The GT-R is the direct competitor to the Corvette now, becuase it's obvious the C7 will smoke the Z.
...However, using that logic, the Z35 could be a direct competitor to the Camaro V8. The Camaro is a "cheaper alternative" to the Corvette akin to how the Z is to the GT-R. The Camaro V8 is a high performer, at least straight line, and perhaps Nissan will try to keep abreast of the Camaro V8 both literally and figuratively....I'm sure Nissan execs are aware that 300ish HP isn't a lot these days. 400 is the new benchmark
