Originally Posted by phelan

Good lord, think about it from a COST standpoint already. I tried to point that out to you before, and you don't listen. You must be an engineer or something because you get your head wrapped up in all the technological details, and forget there is still a FINANCIAL aspect of designing and manufacturing any type of hardware.

Do you honestly think that a race-ready LSD will make its way to the masses? It is a VERY SMALL percentage of people in the world who will push the car to its limit, no matter a Z or a Ferrari. To those people, yes, the LSD will make them very happy, and they will pony up for the additional parts. I'm sure you're one of those people who would love to see this, considering you live your life a quarter-mile at a time.

To the rest of the masses who use a car to go from point A to point B, why do they care that they get a race-ready LSD? How does it affect their drive down a crowded freeway to get to work? The simple answer is IT DOES NOT. Would you buy a part that you will never get full value for? I doubt it, and I think the average and sensible driver would do away with it if it can save them some money. Especially with the economy gone (and continuing to go) to Hell.

Fact of the matter is, Nissan has already performed a cost-benefit trade study on the Z, and has determined the car is good enough as-is to support the biggest market it possibly can, from the low-end 'looking for a nice new car with enough fast out of the box' all the way to the top 'i'm going to make 1000hp with this thing'. Also, one of the last great things the Z has going for it is its overall value for the money, and even now the original designer thinks it's too expensive already. You start putting all this excess technology the typical driver does not need, you unnecessarily drive the cost point of the car up, and alienate buyers who might have bought for a couple thousand cheaper, all the while cheapening the legacy of the Nissan Z.

Again, car manufacturers are looking to please the majority of buyers. You want specialized? Go get yourself a damn Ferrari already.

And before you even start spewing that I'm afraid of the Z getting upgraded - I'm sure the next-generation Z will have some new tech or whatnot. I understand that. I look forward to new technology in future cars. But the 370Z was JUST released in 2009. It is far too early to be shelving the design already, so I don't expect to see anything happening for another few years at the minimum. And even then I will not love my Z any less - it already brings a smile to my face everyday, I can't fathom why a few nuts and bolts would change that in the future.