No, I have not felt the kit. I've only seen them a few times. There aren't any dealers round me that have the Nismo on the lot.

I'm looking for new that's why I am not considering an 09.

less features than any other trim level? i dont want to turn this into a nismo vs _____ thread...but how is this so?

the nismo is essentially a base/sport + nismo goodies. the only things it doesnt have versus the only other trim (ie..touring) would be leather, navi option, and bose stereo.

I liked the touring/sport better than the Nismo, so I bought it. The Nismo has not fared so well in the car magazines. The Nismo look is special but you can buy an amuse kit or it's equivalent.

I read this twice and said wtf each time.

I was glad to get the explanation a few posts down.

Subaru has the same policy on test driving WRX's and STI's. Just good business when you have kids wrecking cars on test drives all the time.

My heads hurts from trying to read that.

I agree and disagree to that. I'm sure a lot of kids who want to come test drive a STi/Evo but it probably turns away many buyers at the same time like in my case. Even if a kid wrecks the car they will get their money for it in some way. I could understand if it was a GTR or something $90K+ but not for a turbo grocery getter.

I mean, I drove my WRX before I bought it. If you're mature and seem responsible, you can usually talk them into it. Most dealers also keep a lightly used vehicle around to test drive, as well.

There is also the risk of physical harm to the sales person, not to mention the damage that comes with wailing on a brand new car.


Subaru currently has a 6- 12 week wait on their cars with the current policy, so I don't think they are concerned with anyone being turned away...


Interestingly, Nissan is very generous with test driving their GTR's. They forced me to test drive one before I bought my Z.

I don't think the touring has that much nicer an interior than the NISMO. I mean the main difference is what leather seats and the bose radio? The look is identical to a touring but now with some red stitching. If you're talking aftermarket body kit like amuse that'll cost close to $4k painted and installed, which is more than a nice aftermarket sound system with navi. Any aftermarket system is going to be better than the bose system. So not sure why you would want to replicate that anyway.

It really depends on what the future plans of the OP are and whether he really cares about a slightly nicer interior. The NISMO is essentially a base/sport but with some slight performance upgrades and a body kit. So if you don't plan to do those mods yourself in the future, I would get the NISMO and call it a day. Otherwise, get the touring/sport and mod it later on.

I like the fact that in the Touring, you get more than 4 speakers. Leather. Heated seats. NAV. Fake suede inserts (it looks/feels nice!). It's lighter.

I personally would perfer not to have a Bose system. They are a pain if I want to upgrade my stereo to something more high end.

Does the suede come in the Nismo?

If I got Nismo I would not mess with the body. If not I might play with the Amuse kit but it's so expensve. $4995.00 at 370tune.

4 speakers? thats really your favorite fact? most non overkill car audio enthusiasts will tell you that having a nice front stage will outweigh any extra speakers. all music you listen to on the radio/cd/mp3 was recording and meant to be heard back in stereo. the extra speakers (especially the tiny 4" speakers behind the seats) sound tiny and disrupt the soundstage.

actually...if you want to get into technics, the base does have 4 speakers, 2 paper speakers in the doors, and 2 shitty tweeters in the dash. the touring model has 2 shittier paper speakers in the doors, 2 shitty tweeters in the dash, and 2 equally shitty speakers behind your seats :rofl2:

http://www2.nissan.co.jp/Z/customize_nismo.html

no suede in the N/A nismo. JDM nismo's get a suede/leather combo seat though.

Don't get me wrong, the touring has a decent amount of things that most people would like, also power seats, auto dim mirror and homelink. 20 lbs lighter than the Nismo which is pretty negligible in real world conditions. Also Nav is separate from touring and the car the OP was looking at I thought didn't have nav.

OP, it's really about what you want to ultimately end up with. Adding those leather/suede accents and getting a new sound system with nav will probably cost you the same or less than an Amuse kit.

See what you want to end up with in the long run and then decide which car will get you there the cheapest. Performance wise, both will be similar with maybe a slight nudge to Nismo for better suspension mods. Either way you'll probably do performance upgrades regardless.

is your heart set on the Nismo look? if it is there is no point debating about the Touring Vs. Nismo, If you just looking to get nice look i think someone is selling the Amuse replica kit for like much less than Nismo kit.

Thanks for the input guys. I think I'm going to get a base + sport and use the left over for mods. I won't need the Touring. The only reason why I said Touring vs Nismo in my first post was because that's all they had on the lot at the time that was 2010.

Sounds like a sound economic decision.