Nissan Z Proto unveil

Duke said:

David S. Wallens said:

In reply to Appleseed :

It's low but I think I'm digging it. I like the blacked-out bubbletop look. 

If only the cabin was larger than a full-face helmet. 
 

Cabin size is a non-issue for me, if I wanted spacious I'd go buy a CUV from the other 95% of the market. The blacked out bubbletop is a non-starter for me, may as well just do a wrap of ole muskies face on the hood for fanboy points.

David S. Wallens said:

So, do we love it?

 

I like the front end, and the side view is sort of pretty if you cover the back end.   The back is a bit better when not seen in profile.  The yellow prototype would have looked better with a black spoiler.   The twin turbo V-6 and the stick shift sound nice.

I'm not crazy about the grill, but I like the rest of it.  Kind of surprised they didn't mention any sort of electrification for future proofing.

I like it.

But then again I always like prototypes and hate the final product as usually they manage to screw up that transition. 

Datsun310Guy said:

Let's not forget.......

 

Those weren't bad but I never did figure out what they were doing with the front end. It looked like it's missing pieces. 
 

I am unable to comprehend the statement that the 240z and the 300zx were the two past Z's that inspired the look. It looks like an evolution of the 350z and 370z with gaudy paint to me and not really much from the 240 or 300 to be seen by my poor eyesight...

I don't hate it, but it sure is generic looking. To me it just looks like a 370z that was rendered in a low-detail car video game (and with the "shark teeth" removed from the grille). I have a hard time either liking or disliking it. I like the back end better than the front. 

ok, one feature - the headlights. I know they're different, but they really remind me of a more boring version of the headlights on the Fiat 124....

Also, IDK who the guy doing the talking is (the old dude with the longish hair), but please get him some pants that aren't constraining him from actually walking....

Awesome. Im glad that they seem insistent on the manual transmission.

I am absolutely sick of 'sports cars' with paddle shifters or other whizbang BS. There is no substitute for the feel of rowing your own gears, I dont care how much faster a robot can shift.

Here's a crude doodle showing what I'd change about it.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/g34013466/nissan-z-proto-design-details/

FatMongo said:

Awesome. Im glad that they seem insistent on the manual transmission.

I am absolutely sick of 'sports cars' with paddle shifters or other whizbang BS. There is no substitute for the feel of rowing your own gears, I dont care how much faster a robot can shift.

 

I second this. Even if there are things I might dislike about it, I'm far more inclined to go test-drive this car (assuming I can afford it) than anything without three pedals. 

It's a decent first pass, but definitely needs some refinement. From some angles it looks rather good, from others it very much does not. Some of this may be the color/lighting too.  However, no amount of color or lighting can fix that grill. The 240 looked like an ungainly hack job with the front bumper removed too. This has a significant portion of the grill 'opening' that is fake. Put some of that already blocked off grill real estate to good use by visually splitting it up a bit.

This is the current 370z with:

-moooooar power (+)

-a body kit (+ rear, - front)

-a nice interior (+)

-6mt (suck it Toyota)

Much better than a Supra. But if I wanted a fast pig, for this kind of money I'd get a Pony car.

They'll sell dozens!

Dear Nissan, 

Fender flares work on everything, we have a thread on it. Your designers should check it out. 

Signed,

The niche market that actually would have bought this car had it not been a monstrosity.

AaronT said:

I like it, but it's probably too much heavier than the Miata and Toyobarus for my tastes.

This car is everything people wanted from a BRZ. Twin Turbo, 400 hp, manual, RWD after years of everything moving to autos and hybrids. 

The looks are decent (Again its still a Prototype and will get refined) but what I'm most excited about is how this car stands out on paper in 2020.  2020 is so screwed up that a Toyota Supra is an automatic BMW.

It's unbelievable in today's day and age that a major company would release something like this. If they release a green one with an orange interior to match my 240z, I might just have to get one.

californiamilleghia said:

front grill too square , and too big , 

 

 

Honestly it has the same square vibe as an S30 without a front bumper. If they but a front bumper on it a la S30, people would criticize why they added a fake useless front bumper.  Remember these are twin turbo and so any opening will be jam packed with front mounted intercoolers very soon after purchase. 

Lots of complaining about the grill on the new Z would end if people imagined what kind of travesty Lexus would have installed. 

Having seen the side view, that's way too little greenhouse. By miles.

It reminds me of the Boston Dynamics robot, Atlas, which is built like a particularly bulky
humanoid with a light bulb for a head.

EDIT: *sigh* I quite like a lot of it otherwise.

crankwalk (Forum Supporter) said:

2020 is so screwed up that a Toyota Supra is an automatic BMW.

I love this quote

Jesse Ransom said:

Having seen the side view, that's way too little greenhouse. By miles.

...and a bit more greenhouse would let them mirror the pretty curve in the 240 roofline more closely

I really like it. I'd like to see it in orange though. And since it's supposed to use the 400hp VR30DETT, adding power should be relatively easy.

I like it, and would really like to see it on the road. I liked the new Supra too, but when I saw it in person I loved it! 

Now, can Mitsubishi (highly unlikely) and Mazda make something to compete with these too? Japanese car wars from the 90's gave us awesomeness! 

I need to see more pictures in different colors. In the yellow that I've seen, it looks like a 64-bit rendering of the car. Not a fan yet, but I could be.

Front end looks like a first gen Z car with the bumper off - I think it would look better if they'd gone for first gen Z car with the bumper on, and bisected the grille with a horizontal, body colored bumper.

Not much on the yellow. 

It's as nice looking as the 350Z and 370Z, but they could still do a lot more to get some of the petite beauty of the 240Z. They keep leaving a lot of that on the table for the sake of modernity.

It's OK. It will compete directly with the Mustang, and that's not great news for Nissan.