TMSBrad

From Autoblog.com

...rumors are circulating again that Nissan is planning on dropping the 4.5L V8 that powers the Infiniti M45 and FX45, among others, into the vehicle, for a total of 400 horsepower. That seems like an awful lot of power for a car that is already pretty pumped, so word is that a quattro-like drivetrain will be installed to put power to all four wheels.

Galaxie

Very cool, although I don't think the AWD drivetrain is needed, it would be a nice all around car.

I would hope they do the same thing in the G35 Coupe

mustang_sallad

here's another thread from a couple weeks back
http://forums.bradbarnett.net/index.php?sh...c=37976&hl=450z

rhumb

I'm surprised it's taken the Japanese manufacturers to take this long to stuff one of their excellent V8s into one of their sport'n chassis. Perhaps it's taken the roaring success of the Mustang to prod them to put a roaring V8 into their lineup.

Toyota/Lexus too has several great V8s on their parts shelves which would be quite interesting in, say, a new Supra.

Autoweek also has an article on the neo Pony/Muscle car trend at http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=103651

1999 Black 35th GT

My brother in law is a HUGE Nissan fan. The last he heard from some of the sources he reads is that the 4.5 V8 will be dropped into the G35 body as a suped up version but it won't be available in the Nissan line, just Infiniti.

As for a new Supra, he says its very unlikely (he works for a Toyota dealership). He says from what he hears they would be too pricey to compete with the Infiniti. Which is fine with him since he dislikes the Supra. He compares it to the 300ZX (his favorite) and just says the ZX is a all around better car.

Knight

Read some of these articles and see if the 300zx is really as good as the Supra.

Here is a Supra, Corvette, RX7, 300ZX, 3000GT, and Porsche 968 compare.Car compare

Other aritcles listed here.
Supra Magazine Articles

Lalo

I never thought that the 300ZX (one of my favorite cars) would be in the same league as a supra
It's cool seeing it outclass its rivals.
Thanks for the link Chris!

Autotooner

cool... about time...lol

hi5.0

if this becomes a trend among the import manufacturers, it'll be really hard for import fans to diss v-8's. my cousin loves imports and he drooled over the lexus is 430 concept. so Ford, its time to up the power of the NA 4.6 pronto!

Lalo

And it'll be hard for us domestic car fans to bring down imports if they have v8's.
Seems like the days of making fun of rice rockets is out the door for some models

1999 Black 35th GT

When it comes down to one point I think thats when personal decision comes in. I would still choose a 300ZX over a Supra.

The styling of the 300ZX is much better too.

future9er24

well not neccasarily. most ricers are cheap econoboxes that appear to be "souped up" and are owned y younger ppl who cant afford a real sports car. a V8 import is HIGHLY unlikely to be classed in the same price range as a stang simply b/c it will cost them more to put into their cars. the only V8 powered vehicles that are reasonably priced are american made, at least based on my (rahter limited) experience...

i think a V8 450Z would most likely be in the $50K+ range, definately not a direct 'stang GT competitor. the "rice" culture will still be based primarily on FWD small displacement motors until the other imported cars begin to use more cheap and viable RWD V8 platforms, of which tere are few.. heck RWD in a coupe isnt all that common these days anyhow!

i guarantee you theres gonna be plenty of ricers out there ready to lost to our real performance vehicles

but then again, this is all based on the opinions and experiences of a 16 year old.. so who knows! lol

Hollywood_North GT

It's worse than that: it'll be hard for domesic car makers to compete anymore either. The one place the Japanese hadn't touched was the V8 muscle car segment. Expect their V8s to be more refined with more horses per liter, and of course, IRS.

Ford needs to come out with a galloping good Mustang SE model around 375 - 400 horsepower, an IRS and improved interior materials to compete with these new offerings from Japan.

And that's not even getting into the whole upcoming Dodge Challenger, Chevy "Camaro" discussion.

Personally, I think Ford should bite the bullet and drop an IRS in the Shelby - it'd mean the difference between a good car and a truly great one. Cause it's gonna get mighty competitive out there in a hurry and no one but Ford will be using a spruce log in their rear suspension setup.

1999 Black 35th GT

I think you're forgetting a major factor in your discussion... Price.
This new vehicle will undoubtedly cost way more than a Mustang GT. And yes Ford is in the process of bringing out an SE Mustang in the middle of the GT and the Shelby.

I won't get into the discussion of IRS Vs. Solid rears. They both have their benefits and disadvantages. I personally like the solid rears better. Thats me. But Hau Thai Tang seems to think the solid rear is better too. So I'll trust his expertise.

Hollywood_North GT

There's nothing TO discuss. That's the mistake people around here make.

No other manufacturer in the world uses SRA in a $30K passenger car, never mind a modern performance coupe. Don't be fooled: HTT's decision was based on saving costs, not improving engineering.

It's like going back and using computers with bulky transitors instead of ICs. No good reason on earth to do it. End of story.

I haven't forgotten the price thing at all. That's a favorite argument of people on this board. I guess it's OK if Ford wants to forever be known as a cheap, bargain basement performance brand. Trouble is, it's hard to expand your market share with today's global competition using that strategy. And if you doubt that, just look to Ford's slumping sales as proof. The strategy isn't working because people want better quality...and clearly they're prepared to pay a little more for it.

1999 Black 35th GT

Once again, thats your opinion BC Shelby. And I don't think Ford builds cheap bargain basement cars and I don't think the majority of the site members think that either.

In MY OPINION I think you're wearing out your welcome

Everything you say is negative. So sad...

Zastava_101

Of course they're gonna say that, its Ford site.
I'm member at few Serbian web-sites about cars and most of people there will tell you that most of domestic cars are bad (and those are people who owned European, Japanese and domestic cars). That's the truth which you don't like.

Look at things this way: home court, huge discounts and rebates and still losing money. How would they do if they were selling cars at MSRP like Japanese do (and I'm not talking about cars like Mustang and Corvette; I'm talking about cars like 500 and Impala)

1999 Black 35th GT

And again Zoran thats your and there opinion. That does not make it fact. And the Japanese don't sell all of there cars at MSRP. Sorry to break your heart. My brother works for Toyota so it would be feeble to try and say you know more about the company than him.

Once again you have become disillusioned by your opinions.

Zastava_101

That's not their personal opinion, that's their personal experience.

I tried to get Tundra this past summer. SuperCab, 4x4 and V8 would run me at ... $29,000 (about $500 under MSRP). I got F-150 with same options for $21,000 (about $ 8,500 under MSRP).

Huge difference.

1999 Black 35th GT

Well then lets stop the presses here. You just said that they sell them at MSRP and now its $500 under. So whats the story here Zoran?

Sorry bud, but all of your believabiltiy has vanished. At least from me.