430hp from a 4.5L V8 would HAVE to be forced induction of some sort, be it blown or turbo'd.

 

This new 350Z with the 4.5L engine reminds me of the Holden/Pontiac GTO. It's got a lot of power but the looks don't do it for me. I'd rather have an "underpowered" mustang.

 

If Nissan can squeeze almost 300 hp from their V6 it seems it would not be impossible to achieve 430 hp from a n/a V8.

 

C&D's latest test, June 07 issue, clocked a 350Z coupe @ 13.7 @ 104. In the same test a Shelby GT Mustang got exactly the same 13.7 @ 104. 0-60 was 5.2 sec for the 350X and 5.1 sec for the Shelby.

The 350Z's 6 speed trannie has a very short 3.79 1st gear ratio and 7,000 RPM red line. The Mustangs 5 speed trannie has a 3.38 1st gear and a 6,000 RPM red line. Rear end ratios are 3.54 for the 350Z and 3.55 for the Stang.

The 350Z's rear tires are 1/2" smaller in diameter giving the 350Z an effective 13.7:1 1st gear ratio compared to the Mustang's 12.0:1. Plus the 350Z is 200 lbs lighter than the Stang.

 

At 6'2" I really can't fit into a 350Z coupe which makes it's exterior styling moot. Although, like you, I really don't like the 350Z's styling. I'd call it a near miss, nice try but it's missing something so it looks like another blah bubble car.

 

Simple physics, to get 430 HP out of a n/a 4.6L V8, Ford will have to figure out how to make the mod motor survive at 7,000 RPM.

The 350Z's 306 HP comes at 6,800 RPM.

 

The 4.6 Modular will never get 430hp spinning up to 7000rpm until you put some higher flowing heads on the thing.

 

Really? How do we know that this is any more accurate than the 400hp Bullitt speculation which was fairly widespread not so long ago? And there was arguably far better evidence to support that rumour than this one since we at least got to see leaked pics of a new 4.6L DOHC V8 for our trouble with the Bullitt. V8 Z car speculation is currently nothing more than words on a page.

And even if Nissan did crank out a V8-powered Nissan Z it would cost at least as much as a Corvette without question making any comparison to the Mustang GT pointless. I say this since you can spend in the neighborhood of 40k on a top line 350Z coupe right now, no V8 or awd included for your trouble. And that brings to mind another issue. For those who argue that the GT500 is overpriced at MSRP might I forward the notion that Nissan has completely lost their mind.

 

The higher flowing heads already exist, they're the 4V heads on the Ford GT and GT-500. All Ford needs to do is figure out how to make the 4.6 safely spin @ 7,000 RPM.

 

Nissan could certainly achieve 430 hp from a n/a V8; BMW is doing those kinds of numbers, as is Audi.

But it requires a more sophisticated, complex and expensive engine execution - which means big bucks. Who is going to pay those kinds of big bucks for a 350Z...and why would Nissan choose to cannibalize sales from the G35 coupe and, more importantly, GT-R? That's too much competing, high-performance product in the stable for a company of their size.

Ain't gonna happen, IMHO.

 

A 96-98 Cobra 4.6 redlines at 7200rpm.

 

Nissan has already announced a 330 HP, 3.7L V6 for the 2008 G37 Coupe.
It has both VVT and Variable Valve Lift. The 350Z will probably become a 370Z.
http://www.nissannews.com/index.html

But I do agree that a street V8 Z nothing more than wishful speculation.

 

But those are low volume, hand built SVT engines. Ford needs a 7K mod motor for the masses.

 

Perhaps a 370z base model , then later, an additional 450z model in the price range of the Shelby GT 500.

 

Having seen the engine bay on a 350Z, I don't know how in the world they'd fid the Nissan V8 into it. If there is going to be a V8 Z car I'd imagine it will be a very low volume, high priced race car. That is 100 or so of them.

 

typo. read again.

 

Even that seems like a stretch to me.

The Z fills its niche nicely, and I'm sure Nissan can coax a few more ponies from the new VQ. Beyond that, it becomes law of diminishing returns for the company. If you want more performance at a higher price, you step up to the forthcoming GT-R.

There's simply no business case for Nissan - a company with finite resources - to shoehorn a V8 into a Z.

 

QUOTE:

The 450z their refering to is probably the gtr. If not then that means the gtr will be an infiniti and this 450z will be nissans halo car.

 

The GT-R will not be an Infiniti. This has already been announced and confirmed by Nissan.

 

You think nissan would have a car to fill the gap between a $28,000 Z and a $50k-$70k 500HP supercar.

Oh yea, that's right, Mustang didn't.