Japanese automotive giant, Nissan Motor is currently working on a successor of its legendary 370Z sports car, which, if everything goes well, may get unveiled by the car maker in 2014. The present generation model, being an economical sports car option, enjoys a massive fan following in India, wherein the car has been put to sale. Now the buzz of the town is that the next generation Nissan 370Z could be even more affordable or more fuel efficient. The major change in the new model will be under the hood as the car maker is planning to power the car using a 4-cylinder turbocharged powertrain instead of existing 3.7 L V6 unit.
Considering the power and performance delivered by Nissan's turbo petrol motors in GTRs, it is expected that the new model will also deliver the same level of performance. Head, Design, Nissan Motor, Shiro Nakamura confirmed the fact that the car manufacturer is indeed in the process of developing a concept version of the replacement model for the Nissan 370Z.
Keeping up with current trend of downsizing, the new model from Nissan is also expected to go the way of weight saving. This is coupled by the fact that it runs on a more powerful 4-cylinder unit, which ensures that the new model will deliver better performance against its predecessor. This means that the all-new Nissan 370Z will now be able to clock 96.5 kmph from standstill in mere 6 seconds. On the other hand, the car maker has also worked on to improve the CO2 emissions and mileage of the new model. The Japanese car marque has also assured that the next generation 370Z will offer better handling and improved drivability under the review of current model.
It is expected that new model will receive a rebate in its price as well to lure more buyers in the country. Since the Mitsubishi Evolution-X model, a product from Nissan Mitsubishi Joint Venture (JV), will now be offered in diesel hybrid option, the new 370Z can be a perfect stop-gap model for its maker. It can be a suitable option to fill in the void created by the exit of Evolution-X in the entry-level segment of high-end sports car market. With the passing of time, naturally aspirated powertrains are being replaced at a fast rate by the turbocharged petrol units. This applies not just to the entry-level sports cars but the high-end performance oriented sports cars as well.
In order to lure the youth, major automotive giants across the globe are focussing on the affordable, entry-level sports car segment. These include Mercedes-Benz, which is gearing up to introduce its entry-level, sporty variants of A-Class and CLC AMG models. BMW too is present in this segment with its 1M series, while Audi has exhibited its Q3 RS at the Beijing Motor show in the early 2012. It seems like Nissan too is going along the same line with its next generation model of 370Z.
The news about the conception of toned-down version of Nissan 370Z also implicates that the car maker may not launch the speculated 200SX model any more. This rumoured 200SX was supposed to be Japanese brand's answer to the Toyobaru sports car. Toyobaru happens to be a rear-wheel drive sports car, which is manufactured by Toyota in alliance with Subaru.
