just throwing it out there -

this would launch (pun) nissan into history - along with ferrari, mclaren, saleen, koenigsegg, ascari, and chrysler (me412), etc...


imagine a 700 hp monster with the transmission, and awd, from the gt-r, but with more displacement, hp, less weight, and marketed by infiniti.

maybe setting their sights on ascari would be a tall order.

 

Why not? Infiniti is due to finally get supercar numbers in at least one model.

 

i agree.

 

(deep inhale)

I doubt that Nissan would want to create any cross-competition between the GT-R. It's already being touted as Nissan's supercar.

You'd have to give up a LOT of creature comforts to roll with Koenigsegg, Ascari, and Saleen. Most of the hyper cars out there have AC, power windows, a few have lousy SAT-NAV and that's it. They barely have any sound deadening or anything that that would make it more civilized, save for the McMerc (which I think is an abomination) or the Veyron (which isn't really relative due to its price).

That defeats the purpose of what Infiniti is trying to do with their company. There's only a few cars that have been able to mix luxury with speed and performance in that high of a price bracket with mixed results.

There's a reason why companies like Infiniti and Lexus make luxury vehicles; it's what they're good at doing. It's the same thing with Ferrari and Lambo not building sedans and SUVs (the LM002 was a flop).

If Infiniti ever wanted to get into that kind of market, they'd really have to step things up with the rest of the marque. They'd have to take their cars upmarket, which is difficult to do when Nissan already has Infiniti as the premier lineup. Volkswagen tried to do similar things in 2000 when Ferdinand Piech planned for the W12 supercar and the Phaeton. They took the company up a few markets... or they at least attempted to.

What went wrong?

1.) Cheap cars became expensive.
2.) Relatively light cars became heavy and boring.
3.) They abandoned loyal customers by pricing themselves out of competition.
4.) New customers were dissapointed because of reliability issues.

To add insult to injury, the W12 was never released and the Phaeton was a HUGE failure in the US. VW was smart enough to let Audi do the new supercar (R8) which is awesome.

Come to think of it... Infiniti could use the V6 TT and AWD to give the R8 some competition. But it'll never be 700 hp from the factory.

 

excellent points...

ford made the gt.... i think that's my whole point.

lexus is 'experimenting' with the lf-a.

if the target of the gt-r really was the 911t, then why not set a target for the carrera gt? (i know some will respond,'they already have')

this is where infiniti could get away with it (as opposed to nissan)... because they won't abandon their customer base (as much).

 

Ford has the racing history of the mightly GT40 to reference. That helped sales quite a bit.

Lexus. Well Toyota/Lexus can do what they want. They are the most profitable car company on the planet!

I don't see where a super car would help Infiniti. Even if one was made, it would most certianly be under the Nissan name (as is the GT-R)

 

i look at it this way - if infiniti could justify higher costs, they could make more profit.

look at porsche - they can engineer a c2 (base model) and somehow sell it for $70k. it's justified - through heritage, records, past performance of higher grade machines, whatever...

how many times have we seen the mimicking of higher performance machines by lesser brands, i.e. civics being rebadged type-r's, even though they are not, etc...

my feeling is that infiniti could roll out such a machine, they could justify status (only make 200 - 400 or so), justify price (nissan/infiniti prides themselves with a low price tag), a little more 'cushy' than the gt-r.

maybe only release for a one year thing and see where it goes...

what about a tesla roadster equivalent?

 

The problem is the basic 911 platform is pretty versatile. Also the Type R version of whatever is also based on the exisiting platform.

Any mid engined car would require a totally new chassis/tranny development. Read EXPENSIVE.

A M3 version of the G37? Sure. Go for it.

Totally new chassis for a mid engine supercar? Probably not

 

not going to happen. why steal your own marketshare from yourself? infiniti doesnt have the name brand recognition to launch a supercar that will sell. nissan will struggle pushing the gt-r to most americans even if we all would kill for 1.

toyota doesnt have a supercar so lexus did it. ford just has the gt. again, why would nissan make 2 supercars?

 

Exactly. And much more profitable in the engineering department... hell every department from manufacturing to R&D... to retune something than to start from scratch.

 

for the same reason porsche made a gt2 and a carrera gt. it further justifies price.

 

Apples /= oranges here.

 

this is the part i don't understand... perhaps someone could 'school me'.

what's wrong with all of the r&d (and race victories) nissan had with the r390?

lightweight aluminum 3.5 v8, etc...

i don't think this is too far of a stretch.

 

i agree with this from a financial standpoint... i think this is what is happening to the corvette right now - it would cost too much to scrap 60 years of r&d.

but physics will take over (despite the reviews of everyone saying the gt-r managed to do so).

 

Infiniti is going to have to do something soon though. With the M3, C-Class AMG, Lexus IS-F, etc. There no reason they couldn't release a single turbo G37 in the near future that would make 450hp at least.

I wouldn't be surprised if the GT-R engine or some version of it, finds its way into an Infiniti in the next 2-3 years.