Nissan 400z

[seattlejester]

Not as relevant to I think many on this forum, but Nissan released new images and details about the upcoming replacement.

 

Looks like they are trying to head more towards the 240z and thinning down as well as offering a manual and a factory turbo option.

 

https://www.caranddriver.com/nissan/400z

 

Edit: I goofed... if someone can move this to the non-tech section that would be appreciated.

Edited September 16, 2020 by seattlejester

[Neverdone]

That front end's gonna need some work before they release it.

 

It's *fine* as is, but it could definitely be a lot better.

 

Also, Nissan would be smart to offer a ducktail spoiler for this thing.

[Zetsaz]

5 hours ago, Neverdone said:

That front end's gonna need some work before they release it.

 

It's *fine* as is, but it could definitely be a lot better.

 

Also, Nissan would be smart to offer a ducktail spoiler for this thing.

Agreed on both points. Lots of people commenting that it has a square opening just like the s30, but the S30 had the bumper to break things up. What's funny is the grill even has two distinct looking areas top and bottom, almost like the 240z grill that didn't cover below the bumper. Saw a very minor edit with a body colored line between the two sections of the grill and it actually cleaned things up a lot and broke up the giant mouth look on the front. Not a perfect solution, but hopefully they break things up a bit.

I know on the early cars, bumperless is very popular right now, but I always thought it looked incomplete, and the same is true for the new one. 

 

[seattlejester]

Yes, duckbill would sell like hotcakes.

 

Seems a bit too tall as well, and I'm not sure I love what they did with the rear end. I'd love to see the Nismo spec sport some ZG flares as an homage.

 

I think it is a step in the right direction. If the 400Z got even wider and bigger than the 370Z, I think that would have really jumped the shark. 

 

I'm hoping for something ala mustang. Cheesy throwback for popularity and slowly work on it and more importantly flatten/proportion work until they get something like what the new mustangs are. Definitely bigger parked next to a classic, but still look proportionately right. 3 generations to hopefully get it right.

 

I hope this inspires them and gets enough interest to make bringing back that 510 throwback a reality. 

[260DET]

Over all it's great, the grille area needs attention but it's in the direction that Nissan should have gone long ago. There are lots of cool little features as well as the over all shape, it's going to age well and is a great basis for mods. ❤️

[Neverdone]

My biggest gripe is the design decision for the 300zx style taillights, on a car, that is doing everything it can to take inspiration from the S30.

 

The hood, headlights, front end, side, rear quarter, almost everything is S30...then someone crammed some 300zx taillights on there because he liked them.

 

To me, that's dumb. Make a modern version of the S30 taillight structure back there and actually have it be a cohesive structure.

 

The front is pretty easy to fix IMO. I'm blow away at how a simple painted line really changes that whole space. But the taillights...that'll take a lot of expensive parts to fix that. I dunno. Maybe it'll grow on me, but right now I'm not a big fan.

 

[Ben280]

I've seen a few renders that seem to make the front end work nicely, most dividing up the space, painting the lower section of the bumper black, adding lights, or some combination of the 3. 

 

The rear doesn't really bother me, maybe some strategic vinyl, or a different color will make it slot together. 

 

Overall, impressed and excited. I think Nissan is moving in a good direction, and I'm excited that they are at least doing SOMETHING! 

[Zetsaz]

Bottom line is, everyone will always complain about something. I think for the most part it's a solid car, and the mostly understated styling will prevent it from looking dated too soon.

-Twin turbo

-RWD

-6 spd manual

 

All the sorts of things most people claim they want, bu most of those complaining couldn't afford it anyway.

[JMortensen]

Not a fan of the roof spoiler. Surprisingly not offended by the rest of it. Pretty impressed actually. I can see the modded ones looking really good.

[calZ]

I think the rear would look a lot better if there weren't two different colors on yh4 hatch. The black roof stopping before it gets to the taillights creates kind of a "shelf" effect that detracts from fastbacl design. IMO either paint it all one color, or carry the black all the way through the bottom of the hatch. 

[Michael]

5 months later, the latest buzz is "patent filings" (how does one patent a car design???) confirming the images from September 2020; see for example https://www.autoblog.com/2021/01/14/nissan-z-proto-400z-patent-renderings/?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAgQm6F5psC-cVjBNOmi7kDKu_U4c7lx-EWczI4ZidrrHD0CClr7rko-img5XUobX72U_EUpAw-XurkQsSFSNLgSubNYlAp10RBqGFfuhqwV0yRCMDZpn4UwlIH6TkS0cSjdW8Z6ymS-7PObyRS70Ol_Jt8eg1gJAkKwsHU7dxNF .

 

The current situation with the 400Z reminds me of our mutterings from back around 2009, when the 350Z was coming out... lots of criticisms of the aesthetics, of bumpers and spoilers and headlights and grills, but what of the most crucial item of all: the weight?

 

My dream would be a car with the size and weight of a BRZ, but the power of a current-generation V8 Camaro.  How likely is that?  Remember when the Z32 300ZX came out, and we were aghast at how heavy it was?  Today that would be a comparative featherweight.  It seems that only Mazda has made a serious achievement in keeping down the weight of its sports cars (ND Miata is only 100 pounds heavier than the early-90s NA).  Could Nissan do something similar?  One can dream...