Nissans and why Top Gear does not like them

Something I have never understood: why does Clarkson keep telling the 3.5 liters engine is French? In French car magazines they say the Renault Vel Satis 3.5 has a Nissan engine
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This is a guess, but either it's because to the Nissan-Renault relationship, or maybe that's the way Z cars used to be.
 
What about what Americans know as the Infiniti M35 / M45, do they get that in UK? I love the Infiniti range over here. The G35 (coupe and sedan.....sorry, saloon), and the FX35/45 small SUV's are terrific too. Come to think of it, they really do put that 3.5L V6 in everything don't they.

In my mind these make up for an unexceptional Z car.
BTW I don't work for Infiniti.

I really hope they keep the GT-R badge when the new version comes out here. Everything I heard implies they would brand it as an Infiniti.
 
Wow, the Note, Almera, Primera, and Qashqai. I now totally see where they're coming from.
 
Narcolepsy said:
What about what Americans know as the Infiniti M35 / M45, do they get that in UK? I love the Infiniti range over here. The G35 (coupe and sedan.....sorry, saloon), and the FX35/45 small SUV's are terrific too. Come to think of it, they really do put that 3.5L V6 in everything don't they.

In my mind these make up for an unexceptional Z car.
BTW I don't work for Infiniti.

I really hope they keep the GT-R badge when the new version comes out here. Everything I heard implies they would brand it as an Infiniti.
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The GT-R when it comes over will be badged as a Nissan. It was reported a while ago.
 
Yea, the GTR will have the GTR badge and it will be a Nissan. That was reported soon after the Proto was released at the 05 TAS.

The new GTR will also be NOT based off of a sedan like the GTRs of yore were. So expect something with a bit more ... shall we say, "bite"?
 
Its a hard one....

Its a hard one....

Down here hot Nissans are wearing a bit thin, I mean I can go out and see a million and a half terrible sounding Nissan skylines of all types from R30 to R34 and inbetween. Add the Cefiros, Silvia's, Laurals (you get the idea) in the mix and it all comes over ho hum.

One day Nissan will make a decent soudning 6 Cylinder engine. If you say RB I'll stab you, I have a rather worked over example in my day to day car (and no I don't own a Nissan, and the motor started in there as afactory option) so I can talk to the cows come home about them. The problem is that they are a souless powerplant....

The thing is their current product lineup is a bit bland, nothing stands out. The 350Z I think missed the point and all its shortcomeing have been pointed out by the Brera. At least that won't make you look like somebody who is trying to be half their age. Thats the main problem, the playstation generation have a love affair with fast Nissans (Datsuns!) and for a older person to get one...well you get the idea!

The only Nissan I really can connect with is the old March Superturbo.....I mean that thing is as mad as a hatter, and is what a Japanese car SHOULD be. I love it. If somebody offered me a old Superturbo, a GTR or a new Z car, I take the old March Superturbo like a shot. I'm going to end up torque steering into a tree I know but what away to go! :thumbsup:

As for the new GTR. Its very hard. I wasn't too blown away with the old R32 GTR (its the only one I've been able to drive...and it was a very tired example at that!) and the later GTR's seemed to be more of the same. The reason the 4wd GTR's got their reputation seems a bit seedy in some quarters but anyway, you cannot deny what it is! :thumbsup:

I can only assume it takeing so long because they a desperate to get it correct, or they are encountering some major problems. I really wish them the best with it!
 
The only reason Nissan has been taking this long with the GTR is just as you said - to make sure this one is spot-on.

The R32 was probably the best GTR of them all. The R34 was good and it went back to GTR roots, but the R32 was the best, imo. But that's out of the modern cars.

Seeing the older GTRs is like seeing a piece of art. The way the fenders are flared and the body shape ... it's gorgeous. Just like the old Z's, they were things of beauty. The R32 and R34 kind of took that old school GTR look and modernized it.

But there was no R30 GTR or R31 ... those were just beefed up Skylines. Then the R32 came and got banned from racing series because it was too damned good. :thumbsup:

Being of the newer generation, I can also agree with you that Nissan's current line up is somewhat bland. When the R34 and S15 went under in 2002, Nissan lost their best cars (and they were never even sold in America!!!). But then again, much of the Japanese car industry changed in 2002. That was the last year of the Supra and the FD3S. A sad year for Japanese motoring.

I think that the way the 350Z sounds, though, is beautiful. No other car sounds like it. And the RB26DETT ... no other engine sounds like them. You can modify and work the RB26 all you want, but it always retains its signature sound. Add to its reputation of being SEVERELY detuned from the factory and constantly popping fireballs (great way to get traffic off your back as my friends and I have done with his GTRs) ... I have to disagree with you that Nissan can't make a good 6-cylinder motor.

As I recall, as well, the VQ32DETT race motors performed exceptionally well in JGTC and were some of the best on the track. I REALLY hope that motor finds its way into the next-gen GTR in some form or another ...

But you being from Australia, you have a different point of view than I do. I live in America and I'm around GTRs and stuff like that nearly every day, but even still, they're all done well. Here we don't have ragged out GTRs and Silvias like you do in Australia. We have ragged out Civics and Eclipses (Mitsubishi) ...

I'm not familiar with the March Superturbo, though. I might need to look that one up ...
 
CapnNismo said:
But there was no R30 GTR or R31 ... those were just beefed up Skylines. Then the R32 came and got banned from racing series because it was too damned good. :thumbsup:
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That comes from its removal in the Australian ATCC serries. Remember a lot of other cars go banned too. Also the GTR's had a terrific advantage in the "launch and hold" team tatics.

Its a little annoying that people thow that around without knowing the full information. lol, maybe my dislain of them comes from seeing a early Group A R32 GTR rolling as a small boy :p lol, there where proposed rule changes like the current JGTC which Gibson motorsport where opposed to and I've heard in some other serries GTR Skylines where not compeditive when air restrictors where added. At the same time the Sierra RS500 got banned, so why don't the Ford owners strut round wearing that as a badge of honour? Also look at the competition of that era.....yeah.....8) The batch of modern cars that could have run against it, for homologation reasons didn't, and add the the fact of a world recession.....you get the idea.

And a R31 GTS-R holds a special place in my heart :D No idea why, maybe its that cool speed sensitive autospoiler!

I run a Nissan RB30, with a variable valve timeing 24 valve cylinder head in my Holden VL Commodore Turbo (I know....look its my day to day hack O.K!) there are a million other things done to it. A please don't give me the 1000bhp on a stock bottom end line....uh RB's can, do and will break (yep been there!) R32 GTR RB26's? Have a look at your oil pump locking lugs, they have the same problem as the (GM only) RB30ET, not enough area and sometimes the oil pump drive ring will split because of it.

Yes I understand there are a lot of diffrent sub types of RB, I played around with a RB26 and decided that a larger RB30 was a better option to start with as a base. And add the simple fact the RB30 starts out as cheaper....lol.....yes I know it sounds lame! The main intrest in the RB26 bottom end was the use of piston oil squirters. I have a set out of a RB25DET I should try to transplant oneday. :p I think along diffrent lines and have been playing around with Superchargers on RB's.....

Listen to a Alfa Romeo V6 if you want to know what a 6 cylinder engine should sound like :lol:

I'm from South Australia which has some quite lax rego laws, and a GTR(well 32) is quite cheap and easy to get. Yes I can appreciate the fact in America they are a VERY rare beast.

The only thing I can think that keeps the GTR (ahem) Legend alive is computergames, and movies like fast and the furious. :roll:

....lol......I probably sound like a prick atm.....Sorry I dont mean to be! :mrgreen:

But yes I (really really really) hope they really get it "correct" with the new GTR, however with the weight gains we are seeing on new cars I'm really worried. It would not supprise me if the new GTR suffers from teh same problem as the Alfa Romeo Brera. Too much weight, not throwable enough..... :cry: :cry:
 
Don't think you sound prickish at all. The Skyline has gotten such a high and mighty reputation because the ricers think its the end all of all sport cars. Sadly when i first learned of the skyline GTR i was the same way. I blame it on my young impressionable mind at the time. Luckily with age comes knowledge, as long as your willing to learn that is. I desperately am hoping that they are trying to perfect the next GTR. But do you think there will be a market for them. I've owned a nissan xterra and a datsun 260z and love nissans. If i had the money i'd pick one up in a heart beat. But for your everyday guy who can afford this car; would they really buy a nissan over a porsche? The majority of the people out there could care less about the GTR's past? Besides a porsche badge is much more flashy then a nissan.

I love the old school skylines. The KPGC10 i believe, not sure on the years. Sucks that you see beat up skylines all the time. I guess when i see one in the states it's usually well taken care of so its still a awe inspireing moment. I use to love the R33 then I became obsessed with the R34 but now i prefer the R32. In a couple years i'll probly love the R34 again. Weird how that works.

I personally don't like the sound of the VQ motor anymore. i recently realized this sitting in the back of my friends G35. It somehow doesn't seem right. My cousins friend said it perfectly when he said it sounded like a souless howl.
 
Good post, kaBOOMn! Lots of good info in there. So many bagged-on Skylines getting imported into Calgary these days, and the highschoolers think they're king shit when they pay $10,000 for one out of a junk heap in Japan. :x
 
Well I'm not a fan of the old one, I'd take a Alfa Romeo 105 GTA anyday :lol: While the the old Skyline is not a bad car (well its very good :) ) from all reports, I think its a case of "the newish ones are excellent, so the old ones must be the same"

Let me put it this way: If Kia made a new Rio that was turbocharged, had 4wd and blew away everything would you consider the current (horrid) Rio a legendary car? Of course you wouldn't.

I see the odd C210 and 240K (both old Skylines) around here, mostly full of rust....uh yeah..... :?

They are not "bad" but I don't consider them such a cut above everything like people make them out to be. And while I cannot deny what they introduced onto the market (all those inovations), its just I think everything is going over the top now.....

.....The really sad thing I belive is that this awesome (bah!) reputation has been built up by people and the media and the new GTR is going to be a massive disapointment to a lot of people. Don't get me wrong I really hope they make a sucess of it, but through no fault of Nissan I think the marker has been put too high. :cry: :cry:
 
JC just hates the 350Z and they burned a Sunny once, that's about it. Hell, JC even had a Nissank for the second amphicar challenge.
 
Did you really need to dig up a 2-year old thread to restate facts that everyone already knows?
 
When you think about it, there's a lot less of the hot Z car Nissans, Skylines, Sylvias/200SXs and so on that have entered the UK if I recall correctly.

Like particularly in Australia Nissans are commonplace for their modding capabilities, because its easy to import them from Japan, it'd be harder for people in the UK, so no street credibility is gained.

They don't exactly hate them as people have stated with the Murano, its just before Datsun and Nissan gave the UK slow boring cars, like the Bluebird or the Sunny.
 
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