that would be a loss of about 2 inches in width and lose up to 440 pounds!
The 370z isn't even that heavy - 3,232 lb curb weight. If they can just get it down to 3,000 pounds flat that would already be great IMHO.
Yea 1300kg is 2800# ...impossible with today's safety regulations IMO.
The weight loss rumor figures are always overstated. But if the Z can be trimmed down in size and use some more aluminum and lightweight materials I could see it hitting 3k pounds which is already amazing this day in age. I mean how many available cars are actually under 3000 pounds now? I can count them on one hand.
One of them that you can count is the FR-S/BRZ which weighs 2800 pounds and is virtually the same exact length of the 370Z. So it's actually possible to hit that kind of weight even if the Z doesn't get downsized.
Speaking of pony cars gaining weight I hope that this isn't going to be a case of Nissan hinting that the next car will be smaller and lighter only to have it actually gain weight over the 370... like how the new Mustang somehow managed to gain weight despite being a ground-up redesign.
I don't think the Z needs to be class leading in weight. It just needs to not pack on more and get that price DOWN.
Don't think Nissan will let that happen. With the Mustang it's not like the previous one wasn't selling well so they didn't really need shave much weight or give it much higher performance. But the 370z is selling like crap so Nissan must realize they need to do something drastic to make sure the successor successful.Speaking of pony cars gaining weight I hope that this isn't going to be a case of Nissan hinting that the next car will be smaller and lighter only to have it actually gain weight over the 370... like how the new Mustang somehow managed to gain weight despite being a ground-up redesign.
Totally right man.. comparing to the mustang is apples to oranges. As much as i love the Z you can't compare it to an iconic brand that have people buying it just cuz it's called a mustang. The Z has some loyal followers but nothing close to that.
Aluminum is still not predominantly used in cars around this price point. You get the mustang which has an aluminum hood and i think a few parts here and there but it's still too expensive I thnk. One area of savings woud be a smaller engine though. Probably won't see a V8 in the Z.
If it gets the Q60's turbo v6 engine it won't be lighter, if at all compared to the current VQ engine. It stands to lose significant weight though if they end up building it on an all new ground-up platform. That's what I'm hoping for bc if they build it on the current Z platform, there's not going to be much weight shaved if at all.
