2006 240Z >>?????

[Alfadog]

Nissan needs to seriously wake up.... Nissan can contend, if they would.

Or maybe they should just continue to rake in the profits. Something Pontiac is not doing!!

BTW: Do they still make the RB25 or RB20 in Japan, or is the entire RB series discountied? Because if they do, that would be a perfect engine choice, and allow for a turbo model down the road.

It is discontinued.

I think it looks gorgeous compared to what else is on the market today. Looks like it would be pretty twitchy to drive though. Wish there was a car like this and the MX5 in COUPE form, though (like Nate said). Cayman is the closest thing to it I can think of right now...

[e_racer1999]

looks kinda like a BMW Z8 to me.....

[DatsunZGuy]

Saturn Sky

I wonder if my wife wouldn't mind trading in her 2002 L300 for this :tapemouth

[zguitar71]

What is the deal with "rolling resistance" being a selling point for narrow wheels??? Seen it on a few posts here lately.

I have seen those post too and commented on one of them. IMO rolling resistance could never be noticed on a street car, well a 205 vs a 305 could but the 205 vs 245 would hardly make a difference worth fretting about. The alignment on my car gives more rolling resistance than the tire size I use.

I think Mazda uses the 205 size for a few reasons. A low powerd sub-2500LBS car with sticky 205's will handel great, the wheel and tires weigh much less which leads to smaller brakes and lighter suspension parts and most of all it leads to LOWER PRODUCTION COSTS! I doubt Mazda gave a lot of though to rolling resistance.

The Pontiac uses 18" wheels as a selling point (BLING) one that attracts people who do not understand what wheel size and weight can do to a car's handeling. The Mazda made the Miata as a drivers car and continues that tradition, there is no bling in a 16" wheel but there is a match to the chasis and suspension and brakes and an overall balance for good handeling.

[lonetreesteve]

Pontiac had a Solstice on display at the Denver Auto show last Spring.... nice looking little car, looked a little like a modern version of the old Datsun Roadster of the late 1960s. Ford had their 2005 version of their old '60s race machine, the GT Car there as well.. .. now that is an AWESOME car.... if you have $150k- plus to spend on a toy!

[zguitar71]

I heard the Ford GT is being price gouged up to twice the asking price. But even at 300K it is still much less than the Porche GT and has equal performance but not as much technical stuff.

[2003z]

I would take the sky over the solstice. Saw them both at an autoshow, and its definitely more my style.

[chickenwafer]

A buddy of mine works in the tech department at a local Ford dealership and they got one GT in a few months after release. Price was $280,000 out the door, nearly double the MSRP set by Ford. He said it was being delivered in an enclosed trailer and then rolled into the showroom and roped off- no one was allowed to drive it or even fire up that 5.4 liter supercharged V-8 (that would be hard to resist!). I didn't get to see as it was sold within something like 5 days. But damn, talk about markups!

I remember when the 350Z debuted dealers around here (Pittsburgh) were marking the base model up to about $37,000 and some even were hitting $40K. Now, around here at least, they aren't selling too well and prices have slumped to MSRP or even slightly below with inccentives. How the tides can change......

Dave

[v12horse]

The Soltice and Sky seem to be nice cars, but as others have said, they are not the driver car that the Miata, S2000, and Elise are. I have driven a Mazdaspeed Miata at an autoX event and I loved it. The new Miata seem like it is going to be even more of a thrill.

I am excited to see the Sky and the Soltice, but so far they seem more like lookers. I hope I am wrong. Speaking of Pontiac, it is a shame that the GTO is going to be taken out of production. I like that car for a few reasons. It is very fast, the fit and finish is quite nice, and it has tastefully subtle styling. Here in the US the new Mustang is a big hit, but it is not built nearly as well as the GTO and one can see were Ford cut corners to keep cost down. In my opinion it has looks only and nothing else, but that seems to be what sells.

IMHO,

Ben

[v12horse]

Dave, I agree with you on the mark-ups. They are outragous. I understand why the dealerships do it, but it is just wrong. For instance, the new Corvette Z06 that will be coming out in the near future is going to be the most potent Corvette ever to come off the production line and the MSRP is not staggering for what comes in the package. However, the car is probably not going to sell for the 75,000 USD. It is most likely going to be marked up to 90-100k.

When my Mom was buying a VR6 Jetta in 2002, we went to a dealership that wanted 30k for the car. They knew she could pay it, but we knew it was a bad deal. We then went to a different dealership and got the car for 26k. Yeah, it is not the hot car that these other cars are, but there are mark-ups everywhere and it is rediculous.

I remember when the 350z first came out and I was at the Z's by the Bay show and there was a man from some dealership that blatently said that there is no way people are going to get these cars for the MSRP at his dealership. Then there was a guy from another dealership that said you could make orders for the car early and pay MSRP. For cars people want, it seems like the dealerships are acting like the oil companies. For all you non-USA residents, does this happen in your countries too? It is sad.

-Ben

[jmortensen]

That is a phenomenon known as Supply and Demand, and it is a key to the continued success of capitalist countries all over the world. It's not a new thing for cars to be subject to supply and demand either. Back when the original 240Z was released the same thing was going on. I remember one person saying they bought a 240Z off the lot and sold it USED a year later for more than the original purchase price.

[dogma420]

in Portland, (actually Sherwood) I know of a guy who lives in my apartment complex who got a 2005 350Z for $24,000 almost on the dot. Only a couple of months ago.

I try not to think of it like this, but it STILL looks like a 2nd gen Audi TT, like the original Audi TT is the 'rounded' genre and the 350Z is the 'sharp lined' Audi TT.