jrcart

Last Friday while in Las Vegas I was chatting with a couple guys from Japan at a blackjack table who were in the states doing some sight seeing and attendng the Moto GP race in Indy on Sunday. One of the guys works for Nismo/Nissan and we started talking about different cars. While talking about my car and various other cars he let out of the bag that Nissan is devolping an M3/M5, C63/E63, S6 killer awd Maxima. He stated it was going to have a 500-520 hp version of the GTR tt in it and that they already have test cars out strolling around the streets and on test tracks and if they get the green light the car could be available as soon as 2011 model year. He also stated that it will definetly come to the U.S. since the U.S. is the largest market for the Maxima.

Has anyone else heard or seen anything about this car?

RINGTAXI

Some japanese mags are reporting of a R35 Sedan (probably talked to the same guys you did). What is unclear is if this sedan will be marketed in the Infiniti lineup or as a Nissan. For Nissan to make a maxima an all wheel drive car, the driving dynamics would have to be fed a lot of technology and even then they might not end up with the available balance of an IS-F or M3. More than likely they will use the new G-37 platform to have a more stable platform available to them in the form of rear wheel (all wheel combo) to do this. Should be something to look forward to!

Timeless

Makes sense to me. Thanks for the heads up.

alexander stemer

Wouldn't that just be a 4 door GTR? Doesn't make as much sense to me until GTR sales need a kick. Or maybe there is just a black cloud looming over my head. AS

RINGTAXI

Well what is interesting to note is that one of the weakest links of the GTR is its tranny. That would explain Nissan dealers and service advisors being so **** about cancelling GTR's warranty because of too many computerized launches. Now too many is being argued as as litttle as 5 or as many as 50. Either way Nissan knows where most of the expensive warranty claims would be coming from, and wants to minimize it as much as possible. Clutch slips around 600 HP, but even at factory power, cannot take too many launch control spins. Hope they issue a recall and/or fix it on the 09' models.

AMGOODNESS

the GTR is probably the only japanese car i would consider owning. tons of hp and torque, solid handling, AWD, and it is a comfortable coupe. sounds like the right recipe to me. i still shocked they were able to build a car for less money that can beat a 911 turbo.

Fantasm

why shocked? lol the price of the turbo isn't based off its costs all that much

c32used

Roman Moronie

My family owns a Nissan (amongst others) dealership. The just released 2009 Maxima, the current G35, G35x (already awd) and the upcoming (rumored to be rear wheel drive) G37 will all share the same platform, the new 2009 Maxima has been out for a little over a month now. The new Maxima will easily handle AWD, in fact the Maxima will be available in awd for 2010 model year. So a GTR powered Maxima is not out of the question and makes perfect sense based on Nissans worldwide marketing strategy. As for if it is going to be an Infinity or Nissan that is really the only question, I would assume it's going to be a Nissan. We were all suprised when the GTR was released as a Nissan vs an Infinity in North America, afterall Infinity is the higher-end luxury arm and a $75,000 sport coupe would have fit nicely in their line up. Either way Nissan is still selling as many of them as they can produce. Nissan wants to make a name for themselves in the world wide performance market, the best way to do so is with a car that can compete with BMW M cars's, AMG's, Audi S cars and Caddy V series cars. Peformance sedans have been one of the fastest growing segments ever since BMW released their last gen M5.

RINGTAXI

Well you are probably right about the GTR sedan being a maxima since you might have much more info. With nissan's proven record i am sure they can pack enough tech in a maxima to make it handle amoung the world's best. I just thought it might be easier or simpler to modify an already rear wheel (all wheel) drive car. If they use Infiniti name, it should fit in nicely with LS-F, M3, RS4, and C63. Are you aware of any tranny issues yet?

Roman Moronie

Our Nissan dealership has only recieved and sold 2 GTR's, to the best of my knowledge there have been no issues with either of them, again I'm not really involved at the dealer/store level nor am I involved in the typical day to day stuff either. I would need to check with our service manager to see if there has been any service bulletins, warnings or recalls issued on the GTR thus far. To be honest, the customers/consumers usually know more about the cars and any issues than people at the dealerships these days because of forums like this one, sometimes the dealerships are the last to find out, especially smaller dealerships like ours. I just purchased my CLK from a mb dealership (we do not own it) and I was amazed by how little the salesmen I worked with knew about the car.