Thursday 12th April 2012

Nissan considers return of the 200SX

Has the much-hyped Toyobaru prompted Nissan to seek a slice of lower-priced rear-drive coupe action?

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Nissan design boss Shiro Nakamura has hinted that its 200SX/Silvia model could be reborn. In an interview with Australia's Drive magazine, Nakamura-san has said that Nissan is looking at downsizing its sports car offering. "I much prefer smaller sports car," says Nakamura. "It is the time to look at that [smaller engines]. With 370Z, we still don't know next generation will have a larger or smaller engine."

Toyobaru hype could prompt Nissan to play

That could of course simply mean that Nissan is reacting to the pressure felt by car companies globally to reduce the size and increase the efficiency of their models, and that the successor to the 370Z will be a smaller-engined car. But it could also mean a revival of the 200SX idea - a hot-hatch rivalling rear-drive coupe.

The feverish acclaim heaped upon the Toyota GT 86/Subaru BRZ surely means other companies want a slice of that potentially burgeoning market. And Nissan would be more keen than most - with the 200SX/Silvia it had the small, fun-to-drive coupe pretty much to itself for years (if you exclude the MR2), but left that particular market segment to lie fallow in the early noughties as it pushed upmarket with the 370Z.

So what chance a re-born 200SX? "If there is a market, we will do it," Nakamura has told Drive. But we'll probably have to wait a while yet, given the two-year gap between concept and reality for the Toyota GT 86. Although if that car and its Subaru sister sell as well as seems likely you can be pretty sure that Nissan's big cheeses will be shuffling the idea of a small RWD coupe much further up their list of priorites...

[Codswallop]

Now that sounds like good news Hopefully the affordable sport coupe market will make a strong return to 90's style levels soon.

Oh, and I love the optimism in the article over the success of the Toybaru. One can only hope it sells well

[Captain Muppet]

If they bring out a new one then maybe the secondhand prices of S15s will fall a bit.

I didn't understand why they didn't sell the S15 in the UK, I can't believe it wouldn't have sold well.

[S2000Etype]

I hope it's called 200Z rather than 200SX. The Z name carries far more Kudos. It will need to have more crispnes to it's handling than the 350 or 370 though. They are a bit too TVR for most.

[93Jay]

Captain Muppet said:

If they bring out a new one then maybe the secondhand prices of S15s will fall a bit.

I didn't understand why they didn't sell the S15 in the UK, I can't believe it wouldn't have sold well.

Amazing looking thing isn't it.

[Johnspex]

I hope they put decent seats in it. I had 2 200SX's and they nearly crippled me. In fact I couldn't believe I'd forgotten how bad the first one was when I bought the second one. Great cars apart from the fact that I couldn't stand up straight when I got out.

[ikarl]

Johnspex said:

I hope they put decent seats in it. I had 2 200SX's and they nearly crippled me. In fact I couldn't believe I'd forgotten how bad the first one was when I bought the second one. Great cars apart from the fact that I couldn't stand up straight when I got out.

MTFU

[Crow555]

S2000Etype said:

I hope it's called 200Z rather than 200SX. The Z name carries far more Kudos. It will need to have more crispnes to it's handling than the 350 or 370 though. They are a bit too TVR for most.

I always thought that's how they distinguished the smaller and larger coupes. S for the smaller sports cars (e.g. 180sx, 200sx) and Z for the larger GTs. (e.g. 300ZX, 350Z)

I am quite excited by this. The S15 Spec-R Aero is such a beautiful car but it was never sold here. I can only hope Nissan plug ahead with this.

[XitUp]

Interesting. My first car was an S13. Will keep an eye on how this goes.

Do Nissan make a decent 2.0 I4 anymore or would they pinch one from Renaultsport?

[Captain Muppet]

Johnspex said:

I hope they put decent seats in it. I had 2 200SX's and they nearly crippled me. In fact I couldn't believe I'd forgotten how bad the first one was when I bought the second one. Great cars apart from the fact that I couldn't stand up straight when I got out.

Mine was never working for long enough for me to develop back ache.

Never buy a cheap S13 as it will be broken in significant and expensive ways.

[Vilhelm]

XitUp said:

Do Nissan make a decent 2.0 I4 anymore or would they pinch one from Renaultsport?

I wouldn't complain if it got the engine from the Megane 265.

[Dave Hedgehog]

great news

always like the 200SX, a GT86 but with some power, whats not to like

[Riggers]

Vilhelm said:

XitUp said:

Do Nissan make a decent 2.0 I4 anymore or would they pinch one from Renaultsport?

I wouldn't complain if it got the engine from the Megane 265.

Or even the NA 2.0 from the Clio...

[Captain Muppet]

Dave Hedgehog said:

great news

always like the 200SX, a GT86 but with some power, whats not to like

You know the 200SX only had 200bhp, right?

[kambites]

Dave Hedgehog said:

great news

always like the 200SX, a GT86 but with some power, whats not to like

Um... doesn't it have exactly the same power output but with a nasty laggy turbo in the way? No thanks.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Captain Muppet said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

great news

always like the 200SX, a GT86 but with some power, whats not to like

You know the 200SX only had 200bhp, right?

20 odd years ago so 300bhp now?

[TheRoadWarrior]

ikarl said:

Johnspex said:

I hope they put decent seats in it. I had 2 200SX's and they nearly crippled me. In fact I couldn't believe I'd forgotten how bad the first one was when I bought the second one. Great cars apart from the fact that I couldn't stand up straight when I got out.

MTFU

Fit this.

[Captain Muppet]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Captain Muppet said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

great news

always like the 200SX, a GT86 but with some power, whats not to like

You know the 200SX only had 200bhp, right?

20 odd years ago so 300bhp now?

BHP doesn't improve with age, like wine.

You're not an engineer are you?

[cocopop]

Excellent news!

Always loved the S14 and S15, very nearly bought one a few times.

[XitUp]

Keep it light and with the engine from a Clio 200 it could be a hoot.

[elementad]

S2000Etype said:

I hope it's called 200Z rather than 200SX. The Z name carries far more Kudos. It will need to have more crispnes to it's handling than the 350 or 370 though. They are a bit too TVR for most.

That's bullst mate. I only sold my S2000 last July that I had for best part if half a decade and now drive 370z. People who think they don't handle are repeating hearsay. Heavier car due to engine yes, bad handling, no way. Read any dedicated 370 review and you won't find one that says otherwise - or have you?