Nissan is readying a small, rear-wheel drive replacement for the 240SX, but a new report indicates the new sports car could be just as green as it is fun to drive. Nissan officials are reportedly strongly considering a gasoline-hybrid powertrain for the next Silvia.
According to an interview with Australia’s Drive.com, Junichi Endo, Nissan’s senior vice president of global marketing, says the car has a “50-50″ shot of being produced with a hybrid powertrain.
“A front-engine, rear-drive may appeal still … but it’s important it is still fun to drive. Ideally we would try to hit both fuel economy and driving pleasure,” he said.
The decisions will hinge on whether Nissan thinks it can market a hybrid as a true sports car. The extra power of an electric motor could actually replace the performance of a turbo, but it remains unclear if Nissan would be able to market the car as both sporty and environmentally friendly. As of now, the two categories are mutually exclusive (see the Honda Accord Hybrid).
If the hybrid powertrain ultimately gets the green light, a pure electric version will likely soon follow. With stricter regulations worldwide, Endo says an electric version would be a natural progression. “In the very short term, probably a hybrid front-engine, rear-wheel drive [sports car] … would be a good candidate. In the mid-term, an electric vehicle is a strong candidate we are looking at,” he told Drive.
Honda has already announced that it will produce a hybrid sports car — the CR-Z — which will largely follow in the footsteps of the well-loved CRX .
05/16, 2:35 PM
posted by:
441Zuke
thats awesome i’d buy that in a heart beat it is a hybrid car with soul power
05/16, 2:38 PM
posted by:
christianboy10
Nissan is moving in the right direction
05/16, 2:38 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
I wouldn’t buy it if it looks anything like that **** in the pic … or if it follows the design theme of late with those wacky headlights.
05/16, 2:46 PM
posted by:
kagon
of course its ugly, did you forget the unspoken law of the automobile world, if its a hybrid, it must be ugly.
05/16, 2:59 PM
posted by:
golf4me
I can’t stop laughing…
05/16, 3:14 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Somebody had to take a shot at this. I’d laugh too golf4me but this is probably where it’s all headed in the next 10 years or so.
05/16, 3:22 PM
posted by:
xyunya
I think it will drive well, sell well and Ghosn is laughing looking at Volt all the way to the bank.
05/16, 3:26 PM
posted by:
G
Why would they dump the turbos to make it a hybrid? …
Also, wouldn’t making it a hybrid make it heavy as hell? With or without the turbos …
I think an all-electric version would be awesome, if they could solve the technological problem of storage. (and therefore range) If they could get a light, high-capacity storage format going this thing would outperform a lot of cars out there.
05/16, 3:27 PM
posted by:
G
Ghosn is awesome … he’s really pointing Nissan in the right direction … I think Nissan has become by far the most exciting Japanese manufacturer.
05/16, 3:29 PM
posted by:
xyunya
The hybrid will make it heavy is Nissan will use older batteries. Electric motor can provide same benefits as turbo does: jolt of torque when needed without turbo lag. It does not have to be hybrid like Prius, sounds more like Accord hybrid (the one that did not sell).
05/16, 3:36 PM
posted by:
400horseSS
B/c hybrids are bull****.
05/16, 4:23 PM
posted by:
RaineMan
Ewww…
Why make it a hybrid?
You are just adding weight and cost where it doesn’t need to be. The 240 is a pureist car, don’t try to give it a green image.
I properly built and tuned 2.0-2.4L 4-cyl can make over 200hp and still get 30MPG, with or without forced induction.
The $5000 premium that a hybrid car carries over an otherwise identical gasoline only car would buy a lot of gas… even at $5/gal or more.
05/16, 4:36 PM
posted by:
A4
now your car will sound like a blow dryer and weigh 250-350 lbs more than it needs to! all while making it worlds more difficult for tuners to go to town on it! I hate ricers as much as the next guy but this car IS for ricers and drifters and going fast and making it faster.
05/16, 6:57 PM
posted by:
G
Actually when I think about it this makes absolutely no sense. Because … unless I’m mistaken, under performance driving, the batteries go dead pretty quickly in a hybrid. The energy recovered under braking is nowhere near close enough to cover what’s used under hard acceleration …
Meaning this is a totally retarded idea. Just turbo it and let it be!
05/16, 9:14 PM
posted by:
autonut
I think that Renault-Nissan is a global company and will try to build global car. In Europe most of small performance cars are motivated by diesels. Diesels actually started to match gasoline engines in horsepower with huge advantage in torque. But for global car diesel may or may not suffice: diesel is not accepted or certified in US and even less accepted in Japan. Perhaps hybrid is acceptable solution. The car will have torque and speed and above 40-50 mpg. Batteries in hybrid are charged not only during braking but also during cruising and they do not discharge as rapidly when working on concert with gasoline mill. Wight gain may not be drastic: 100-200 lbs.
05/17, 1:01 AM
posted by:
howsmydriving
Anything small and RWD deserves support. Period.
05/17, 3:35 AM
posted by:
acura_el2000
NOOOOOOOO
**** that!
hybrids=added weight
05/17, 2:10 PM
posted by:
olds307
Revive the old 240SX crap? Well, since anything small and RWD deserves support, which I wholeheartedly agree, I’m waiting for a Chevy Vega revival!
05/17, 2:22 PM
posted by:
autonut
I don’t recall anything wrong with 240 except bad handling in snow. It was powerful for it’s day, but all that torque was hard to control in snow and ice even with decent tires ( I recall it had Bridgestones). It was death of a sport coup that killed it along with Toyota Celica, Honda prelude, VW Scirocco. With gas prices up this segment will come back as the outlet of excitement.
05/17, 9:42 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
The 240 was a girl’s car.
05/19, 7:38 AM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
Hardly a girl’s car Implusive… You must be thinking of the 100nx
It did look a bit… wanting… in stock form, but with the right wide bodykit and deep dish rims (there’s one that comes to my street frequently and it’s awesome with that getup) it looks the mutts nuts.
Still, it was a good car which was of course terrible in snow being RWD…
05/19, 12:49 PM
posted by:
RaineMan
I don’t know of any RWD car that was good in the snow on stock tires.
Get snow tires or stay home.
05/19, 1:05 PM
posted by:
Impulsive
‘Johnny’, you’re nuts … it was a weak, second rate (to the REAL man’s 300ZX) car … looked unbalanced with a super long hood (a la old 240Z). No question it was a girl’s car.