Next Golden age?
 

During the 90s and early 00s, we were getting a bunch of sick cars from Asia. Nissan had the GTR and Z, Honda/Acura with the NSX and s2k, Mazda with the RX7 and Toyota with the Supra and MR2.

With the BRZ/FRS being huge hits, do you think Honda, Nissan and Mazda will step their game up and make another golden age of imports?

It seems like it's coming nissan and Kia are making frs competitors just have to wait and see on the rest


DatMarineKid

Golden age sounds like this.

probably not. power is too cheap and shedding weight isnt. i feel like the frs is the beginning of what happened to computers. there used to just be desktops and laptops. now there are a hundred different categories from desktop all the way down to smartphones. hopefully more choices but not so much direct competition.

I don't know if I'd consider the NSX as a sick car, so much as a supercar wannabe haha Sounded nice, though.

I agree, the best cars have been made in the 90s.

I was thinking about this just yesterday but my thoughts were slightly different. I remember going to auto shows when I was younger and just DROOLING over the dream of owning any of the following (in no particular order):

3000GT Spyder VR4
300ZX TT
MR2 Turbo SW20
Supra TT (1997 Anniversary edition of course)
Eclipse GS-X
Mazda RX-7

Now I wonder if the young kids of todays generation realistically look at the FRS/BRZ as their dream car that they will buy used as soon as they get their license.

And then I went on to think that my beloved BRZ will get in the hands of a 17/yo who wraps it around a tree after I've been so nice to it since day 1.

It's already happening. Genesis Coupe is in the same price range, albeit being a much heavier, larger car. Nissan has confirmed a spiritual 240Z revival, possibly hearkening back to the original Datsun 240Z (affordable sports car). The Miata has become too expensive for what it is in my opinion, and the RX7/RX8 have been out of the picture for quite some time, but I would like them to try a non-rotary sports car for a change. They're fun cars, but in a world where people want reliability and good mileage, they have no place.

It would be amazing to see a new era of sports car revival, where the focus is on the driving experience rather than power. Let's hope that time comes soon :)

Not gonna happen. Unless we're talking premium segment in the current $50k+ range.
One must understand that in the 80s-90s there was a large and pretty prosperous middle-class of baby-boomers that could afford a fun car. Not any more and I expect this to remain a niche car, with at most/best one other manufacturer offering something comparable in spirit.

Also remember that those 90's cars were already getting fat. The Z was no lightweight anymore by the end of its days, neither was the supra. The 3kgt spyder weighed just slightly less than a sherman tank.

And the prices swelled with the weights because of the changing exchange rate that priced these cars right out of the market.

I'm just worried that it becomes a race right back to heavy cars as the brands try to compete on power and features. I would expect Nissan to bring a 240sx-ish car back to the market, but I think hyundai/kia will focus on cars with broader appeal and take what they can get from the Gen coupe.

-Justin

I don't think that nissan could reasonably put out another 240sx/silvia style car in a short amount of time

the current rumor is that they are going to build the Z on the same platform it has been on, just with some weight savings techniques.

still, in order to put out a real 240z successor, Nissan needs to build a brand new bespoke chassis that is designed to be light from the ground up.

And why was that? Because consumers demanded all those extra features that were making cars fat. And that happened because a large portion of middle-class was getting older and wanted more creature comforts and such.

I would suspect that they were working on the S16 when they decided to kill off the chassis (probably because they figured they had it covered between the G35 and Z).

-Justin

Actual consumers didn't demand them - focus groups did.

Focus group testing would also show that nobody in North America would ever pay $25k+ for a poorly-equipped car with no rear leg space and barely enough room for a couple's groceries in the trunk.... yet here we are, happy 86 owners.

-Justin