Since Toyota was able to come up with a fun, entry-level RWD like the 86, then it probably would not be a problem for Nissan to do the same as well. The chatter of an entry-level RWD is not new for Nissan as well as they did come up with the iDX Concept which garnered a lot of attention. But it seems that any joy regarding this matter is short lived as it is now officially dead.
In an interview with AutoExpress, Nissan Chief Creative Officer Shiro Nakamura said that a rear-wheel drive car would have to be light and small, and that is not something easy for them to achieve. “You need a proper platform, because it has to be light and small and also affordable. In reality that is not easy to find. It also has to be rear-wheel drive – if we make it front-wheel drive it would be cheating. It is expensive and we are struggling.”
While there is an option to adopt the rear-wheel drive platform which will be used by Renault on the first sports car of the revived Alpine, such will not take place as “we are not a mid-engined car company – we don’t have the same heritage as Alpine,” he added.
When the iDX Concept was shown in Tokyo two years ago, a lot of parties were interested and we even heard of plans in having the car to go to the production lines. But it seems like Nissan fans would have to do with the Z sports car and the mighty GT-R as they will remain in the line-up “forever” due to “customer loyalty”.
