how environmentally insensitive they are. i thought only those big bad american companies destroy the environment with their high powered hogs. what gives.

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Sounds good. Now if they would only make it easier to get a Skyline here in the states I would be good to go.

And I hope they give it a better body than the G35 shown in the image...

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I doubt that will be what the final version of the Skyline looks like. The front lip doesn't line up at all with the side skirts. My guess is that it's a test mule with the underlying mechanicals in place but the body not totally finalized.

It will be available here in the States as well from what I've read.

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And I hope they give it a better body than the G35 shown in the image...

Unfortunately, the Skyline in Japan has the same body style as the current US G35

http://www2.nissan.co.jp/SKYLINE/top.html

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#1 : the difference is that most European and Japanese drive fiel efficient cars. As surprising as it might sound, most Europeans don't drive Porsche Turbo on their way to work.

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I can't wait for the new Skyline. As much as I wish we could see a body style more akin to the R34, I know we won't. So, as someone that loves the G35, I can't wait to see a more badass version. This is a car I would dream of owning. I think the final version will be differently styled than this development mule, but no matter what it will be an elite car. Glad to see Lexus getting into the game, will keep things interesting and will hopefully push Toyota to make the new Supra a worthy competitor.

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So the Nissan Skyline will the exact same car as the Infinit G35 Coupe?

Come onnn....Nissan. If you're making a new Skyline, make it look like the old one.

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FYI: not "will be" or "same as"... the G35 IS the Skyline. Start your reasoning at that point.

I can see how some confusion can be started when the orig. post doesn't refer to the monster all-wheel drive, turbo version as a Skyline GT-R, but just as a Skyline. That's incorrect. That's kinda like calling the 4-cyl 1981 Mustang the V-8 Mustang GT version. Same model lineup, but worlds apart in trim/specs level.

In Japan, the Skyline is their all-purpose mid-sized sedan/coupe model. They come with various levels of trim: i.e. four doors and a normal 6-cyl., 2 door version of the same, "plain" Skyline, a sportier version of both the 2 & 4 dr. with a turbo... and the top of the line, technological showcase we all know as the Skyline GT-R. I may easily have missed some in between the pedestrian sedan and the GT-R.

That said, yeah, I miss the old R34 look, but they're not going backwards with their styling, so the current look is it. I'm sure that the GT-R variant will have a more muscular body to go with the capabilities, just like the R34 Skyline was bad*** looking compared to the other Skylines.

It's just a matter of what they'll call it in the States... will it be a G35 GT-R, a G35 Skyline GT-R, etc. Or will they just call it an Infiniti GT-R, because it's sufficiently different from the regular G35's... kinda like Porsche did with the 911/930 designations?

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Who cares. They will both probably weigh close to 4000lbs. If car companies spent as many resources trying to make cars lighter, we wouldn't need V8s and we would get way better mileage.

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Nice to see that Lexus may be making a car that might actually be somewhat exciting, maybe. I'm more excited about the Infiniti news. I love the G35 coupe, so a Skyline GT-R could be pretty awesome.

generally speaking...

lighter cars == less safe/crashworthy cars

Plus less of other options and amenities (remember, these are luxury vehicles too). So unless everyone is ready to pay for all titanium, aluminum, and carbon fiber components while wearing helmets and HANS devices with their 5 point harnesses, a lot of the weight is here to stay. So more weight requires more power to get it to move quickly. Not that more power is often a bad thing, even with lighter cars...the speed of light is a long way off.

Would I like to see more vehicles like the Lotus Elise and Ariel Atom type on our roads? Most definitely, but that isn't likely to happen with the current vehicle mix on our roads.

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Thanks for the info, edwoodca. I gotta get GT4 to update my Japanese car knowedlge.

Will the 'Skyline' be under the Nissan brand in the US/Canada market? If yes, how will be positioned against the 350Z?

Frankly, I want Nissan to manufacture a successor to the 300ZX. And by that I mean in terms of looks. I find the 350Z bulky. The Mazda RX-8 in comparison looks like a missile in GT form.

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Heres just kind of a wierd coincidence...

As stated by edwoodca the current G35 is the American equivalent of the J-Spec Skyline. Well as far as skyline GT-R's are concerned the last few have been R-32, R-33, and R-34, so it is quite surmisable the next one will be the R-35 which lines up numerically with the G-35 sold here in the states...

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Don't get me wrong, the G35 looks nice but I want the Skyline to keep the sports car look that it has. The G35 has too much of the luxury feel to it - I suppose I am biased from their prevalence here in the states...

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They have hinted that the US GT-R would be a Nissan but this article suggests they are still undecided:

http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=52050

Also saw: http://www.7tune.com/gtr001.html

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nezromatron,

A lot of weight in current cars is due to government mandated/ safety nazi "features." Things like multiple airbags(which are relatively worthless), side-impact beams(good), 5-mph bumpers(fair), and large crumple zones(very good), etc. all add weight and reduce useable space. Not to mention increase cost. Compare a car from 1985 to a current one. The new one has doors that are about 2-3 inches thicker and a much larger and deeper dash. Throw in consumer demands like fat rubber(those dubs/tires aren't lightweight), power everything, and a groundshaking stereo with 20lbs. of lcd screens, and you get more weight. Besides, cars have to be bigger now since most of America eats too many happy meals... ;)

Now back to the topic.... Funny how American car companies that invented the muscle car concept of dropping a big engine into a small/midsize car are now getting schooled by the Europeans and Japanese. Then again, that could be said of the car industry in general...

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Killer links "the dude"... thanks. All we can do is wait for Nissan to decide, then we'll finally know if it'll be a Nissan or Infiniti.

As far as positoining vs. the 350Z... all we've ever known in the U.S. is the [Fairlady] Z, which began as a true sports car, then got heavy as a GT with both versions of the 300ZX, only to return [hurrah!] to being a sports car [350Z]. I imagine they'll position it like they do in Japan: The Z is their sports car... the GT-R is their performance & technological flagship [aka: supercar]. And pricing has always matched. According to one of the articles the dude posted, they were selling the killer GT-R's of the late 80's/early 90's at a huge loss. In the $40-50k range with a prod. cost over $100k! With the current Z and G35's going in the $30k+ range, the GT-R would be hard pressed to come in at under $50k. Could be much, much higher.

The GT-R's looks are, as we all know, subjective. Many of us love the older styles, 'cause that's what we first became aware of. People that have never seen the older ones might think that they look too "80's" or too boy-racer, preferring the newer sleekness.

As for the 350Z, it's a bit chunky, but that's cause it's smaller than the wide & fairly heavy 300ZX it replaced, 'cause they were returning to the Z's roots. [It's still a beautiful car though... that 300ZX.]

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1.
Tree Huggers, why do they even come to automotive sites and try to sell Green Peace crap. We're here to talk about cars not to hear your crying of how muscle cars are destroying the Earth.

Anyway enjoy the muscle while it's here before we get swamped with tree hugger cars.

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MikeUF

I think is more coincidental than anything else.
The old Skylines were denoted R32, R33, R34 becuase that was their chassis code.

The current Skyline (G35 in the US) has a chassis code of V35.

The G35 name in the US has more to do with the motor displacement than the chassis code

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as I said...wierd coincidence...

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There has been a long debate on 350Z boards as to whether the GT-R is going to be badged as a Nissan or Infiniti. The main arguments focus on keeping the heritage of the (Skyline) GT-R with Nissan, while the counter is whether the level of Nissan dealership service is going to satisfy owners of a 50k+ car. Having owned several Z's including my current '03 350Z, I wouldn't trust a Nissan dealership with that nice and costly of a vehicle. And just to clarify currently the G35 is sold as the Skyline in Japan. What we are talking about is the GT-R, not the Skyline (at least going forward that is how Nissan has positioned it).

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