[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by BlkGS

Disagree. A lot of it is brand image, which is just marketing. Look at what crazy prices people pay for new 911s, or Maseratis, etc. They're selling a brand even more than the product. Porsche has a good product too, but not anything better than a multitude of cars at the same or lower price points. They've just continued to offer a few things nobody else will (namely a manual transmission). And then they have brand obsessed people blather on about the engineering, the heritage, the refinement, etc. They're good cars, but not 2-3x as good as their competitors as they're priced at.

Porsche literally has no competitors, the product is oustanding and to find better you're double the price to exotics. Maserati proves my point, product is poor and they are struggling.

Yes marketing plays a role but it's product, product, product.

[BlkGS]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

Porsche literally has no competitors, the product is oustanding and to find better you're double the price to exotics. Maserati proves my point, product is poor and they are struggling.

Yes marketing plays a role but it's product, product, product.

Arguably Porsche has had many competitors. Mustangs, AMG GT now, M4, Camaro, M8, whatever MB is selling,... And literally every 2 seat sports car because honestly that back seat is not that useful

People buy the Porsche 911 over those other cars because of the brand marketing. Because every journalist on the planet wants a shot to buy a GT product from them to flip so they say no e things about every product they sell. Even even fish about the 996 which frankly, wasn't very good in any way.

[SteVTEC]

Originally Posted by XutvJet

It's really sad what has happened to Nissan. They were the poop from the 1970s to early 2000s. They were only Japanese automaker that injected performance and style into their models and they were reliable. The Z32 300ZX is TIMELESS. The 3rd gen Maxima 1989-1994 was fabulous, especially the 1992-1994 SE 5MT. Then there was the 1990s S240 SXs, the Hard Body trucks, the Pathfinders, and those dead sexy 1st gen Zs.

I was a Nissan/Infiniti lover from 1999 to 2012. I had a 1995 Maxima SE 5MT and then a 2003 Infiniti G35 sedan auto. I modded, drag raced, and auto-x those cars extensively (don't laugh hehe). That VQ30 in the Maxima was a jewel and felt very much like a BMW inline 6. It was super smooth and the induction noise was impressive. I added a variable intake manifold from the Middle East/European models which allowed that VQ breath above 5600rpms and greatly increase top end power. With an ECU flash to increase the rev limiter, that thing gained 30whp/20wtq and revved to 7200rpms. That car went 13.9s@102mph with just an ECU flash, pre-cats removed, and the fancy intake manifold. Back in the early 2000s, that was kinda quick for a V6 sedan. In stock form, the car went 15.0@95mph. That car had over 140 1/4 mile passes and 110K miles and it still had the original clutch even with 5000rpms clutch slip launches!?!?!?

I then got my G35 and thing was freaking awesome too. I focused more on suspension on that car and swapped over many 350Z parts and did some minor exhaust mods and an intake manifold plenum spacer. That car ran 14.0s@100mph with hardly any mods. It was also surprisingly good in auto-x for a midsize sedan. The VQ35 in that car was great too, but wasn't remotely as smooth as that stellar VQ30.

Both of those cars were extremely reliable.

After the 1st gen G35s, Nissan/Infiniti really went downhill which is so sad. I thought they really were going to become the BMW of Japan with the intro for the FM chassis but they didn't make improvements and really struggled with the adoption of tech and reliability plummeted. They started marketing to lower income people and their quality slide as a result. I think the initial nail in the coffin was the financial crisis of 2008.

I remember the MEVI! You must have been on Maxima.org.

I had a 99 SE 5-speed but didn't do much with it other than drive it a ton. Yeah a bunch of guys got those, and it really opened up the top-end of the 1st gen VQ30DE. I agree that specifically the original 3.0L engines, both the DE and the DE-K 5th gen variants, were gems. So smooth and refined, and such great torque characteristics and throttle response.

[Equilibrandt]

Also looks like Nissan may be acquired by Honda.

That'd be fun for the GTR.