Sens4Miles

Nissan Resurrecting the 200SX Sports Coupe - As a Hybrid

Hot on the heels of Nissan's promise to bring an electric vehicle to America by 2010 comes word that it's considering bringing back the 200SX - as a hybrid.

The 200SX - known to the rest of the world as the Silvia - is a tuner favorite and one of the most popular cars Nissan's built in recent years. American buyers got a tame version of the car, but the rest of the world could buy a rip-snorting 250 horsepower model (pictured) with a turbocharged 2-liter engine. Nissan discontinued the Silvia in 2003 as it consolidated its vehicle platforms.

But with gas prices going through the roof, hybrid sales up 38 percent last year and Nissan's competitors developing hybrid sports cars, the automaker is taking a good long look at building a hybrid sports-coupe and says the Silvia is a logical choice.

People are more sensitive to fuel efficiency," Junichi Endo, the company's senior vice president of global marketing, told Australia's Drive.com. "A front-engine, rear-drive may appeal still ... but it's important that it is still fun to drive. Ideally, we would try to hit both fuel economy and driving pleasure."

Endo says Nissan is considering a gas-electric sports car and the chances it will build one are "50-50." The decision will "all depend on marketability" and whether buyers would accept a hybrid performance car.

Nissan's Japanese competitirs are betting they will. As we told you a few months ago, Honda is planning to offer the CR-Z hybrid, the spiritual successor to the venerable CRX, in Europe by 2010. And Toyota's got the sexy FT-HS hybrid sports car concept, which is rumored to be coming sometime next year.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/nissan-resurrec.html

kRonX

iTrader: (1)

At first I thought it was talking about the old American 200sx or Sentra, but its the Silvia. That car is one of the best compact RWD out there. I was surprised they stop sending them here after 98. Now if it is coming out only as a hybrid, I don't think it will fare well with the enthusiast crowd. But if that is the only choice, I'd probably still rock one. It just looks so nice.