aexis

Think so considering the current GTR is 85k+

Boomer-Bob

iTrader: (1)

^IMHO they are two different cars, at to very different performance points, even if the G had ~400 RWHP. Not to mention, price points. I also believe that as competition steps up their game, you need to do the same or fall out of the running.

tokyo_gaijin

I am just curious what is the difference between IPL and Nismo?

JohnEnglish

Nismo offers aftermarket parts for Nissan badged vehicles and IPL offers "factory tuned" Infiniti badged vehicles.

I assume that somewhere down the road that IPL will eventually offer "complete" cars like M and AMG but that remains to be seen. Nismo will almost certainly be limited to aftermarket parts.

LudwigB

I have one word: Mustang GT.

JohnEnglish

True, but in reality I doubt very many people will cross shop the Mustang GT and the M3.

I would rephrase the original statement to say "It takes time to create a vehicle and brand that people will cross shop with the M3."

aexis

Ya there are not too many "luxury sport coupes" that people cross shop with the M3. the amg and F sport are not even coupes even though they have the power. The Shelby GT and corvette are more like pure performance cars. Off the top of my head the real luxury sport coupes the M3 competes against are the RS5 and CTSV. Even a similarly priced porsche ( cayman S) is not really the same class or power as a M3. Then there are the price differences as well, the GTR really isn't cross shopped with the M3 at least on price.

Making a 60-70k luxury sport coupe "discounted supercar" with over 400hp and in the price range is hard to perfect. If Infiniti did make a M3 competitor for 5-10k less and making 400hp it would be a really interesting marketplace consideration!

JohnEnglish

If you're looking at the M3 sedan, things are a little different. You have the C63, IS-F, CTS-V, and RS4. If you go a step up you have the E63, M5 and XF-R.

Of course there's also the M6 which is more of a "luxury sport GT".

The compact luxury sport sedan and mid-size luxury sport sedan seem to be much different market places than the luxury sport coupe market.

RISKY GUY

iTrader: (9)

I think they would, 56k is not a new gt-r has a msrp of 80k.
400+hp isn't what it used to be, a gt-r has 479hp / 434tq (closer to 500hp)
I think it has alot more & is underated.
Plus the gt-r's are alot more for insurance/maintinence.
Probably why it's a 4 seater.

LudwigB

That's true but the current IPL G37 is just so off the mark that it would make much more sense to buy a slightly used M3 for around 50K or less which is about how much a brand new IPL G37 would cost. Think about it. A regular 335i would out perform an IPL G37 for the same price or even less.
I also agree that there are not too many people cross-shopping between the M3 and Mustang but I think there are guys who are thinking very hard to justify paying a 30K premium for the same track performance.
I recently test drove a base V6 Mustang auto and I wouldn't personally trade my G35 for it. The car just lacks precision and proper sport car feel. But it was a base V6 and I'll hold my judgment until I get to drive a V8 with sport suspension package. Most people over at the Mustang forum have said the two are completely different.

NYCMaxima

What I like about Mercedes and BMW is, that they only have certian engines that go into their performance cars, and certain engines that go into their regular cars. Mercedes only puts the 6.3 in it's AMG's and BMW only puts the M-Power engines into the m5, m6 and m3. What im trying to say is, that when the time comes for Infiniti to compete with them(Obviuosly not right now), they should come out with a new engine series JUST for the IPL cars.

JohnEnglish

This is only a recent development though. Traditionally AMG and M used specially modified versions of regular production engines. AMG's 6.3 was the first engine designed by AMG specifically for use in AMG cars. BMW started doing this in 2005 with the V10 for the M5 and continued with the new V8 for the M3.

NYCMaxima

You are def right about that, but this is what makes a good perfromance car nowadays that Infiniti hopes to compete against. IMO a company can't take the same engine that is offered in a normal car like the g37 and throw it in a car that is supposed to be a performance line vehicle. Again Im not criticizing, I think for one that Infiniti is definitley off on the right foot, trying to feel out the market and how they would do, but I think that in a few years, they will have to create an IPL line engine, specifically designated for IPL cars if they want to be taken seriously.

G-Spot37s

iTrader: (1)

The Audi S5 is a close competitor in the 50k something range.