Toyota Aurion V6

[turbomuz]

I think there are some statements here that stretch the bounds of sensibility.

For example:

To say that FWD is not suited to Australian conditions? What exactly are these conditions? Corners perhaps.

To link participation and success in V8 Supercars to a cars success on the showroom floor is reaching. Ford has won the last three championships but still can't get within cooee of the Commodore. Back in the early 90's the R32 GTR flogged all others but Nissan struggled to sell 110 of them! Sales of the top four cars in Australia is because of fleet purchases not the discerning private buyer.

To criticise a regular FWD car such as this or Maxima for just smoking it up when you plant the accelerator is a bit harsh. They are not designed or marketed with this intent - they are family orientated semi-luxury vehicles. If they suggest they are a performance car then that's a different story - I agree that a FWD 250kW version will not be a performance match for a XR or SS. FWD can't put that power to the road effectively. It will need AWD which will then add about 130kg to it.

[harvyk]

I think there are some statements here that stretch the bounds of sensibility.

For example:

To say that FWD is not suited to Australian conditions?  What exactly are these conditions?  Corners perhaps.

To link participation and success in V8 Supercars to a cars success on the showroom floor is reaching.  Ford has won the last three championships but still can't get within cooee of the Commodore.  Back in the early 90's the R32 GTR flogged all others but Nissan struggled to sell 110 of them!  Sales of the top four cars in Australia is because of fleet purchases not the discerning private buyer.

To criticise a regular FWD car such as this or Maxima for just smoking it up when you plant the accelerator is a bit harsh.  They are not designed or marketed with this intent - they are family orientated semi-luxury vehicles.  If they suggest they are a performance car then that's a different story - I agree that a FWD 250kW version will not be a performance match for a XR or SS.  FWD can't put that power to the road effectively.  It will need AWD which will then add about 130kg to it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

FWD is something that is usually accepted on a smaller car, but not in the large car market, whilst you can certainly drive a FWD in aust quite nicely your going to have far greater problems selling it because of the mindset of people (your witnessing it here on the forum now).

Also IMHO for a car to be successful in the market they need to “clone” either Ford or Holden, and that includes the marketing and the fleet sales options (make them seriously attractive to fleet buyers)

As for the V8’s whilst most (normal) people love them, they will not necessarily go out and buy a Ford or Holden, (or any other car in the series) but that could be because that style of car doesn’t suit them or their work… (Eg a lot of good a Falcon or Late model camira will do you if you have to move around a family of say 4 kids and 2 parents without serious mods) But it certainly doesn’t hurt their sales by been in the comp, and ultimately it’s not that expensive advertising in the scheme of things (especially if they manage to get a couple of private teams in there as well)

[cobrav8]

FWD V8 large saloons sell in huge numbers in the states. So... the market is probably there in Aus as well. Joe public seem to like cheap, safe cars, and for most people FWD is safer as they are more predictable for someone with reactions of a slug.

Performance drivers will get more out of a rwd car, and enjoy the balance given by allowing all 4 wheels to have a share of the steering/power delivery. However... AWD is better again - and I have been impressed in AWD bigger saloons with the extra grip.

A 250kw large saloon with AWD, done in the right way could slaughter the XRs and SSs in sales.

[loopism]

Back in the early 90's the R32 GTR flogged all others but Nissan struggled to sell 110 of them! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's because they were nearly 90 gorillas!