All the sports activities automotive prime canines are being made into rally vehicles. Lamborghini has the Huracan Sterrato, Porsche has the 911 Dakar — all of the cool youngsters are doing it. So why shouldn’t Nissan, with its rally heritage and shiny new sports activities automotive, do the identical?
The firm tried this final yr, incomprehensibly utilizing a Juke as the bottom automotive moderately than a Z, however now that unsuitable has lastly been righted. The SEMA particular Safari Rally Z Tribute is right here, and I wish to buy one proper now instantly.
The fashionable rally Z is lifted two inches on KW suspension, making room for NISMO Safari wheels and dirt-ready tires. It’s acquired entrance bumper safety, a skid plate, rally lights, a roll bar, and the seats have been swapped out for harness-capable Recaros.
Mechanically, the Z appears largely inventory, although it’s acquired the usual bolt-ons-and-a-tune therapy acquainted to anybody who’s acquired a signing bonus of their life. A NISMO catback right here, a chilly air consumption there, a flowery clutch and new maps from AMS — it might not sound like a lot, however there’s solely a lot energy you possibly can put into grime.
What intrigues me most about this Z idea, although, is the identify of the wheels: “Prototype NISMO Safari.” If NISMO is prototyping safari wheels, it appears like Nissan might at the least have some curiosity in producing safari wheels? If that’s inside the realm of consideration, why not make factory-stock safari Zs? If Lamborghini and Porsche can do it, why not Nissan?
Please, Nissan, construct these vehicles as inventory. Make a manufacturing unit offroad bundle for the Z, with all of the NISMO goodies and guarantee backing that solely you possibly can supply. The market is there, the fashion is beautiful. I’ll take mine in that basic Datsun orange.
Source: jalopnik.com