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Peter Lyon18 Dec 2014
NEWS

Nissan's born-again 200SX takes shape

Striking IDx compact rear-drive concept to morph into 200SX successor within two years

Nissan’s planned successor for the popular rear-wheel drive turbo 200SX (Silvia) coupe first debuted at the 2005 Tokyo motor show and was on the verge of production in mid-2008.

But like several other high-profile Japanese sports cars, including the V10-powered Honda NSX, the Foria project stalled soon after the global financial crisis hit in September of that year.

Boasting a new FR-L platform, the Foria was a V6-powered rear-drive sports car employing Mazda RX-8-style suicide doors, short overhangs and a long nose. Rumours of that project being resurrected have been swirling around for several years.

Now, however, nearly 10 years after the Foria concept suggested a new direction for Nissan’s mid-size sports coupe, comes further evidence that Nissan's striking IDx concept will pick up where the Foria – and the 200SX — left off.

Latest word from our sources is that the retro-styled 2013 Tokyo show concept has been remolded into a next-generation 200SX coupe and that the rear-drive platform will cater for supercharged 1.2-litre and turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder powertrains.

That information falls in line with the specifications of the IDx concept and will make the compact rear-drive Nissan coupe both a direct rival for Toyota's 86 sports coupe and a smaller sibling for Nissan's next-generation Z sportster .

The larger engine is likely to offer closer to the 86's 147kW than the concept's 110kW and, crucially, both engine variations will not get Nissan’s standard CVT auto but rather a six-speed torque-converter automatic transmission with close ratios – as well as a manual.

Heavily pushed by former product chief (and now Aston Martin CEO) Andy Palmer, the IDx was originally conceived as a turbocharged 1.6-litre coupe for Generation Y in the US and Japan. Since the IDx appeared, Nissan bosses have had a rethink and decided the car should also be available in Asia, Europe and Australia.

Despite critical acclaim of the IDx, they have also ordered a redesign of the compact coupe to bring it more in line with the new Maxima-previewing Sports Sedan concept, as indicated by this artist's impression.

According to our insider, the revised and restyled 'IDx Version II' concept that will morph into Nissan's belated 200SX successor will appear at next year's Tokyo show looking a lot like the new rendering seen here.

Palmer considered Nissan’s own FR-L platform — a rear-drive architecture used only for the 370Z – too good not to leverage further. Future Infiniti models will be based on a Mercedes-Benz platform and we expect the reborn 'Datsun 1600' to employ MacPherson struts at the front and double wishbones at the rear – both allowing a wide range of geometry configurations for motorsport fans.

As suggested at the 2013 Tokyo show, a more potent NISMO version is also expected to appear – within about six months of the base model, which is expected to lob in showrooms with a sticker price of around $30,000 by the end of 2017.

image: Holiday Auto

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Written byPeter Lyon
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