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Originally Posted by SteVTEC
^ Well even if they get rid of theirs also, I think it's more to do with the continual game of one-upsmanship and marketing stance than anything else.
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There's some of that going on of course, but some of the change is due to the effects of new emissions and fuel efficiency regulations.
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Infiniti has no forced induction motors at the moment, and their 2.5L V6 in the G25 is said to be pretty refined and smooth and has a nice note.
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True, at least in the US (and maybe elsewhere too, if we exclude diesels) but Nissan does have both turbocharged I4 and V6 gasoline engines. I suspect they will increase the us of these globally throughout this decade.
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I don't think it's likely that Honda/Acura is going to do away with NA powertrains, but it's a shame their entire product lineup is a snoozer at this point. Lexus pretty much all bore me but no turbo powertrains there either. So I think the 'NA torch' will continue, just a question of who will carry it, and if they'll manage to build anything worth buying.
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Yes, and I think it is significant that the number of "interesting" naturally aspirated motors is dwindling. The reality is, it is becoming more difficult to make sporty cars with high revving or large displacement motors. Ironically, GM, Ford and Xler may be the ones who carry the torch for the longest. All of them still make (and apparently plan to continue making) high power V6 and V8 engines without forced induction. Though I suppose it is perhaps not so ironic when you consider they need to keep refining these engines for truck duty. But we'll see how Ford's EcoBoost F150 does. If they can win over the customer base, they may begin to de-emphasize their V8 offerings later in the decade with the next generation of the truck.