# Nissan SHIFT\_Into Gear Experience - Aug. 7th-10th **URL:** \ **Category:** SON240sx Automotive\ **Created:** [July 23, 2008, 9:11am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nissan-shift-into-gear-experience-aug-7th-10th/117195 "2008-07-23T09:11:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 28
**Author:** ![Nissan\_Canada](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex034/user_avatar/forums.speedlife.net/nissan_canada/32/5708_2.png) [@Nissan\_Canada](https://forums.speedlife.net/u/Nissan_Canada)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 8:07am UTC](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nissan-shift-into-gear-experience-aug-7th-10th/117195/28 "2008-08-12T08:07:57Z")
> [@Ticking Noise..](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/ticking-noise/17942/64): > > Thanks for hosting this event. Your staff were very friendly and helpful. Some feedback though… > > I understand the need to keep the event safe and enjoyable for all; however if Nissan wants to market itself to the true enthusiasts; then Nissan should make the event more performance oriented. > > The limitation of keeping the car in 1st gear and no wheel squeeling puts a real damper on the event and does not show what the cars are capable of. I know many who attended that decided not to test drive the cars because of these limitations. > > I would think Nissan wants attendees of the event to say… wow, that Nissan Maxima/350z/SER looks great **BUT** performs _ **exceptionally** _ on the track. > > Take for example the BWM 3-series events a couple of years ago @ Downsview; the course was fun; you were allowed to shift up to 3rd; and push the car. The event was a blast. > > Mini’s event had the same limitations of Nissan’s… leaving people with the same disappointed feeling. > > Nissan should do more events like this; especially with the new GTR as the flagship; performance and Nissan should be synonymous. One way to demonstrate this is by people experiencing this at Nissan hosted events. > > Finally there should be sales people around the cars to show the features and answer questions of potential buyers… > > Thanks! > Mitch Thank you for the feedback, it does help. In response to some of your comments though, to help with clarification of the event just passed, the idea was to experience the trill of the cars, not to sell them. Sales staff were not on-site, although invited, for the basic reason that this was not a sales oriented program. Product Knowledge Specialists, specially trained at Nissan Canada were in attendance to answer any and all questions one may have had. However the weather of the weekend definitely put a damper on conveying information regarding the products with individuals such as yourself. The venue locations and driver skill put the program at it’s limits as well. BMW has trained professional drivers in the vehicle with you during the event and their selected venue allow for higher speed driving. Our close proximity to the public, especially towards Toys R Us, put a damper on speed. The sheer number of drives that went through also shows that this type of event, much like that of Mini’s, is hard to tailor towards groups of people. I assure you, we wanted to allow for greater flexibilty in driving as well as higher speeds, but for example, when approximately 20% of those driving this weekend were first time drivers of manual transmission, the last thing we would want is them pushing gears and accelerating to 100+km/h in a public area, especially in the rain. Safety, no matter what event, is the top priority for any manufacturer. As for squeeling tires, well it sure is fun, but in any type of racing, one rule always stands: “Smooth is fast”. 😉 Thank you once again for your comments. They go along way towards further development of such programs! --- _[View the full topic](https://forums.speedlife.net/t/nissan-shift-into-gear-experience-aug-7th-10th/117195)._