Since 2017, Kawasaki launched the Z900-RS inspired by the Z1, this retro style street car quickly surpassed Honda and became the king of retro street car sales, and then, Kawasaki also released the Z650-RS, but there is still a lack of a retro model in the face of the Japanese ** displacement 400 market.
Recently, it was rumored that Kawasaki is developing a four-cylinder 400cc retro street car. The car will be based on the engine of Kawasaki's four-cylinder imitation ZX-4R, which was launched last year, and will be tentatively named the "Z400-RS".
Imagination of Japanese young-machine**.
According to recollection, this is not the first time that there have been rumors about Kawasaki launching a retro street car with a small and medium displacement. It was originally in 2021 when Kawasaki released a 16-second short film. Since the model was not shown in the film, it was speculated at the time that it might be based on the Z400 with a twin-cylinder platform and named the Z400-RS. But it was the Z650-RS that was finally released.
Kawasaki Z650-RS
Entering 2022 and 2023, such rumors continue to appear, and it seems that the love for the Z-RS among Japanese fans is very high. One reason for this may be that many Japanese fans have a deep affection for the Kawasaki Z1, especially the Kawasaki Zephyr series.
Kawasaki Z1
Kawasaki Westwind. Although there is a 70% chance that it will be launched in the fall of 2024, Kawasaki's Z-RS retro series already has two models, the Z650-RS and Z900-RS, both of which use street car engines.
But the new car is rumored to be based on the ZX-4, a replica racing model, a performance engine with ramjet intake, and it is a new attempt to use it directly on retro street cars. In terms of performance, it has surpassed the Z650RS.
If Kawasaki wanted this kind of performance retro street car, they could have used the ZX-6R's engine to launch a retro model, or even a ZX-25R, long before they introduced the Z6-RS.
Kawasaki ZX-4RR
Therefore, the author believes that until Kawasaki does not introduce a street car version based on the ZX-400R engine, the chances of the Z400-RS are still low. At present, the 400cc four-cylinder street car with the highest displacement in the Japanese market is missing, let alone the retro model.
And Honda's new CB400 is planned to be launched in 2025, but if Kawasaki wants to dominate the market, they are more than capable of launching a street car version first and then further launching the Z-RS's retro series to divide the market, so what odds do you think Kawasaki has of launching this four-cylinder Z400-RS?