New cars?

[digitalwanderer]

I beg to differ with Sonics post, but I really ain't sure I got the technical info to back me up or not.

It really doesn't matter, I love this Z350 and no amount of bad talking is going to get me to change my opinion anytime soon. As for the rear wheel drive handling, here's a quote from me at EB:

A few hours and 4 made up excuses trips to the store later and I am in love. 8)

One thing, I had the damndest time doing a burnout in it which just shocked me...I mean I figure 287HP should be able to light 'em up a little.

Turns out it has a "traction control system(TCS)" and "vehicle dynamic control(VDC)" that basically makes it damn near impossible to light 'em up or get the back end a little out-o-control! :? (I say "near" because I managed to spin the wheels a little, I could tell because a little light flashed "SLIP"-"SLIP"-"SLIP" when it was happening. )

I just was reading thru the manual and found out there is a switch to turn them off and just make it act like a regular over-muscled lightweight car, and I'm jonesing for an excuse to go and try it out!!!!

Oh, and the xenon headlights are surreal. Everything is blue-ish white and kewl.

The TCS & VDC crap really make a huge difference in how the rear wheel drive feels, it feels like AWD to me with it on.

My wife asked me if I'd like to go get donuts, I gotta wake up before I get behind the wheel of that beast!

(Did I mention it has a stopwatch built into the dash accurate the the hundreth of a second just in case you want to time yourself? :| )

 

[RussSchultz]

(Did I mention it has a stopwatch built into the dash accurate the the hundreth of a second just in case you want to time yourself? :| )[/i]

That seems just a smidgeon irrisponsible to me.

 

[digitalwanderer]

(Did I mention it has a stopwatch built into the dash accurate the the hundreth of a second just in case you want to time yourself? :| )

That seems just a smidgeon irrisponsible to me.

Me too, but lets face it Russ; this ain't really meant to be entirely practical or responsible.

It cracked me up reading some posts on the various Z350 forums I found. One of the strangest threads I found was "Am I too old for a Z350" by a guy who was 31 and worried he'd look too silly getting one.

I don't care if I look silly or not, it's FUN!!!!

(And this is just me driving my wife's car, you should see how bloody happy my wife is about it! )

Just got back from donuts, gotta run out now and look for a garage door opener battery.

 

[Sonic]

Turn that TCS off and burn those tires, then you will have some real fun. Just don't do anything hard in terms of mods to a 350 and hope that the transmission holds up. Gears go on them pretty easily.

Toyota MR's are nice little cars but they are pretty underpowered too. I guess you could drop an engine into it, but just go buy an Elise and it would still walk circles around it.

There's a lot in terms of handling. The absolute worst is FWD, even though some 4 bangers that are FWD manage to whomp on many RWD cars. Front engine, rear wheel drive is no joke when everything is balanced out in proportion. If you want a car that has the goods to help you control the car then get a Vette with the Z51 suspenions and active handling. The system works much better than the one in the 350Z, this comes form actual experience with these cars on a closed course.

MR is the best...

 

[digitalwanderer]

Pfffft! Vette isn't exactly a Nissan now is it.

I'm quite happy with what we got, it's just amazing me.

 

[Sonic]

I'm just busting your balls on it. Congratulations.

I used to have a 94 300ZX Turbo so the 350 kind of a let down. Trust me there is a whole slew of negative bias from towards the car, but the really annoying weird thing is that I love the G35.

 

[digitalwanderer]

I wish we would have gotten a G35 instead, but we could only get the deal on the Z350 with the Quest trade in.

Scary thing? The Quest had a higher sticker price than the Z by a couple of hundred bucks....that just don't seem right to me. :?

BTW-I turned off VCD with my son in the car today and in second my back-end got REAL squirrly without trying real hard....I'm gonna love this car!!!!

BTW2-In case you think the wrong person is enjoying this car too much, my wife told me today that she dreamed about it last night and it was just freaking her out at how much happy she was getting out of it. 8)

 

[Moloch]

The current MR2 Spyder is only a joke when you compare them to more expensive cars.

And even then it's because the little 1.8 liter only puts out 140hp.

Drop in a 180 hp 2ZZ like many people have and then say it's a joke.

Let's not even talk about the Lotus Exige with that same 2ZZ and MR layout.

The Elise isn't all that expensive btw. It's really only more expensive than the MR2 Spyder is because it's hand built and has the Lotus name not because a MR layout sportscar is expensive to make. Urban legend my friend.

A $25K MR2 Spyder with a 2ZZ will rip a $40K Porsche Boxter a new one and the Boxter is even a MR.

Why so you have to drop an engine into a car to make it decent?
That means the car sucks because you need to goto though the process of swaping an engine etc.

It means the chassis already kicks major @ss. In other words the MR layout is doesn't cost a lot like many think. It's just an urban legend.

Why did Toyota not drop the 2ZZ in the MR2 Spyder when they dropped it into the Matrix and Corolla?

Good question, it would have wupped some ass!

 

[Sonic]

Hey dig, I'm glad you're enjoying the car so much. It is much better than a lot of what else is on the road these days and Nissan is that kind of car company that will gain much marketshare in the future. They'll be gaining it from Honda.

 

[Simon F]

According to Top Gear: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/powerlaps/

BMW M3 CSL - 1.28.0

Mercedes CL65 - 1.29



Still pretty good for a car weighing in at 2.1 frickin' TONS!!

The 190bhp Lotus Exige would probably obliterate both of them on track, if we're not talking about Monza, Le Mans or something.

Hey MPI: There's no point bringing these figures up. We have Americans discussing cars and they only go in straight lines - Just look at their race tracks

 

[davefb]

Hey MPI: There's no point bringing these figures up. We have Americans discussing cars and they only go in straight lines - Just look at their race tracks

hey , come on now,, theres left turns on some of em

*christ* i'm gunna stick with my KA , i'd hate to have a car like a 350z ,coz i'd last about 1 month with it before going off the road . .

digi take care and watch the tires !!

 

[pascal]

Hey MPI: There's no point bringing these figures up. We have Americans discussing cars and they only go in straight lines - Just look at their race tracks

In this case is a street straight line race between 2 signals

 

[Mariner]

Why buy a new car when you can buy such a fantastic used car?

Brilliant!

 

[Andy]

It's...uhh.... such a beautiful... (car?) Mariner!

J/P

 

[Moloch]

According to Top Gear: http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/powerlaps/

BMW M3 CSL - 1.28.0

Mercedes CL65 - 1.29



Still pretty good for a car weighing in at 2.1 frickin' TONS!!

The 190bhp Lotus Exige would probably obliterate both of them on track, if we're not talking about Monza, Le Mans or something.

Hey MPI: There's no point bringing these figures up. We have Americans discussing cars and they only go in straight lines - Just look at their race tracks

Watkins glen+ sears point> you
Them nascar boys run em.

 

[Sage]

Why buy a new car when you can buy such a fantastic used car?

Brilliant!

says the auction has been removed

 

[Sonic]

Hey Simon, not everywhere in this country is Florida. Travel outside there and go to the Rockies if you want some heart pounding racings. Even going through New York to Boston some back ways offer very nice roads to travel on, and I assure you that it is 75% twisties.

I've got some roads in my area that will make your insides cringe. It's one thing to go around a turn in a flat area, another completely doing that up and down so much. There's also a nice closed course in my back yard that's pretty nice. Not my back yard, but more like less than a mile from me.

 

[Simon F]

Hey Simon, not everywhere in this country is Florida. Travel outside there and go to the Rockies if you want some heart pounding racings. Even going through New York to Boston some back ways offer very nice roads to travel on, and I assure you that it is 75% twisties.

As you have probably realised, it was a tongue-in-cheek jab at the "round and round the circle" racing of Nascar (?).


I haven't been to Florida and I've only driven around California and Nevada (and a bit of Utah). I found a few fun roads that lead up into the Sierra Nevada. Just a pity the poor old hire car we had was struggling with the climbs (and the soft suspension was awful!)

 

[Sonic]

Soft suspension is awful! I'm purchasing an Elise, I was sold the first test drive!

 

[digitalwanderer]

Are there any places in the US to rent out some test track time? Just somewhere you could pay to run on a closed track for a while?

Me and the wife actually thought of building one for 4x4s back when we got the Pathfinder, now I'm toying with building a small closed track out on some cheap land down south a bit.... (I got some friends in the asphalt business from a year I worked in that industry. )