Nissan 350 Z

[The Dragon]

Took a Nissan 350 Z Coupe Touring out for a test drive today!!
I love it .
230 kw
358 Nm torque.
It weighs in at 1480 Kgs so it has a pleasing power to weight ratio.
Disc breaks all round.
I liked the Diamond Black!!
What was displeasing was chap from the dealers who came along for the test drive!!!
What a hysterical and melodramatic little man!!
If he can't sit calmly in a moving vehicle without clutching the dash and the door in a death grip and making little panicked noises then he should just find a new line of work.
The car never left my direct control and how else was one to find out if the that model is suited to "drifting".
He made such a terrible fuss I had to take him (and the car) back to the dealers.
He didn't look at all well!!!

 

[HazelGod]

You know, I never really cared for the 350Z. I understand the economic direction Nissan was taking with it, but I can't look past the fact that it's such a tremendous step backward from the second-generation 300ZX, particularly the twin-turbo models which not only look better than the 350Z, but eat its lunch in every performance aspect imaginable.

And I totally agree on the sales tools insisting on riding along. They pulled that crap on us when the Mrs. and I went looking at Maximas...after we had just left the VW dealership, where the sales guy threw us the keys to a Passat and told us to come back after we'd gotten a good feel for it. Jerks. We ended up buying her the VW.

 

[Drifterwood]

Take him out again when the new Skyline becomes available.

 

[B_New End]

I like the 90's 300 Z models better too, and think they are the coolest looking Japanese cars on the planet.

 

[The Dragon]

If I walked into the dealers again to test drive another car the poor chap would run a mile in the other direction

 

[The Dragon]

For the Z class I won't get much pocket change out of $65 000.00

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

With the dealer, sounds like the opposite experience my friend had when he test drove his Lexus. My friend is a very slow mild-mannered driver, but the dealer was urging him to drive through exit ramps at 90 mph.

350 Z... decent car... not for me. IMO it is, like pretty much all Japanese sports cars, too slow, not ballsy enough, too cramped, too high-strung (low displacement, all the power in the high rpm range), and not aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Elmer Gantry]

The 350Z is a damn fine car for what it is, and an awful lot of fun. For 65K you'd be hard pressed to find anything better.

Hell, for 100K you'd struggle.

Nissan took a great leap forward from the older generation in chassis balance and handling. On the track or a mountain road, the older model wouldn't see which way it went. The older model is a great Chapel St cruiser and I'm sure it impresses the McDonalds car park set but that's really where it ends.

Order the track pack for a real buzz. You get the nicer/bigger wheel/tyre combo and the Brembo brakes.

 

[The Chosen One]

I like the 90's 300 Z models better too, and think they are the coolest looking Japanese cars on the planet.

As an American short track and street racer who has only owned GM and Ford cars & trucks (including a supercharged Trans Am (94, 550ish horsepower), as well as a LS2 powered Corvette (06), I would agree with the above statement. It was a cool little car.

I have driven semi-high end Porsches (94xs and 911s), Mercedes (5xxxx), BMWs (6, 8 and 12 cylinder), and turbocharged Supra's, but the turbocharged 90's Nissan 300Z's were the only foreign cars that have ever impressed me.

The Mustang GT's and 300 Z's were the only cars to compete with the Corvettes $/$. That I have driven.

Maybe one day I can try a Ferrari?

 

[HazelGod]

Nissan took a great leap forward from the older generation in chassis balance and handling. On the track or a mountain road, the older model wouldn't see which way it went. The older model is a great Chapel St cruiser and I'm sure it impresses the McDonalds car park set but that's really where it ends.

Ugh...spoken like someone who truly has no idea what he's talking about.

The twin-turbo Z32 (300ZX) runs circles around the Z33 (350Z) on both straightaways and curvy road courses. I see it happen almost one weekend every month at autocross events.

The Z32 was so successful a design that IMSA changed their GTS-1 class rules to disallow the car's powerplant after it won both the 24 Hours of LeMans and the 24 Hours of Daytona in the same year.

 

[EagleCowboy]

Took a Nissan 350 Z Coupe Touring out for a test drive today!!
I love it .
230 kw
358 Nm torque.
It weighs in at 1480 Kgs so it has a pleasing power to weight ratio.
Disc breaks all round.
I liked the Diamond Black!!
What was displeasing was chap from the dealers who came along for the test drive!!!
What a hysterical and melodramatic little man!!
If he can't sit calmly in a moving vehicle without clutching the dash and the door in a death grip and making little panicked noises then he should just find a new line of work.
The car never left my direct control and how else was one to find out if the that model is suited to "drifting".
He made such a terrible fuss I had to take him (and the car) back to the dealers.
He didn't look at all well!!!

ROFLMAO!!!

Darlin', We need to get together!! That sounds exactly like what I encounter when I hit the dealers. Plus, you sound like a woman after my own heart!! :biggrin1:

I concur that the 300Z's are superior to the 350Z's. I inherited my best friend's twin turbo 300Z and can say it was a vicious little car. I have driven the 350Z and the only thing I liked about it is the looks. It just didn't have the guts or handling capabilities of my 300Z.

I race a lot in SCCA events, and have seen the 350Z's alongside the 300Z's and you can just tell that the 350Z's struggles to keep up.

 

[bottombuddy]

Jaguar UK - Jaguar Cars

id rather have a sportscar with class and pedigree

 

[The Dragon]

This is what I'm driving at the moment.
it's a Holden Commodore VL SS Group "A" Walkinshaw.
It is factory standard.
V8 -180 Kw
380 Nm

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

The 350Z is a damn fine car for what it is, and an awful lot of fun. For 65K you'd be hard pressed to find anything better.

I forgot to add "overpriced" to my list of adjectives for Japanese sports cars.

Corvette: $46,225, runs circles around a 350Z

that wasn't as hard as you made it sound.

and if we're including cars under 100 grand the list gets huge.

 

[nsxdotcom]

how else was one to find out if the that model is suited to "drifting".

Take him out again when the new Skyline becomes available.

Perhaps not the best drifing choice due to the AWD drivetrain.

I cannot wait for the arrival of the Skyline on these shores, but hate the styling vs. that of the R34. Nissan, why, oh why???

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

AWD is good for drifting on dirt. See if the dealer will let you take it off-road.

Agree that the new Skylines look ugly. Though I thought the old ones were ugly, too. They've never really been attractive.

 

[The Dragon]

Do you like my Walkinshaw??

 

[NumberOne]

http://www.nihoncar.com/en/news_pics/530/news.jpg ...... this is ugly?

 

[B_NineInchCock_160IQ]

http://www.nihoncar.com/en/news_pics/530/news.jpg ...... this is ugly?

yes

 

[HazelGod]

I forgot to add "overpriced" to my list of adjectives for Japanese sports cars.

Holy crap! Did I miss something? $65k?!? Is that $AUS? Even so, that's almost $56k US at today's rates!

The "economic direction" I referred to earlier was Nissan's decision to bring the 350Z to market below $30k US, at least in the base model...understandable, considering the $45k+ price tags were largely what killed the 300ZXTT in the US market back in the mid-90's.

I know we're seeing some inflation these days, but WTF? I wouldn't have bought a Z33 @ $30k...but $56k? No effin' way.