New 350Z - old 240Z story !

[Sean Dezart]

Looks like the same old story but with a different face !

Don't anyone tell me they have a s'tandard' Z !!!

Every country or at least continent is different !

http://www.zclub.net/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?s=3e5fbb980e5affff;act=ST;f=12;t=15

Sean

[Alfadog]

It appears you have to be a member to view that content... :sick:

[Sean Dezart]

Oops !

Here is the text I was referring to :

You should all have been at Steve Lack's Kent Group Meet on Sunday - a representative of Nissan Ancaster (Penge) brought a blue metallic Fairlady Z auto 350 for us to paw and prod (and sit in).

I have some quite cynical observations as a result, concerning Nissan's plans for the U.K. version and the changes inflicted on this car by SVA testing:

1. The prediction is that 60% of sales will be auto (because this is the figure from the Z32 sales).

2. The front indicator strips and bumper repeater strips may not be legal for U.K. / Europe: this example had them disabled and an orange bulb stuck in the upper part of the headlamp. Also, the wings had been drilled to fit some tacky side repeaters under the Z emblem.

3. We can't have Xenon headlamps unless at least washers are fitted - cue two ugly blobs on the front bumper.....

4. Although Japanese cars made in the U.K. and Japanese home market cars have the indicator stalk on the right, Nissan plan to swap the 350Z one to the left. Also, apparently cars for U.K. / Europe made in Japan have this feature.....

5. The standard brakes look like recycled 280ZX units - please let us have Brembos......

6. The jewel-like Z logo rear strut brace has already been toned down to a matt alloy finish and may have to go altogether. Complaints apparently of reflected Z logo in rear view (pretty cool, I'd say!. If golf club toting executives had their way, the strut brace would be removed entirely (can't get the golf bag in the back).

7. Already the "Nissan cheap plastic" jibes are starting and there are complaints that there is no glove box - despite cavernous storage bins behind the seats!

8. Paint quality was dubious with poor colour matching of fuel filler and bumper / bonnet / wing lines.

9. SVA speedo conversion had disabled some trip computer gauge functions and made two buttons inoperative.

10. U.K. cars will have a restyled (read big and ugly) rear number plate indent and probably separate inserts for rear fogs. This car had the worst SVA fog lamp conversion (bar the "Halfords dangler") - a bit of red plastic stuck on the outside of one reversing lamp.......

Personally, I'm still very impressed by the car, but would be very choosy about spec. I'm not convinced that U.K. cars are going to be right (somebody please prove me wrong!!!!. The interior is wonderfully tactile for all the driver bits, seating position is excellent, the tilt wheel perfect, the plastic is quite acceptable, even the wobbly centre bin lid (Sat-Nav cover on fully equipped cars) is fine as long as you don't deliberately bash it about like most motoring journalists seem to.

I still want it, but the higher import specs look much more appealing than a base model Fairlady Z. Are the importers providing the information on options to prospective punters? £31,700 would be a lot to pay for a base model car.......

So how does this compare with US 350s ? Are 'yours' wildly different from 'ours' or just the same subtlies as per the 240 ?

ps Thanks Alfadog for the input !

[beandip]

:classic: To be absolutely honest I dont like the car, the 350Z. After saying that the reason is the basic shape . From what I have seen it performs well but in the looks dept. they copied the wrong cars. VW bug, the new one and the Audi . In my openion the Jag Roadster and the Honda 2000 and the Ford GT is what they should have been styling after. I wint to the dealer and saw the first one in the area and they were asking get this 15k over sticker and it was sold! couldent believe it. Last week end there were 4 for sale in the want adds. That has to tell you something. Siting in one I found ti to be vary comfortable and all the necessary controlls are right at hand ,the fit and finish vary well done and vary well thought out. With not enough room to carry one set of golf clubs or two overnite bags , not good. To be absolutele honest . If I took 1/3 the selling price of the 350z and put it into a average 240z I think I would have a much nicer looking car and one that performed as well of vary much close to it. My 2 C

[Zedrally]

Originally posted by beandip

:classic:

snip

If I took 1/3 the selling price of the 350z and put it into a average 240z I think I would have a much nicer looking car and one that performed as well of vary much close to it. My 2 C

If you look at from this perpective then even 1/2 [in Aus approx 30K] would do a full rebuild, leather seats, top of line audio, perhaps Sat Nav and leave change in pocket!

What you would have is an up to date car that simple to service and cheap to run.

What can you do with 30K on your 240/260?

[Alfadog]

But you see people who buy new cars are strange. They don't WANT to work on their car.. they like things called "warranty" and they seem to think new cars have more style??????

Who knows, they're very very strange...

[Zedrally]

Ok, Hypothetically, what could/would you do to your car if you had AUD $30K to spend on it?

[Brett240]

3.5 litre V8 out of a 355 ferrari. now THATS different.

[Zpeed]

yer the europe one sounds sucky.. likely we (australia) get just about the same car as japan do...

about the 30k aus on a z, would be, 10g buying a good 240z,

10k buy a wreck with 6spd, cost around 5k to get the motor in, and approriate mods, Ie upgraded computer possible... 3k get a good suspension setup, coil overs, and 2k on a good brake setup. possibly just using the brembos from the 350z wreck...

that be around 30-35g or so... and ud have a sweet old 350z.. haha... and still have a new reliable motor

id say it would be hard to get a 350z wreck, thats why i said price tag of 10g for the wrecked car/front cut possible

[1 Bravo 6]

:love:

100% body off, back to bare metal ground up total

PROFESSIONAL restoration of my 260Zed.

What more could anyone want ??????????????????

Rick.

[TKR514]

The 350Z is heavy, complicated, uninspired. I would have to call it a GT 'cause it's so heavy and "luxury" oriented. It's a good car, but lacks a bit of vision of the original...

[TKR514]

The 350Z is heavy, complicated, uninspired. I would have to call it a GT 'cause it's so heavy and "luxury" oriented. It's a good car, but lacks a bit of vision of the original...

[Alfadog]

If heavy and complicated means it's not a sports car, then no new car is a sports car, save the Elise.

The meaning of sports car, IMO, has changed. The name GT is usually reserved for expensive cars nowdays it seems.

[TKR514]

Well, such words as "heavy" and "too complicated" and "luxury" were thrown at the 280ZX so that it's refered to as a GT rather than a sports car. I assume that since the 350Z that takes the "Z" idea even further into the heavy, luxury,hi-tech area that it is logically not a sports car and even less of a "Z".

Just curious as to the psychology of marketing and enthusiasts....

[owenk]

Originally posted by Alfadog

The meaning of sports car, IMO, has changed. The name GT is usually reserved for expensive cars now days it seems.

Dam right it has! While we are on the subject has anyone seen the Lexus ads calling their car a Muscle Car !! :stupid: BULL S..t !!Muscle cars were big, gasoline drinking, raw power, mine is bigger than yours type car. That rattled, smoked tires, and had vinyl seats, not some pu..y leather seats like some old guy had in his Cadillac! They will never be made again and any one claming that his Lexus is a Muscle Car, ask him to name a Muscle Car from the 60's and when he gives you the deer in the headlights look, grab his cell phone and palm pilot shove them up his a..

Oh speaking of palm pilots . . . how many guy remember when a palm pilot was someone in high school that was being accused of pleasuring himself.

[Leeroy]

The way that I look at it, the world has changed...no-one bar ppl like us really want a 'real' sports car...my brother has a 97' Supra TT, its bloody fast (320hp at the wheels!), but its got climate control, big stereo, big heavy(!) wheels, cruise control, electric mirror, seats, windows, heated seats and mirrors (to defog them) etc etc...so its a luxury car with nice suspension and a f'ing powerful engine!! But 1 look at my Z, lightweight, no power steering, no air conditioning and realise what I love...don't get me wrong, I like to be comfortable (I'm gonna retrim the interior in leather), but there is no way that I'm gonna put a huge subwoofer in the car and rice it up!! I like it the way that it is, albeit with an interior! I like the car for the car and a few nicities...as opposed to a moving theater! Besides, you can't hear his muffled turbo engine, but if you jump in the Z, you can hear everything (especially the intake roar, gotta love it!!!

In summary, I think the 350z is a fast Magna...with Audi TT styling, nice sure, but not a real drivers car...by any stretch of the imagination!

My 1/50th of $1

Cheers ppl!!

[Victor Laury]

Originally posted by Alfadog

If heavy and complicated means it's not a sports car, then no new car is a sports car, save the Elise.

You are wise beyond your years, sir. I don't know if you can make a "Sports car" with the couple of thousand (if not more) safety and environ requirements tacked on. There are some that are close. That stripped down, sports package Corvette maybe? (Z06?)

[ardKore]

ah the elise. they're bringing the elise to the US next year. i'd love one, but 40,000 is toooooo much. you can get an audi S4 avant for that much.

[Sean Dezart]

Back again !

Are there real sports cars still ? GTs yes.

There are real sports cars, you mentioned the Elise and then TVRs, Morgans but these are all low production high cost jobs - there are no mass produced (light) sports-cars !

Miatas/MX-5s: who said that ?

And then again, what about the old school who say a real sports-car has to be a convertable ?

It says something that an Elise is compared to an A4 - safety/comfort and new laws abiding costs weight and money !

In my youth, a palm pilot was someone who used a five finger shuffle !

[ardKore]

i hear they're adding weight the the elise. an S4 is no audi A4. the new one's going to have the new V8, 4.3 liters methinks. the car weighs like a million pounds, but damn, its so nice!!! lotus advertises the elise as an affordable car, but i don't find it affordable. costs as much as a TT roadster. yeah, the tt weighs a million pounds too, but its so nice!!! hehe, sitting in an audi is so satisfying, it strikes one so much as to disregard sport quality. though the S4's are quite sporty.

damn the uk, what about the caterham 7's?

[Alfadog]

The TT couldn't be any more different to the Elise. The price bracket they are in is about the only thing they have in common...

As for Audi S4... mmmmm

[Sean Dezart]

Caterhams, yeah - Dutch Donkervoort has less pedigree but is a better car. Both are not what I'd call comfortable sportscars - I mean would you trade your Z for one in order to drive 300 miles ?

I know Audis are nice, my companion Cathy has an A3 in off-white - you gas guzzlers will laugh - it's a 1.9 turbo diesel but at a constant 90 mph with the airconditioning on, I get 48 mpg !

The only fault is that the suspension is too firm with not a lot of feedback through the steering. These two faults I believe are homogenous to Audis !

My colleague has a 180 BHP TT and his only complaint is that it eats front tyres - REAL sportscars are rear wheel drive and strictly two seats !

[ardKore]

definitely. a "true" sports car doesn't seem to go well with front wheel drive. unfortunately, lots of people can't handle RWD, so yeah. yup, the TT's quite different from the elise. depends what you want i guess. a comfortable sporty car, or a car that would own the street, not to mention the track (providing the driver bears the skill).