350zfreak

Just got back from a Nissan sponsored preview of the 350Z in San Antonio at the ZCCA Nat’l convention. WOW! This car is great. Finally got to sit in it. I’m 6’4” and fit with room to spare. We got to meet Mr. K personally, what a great guy (his 350Z will be Chrome Silver.) They confirmed the EARLIEST delivery date as September for those of us that ordered in Jan/Feb and as late as November for the most recent orders. The guy I talked to has driven many 350’s and his general consensus was ‘as great as you think this car will be, when you get behind the wheel and drive it, it’s better than you ever thought it could be’ He said the VDC was very mellow and NOT obtrusive (like a 2000 Corvette) they worked out the bugs in the Q45 and you barely notice the system when its on. You can turn VDC off but he wasn’t sure if that meant completely off or like the Q45 just raised to a higher threshold. A CONVERTIBLE model is CONFIRMED for spring 2003, two models available only instead of 5, a Touring and a lesser model (he wasn’t sure what all the lesser model would/wouldn’t have.) Nismo is working on several aftermarket parts, cat-back exhaust, intake, etc. even a supercharger or turbo but no final word on which or when, he just said ‘after you drive this car you’ll realize you don’t need one’ Hmmm, don’t need more power – we’ll see about that. He also said there might possibly be a key to buy from Nismo that would be something special ala the 90-96 key. Several parts and accessories are on their way.

The best news of all is that all of us pre-order customers can expect something “special” in the mail prior to July 4th telling us all the final stats. He didn’t go in to great detail about it other than to say ‘we wanted to give all the people like you who bought this car sight un-seen something special’ I told him to send us all one of the new keys when they’re available! Anyway, what a great car. He said it outperforms the 300ZXTT in every aspect with straight-line acceleration being the only thing close. They started it up in the lobby for us-WOW what quick response in regards to revving and a deep exhaust note that puts anything else stock out there (with the exception of the exotics) to shame. With the Nismo exhaust it should be UN-REAL! Enough of my rambling. I think we all made VERY wise decisions as far as choosing the 350Z, just cant wait to drive mine!

Jill

Nice! Thanks 350zfreak. Some new information...Thanks a bunch...

a_p

Nice, very nice.

herkp

350ZFreak,

Sorry I missed you there, I was going to ask the crowd who was from my350z.com, but didn't. I was in Air Force blues with the fussy little boy (he's fighting a cold). We left before Mr K came out, a shame.

I tried to take some pictures of ANYthing that hadn't been dissected by other board members. I did notice a few things that I wasn't sure of before:

1. There is a security device led that sits where the dash meets the hood on the driver side. I took a pic in mid-flash.

2. This car (blue Touring AT) had two holes in the front bumper, I assume where a plate bracket had mounted. Guess I was disappointed to see there was no factory solution for that.

3. Yikes! I wasn't looking for cargo capacity, but there doesn't look like any way a golf bag would fit sideways. Oh yeah, I overheard the truth on "two golf bags will fit." Apparently, you're supposed to put #2 in the passenger seat.

4. Fit and finish are nothing to worry about, this is FAR better made than the basic Altima I rented on a recent trip. The interior with the charcoal leather looks very German to me. Very austere and business-like, maybe not Audi plush, but more like high-end VW. The little "orange" dots in the leather don't really show up in person, but the stitching on the sides does. I figure some will like it and others hate it. Everything seemed very solid except that silly passenger cup holder.

5. That antenna looks a lot smaller in person than it does on screen!

6. Everyone's right, the seats are perfect.

herkp

fairladyZ in Japan

Thanks for posting this information...

It sounds like the performance -- like the exhaust note... will be close to perfection with more possible tweaking in the future -- thanks to NISMO.

I thought so... but this simply confirms it. Made my day..

herkp

You know, I'm not sure now. They looked like holes on initial inspection. I took a close-up with the digicam, I'll look at it when I get home, and post a couple of the pics later tonight.

herkp

350zfreak

in regards to the dimples for the front plate:

I took a VERY close look and they are indeed just dimples. It looks like all cars will have these (hardly noticable but there nonetheless) somewhat disappointing, especially for those of you in states where front plates are not required, but as for me - I guess I'll just put my front plate on (one less thing to be pulled over for-I'd hate to get a DUI after having two drinks because my blood alcohol level was .001 over the limit and some smart-a@@ cop decided to give me flak about my lack of plate). I don't think the dimples will even be noticable to the average person - you have to be a Z cognoscente (like all of us on this board) to notice or care about these dimples. May be more noticable on the lighter colors but I cant confirm as I've only seen the blue up-close.

TCL

Thanks. These two tidbits from your post above are enough to hold me over till the final stats are released.

MP350Z

I too was at the preview event. I am very satisfied with the quality and fit and finish of the car. (other than the flimsy door over the NAV space) There is not much I can add that hasn't already been said except for that the guy answering all the questions, ( I believe he was the same guy that 350zfreak referred to, the one in the grey Nissan Polo freak?) said when comparing the 350Z to the TT Z that the 350 would have slightly less power but the difference in weight would almost make up for the difference in power so that straight line should be close while the the 350 would blow away the TT in every other aspect on a road coarse. He also said that the tires for the 18 in. non Rays and the Rays would be identical. He said he was sure of that. The exhaust sounded even better than the video and waves here online. Gave me chills. Also, when I asked him if we should expect Nissan to release conservative performance numbers and then see perhaps slightly better numbers surface when various mags test it, he said that Nissan had considered doing that but then decided against it. He said to expect the numbers we are given in our "surprise" packets to be acurate. He also said to expect the handling of the car to be superb, and that the reason for the slight delay in production with first shipments expected to be delivered in September, was in fact for last minute tweaks to the suspension. He said the designers set a very high bar for the car's handling from the start. They reached that bar, and then decided to raise it even higher. we should expect a car that is very fun to drive from all indications. Thats all that I can think of for now besides stuff that has already been said. It was a trip to meet Mr. K. Didnt expect him to be there. BTW, I was the guy in the green striped Polo and Olive pants. Don't know if I ran into anybody from here, although I suspect I might have talked to 350zfreak. Now I really cant wait for my car.

Apexi350z

iTrader: (3)

So the 350Z and 300ZXTT will be close when going straight line, but when in road course, 350Z will beat the TT. Nice!

I don't mind the delay if it is for raising the bar on any performance aspect!!

Thanks!

chicago_z

Excuse my ignorance... but what is this 'special key' you are talking about?

c350z

Are you the key master?
I am the gatekeeper.

TCL

Fantastic news! This is some of the best news I've heard to date.

Dr Bonz

iTrader: (1)

"There is no Dana, only Zool!"

SeedyRom

Awesome post. This confirms a LOT of what I and others had been saying in other threads about the performance aspects of the car. I can assure you that the thing handles like a dream...it's NO CONTEST versus the 300ZX (though it's a great car and I own a heavily modded one). As far as straightline, I had mentioned months ago in my article that even with around 20 less horsepower the car would be around 400lbs lighter. Combine that with a much better suspension setup (no anti-squat setup like the 300), close-ratio 6-speed tranny and a better torque curve from a 3.5L with no turbo lag...the 350Z should actually beat the 300ZX in the 1/4 or at least be VERY close. Hence, an all around improvement over the last car (which is what Ghosn said it would be).

Awesome

As for the VDC, he was right about how it was setup...and when it's off it's OFF, not set higher

irishfan

So what are the performance numbers for the 300ZXTT that we will be outperforming?

SeedyRom

These are averages from many magazines and numbers that are widely accepted in the 300ZX community.

0-60: Around 5.4-5.5
1/4 Mile: 13.9-14.0