n8236

I picked up a copy of the Car & Driver ( i believe, one of the car mags ) and they did a true sports coupe comparsion and I was looking thru the curb weight and wondered why the Z was the 2nd heaviest of the 9 cars. Thanks

Armitage

iTrader: (15)

You talking about the Road and Track article I think it was?

I honestly think that 3200 lbs isn't all that much. Remember, they tested the 35th Anniversary Edition which is heavier than other versions. The more stuff you add (Leather, Big heavy Chrome wheels, Navi, etc.) the heavier it will be.

rclab1

I too was reading the Article, it tested the Truest Sports car out there that anyone can afford and the Z 30th ani. edition came in 8th out of 9 cars??????

It also says that the Yellow Z they had had 300HP but it lacked Low End Power????????

that is offending since everyone in this Forum says that the Z has massive amounts of Torque in the Low end??????

whats up with that??????

mdacko

iTrader: (3)

i think 3300 lbs is pretty heavy. its a little 2 door coupe, it should weigh less. compare that with the evo, which has 2 more doors, 2 more seats, + trunk and weighs relatively the same as the Z

wanderlust

Go drive a mustang gt, then the Z. You'll understand what they are talking about. I love my Z in every way, except for the fact that it feels weak right off the line. At speed, though, she's quick...

BigMoeTaki42

The Z's weight is a result of a lot of things. First of all, the engine is bigger than most cars in its class (S2000, RX-8, etc), so the Z is going to be heavier. The Z also has a decent sized fuel tank, so the car will hold more gas which translates to more weight. The FM platform the Z is built on is used for everything from a little sports car like the Z to SUVs, so it was built to be very stiff, but somewhat heavy to keep the price down. If the Z was lighter, it would be more expensive. By the way, rclab1, if we're talking about the same article, we should be honored that the Z was even included in this comparison. If I remember correctly, the comparo included a new corvette and a 911, which are both great (but far more expensive) sports cars.

Smoked

1. It's the 35th Anniversary Z. The first 240 was in 1969.
2. EVO's biggest weight difference is the 4 wheel drive system, not seats, trunk etc (WTF?).
3. Yes for what you get in this car, it's seriously overweight, agreed by many magazines. SCC did a weight reduction of about 550 lbs and got marginal results but overall better responding car (Power to weight ratio).
4. For a "sports car" the Z is lacking in low end grunt. It's especially true after an addition of FI. But once you hit the 4000 range, top end, the Z is very nice.

Just my 2 cents.

sentry65

iTrader: (11)

I have a friend that just went out and bought a used modded 240Z

It weighs 2380lbs and has about 240hp

that's quicker than any stock Z

he paid $3500 for it


Yeah I know the 240's look dated and are not as sought after.

The Z holds up really well in crash tests and I can attest to that having been in a wreck in my previous Z

doesn't it suck though that a bigger car like the corvette or viper weigh about the same, maybe slightly more in the case of the viper?


I wish there was some sort of solution for lightening the unibody

azjimbo

The weight issue keeps coming up but if you do some research the Z is pretty much in line with most cars in its class + or - 100 pounds.If the Z had one weakness I believe the weight is it.But for the money and style it still is a quick car.As far as the Anniversary model it has all the bells and whistles and is the heaviest coupe in the Z lineup.The original Z tested by Road and Track(2002) was the Track which did a 5.6 0-60 time.The recent article had the 300 hp Anniversary Edition tested in the same 5.6 time.So the extra 13 hp with less torque is pretty much the same car in terms of speed.

Lonerider

I'm sure Nissan made the car weigh what it does for a reason.

Do you guys think reducing the weight of the car will improve overall performance significantly(0-60 in <=5, even better cornering)?
If so, anyone have any ideas for subtle ways to reduce the weight? (I don't mean stripping the full interior or driving with one seat )

ironviet

iTrader: (2)

Hey no real complaints on the Z here. Imagine only going around 250 miles on a full tank of gas like the rx-8. Hey how many other cars in our price range have a carbon-fiber driveshaft? You win some, you lose some. You want everything lightweight, I gurantee you you'll pay up the a$$ for everything to be lighter. We got a good deal for the price and power isn't too bad though I know nothing is ever enough for the pure driving enthusiast. My .02

UsafaRice

Nope, it's tires. No doubt about it. My Z has lost a lot of weight, but the Bridgestones can still hold it back. I'm working on getting all the mods in one place, see my cardomain page http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/783981 for the lightest full exhaust you're going to find.

n8236

Wow, great responses guys, just the info I needed. I do believe it is an honor to be compared to the Porsche S and Vette.

Btw, a bit off topic, but did anyone else find that article to be a bit bias or something is odd about it? lol. I read and reread the Z part of it and it sounded like they would of expected better results if it wasn't the 35th anniv. one.

xxlbeerZ

iTrader: (8)

It's heavy because it's made out of metal.

The Brickyard Rat

iTrader: (1)

Personally I luv the weight; makes the car feel safer & hugs the ground better at speed.

TurK

iTrader: (1)

and you guys wana put big *** 19z....gg

damoniusmonk

Yeah it's heavier than a miata and a CR-X but I can still throw it around and it never complains, I hardly ever get a tire squeal.

I romp on it and squash others on a regular basis. It is also very smooth and solid at high speed. This, I think is due to it's weight and unibody construction.

hmm, I wonder how one of those new tiny, lightweight lotus elise's feel at high speed (just as smooth? I don't know enough about them...)

DIE DIE DIE

To me the car has tons of low end.. <-- I used to own an acura

The weight doesn't bug me, cause I love the car...but I see what everyone is saying..when you park your Z next to big sedan and say "my car weighs more than that?" it's kinda like WTF?? Or when you park next to an RSX and they don't look all that different in size.. then you realize you're about 700+ lbs. heavier!!

002-M-P

iTrader: (12)

Drive an RX7 for almost 3 years and then buy a 350Z and you come to respect the ammount of torque the VQ35 puts out. I am putting down over 300 lb-ft of torque to the wheels at 2500 rpm and 330 lbft torque max, my RX7 at 2500 rpm put down 180lbft torque with a max torque of 307 lbft. Its sad that a my 365 rwhp rx7 put down 23lb torque less than my 345 rwhp 350Z.

So it is all from a relative point of view. Some people come from a V8 with gobs of low end torque, others (like me) come from Rotaries or highreving I-4's that have virtually no low end torque.

kovalf

The 300 hp engine in the anniversary edition has less torque that the 287 hp version (260 lb-ft to 274 lb-ft, both @ 4800 rpm). That should hurt the low end grunt a little. About the weight issue, the further you go up the trim level, the more weight you get. The base 350 comes in at 3188 lbs. The anniversary edition they tested was 3299 lbs. By the time you get to a GT Roadster you're up to 3536 lbs. The base lbs per hp comes out at about 11.1, the anniversary edition they tested comes out as about 11.0 but sacrificed some torque and added weight to effect the handling. If R&T wanted to look at a pure sports car, I wonder how the base model would have fared?