onecoolee

Well, its been 4 days since I accepted delivery of my CS Touring 6MT with Bose, NAV, airbags, mats, etc. No aero package yet.

Here are my thoughts to this point...

This car is great ! It handles beautifully, looks sexy, and has a great exterior and interior. So far, I have only put 300 miles on it, and 100-110 miles were the trip back from the dealership in rain/snow/slush driving conditions. The VDC did very well in the wet/crappy road conditions, and I was able to maintain 50 mph without any trouble, considering it was a little slick. The temps were close to 32 so it was starting to freeze on, but I made it home before the black ice started to develop.

As far as looks go, I have gotten a few. My favorite so far has been from an exec in a brand new BMW M3. I got behind him on the interstate going about 70mph, he pulled over to let me by and get a look at my machine. As I passed him, he gave me a nice thumbs up, which helps my ego I have gotten a few looks from teenie bopper girls, but for the most part, everyone is not really sure what it is around here. Its winter here, and there are few of these around. I have never seen a single one, and I drive about 50 miles per day. I do know of 2 other members here that have one, and live within 30 miles, but the sightings, overall, are very few.

As far as performace goes, I like the tranny. I haven't noticed the clutch/shifting problems that others have described here, and having to put the clutch to the floor to shift. My VIN is 5908 so maybe they got a few bigs out ?? The steering is very responsive, and defintely gives you a feel for the road, the suspension is very stiff, and you feel ever crevice and bump if you hit it. I have not pushed my baby hard yet, and probably have not even been much over 5000 on the tach--I am a firm beleiver in break-in periods, and I am taking it easy for about 700 more miles.

The NAV system is great...I couldn't be happier with it, except for the fact that it doesn't play DVD movies. I guess it wasn't intended for that purpose, so it doesn't take anything away from its usefulness. It took me home from the big city where I made the purchase and right to my doorstep. I didn't even have to consult the manual, and after a couple minutes of fumbling around, I had my route set. It is integrated into the ECM for the Z, so it monitors alot more than just where you are going, so it has other benefits. I am very happy with the NAV upgrade and feel it was money that was well spent.

The interior is comfortable, and the seats are well-designed. THe seat heaters are nice for cold days, and they do work well. Tye gauges are well positioned, and the customizable digital gauge which displays speed, tire pressure, and several other options is a nice feature. Overall, I am very happy with the appearance and feel of the interior, and it does get the driver in touch with the car and the road.

On the flip side, there are a few cons...but nothing that hasn't been mentioned in here already.

The stereo for the Touring is BOSE--it blows. The Bass is muddy, the highs are tinny, its a midrange lovers dream. The dynamics of the stereo are lousy, and my factory Infinity system in my Mitsubishi Eclipse sounds 5x better. It really is a dissappointment to have such a great car with a supposedly upgraded stereo that sounds SOooo bad. This is already on the upgrade list. The stock 10" sub will come out...it sounds horrendous. What did they pick as the crossover point, 500 Hz ?? I almost feel like the sub is running as a full-range speaker, and it does try to reproduce every bass note from 50Hz to clsoe to 300Hz--WAY TOO HIGH!! The other speakers aren't much better in my opinion. I think they all need to come out, be replaced with better drivers, and better amplification needs to be used with them. THe head unit works nicely with the NAV and I hesitate to pull it, so I will try a few other upgrades keeping the stock HU if possible.

Aside from the stereo, my only other complaint so far is the paint...it does have orange peel. Its not as bad as some of the example I have seen in here, but its there--all over the place. Chrome Silver makes it harder to spot, but I can see it. I have already applied 2 coats of Zaino, and that really helped, but nothing will fix the orange peel except a new paint job.

I hope to post my delivery pictures, and some more recent pictures with 2 coats of Zaino applied. I will soon be a member of the DDZC, as I have noticed the improvement even after 1 coat...that stuff works.

Everyone have a nice and safe holiday season...

Ohio350z

If you are like me and you are going to drive your ride in the winter, you need to get some Blizzaks. I got th LM-22s from tirerack and they are awesome. I couldn't get up my driveway with traction control and the stock tires with the driveway covered in wet snow. The Billaks and the TCS work great in that I can start on ice and snow covered hills with no problem. The stock "all season" tires suck pretty much all around. They don't grip on dry and they produce wheel hop. I am getting either the Pilot Sport or some SO2s on some new 18s for the spring and leaving my 17 for my winter rides. Enjoy the ride