Last night at one of the local hang outs for cars, I ran into a kid (around 20) who also owned a Z, he just bought a new 2003 track edition (its been on the showroom floor for 2 years ) Anyways he said he test drove 3 other Zs before the track and said that the everything about the track feels completely different... I can understand handling, suspension, and brakes although I dont think those would be extremely different, only a little bit, then again I've never driven a track. What I had to disagree with him though was when he said the throttle responce is sooo much nicer and more responsive in the track? Is the track version really THAT different???

 

It's not that different at all... The brake feel is MUCH nicer, I'd say that is the biggest difference. You can slightly feel the lighter wheels, but that's about it. To me also, the Touring model seemed much quieter in the cabin than the Track.

 

agreed, the brembos are probably the only big difference...suspension is the same....the new 300hp engine in the track probably wouldn't make a difference you can feel. it's probably all in that kid's head about the track feeling completly different

 

it's those two years, the power and the suspension were just waiting to get out.

 

+1

The Track is about 80lbs lighter
approx.
20lbs per seat
10lbs less sound-deadening insullation
6lbs per wheel

So you get a little bit better performance (acceleration and braking) and a little more road noise.

 

the really funny thing about that lighter weight statement is....I thought the same thing untill I looked up the weights on nissan.com. The track is actually one of the heaviest models according to them...

 

It's been two years, but I could have sworn that back in 2003 the Track was around 3210 and the touring/performance was about 3290 on the Canadian site.

 

samething happened to me. Was walking to my z, some other guy in a track z says "you should have gotten the track" when i asked why he sais its a different car and more of a sports car than the touring. oh well.

 

Touring is heavy, but so is the track. Yes, the wheels are lighter, but the brake rotors on the track's brakes are rediculously heavy, so you just about lose the gain there. Road & Track weighed their track model at (IIRC) 3,220 lbs. My Enthusiast with Nismo wheels and leather installed weighs 3,051 lbs (manual seats, no heat, just leather). The shipping weight of the car was 3,080 lbs stock. I was advised against the track due to the fact is about identical aside from the brakes, and for the price difference, you can get your own BBK with some nice light vented rotors.

 

I remember that too. I'm not sure about now, but back then the track had cloth manual seats and all other Z's sold in Canada had leather.

 

You cant hardly tell what type of Z you have by the outside of the car hell kinda hard looking on the inside...Track has its advantages brakes supspention but you can easliy get a Enthisiast and put aftermarket parts cheaper than paying the extra $$ for the track...Only if you track it will you need the Brembos...There is no difference in the engine only the car which might make it feel faster inyour head but it is a package only. I have a couple dealers I finance cars for always ask me to come over to look tell them what they bought...NO SHI% ! They dont know the difference.. and it is really hard to tell by looking sometimes.

 

but yeah if your overweight in the track, it wont make a difference..

 

Oh it's felt all right !

Otherwise, nah, not that much different.

 

you people realize that the track package is a North American marketing name?

it just defines a series of options, which in the case of the 2003 models are brembo brakes, stock cloth interior, aero package, forged wheels and stock stereo. Beside that, everuthing is the same, suspension, engine, exhaust, etc... etc... etc... is exactly the same.

In europe there is no such thing as track package, all Zs come with brembo brakes(non brembo brakes where deemed "inadequate" for road use). The only options are interior, stereo and wheels.

In Japan closest thing to track package I beleive is called the S model(sport?), as opposed to the T model(touring?)... there is also an ST(sport touring?) model which includes brembo, leather, stereo, the works.

 

no difference!

 

Carbon fiber hood, front fenders, front facia, rear facia, rear hatch, some light Volks or Racing Harts, slotted and drilled big brake kit, racing seats, rock on.

 

Track model only differs from others (besides 05 engine) in that it has brembo's and rays. Rays wheels weigh 18lbs each while touring wheels weigh 26lbs. From the 05 nissan brochure i have, base model is lightest at 3,188 lbs, touring is 3,247, track is 3,225 and 35th is the heaviest at 3,299. Never heard anything about less sound deadening on track models.