Originally posted by meinserboy

The Z is a sporty coupe. not a sports car. [/B]

Originally posted by jasonintoronto
a 911

Originally posted by meinserboy
It's built on the Infinity G35s platform.

The G35s is a sedan not a sports car. I suppose Nissan did this as a compromise. Maybe they didn't have another sports car platform.

But it is heavy. It weighes more than a P.T. cruiser.

It is not like the 240Zs or 280Zs which were light. Nissan calls this the rebirth of the Z but that is a weak marketing ploy.

IF the Z was built in the MR-2, Miata, CRX weight range (2000-2400Lbs.) with a 300hp 3.5 it could challenge vettes and 996s (like the first Z's could in it's day)


The Z is a sporty coupe. not a sports car.

Originally posted by meinserboy
is 3200 pounds enough to support the 450+ hp/torque of the 996 GT-2?

The idea that a heavy car is a more stable car or a car capable of supprting more power is rediculous.

If that idea wasn't crazy then why can the porsche support almost twice the power at slightly less weight than the Z???

You want to add more power to a car? Beef up it's drivetrain and clutch and that's all. You don't have to make it a thousand pounds heavier.

If toyota or mazda got smart and stuck in 300hp 3.5s, the MR-2s and Miatas would dominate.

Now tell me - because I honestly don't know - why can't this be done as a daily driver???

Originally posted by Sz28r
?? My Performance is supposed to weight 3217 lbs (per specs I've seen in print) - - Question is, why does the sticker inside the drivers door on my Z say 3815 lbs - - check your doors too, what is up with this??

Originally posted by rai
That's a common mistake. The GVW is the curb weight (all fluids) plus all the cargo (people and stuff)

My S2000 weighs like 2800lbs and has a max cargo of 400 lbs so the gvw might say 3200lbs. The prelude is a 2+2 so it has to be able to carry more weight than 400 lbs. So I think it might be like 3000 + 750 (cargo + passangers) = 3750 lbs.

GVWR (Gross Vehicle Weight Rating):
The Maximum permissible weight of the unit, including the UVW plus all fluids, cargo, optional equipment and accessories. For safety and product performance, do not exceed the GVWR.

Originally posted by daSchtick
The Z weighs 3200 lbs, who cares? The real question is how does it feel? I will admit that I do not own a Z, or have even test driven one, but I do have an interest in it, and it's cousin the G35.

I fully understand that platform sharing was necessary to keep the price at its current level, but I would like to know if the Z has been compromised too much to meet the cost target. Is the Enthusiast worth $28,000? The performance is a little lower than expected, and the weight is a little higher, but it still looks like a bargain to me. Am I wrong?

BTW, I am coming from an '01 Celica GT-S, and although it is a front driver, I find the handling and braking to be excellent, but it also weighs 700+ lbs less (2500 lbs). I realize that some of the nimbleness would be lost, but I am in search of more refinement, but I don't want to lose all of the FEEL that I love in the Celica. In fact, I question the whole idea of even trading the Celica, as I still love it.

Thoughts? (BTW - Steve, I am not interested in a BMW ).

-Nick

One last point, how much does the 911 cost? 4 or 5 times as much as the Z; you want to go really fast? How much money do you have? Why does the Porsche 911 GT2 cost so much? It costs a hell of a lot of money to build a car so fast and make it safe enough to drive it on the street without killing somebody. Every car has limits and so does every driver, you or me need to know any performance car's limits and make sure we are as good as the car.

Originally posted by vshin
On a side note, Porsche had serious problems with the GT2 because it's too unstable. The car is so powerful, the company's lead test driver had difficulty controlling the car and refused to approve it due to safety concerns.

Originally posted by integrate
Guys, let's not involve the Porsche here. Don't forget that Porsches are all mid-engine cars and have much better balance. Plus suspension is just simply better.

Originally posted by Michael-Dallas
911's are rear-engine. And when they oversteer, they REALLY oversteer. Imagine a pendulum swinging...

They are harder to drive and require a different kind of driver to be driven effectively.

Michael.

Originally posted by vshin
On a side note, Porsche had serious problems with the GT2 because it's too unstable. The car is so powerful, the company's lead test driver had difficulty controlling the car and refused to approve it due to safety concerns.

Here's a superhuman sportster
By Joshua Dowling


The Sydney Morning Herald
Friday November 15 2002

The release of Porsche's Carrera GT, which will challenge the $2 million Ferrari Enzo for the title of the world's fastest car, has been delayed because one of its most experienced test drivers says it is too powerful for mere mortals.

Former world rally champion and Porsche test driver Walter Rohrl told Drive the new Porsche supercar is "the first car in my life that I drive and I feel scared".

Despite the awesome performance -- and an expected $1 million pricetag -- most Carrera GTs are said to be spoken for.
Just three Australians have ordered one, but they have told Porsche their cars will be garaged in Europe because the Carrera GT cannot be registered here.

Rohrl, who has been testing the Carrera GT in prototype form for the past three years, said it is so powerful that it spins the rear wheels in each gear up to fifth in its six-ratio box.

Power and acceleration figures are yet to be announced but Rohrl gave a clue to the engine's awesome performance, saying that the 5.5-litre V10 produces 450Nm of torque from as little as 2000rpm.

Overseas reports claim that the engine has a maximum of 450kW and 600Nm and that the engine revs to 9000rpm.

Earlier this year, Rohrl said, the engineering team was about to cancel a day's testing at the famous Nurburgring circuit because of wet weather. But, Rohrl said, when he insisted the car had to be tested in slippery conditions, he discovered the car's daunting performance.

"I came back into the pits and I was white," Rohrl said. "I immediately said to the engineers that we need one button for the wet and one button for the dry", referring to the need for a traction control switch.

Originally, he said, there were no plans to fit electronic traction control to the Carrera GT but his insistence has forced Porsche to develop a system at late notice.

Porsche is also trying to refine the gearbox -- but getting so many heavy-duty parts to move smoothly and quickly has proved challenging for engineers.

Rohrl says the car will not be released "until it is perfect" and that the maker is under no time pressure to deliver the Carrera GT.

"That is one of the good things about projects like this," he says. "Everyone wants the best and we will do what it takes, as long as it takes, to build the best.

"The car will sell whenever we bring it out."

Since its unveiling in concept car form at the 2000 Paris motor show, the Carrera GT has been on the road frequently as part of Porsche's rigorous testing program and accordingly has often been caught wearing little disguise (above).
The Carrera GT was at the Estoril F1 race track in Portugal last week for dry-weather testing. Rohrl, who was attending a media release for the new Porsche Cayenne 4WD at the time, was on the phone each night to check on the progress of his "baby".

At the Nurburgring, Rohrl tested the car with several tyre combinations and found that the 20-inch Michelin tyres, while excellent in the dry, were more of a handful in the wet than the equivalent Pirellis, on which he was 20 seconds a lap quicker around the 22km circuit.

Porsche has yet to make top speed claims about the Carrera GT but it has been reported that its tyres will be rated to 400kmh because the car is likely to exceed 350kmh.

The current benchmark is the three-seater McLaren F1 road car which recorded a top speed of 386.7kmh set in 1999. But this model has not been in production for four years, leaving the fight open for Porsche and Ferrari.
On paper, an acceleration time of 3.7 seconds for the 0-100kmh sprint is likely for the Carerra GT. Rohrl would not give an estimate.

"We develop the car to be the best we can possibly build and then put a stop watch on it," he said. "We don't come up with a time and say 'this is what we must achieve' because then you have a limit." Porsche plans to build no more than 1000 Carerra GTs (Ferrari is building 399 Enzos) over three years starting from mid-2003, assembling them by hand at the company's Leipzig plant alongside the Cayenne 4WD.