word.


lol.

 

i agree that comparing the two is somewhat unfair. two completely different
objectives to be met by both cars. no one buys a Z for luxary anymore than
buying the TL to have the fastest car on the block.

i always viewed the interior of sports cars as low priority opting for functionality
over luxary. this is why people still spend $$$ on mustangs, Z's, EVO's. etc. it is
expected that more emphasis would be placed on performance than making the
interior plush or more like a luxary car.

if nissan was to revamp the Z with a plush interior then i'm sure there would be
a different post asking why nissan didn't provide more performance parts rather
than spending so much time and money on the interior.

there are some cars that provide a splendid mix of both. for example porsche.
but then you pay extra for that. and even then a mercedes a porsche is not.

 

Simply put, you dont compare performance coupes with luxyry sedans. Lets throw in comparing a pickup in the mix, why doesnt that have dual climate zones, XM, leather, and especially no sunroof!

 

I think it would be nice to see the following specs for both cars :
Skid pad
HP per pound ratio
torque per pound ratio
0-60
0-100
100-0
Lateral Gs

 

You know what the one luxury feature the Z lacks that I wish it had? Air-conditioned cupholders.

I went to go test drive an '06 330i. When I got into the car, one of the first features the saleman told me about was that one of the cupholders had a connection to the AC system that would keep my drinks cold. Absolutely worthless, but it'd be cool to have.

 

How cold does the AC really get? freezing cold I assume.

 

yeah i agree. no offense to anyone in the forums but it seems like they are
simply placing more and more features in cars that i'm sure probably 99.99%
of the owners will never actually use. i used to have a 330ci and aside from
some basic nice features i didn't care about the rest.

unless you plan on living in your car most of the features in my opinion are
truly worthless. especially if you drive alone most of the time. maybe this is
stereotypical, but if you probably ask most mercedes/bimmer owners what
features they have they could probably rattle them off so fast from memory.
then if you ask the last time they used them... probably never.

 

dont try to look for the same value in the z that you might find in, say, a toyota, honda, or bmw. those companies in particular have the cash necessary to create a car with a slim profits and can afford to take the risk of a not so successful car.

nissan cant. there was a time where the future wasnt so certain and there was talk nissan may go under.. forutnately they got a new ceo and none of that happened, and they revived the Z after discontinuing the 300zx. they priced it below $30k and equipped it with 280hp albeit with a shared platform but still made it such that the company could be in business. now they have more cash and i wouldnt doubt that the cars will get better; look at it this way, the 05s have engines that are pretty different (R&D on the changes between engines isnt cheap) and they can do it only on a few cars. i think nissan is doing well and respect their decision. of course i hope that on the next go around the relative value increases.

 

+1 Good point. All the new Nissan line ups look great, revolutionary bold design cues. The new Altima, Maxima, Z, Murano, FX, M45 etc. Taking bold designs to implementation is a very tough decision and has to be timed right. As a result Nissan is growing faster than any other car company.

 

Wow, great research and reporting!

 

From what I understand, the S2K isn't really a moneymaker for Honda. And replacement parts are ridiculously expensive.

 

Do you mean volume or profit?

BTW, Nissan has the highest profit margins of any mainstream car company. Toyota, by virtue of its volume, is the most profitable overall, but their margins are second to Nissan.

So yes, there is a lot of profit built into the price we paid for our cars. But in a way we've been buying into the re-branding of Nissan in general. Goodwill, in accounting terms.

 

In this article they took the most expesnive and heaviest Z.
They shoulda compared a TYrack or maybe even an Enthusiast.
The price advanatge would have been much bigger and the lighter car would have done better

 

ditto that

the leather seats are slippery and heavier along with seat heaters and extra sound proofing, not to mention those aniversary wheels are probably heavier than the track wheels too.

The article also leaves out things like the modding market.

The Z's modding market is possibly bigger than any of those cars except the corvette

they also ignored resale value. Doesn't the Z have one of the best resale values on the market? It's getting worse I think because of the tire feathering issue being spread around, but still

The subjective tests are just that, subjective

the performance numbering rating system they use I don't agree with. They are 3 people's opinions on a scale of 1-10 rating each car's 0-60, 1/4 mile time, etc then averaged together. It isn't based on real numbers.

Otherwise the Z didn't do too bad on the track really. The article makes it sound like the car fell flat, but it was usually in the middle or lower bracket of the different parts of the track course. On section 7 it was faster than the C6 corvette by 5mph in 6th place where the corvette came in dead last at 9th place for that part of the track. Was anyone really expecting the Z to be better than a 911 carrera or viper?

All things considered considered, it didn't do too bad when you consider the average price of the cars tested here were all $55k cars which is pretty much twice as much as a Z

 

you are correct, however they built the car anyways to show what they can do and bring people in there showrooms. Actually the s2k was only suppose to be a one or two year run, but people liked them so much well they are still being built. But the z and s2k are 2 differernt cars as far as there philosophy within the company. like i said earlier i just wish the z had something unique of its own and not just a shared platform and engine with 10 other cars.

 

Base Z is about $27k sticker. The only place that extra HP is going to do anything is above 5k. I'm not up there that often. Only one in the test that was in the same ballpark as the Z was the s2000. So what's your point?

At $30K I think it's still the best deal in town.

 

They're totally different cars.

TL: more luxury based..

350Z: Sporty/Performance



Compare the TL with the G35

 

Some are missing the point here. Those that mentioned the all aluminum suspension, engine, carbon fiber driveshaft, etc. That's the type of stuff I'm looking at. It wasn't a comparison of the cars. It's clear in the Acura they spent the money on leather, stereo, ride quality, sound deadening, and technology in general. They put in a good engine and called it a day. Looking for the same stuff on the Z.

 

I agree with you above, in spite of that, making it lighter prolly wouldnt make the Z the 5 star crash tested sport car that it is now

 

And more than one Forum member has had chance to thank their lucky stars for that!