Firstly, the C&D writeup with the weight must have been as tested, not curb weight. The actual figures are around 3188 to 3192 lbs. I have no complaints here.

Nissan's strategy was to re-introduce the Z as a car packed with performance for a reasonable price (I believe they have done exactly that). Therefore, they used parts from several other models to conserve costs. Common sense would lead us to believe these shared parts were not designed with lightness and performance in mind. So the aluminum hood, chassis, carbon fiber drive shaft are all great components for a light performance car.. however, the weight may be offset by the shared components.

I for one have no issues with this as I believe the car will perform outstandingly for the price and will definetely try the muscle cars and $50k rivals. If we wanted the car to be lighter, it would have cost a great deal more.

I think everyone is getting picky about little things since everything else has been discussed.. I'm just happy July 3rd is right around the corner.


Just my 2 cents.

 

I've stayed out of all the bickering here lately (I hope this board doesn't continue to degenerate into a zcar.com) but I will make one point.

My only real sense of dissapointment in "the numbers" for the new Z stems from the fact that it's the first real japanese sports car to make a return to the USA market.

To clarify, I like japanese cars. Always have. And as a fan of japanese engineering, I really wish we had some (any!) very powerful japanese cars available here in the states.

I was heartbroken when the all the japanese sports cars were canceled 5-6 years ago. I'm hopeful that the japs designs will return and kick butt over the competition like they did with the Rx-7, Supra, and of course the Z.

I'll for one will hold off on final judgement until I drive my preordered car.

 

Lighter = $$$, bottom line!

 

Have you noticed that all these posts have ordered the Silverstone, including myself... hope its a beauty!?!?

 

ZDreamer has said "lighter=faster". I must disagree. Lighter plus power plus gearing, etc. may equal faster, but then the weight of the driver is figured in and it gets a lot more complex than simply lighter=faster.

Colin Chapman, the brilliant English designer and engineer, may have said words to that effect when he was racing in Formula 1 and in building his lightweight road cars. You may not know that he was constantly critisized for endangering the lives of his drivers because the failure of a lightweight component could put them off the road and safety measures were primitive.

A lot of drivers in Formula 1 died when components failed. Mr. Chapmans race cars broke a lot and so did his road cars because his lightweight components simply could not withstand the pressure put on them.

Lotus fans of the early cars won't deny this,but they love their cars anyway. They just carry a lot of spare parts and become skilled at replacing the part quickly. I carried spare alternator belts and radiator hoses for my 1965 Triumph TR4 because If a belt broke or a hose failed, I could replace them or a local garage wouldn't have to order the part which could take days to arrive, leaving me stranded in the boondocks.

I digress; the point I am trying to make is Nissan built the 350Z for all sizes of drivers, just like the 240Z, and they have to include all the safety regulation mandates as well. I think they have done a great job to cover all the elements they needed to cover and come in at 3200 lbs or less, I think those will be the final specs.

I owned a 1991 MR2Turbo for 7 years, when I weighed 230-250 lbs and I could drive it only because I could recline the driver's seat at a 45 degree angle and the tilt wheel had a travel of about 8 inches, like a bus.

It weighed 2860 lbs with a wheelbase of 94-96 inches, over 8 inches shorter than the 350Z. I can't drive an S2000, no tilt wheel, a Miata is a joke, I can barely get one leg in it, the Boxster is ridiculously expensive with a lousy warranty, I don't like the Audi TT; and the Corvette has a V8 4 spd auto, I wanted a 5spd 6.

Welcome the 350Z which has the performance, amenities, and heavy safety equipment I want and deserve, all under $35,000.

Boomer--long-winded

p.s. Americans have been growing larger over the last few generations. My son was 7' and 275, case in point.