350Zs aren't much lighter then your GTO (Holden Monaro). If you are looking for a lighter car, I'd go with a <3,000lbs, 4 cylinder banger (Toyota MR-S)

BTW, GM should have brought these Holden HSV to the States. Definitely better then the current GM lineup. I saw a Maldo in Australia. The El Camino looking sports truck actually looks pretty good.

http://www.hsv.com.au/cars/vz/main.html

 

true, the z is pretty dang heavy....although when I drive it, it is a lot more responsive and hard edged, which makes it feel lighter than it is relative to the gto.

 

Take a look a Subaru's Legacy models too....you should be able to get one fully loaded at your price point.


But why come to a Z board asking this question(when you are running a GTO?)?

 

Hmm. Have visited some of the GTO forums and from the way they talk the GTO is the end all and be all of autos. I actually feel as if im going in the opposite direction that you describe and want a car like the GTO for its performance. The last car i owned before my Z was a 2002 Camoro SS so its hard to get that small block v8 performance out of your blood.

 

Yeah, and the people you will meet through the clubs are much better than the LS1/LS2 clubs. Wide geo so all peep get along. It's really cool seeing how this community gels.

 

I still own my LS1.



You have to admit that the Z is a lot like the american muscle car. Good torque down low and all. The reason I like the Z is the style, durability, comfort, and super handling out of the box.

Don't get me wrong I have to jump in my torque monster every once in a while. However, the Z is a fun car, doesn't make you work, has a styled out interior and exterior, easy to use around town and turns a lot of heads.

I love my LS1 for the torque. I love my 350Z for the independant rear and the tossability. I have over 2K in handling suspension in my Firebird so it handles awesome for the size.

Another way to put it: The Firebird is a sledgehammer the Z is a scalpel.
They both do their jobs, just in a different way.

 

If you've already got a daily driver car with a lot of power, why not an S2000? Great handling, fun little car, plus it's a convertable so you can drop the top on nice days!

 

yes, s2k is the best choice for you (used one for your budget).

 

He'll have to test drive the S2000. If he wants to use if for low speed around the town work the S2000 sucks. You have to rev the heck out of it. That is why I bought the Z. Around town, nice torque. In the mountains torque down low for bipping around without effort or high revs. Now for all out racing in the mountains S2000 on really tight stuff. If it has any straights whatsoever the 350Z will out power it and take it on. In the tight corner the S2000 romps. In most of the stuff you'll see on a roadway the 350Z is the ticket. I was playing with my Z's in the wet, icy, sandy with a light snow condition and for the others with me the VDC did it job. We were all impressed by how fast we could go in the tight stuff together. With the room in the car to carry all of our dates, camera stuff, cooler, and the like we really had some fun. I mean heck, we had to slow down cause we were making our girls all sick.
Now that's more than enough for most people. That was some real G's. It was nice and flat but the side G's was killing them off. Lol !!!!

Plus the Z community has really come alive with all the units on the road now.

Lastly, the car just looks hot! You don't get as many looks in a S2000 as you do in a Z most people mistake it for a miata anyways. Too bland a design for these times. I have gotten way more looks in my Z than any other car I have ever owned. Sometimes, I just want to blend in so it's not always good.

 

s2000 stock == headache for me after 30 minutes of driving hard. test reports s2000 with a hardtop == unacceptable noise levels.

 

Have not mixed with any 350Z clubs, but understand and agree with your observations about the LS1/LS2 clubs.

 

Not everyone mind you but a lot of the people in the LS1/LS2 clubs are kinda NASCAR if you know what I mean. Not that middle America is that bad. It's just that as my wife and I get older and want the finer things in life and the Jeff Foxworthy mentality just doesn't feel right anymore.

It seems the Z clubs in general are middle of road. Yeah once again you get some punks but if they are in the clubs the older people that own these car generally get the respect and the young ones see to be more mature because of the communication that goes on.

Oh don't get me wrong we all still act like kids and yuck it up. However, it seems like these people have too much to lose to do really stupid things.

I don't know it just feels a lot more like a friendship. It's about the car but, it seems to be a little more about the people in the car as well in the Z clubs.