52 young years here...Davidv I drove a Z exactly like yours back in 1971..it was brand new...green with the tan seats inside ....what a gorgeous car...the only problem was I was 17 and couldnt afford that beautiful car then. Now here I am with my first Z and reliving the memories of that drive back in 1971.

 

Out of curiousity, and not to start a G vs Z fight, but how exactly do you define "much heavier"? Since, looking at the official curb weights, the Z's run from 3339 (base model) to 3404 (GT), while the G coupes run from 3505 (auto) to 3524 (manual). So, at the most, a manual G is less than 200 lbs heavier than a base Z. Not really "much heavier" at least in my book. Heck, I probably have another 300 lbs worth of audio equipment and sound deadening in my G, and I would still bet that it would outrun your Z at the track, or the dragstrip.... Of course, the JWT TT makes a bit of a difference, but 200 lbs either way is really not a huge amount.

Those are for the 2006's, by the way, each year is slightly different, but not by much.

 

im 20 so i guess im pretty young. put 14 down on it by making smart investing moves and my payment is only 278 a month. its not that expensinve of a car. not the cheapest but definantly doable for a hard working "boomer"

 

I'm 56, love my "04.5" ZR. Brought a 240Z in '72'. I was 21 years old. It was one of the best cars I've ever owned, kep' it 5 years. The ZR makes me look back, but has many more thrills. So far it's been a great ride, not one problem to date.

 

And I guess I forgot to mention in my post; I'm 36; have had an 83 ZX, and 84 turbo ZX, and a 90 TT. Now I have a G35 for the back seats, which I prefer to think of as a 350Z 2+2...

 

Born in 1950 but feel 18 when driving my 2nd Z. What a sweet ride. A 2005 Super Black with AT because shifting is too much work. I take Dad for rides every week. He's 92.

 

Dude, you ain't a "boomer" your a "gen xer" but I admire your work ethic.
Congratulations on your ride.

 

that's so awesome.

i gave my dad a ride to pick up his new truck yesterday and he was like 'woah, i hope your car has really good brakes cuz....it's fast...'

i'm like yeah, it is

 

To Dave90TT,

How do you compare the TT with the Z? TT was one of the cars I was looking at, but I've heard bad things about Audi reliability overall (not the TT necessarily).

Before the Z and even now I've driven VWs for 20 years and loved them, but Audi (also VW) has a bad rep, but the TT's are gorgeous.

Although I'm not disappointed in the Z at all, just wondering.

Quig

 

Hey Quig,

Great thread start.

I looked at the tt before buying my Z. An AWD tt would be more practical for me living and driving in Minnesota, but in 2003 there was only a turbo tt, and I hate turbo lag. The new high-end tt has a bigger engine without a turbo, a paddle shifter (auto clutch, actually 2 auto clutches), and lots of torque. Very cool car. But, it shares its platform with the reincarnated VW Bug. It is too “tame.” I drove it, and I realized that I was definitely a Z (or at least a Nissan/Infiniti) person.

But that G35 MT Coupe… great car. Whoa. A couple hundred pounds heavier than our Z’s, but has about the same performance and handling, a slightly longer wheelbase, better ride, and has a much quieter and more attractive interior.

Geez… I don’t know… guessing you and I may find ourselves in a G35 MT coupe by… let’s say… 2008?

But, love the Z’s look (true 2 seat sports car)

--Spike

 

Sorry, by TT I meant a 1990 300ZX Twin Turbo (aka TT). As for the Audi TT's, I think they look like a stunted version of a 350Z.

Dave

 

IMO, having driven several of them before I purchased my Z, they're much heavier compared to a Z. You don't have to look at the owner's manual to figure that out -- all anyone has to do is drive both of them and feel the difference. And I'm not going to argue with you that my N/A Z will outrun your TT G. In the end, you just have to live with the fact that the G is heavier than the Z and is not a true sports car.

 

Yeah sure, whatever. Even in a stock G versus Z, it's a drivers race. In fact, the G handles slightly better in many situations due to the longer wheelbase.

But hey, if it floats your boat to think your Z is a "True Sports Car", you're more than welcome to do so.

 

63 here and loving my Z. I have loved sports cars since I had an Austin Healey Sprite in the early 60's. I went through a muscle car era, a family car era and and bought a Dodge Stealth in 1992. I got the Z in 2003. Here is a picture of my Sprite that was probably taken in the fall of 1963.

Les

 

51 here and also had an Austin Healey Sprite when I was in the Navy years ago. Great little car (weird - it had a 12 volt POSITIVE GROUND electrical system) but tranny went out just as I was being transferred to Diego Garcia from Maine, so had to leave it behind. Had my Performance for 3.5 years, had a Z31 for six years prior to that. Actually wanted a 95 TT but could not find one in decent shape. Glad now that I couldn't. Lots of "boomers in our local club - most with earlier gens but more 350s all the timehttp://www.zroc.org/members.shtml

 

Thanks for the Austin Healy Sprite picture. I remember when those cars were all over the place, in addition to the Fiat Spyders that someone else mentioned.

The thought of the TT being AWD is interesting now in January, albeit 63 degrees here in RI. That might have been better for me too, but I now love my Z and also am not too sure about Audi all told.

Tell me, why are sports cars almost always rear wheel drive? Performance, I'm assuming. Is the G rear wheel drive?

Quig

 

Boomer here as well. I'm 52 and this is my third Z. It's the first one I've purchased new. My others were a 280ZX (NA) and a 300ZX (TT).

The 280 was stolen, stripped and dumped. Took over a month to find and had to wait for the insurance company to clear the claim another month. The 300 became a daily driver after the first few years of ownership, then used as the trade on the new 350 in 2003.

I've had other sports cars but can honestly say I've had more fun with the Z cars than any other.

 

We have Husker fans all over the nation ..LOL .

Was born in 57 . Bought the G35 because I love the looks and always love sports cars . Sig says most of it for me .

 

I do love that signature, I think it says it all for many boomers.


Quig

 

Rear wheel drive is better for traction on dry ground at high acceleration due to the weight shift to the rear. Thats why most performance and sports cars are rwd

As for the G, the manual sports coupe with the sports suspension is the same drivetrain (except for the carbon fiber driveshaft), same engine (minus 2 hp), same suspension (minus the strut tower bars)s as the Z. So, yes, all models of the G are rear wheel drive, except for the G35x, which is all wheel drive, with a rear bias.