I just stopped by one of the local dealerships and they had 2 07's there. One was a base coupe in redline and the other was a black touring convertible. First off i have to say that i love the new hood. The first time i saw it on here i didnt really like it then it started growing on me. Now that ive seen it in person i think it makes the Z look more aggresive and i love it. They didnt have it ready for test drive yet but they said they would give me a call in a couple of hours so ill go back and drive the base coupe and ill post a review. The guage cluster looks to be smaller then the one in my 04. The engine bay looks to be alot tighter. I dont know if the engine is raised up but it looks alot beefier then the older vq. Stay tuned for a review of the test drive.

 

So i went back and drove the base redline coupe and i have to say that it felt slower then mine. I dont know if its because my car is louder, the engine only had 10 miles on it, or im just a complete moron. I redlined it twice and it felt quick but nothing like i was expecting. The engine is also alot smoother and doesnt feel as strained. At 5000 rpm it feels like 3500 or 4000 in the non revup motor. It is cool that 2nd gear tops out at around 69 mph. I love the hood, i cant say that enough. I test drove it at night and with the redline color its hard to see the bulge from an outside look but man does it look sweet from the inside. Its not overpertruding (sp?) but it gives it a powerful aggressive look. I cant wait to see it in person with the carbon silver color. So all in all its a sweet car, as if the Z wasnt sweet already, but the engine dissapointed me, at least until i see dyno, 0-60, 1/4 mile, and modded numbers.

 

O yeah when i pulled back into the dealership there was a really bad smell coming from the engine bay. i didnt even drive it hard.

 

It probably doesn't feel faster because its smoother. I bet if you drove them side by side on a 1/4 track, the new one would win. Also, the engine isn't yet broken in, so I don't think you would experience the fastest ride for another at least 5000 miles or so.

Thats one thing I noticed going from my Prelude to the Z... VTEC made it feel fast because of the switchover of cams at 5200 RPM's. However, the Z doesn't have that because its continously varible, so it might 'feel' a little slower, but I pretty much guarantee its faster.

 

I feel bad for whoever is going to bye this Z................. , none of the dealers here in MN have '07 Z's in stock to test drive, can't wait

 

yes i know it would feel better if it was broken in and i think it would be faster then my Z. Rule #1 when buying a brand new car dont buy the one that you and everyone has test drove. wait and snag one thats coming off the truck, i got mine with 9 miles on it. Im not going to test drive it and be easy on it, i wanted to see what the little beast would do LOL.

 

You say you didn't drive it hard, yet you redlined it?

 

thats what i said, if i took my car out drove around for a little while and redlined it a couple of times but other then that kept the rpms around 3500 for the most part i wouldnt say i drove the car hard. driving hard imo is wot 80% of the time.

 

How different is the '07 exhaust note from the '03-'06? Is it deeper? Is it louder and which exhaust note do you prefer?

Too bad you are dissapointed in the performance. I read other threads which other people noted it to be faster. I guess it just needs to be broken in properly.

Did the '07 feel lighter or heavier than your car when it was in stock form?

 

I didnt really notice an exhaust note from inside but from outside it sounded maybe a little deeper but i can really remember the stock exhaust note from mine, it still sounds sexy as hell. As far as weight i couldnt tell a diffrence. Performance wise take my opinion with a grain of salt because i set high expectations sometimes wich influences the outcome, as i said before im waiting to see what kinda numbers come out on the dyno and speed of this engine and i want to see how it handles mods, but im sure we will have to break down and get utecs.

 

It's ok with him because he is not buying that car.

 

amen to that. but as soon as i got my car i wasnt easy on it and i havent had any problems knock on wood so its not like im setting out to ruin somebodys future ride.

 

Maybe it was the cleaner they use to make the engine look shiny... it was probably just burning off.

 

Yeah, mine smelt like *** after I got it home for a day or two. My pops came by and said it just smells like the paint and rubber burning off the motor. All is good now though. I never redlined it though, and surely didn't get to 69 mph in 2nd gear. Shame on you.

 

Dude DEFTONES, give us a review of the car man. Any other thoughts on it after almost a week of driving it?

 

Still waiting for my 07 Carbon Silver Grand Touring due in Feb. 2. I test drove an 07 Touring and like the smoothness alot. I must admit though that I didn't take the car above 4000 rpm. I would be VERY surprised if at higher rpm the engine doesn't maintain it's smoothness.

And yes I like the hood and the Bluetooth and the active head rest restraints.

I'd pay more $ for a better transmission and clutch unit.

 

I sold Infinitis for a while and the first 2 times I drove it (07 VQ35HR), it didn't feel any faster. I was actually quite disappointed. Not until the third or forth drive did I realize how much faster the car is. With it's 7.5k redline, smoother and quieter engine the car is deceivingly fast.

Also I was disappointed with the sound at first. I like the deep sound of the single intake/exhaust of my Z and the older G. The new engine having a true dual system naturally won't be as deep since the throttle bodies and exhaust is smaller diameters x2.... however after driving them for a while it has grown on me as well.

So my point is those going for 1-2 "joy rides" at the dealer may want to reserve judgment until you really get to drive one for a while.

 

Well like I said before, I'm not qualified to give such a review being that this is the first Z I've ever driven. My review would be generic in the sense that I'm blown back by the way it handles, accelerates out of turns in 2nd and all that stuff. But that's like, every other Z most likely. The hood is really a non-issue. On a MB and in person, it just looks sexy as all hell. People who trip on the side profile, lol. The only time you'd see it from the side like that is if you fell down and shat yourself in awe. The car is dope. That's all I can really say.

 

same here, but its starting to go away, I figured it was something they used at the dealership to clean the engine or something else that was just burning off that was put on from the factory.

 

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