I'll try to keep this post short and to the point...

I drive a 97 Firebird Formula, which I bought new, paid for, and love dearly. However, the car has over 100k miles on it, so a new car is my future. To this end, I really like the new 350 (It's relatively cheap, looks great, and is fairly powerful from the factory). However, some nagging thoughts keep me from taking a trip to the dealership and test-driving one...

Foremost, I hate rice, and everything it stands for. I'm 24 years old, I have a good job, and I don't want to be associated with kids who put a fart cannon on their car and tell their friends they run 10s. My F-body has been heavily modded over the years, and along the way, I have been fortunate enough to know some of the most knowledgeable and friendly people in the tuning business. What scares me is the fact that I have only seen one aspect of the 'foreign car community', and it's not really something I'd like to participate in. So, my question is this.... Are there people here, and in the Z world, who are like those I have described in the domestic scene? If I buy this car, will I be able to get reliable, accurate, and dependable turning information and parts, or will my world be ruled by, “I got mad exhaust, yo.... Mah **** runs 8s on nawwwws”?


Post up with your thoughts... Is this a place for a serious enthusiast, or not?

Thanks in advance

 

For the most part Z owners look right down their noses at those boy racer types (I do, I'll admit it) As for your views on the "foreign car community" try and be a little more open minded. There are PLENTY of guys that drive imports that are all about HP, and could care less about ricer math, and park bench sized alluminium wings. The Z has almost as long of a heritage as Firebirds have, and has a big cult following of people who, for the most part can't stand those honduh-pep boys modders. Nissan has a long and impressive racing history, and a good reputation in the performance world. We know our Z's aren't Beemers, but there is allot of pride in the Z community,.... it's not like buying a Civic or RSX man!

I've turned so many of my muscle car loving friends on to Z's it's not even funny. These guys were all about their Chevys for their entire adult lives,.... now they drive Z's. One drive and you're hooked man, it's like automotive crack You may miss a little of the power from your modded LT1 in the beginning, but trust me when I say the aftermarket for the Z is about to bust WFO! Oh and the handling you gain coming from your 'bird will put a big smile on your face.

 

I'm 29. All of my cars before this were GM. My wife had a Subaru for a while, but that's the only other import we've ever owned. Before the Z came out, the Z06 was my goal. However, the dot com world came apart, and with the corresponding dive in certain stock fortunes, my dream of a Z06 evaporated pretty quickly. At any rate, I started saving anyway. Then the Z appeared. Naw, I thought, I'd never fit in one... I'm a tall guy and the imports never have head room. So I went to sit in one. Wow. More head room in here than in my wife's Grand Cherokee. I had an order in for one a week later. 4 months after that I picked it up. Not a single regret. The Z rocks -- looks, ergonomics, exhaust note... [OK, it doesn't measure up to a small block rumble, but it's mean still the same.] I hate everything about the 'rice' concept you mentioned above. My belief is that if it doesn't actually do anything for your car, don't put it on there. My plan is for this thing to look plain, run mean. Well, if a Z can look plain...

Anywayz... take it for a drive, and see if you can walk away. If you can, then great, you gave it a chance. If not, welcome to the club, man!

 

hey ls1 guy, check this page out and see how serious these guys are.

http://www.exvitermini.com/mvarious.htm

Nissan skyline doing 0-186 in 13.72 seconds.

 

in the real world youll find ricers of all shapes, even domestic muscle. its the sad truth.

however it would seem to me that 25 is about the average age for the Z, 26000 is just a bit out of the boy ricers reach, and ricers tend to love mags, which the STI, evo, wrx, SRT4 and even the RSX can look pretty strong in, they dont care that they are all I4s. so these seem to be the ricer choice.

from this board, it seems that 99% of the people are doing tasteful mods spending the cash to do things right. there are a few ricey kits, but a majority are pretty clean. and no matter what, youll never hear the true fart can civic sound.

 

The Z has a high coolness factor, and everything already said applies. But I'll play devils advocate for a moment and say be prepared for a bit of a difference when it comes to modding. First off, the aftermarket isn't as strong YET. We all know it's rapidly growing, but it probably will never be what the F-Bods have (unless they stick around for a long time). Second, the parts that DO come out might be a bit more pricey than you're used to. It's simply a smaller market and to justify production for a smaller market, you need to raise costs. Then there's the fact that the Z's motor is already doing a lot! Look at an S2000. How many mods can you do to those things that actually help? The thing is pretty much maxed from the factory. The Z isn't JUST LIKE the S2000, but it's a lot closer to that than your LT1. What can you do to it? Shave the heads for compression? It's already pretty high as is... Port the heads? That's not too cheap and no one knows how to do it yet. And they might not respond well to it since they're great heads anyway. And as of now, you can't buy heads or cams, and even when you can, do you even want to know how much 4-valve heads would cost? And buying a cam suddenly means purchasing a set of FOUR!! There's the forced induction route, but that's looking to be pretty darn expensive and with such high compression you won't be able to run much boost.

On the plus side... Nitrous works, and I would LOVE to see a stroker kit for one of these. The exhaust and intake mods seem to be OK so far, but I suspect that a LOT of power could be had with computer tuning (NO, I DON'T mean 'chips'). Could you imagine one of these with a TEC-II? That would be sweet... As I said, the heads seem to be quite nice, and you might be able to fit some bigger valves in there (anyone know for sure?) If you DID go all out and lowered the compression with some good forged slugs, with any type of forced induction you would have a seriously powerful motor on your hands. Just look at the Jaguar XJ-220. What does that have for a motor? 3.5 liter twin-turbo V6, 542 hp from the factory and capable of 218 mph, I think. There's a lot to do, but it won't be cheap for the Z, ya know?

So there ya go. I tried to play both sides for you, focusing only on the motor aspects since the reduction in power will probably be the biggest shock for someone coming from a modded LT1.

 

well said.

 

Thanks for the responses... you all made some good points, and there are obviously some knowledgeable people on this board.

I *have* been a bit cynical concerning the foreign market, but when all you see are loud Honda Civics weaving through traffic on their way to an 18 second quarter mile, a person can get pretty jaded.

All in all, I do love the 350, and I am going to give it a chance. I know damn well it’s handling characteristics blow an F-body away (even a modded F-body), and that in itself is reason enough to drive one. (A live rear axle does not contribute to stable handling characteristics at speed)

P.S. - a note to "phile" - I drive an LT1, not an LS1 And while we are on the subject, you appear to have posted the 'best of the best' in the field of foreign performance, which is really irrelevant to my thread. Buuuut, if you really wanna there, then here ya' go.....


www.nhra.com

Pretty damn irrelevant

 

If you get this car, you'll be in a totally different league then ricers. Don't worry about it. Its all in what you appear to be.

They never bothered me.

 

First I wouldn't worry about "rice factor".


I think it's kind of funny that you don't want to be associated with this type of community. By driving a Firebird your being associated with the trailer park community.

I'm not trying to slam I'm just trying to say quit worrying about what everyone thinks, drive the car, and if you like it buy it. I don't know any brand that doesn't have some kind of stereotype.

Also if you are a true serious enthusiast that only cares about 1/4 mile times I'd stick with the domestic scene. You won't see to many members here providing links to the NHRA! It's a lot cheaper to make a Firebird fast then it is a Z. The reason I bought the Z wasn't strictly for performance.

Have you thought about buying a used Vette. They don't hold their value very well so you should be able to get one a couple years old for around 30K.

 

Also when you reference the 'foreign car community' that is pretty broad.

That's like saying I'm not going to buy a Corvette because I saw someone driving around in a Dodge Neon with a 5 foot wing.

 

This should calm your nerves a bit. The Z is my first Japanese car. Before, (with the exceptiong my disasterous venture into German engineering) I was all about F-Bodies. I had a 98 Camaro SS that I'd take to the track as often as I could. I LOVED working on it and every other car person I knew was involved with LS1s or LT1s.

Little ricer boys drive me up the wall--I actually had some stupid kids try to race me in their CIVIC against my LS1 monster.

Now, I actually love my Z more than I did my Camaro. It's got REAL potential for being a seriously fast car, although it will take more work to go as fast in a straight line as an F-body. The reason this car shines so bright for me is because it's all around performer. I've been NHRA liscenced for a while now, and I've kind of gotten bored with the whole quarter mile thing. (Obviously because I'm not running against John Force or Brandon Bernstein).

There are so many things you can do with this car that's actually performance minded and not ricey. And most people are going with those kind of mods. I can just tell you as an F-body fanatic, you won't regret getting the Z.

Good luck!

 

I am 38yrs old and I am out from under the hood of my 64 Catilina 389 tri power and behind the wheel of my New "Z" This car and the people around it, are COOL.

 

just test drive one for about a half an hour, that's all it took to get me out of my LS1/LT1 mindset.

seriously tho, i've been a camaro loyalist for all of my driving life (92RS - 96Z28 - 2000Z28) and i can promise you you won't regret your decision to buy a Z. aside from my love of this car, the first thing you'll notice is people flock to this car. i've had more people ask me about this car than ALL my camaros combined... and i've only had it for 15 days!

performance wise i haven't noticed any noticebale drop. this car is FAST.

like i said, you won't regret it, buy a nissan and join the club of ex-F-Bodies.

 

I typed LS1 by accident. And I'd like you to know my post was very relevant. Your points of view the "foreign car community" were very narrow. I gave you an exaggerated example to get you yo understand how limited your view was.

So, next time I try to make a point, I'll just have to say it.

 

I used to drive the same exact Firebird as you and while I did notice the drop in power i am very happy with my Z.

When I first bought my firebird no one really paid any attention to it(except for my friends and my trailer park girlfriend). I have had the Z for one week now and people flock to see this thing. People pull up to it on the street and look at it. This one guy I saw from my girlfiends balcony pulled up to the traffic light and then backed up about 30 yards to look at my Z. I am very pleasantly surprised at the reaction I am getting out of people.

One thing you'll miss is the jump you get when you nail the Firebird in first gear. The torque difference is obvious. Aside from that it is still a quick car. You wont be dissapointed.

It's a much smaller club to run with. They will make 30k of these a year compared to 110k of camaros(firebird is done for in 2003+). I think those are the right numbers. Someone correct me if not.

Hope that helped(prolly not)...

BTW, I'm 23, to put things in perspective for you.

 

Actually, all F-bodies are done as of 2002. GM shut down all the plants to convert them into SUV machines. But the rest sounds right to me.

BTW, I'm 23 as well, I forgot to mention that in my earlier post.

 

your girlfriends trailer has a balcony?..........Big Pimpin.

 

Oh yeah, I'm 22 btw.

 

Again, thanks for the replies... you people are pretty friendly to a damn newbie.

350zSpeedRacer – I noticed your Yahoo IM name is “Aggieracer02”... I graduated from Texas A&M last year, and I’m assuming you went there as well. If so, howdy!

A few other thoughts – If I was shooting for raw speed, I would obviously hunt down a used Corvette and take a trip to MTI in Houston. For only a little more cash than a new Z, I could turn that used Vette into a 10 second beast. Problem is, that’s not what I’m shooting for...

I’ve spent the last five years tuning, modding, and tweaking domestic muscle, and I am ready to try something different. I’m not saying I’ve grown tired of the ol’ LT1, but I see learning and tuning a new type of car as a challenge; something that will require a lot of work, and in the process, a lot of pride. I accepted this challenge when I bought the Firebird, and now I’d like to accept the challenge in the form of a completely different car.

My original question was simply aimed at those who are already in the Z community. I wanted to gauge the ‘enthusiast’ factor....I wanted to see if some of the people driving these beautiful cars were actually “car people”, and if I bought one, would I have the same type of people to relate with as I do in the Firebird.

If the responses in this thread are any indication, I would definitely be in good company with the Z.

I'll let everybody know how the test drive went....