I've been lurking here for months now reading up on the Z and eagerly awaiting the day when my BMW 323 lease would run out so I could buy a new Z.

Three weeks ago, my wife bought a new G-35 Coupe (automatic) and I've been driving that on and off.

This weekend I went to test drive a new 350Z Touring model, 6-speed and walked away disappointed. Why?

In the Z, I just didn't feel the power. I floored the car, heard a lot of grumbling, but didn't feel much in the way of acceleration. The G is much smoother and definitely feels faster in my opinion. Actually, the G feels much faster. The new Z didn't even feel any faster than my old 92' 300z. Does any one else feel this way?

The G is much more refined, much better interior, smoother power and back seats. In all, a much better car, with much better service from Infiniti. I know the G-35 has 7 less horsepower, but I tell you it felt faster than the Z did.

From that test drive, I definitely won't be getting a Z unless Nissan throws some twin-turbos on it.

Am I alone in this opinion?

-Nazz

 

Probably. I test drove a 6spd G35 coupe and came away unimpressed. My thoughts were completely the opposite in terms of power, Z feels great, G35 doesn't feel like it's there.

Plus the interior does a HORRIBLE job at being a "luxury interior", ie compared to an Audi, BMW, Lexus, Acura, or MBZ it feels downright cheap.

For a luxury sports sedan it was too noisy, badly designed interior, and so on. It looks great outside, love seeing one from the outside (wish we had their 18" rims.) And of course service is better. But I'd take my Z any day. My friend thought the same thing, he was all set on getting a G35c but after he test drove it he walked away and bought a new Acura TSX instead.

 

Um. Most people think the Z feels faster.

Don't know what happened during your test drive, but I can be pretty sure it wasn't a normal occurance. But since you've been leasing a Bimmer, you may enjoy the G35C better. It's got more of the ammenities that BMW owners like, while the Z is much more raw. Not trying to pick on ya here, honestly. It just seems that people who drive BMWs usually prefer the G over the Z. Just an observation.

 

feel what you want, line me up to a G35coupe and give us both identical tires and Ill blow him away. cant argue with 200less lbs, or 7 hp.

I think your comparing a car with about 20 miles to a fully broken in car. also your comparing to an automatic, they often feel faster, cause your not even thinking about shifting, your just hittin the gas. my moms car feels faster cause its just going, but its a mid 7 car with a tail wind.

anyway, the dealer let you drive the **** out of a brand new car?

 

the auto is'nt bad at all but I found using manual mode is even more enjoyable and quicker to take off from

 

Commenting from a couple of previous posts....

> feel what you want, line me up to a >G35coupe and give us both identical >tires and Ill blow him away.

Well, after test driving the Z, I would take that bet any day against my wife's G35. Like I said, I didn't feel much pull at all in the Z. It was a dealer test drive Z with about 2200 miles on it. I'm not sure if it's been driven to death or what, but it wasn't any faster than my old 300zx and definitely not faster than the G. Maybe equal, but not any faster. Maybe because I've been driving the G and it's smoother power. I dunno. Maybe my expectations were too high to begin with, but I thought it would feel faster than the G and it didn't at all.

>Plus the interior does a HORRIBLE job at >being a "luxury interior", ie compared to >an Audi, BMW, Lexus, Acura, or MBZ it >feels downright cheap.

Actually, the interior in the G35 feels classier and better than that of my BMW, with the exception of maybe the middle console plastic. Everything else is comparable. I've had may problems with the interior quality of my BMW. (sunroof cover broke twice, hardly ever used, moundling around doors melted off in florida sun, plastic piece of steering wheel falling off, etc.) And this is only 3 years old car, so I'm not impressed by BMW interior quality.

Overall, I love the way the Z looks. Hell, I've been dreamin' about gettin' this car for months now, but if it's not any faster than the G35 I'm not sure I'll get one now.

Guess I'll have to wait for a twin-turbo model.

 

just politely stfu and get your G35. They are nice cars but before you speak outta your rear-end and say a Z is slower and a lesser car than the G, pls get re-educated when you get pwned on the streets.
also, you drove a freaking 323, it's the bottom of the low when talking about BMW's...and don't go on about saying how unclassy the interior and refinement of a bimmer is

 

Take a ride as a passenger. This is where you will be able to feel the acceleration. Trust me. When I roll around in my friends Z or vise versa, we both are like . . .does my car feel this fast? We both think the others car is faster . . .but truth be told mine is a little faster. Another thing is the final drive ratio, my rear tires are close to bald. This makes the car even faster, it effectively changes the final drive ratio. Final point is the Z has very linear acceleration (as does the G) . . .both are deceptively fast.

BTW, stay away from the Z vs. G35C bet. I have done this (Z vs. auto and 6spd G), you may be a little disappointed. Z is a touch faster than both, maybe a real drivers race.

 

everyone has their own opinion, those that have a Z are happy with it, for looks, style and power it has alot of class. The G35 are looking for a bit more with the rear seats and its own unique styling so who cares?! Buy what you like and be happy with it. I dont need to justify why I got my Z, I just liked it and very happy with mine. I coulda easily got an SVT Stang with 390ibs torque but I wanted somethin that said "me" more so I cant ***** if an SVT flew by me, I had the choice and made it.

 

Multiple choice:

A.) The wife wouldn't let you get the Z and you had to settle for an auto G35.

B.) You can't drive a manual transmission.

C.) The salesman driving the Z for you never floored it.

D.) All of the above.



Seriously though, if you want to compare the Z to the G35c at least use the same transmission for comparison.

 

Since when does the Z have a luxury interior? There have never been such claims by Nissan that the Z has a luxury interior. It has a functional, pleasant interior that is not overloaded with leather and wood all over each exposed surface. BMWs and Infinitis are the luxury lines you are referring to and the Z is a sports car built for performance. My 5AT Touring has frost leather seats with leather on the steering wheel and shifter. Where else would you want to put leather in a sports car? Coming from a BMW, you may think the Z's interior is austere, but it is certainly not cheap. The polymer parts of the interior are attractive and easy to take care of which is what is I like in a sports car.

Slathering leather all over each surface would have raised the price, increased the weight and generally made the Z look silly as an elemental sports car. If you have to have luxury, buy the Z4, M3 or M5; SL, SLK, ad nauseum. Since you're obviously unaware of the Z's purpose, I can't see you buying one, especially one w/o a "luxury" interior which you seem to believe is a detriment. I and thousands of other 350Z owners don't feel as you do or many wouldl be buying overpriced European 2 seaters.

The 350Z was intended to be the reincarnation of the original 240Z, a reasonably affordable 2 seat sports car for the 21st century and it succeeds, IMO. My 1972 240Z did not contain one square inch of leather, but to beat its performance when it was introduced, you had to pay twice as much for a European 2 seater.

Also, the 350Z has a drive-by-wire throttle and you have to push the accelerator more than just a couple of inches or you will feel it is slow because many cars have an aggressive tipin from rest. Give the Z 20% throttle, you get 20% acceleration. Most other cars will give you 50% acceleration with a 20% tipin to create the illusion they have more power than they do. You need to retest the Z and drive it or it will feel slow. BTW, I rejected both the M3 and 330iC to buy the Z and I'm very pleased with the Z.

I owned a 1978 BMW 320i for 2 years, nice car but no world beater and I sold it to buy my friend's 240Z w/73,000 miles in 1980, and then put 70,000 more miles on it myself. I liked the 240Z better, it was much faster.

 

hehe, damn, dudes are gettin' all riled up. relax holmes.


>just politely stfu and get your G35. >They are nice cars but before you speak >outta your rear-end and say a Z is >slower and a lesser car than the G, pls >get re-educated when you get pwned >on the streets.
> also, you drove a freaking 323, it's the >bottom of the low when talking about >BMW's...and don't go on about saying >how unclassy the interior and >refinement of a bimmer is

Don't need to stfu. I have a G35, or my wife does. Still considering a Z, but not sure and the test drive didn't impress me. I though I would notice a significant difference, but did not.

Also, read the post before you comment, I didn't drive a 323, I have leased it for 3 years, so I can speak for the shitty quality, trust me. Of course the 323 is a shitty model, I lived in germany for 4 years, there a 323 bimmer is fuer die Prols...ein scheiss 3er Reihe and is not considered much of a car at all unless maybe you are an old Manta driver...hehe.


>Multiple choice:

> A.) The wife wouldn't let you get the Z >and you had to settle for an auto G35.

I get whatever I want dude.

> B.) You can't drive a manual >transmission.

I can drive as good as most people.

> C.) The salesman driving the Z for you >never floored it.

I drove the Z, not the salesman. I floored it, heard a nice roar and wondered where the power was.

>D.) All of the above

The correct answer is:

E.) The Z is not any faster than the G and I thought it would be and I'm disappointed that it's not because I had higher expectations. That doesn't necessarily mean I won't get one because I love the looks, which is probably what will ultimately make me buy it.

I don't give a **** about leather and the other amenities because I already have my wife's G. I live in South Florida and leather is useless because you just burn your *** in the sun.

But, when you sacrifice the interior quality and everything else for the sake of performance, you'd better damn well see the performance...and I'm wondering where it is.

What get's me here on this forum is when someone says anything that could be remotely construed as negative about the Z, this strand of Z owners get all hyper like they own a Ferrari Modena or something.

I guess the solution is that next time there's a South Florida or Miami Z meet, I'll go there and someone can gimme a nice ride in their Z. I'm out in Miramar, give me a shout at nazzdeq at yahoo dot com. I'll look out for the next meet down that way.

-Nazz

 

Actually, it is provable that the Z is quicker. It may not feel it to you, but it is probably a good .2 quicker at a minimum (6MT to 6MT) in the quarter with equivalent drivers. That isn't a ton, but it is a difference. YOU might not feel it in the seat of your pants, but it is there.

I drove the G35C before I got the Z, and while I liked it, it felt unimpressive to me coming from my GTP, which was probably within a couple of tenths of the G35C in acceleration itself. The Z definitely felt quicker to me, and I was intending fully at that time to get a G35C, so I don't think I was biased.

 

hey your test driving almost the exact car. i know the z has a touch more horsepower but what exactly did u expect?? if its a second quicker or a second slower does that really matter?? its a sports car not a dragster. hey you can get a m3 for another $25,000 if you really need the speed! good luck !

 

"What get's me here on this forum is when someone says anything that could be remotely construed as negative about the Z, this strand of Z owners get all hyper like they own a Ferrari Modena or something."

check the website name again, holmes.

 

Unfortunately I have to weigh-in and provide an unpopular opinion:

I don't feel the Z is very quick. Perhaps it's just the one I own. I feel the power perhaps in the 1st 50% of throttle. However, after that, it's just not there. Power does not increase for me after 50% throttle. I've had it brought in to service due to lack of power. They hooked up the diagnostics and declared there were no error messages regarding the motor having problems.

I had another car that supposedly had about 280 hp and I felt that it had more power. Granted it was a turbo but you could really feel it pulling. (I realize a turbo probably has a different power curve vs an NA engine.,,and I took that into account.) My Jeep Grand Cherokee (V8...all wheel drive) feels quicker and I think it should be slower.

I wasn't expecting a 1/4 mile racer. But I did expect it to be the quickest car I owned. The Z now has about 8k miles on it.

Sorry people, I am disappointed in the power.

On the brighter side, I don't see a better looking car on the road.

 

My car just recently reached the break-in point and after a couple of extra hundred miles, I finally let her rip. I had a 91 300ZX and I can say without a doubt, my 6sp. 350 is MUCH quicker thant my 91 5 sp.

It feels much more like the twin turbo from the 90's than it does the NA model.

I would go to another dealer and try a different car. Maybe the torque converter was having a problem on that car.


Good luck with whatever you choose!


Stu E.

 

I think you are describing a flat torque curve. Vtec type stuff, or stuff with turbos will have a higher RPM push feel, where a good NA engine feels pretty even in power even as more RPMs come on. My GTP felt much the same to me when I got it back in 98. At the time, though, it was a bit quicker than the Mustang GTs of that year. You'd never know it after riding in both back to back, unless you put them side to side.

The end result is that the Z is a high 13s to low 14 second car. Nothing shabby. Do you honestly think your Jeep is faster? It might have more drama, but line them up, and unless it is modded, I bet it is quite a bit slower.

My point is perception of some cars can be deceptive. Will a Z smoke a G35C? Nope. It is slightly faster. IMO, though, I felt that the Z was a bit more sporty after test driving both. I'll admit the suspension and weight probably had something to do with that, but empirically, I think it could be proven true (say, the MT COTY test where they tested back to back).

 

First you have your opinion and please continue to share it. I to came away from my original test drive with second thoughts, the Z does not feel like it has close to 290hp especially peak hp. The engine is very linear (flat torque curve) and smooth from tip-in to full throttle. I really enjoyed the feel of the car but throttle response and seat of the pants were not what I expected.

I did figure out that if you want to launch you have to spool the car up and be a bit more aggressive with the clutch and once the engine hits about 4500 its pulling pretty hard right up to redline.

I would also add that I drove the 330i with the ZHP package and walked away from the car my wife told me to buy because the Z would bury it in the twisties. I have been driving a SpecV for a year and a half and still really enjoy it, in fact I would keep that over the 330i.

My last thought is that if you are not interested in a true sports coupe and some real world ability, ie stuffing it into a corner and getting some good exit speeds than go with something else.

There is a reason the Z can beat an M3 and a 911 on a track and it has more to do with the complete package than the 0-60 time. But its not for everybody and there are a lot of good cars to choose from. I would highly recommend you go back and take a longer drive, that is if you are still on the fence.

I have had four BMW's, a porsche, and a C5, and I still think the Z is a great performer and a relative bargain.

 

>> Take a ride as a passenger. This is where you will be able to feel the acceleration.

I totally agree. And I wasn't too impressed with the Z's power myself during my test drive, and lots of people agreed last year that it didn't feel extremely powerful. (But it's more powerful that it seems.)

My theory is that the automatic transmission feels faster for the same reason it feels faster when you're a passenger: you're not in control. The AT takes some of your power to operate, and it delays the power slightly so it comes as more of a surprise. It's similar with turbos, too, I think, in that they add power at times that aren't entirely predictable or the result of your direct control.