Test drove today - Sacramento, CA
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Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Sacramento, CA
Test drove today - Sacramento, CA
Dealer: Florin Road Nissan
Exterior: Redline
Interior: Charcoal Leather
Model: Touring
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual
VIN: JN1AZ34E23T000170
Went to bed feeling sick, woke up feeling worse. I went to work nonetheless deciding I would just leave early. Good thing because my dealer called me at work to tell me they had two Z's in stock, one of which was available for test drive.
After driving it, I no longer have any concerns about the purchase. It is the shiznit! For 30K, it is the best bang for your buck.
Pulled out of the dealer and took some fairly rough back roads to the freeway. Not bad at all suspension wise. From the freeway onramp we just about exploded onto the freeway. Mere moments later I am cruising at 65mph in 4th gear. Let the foot get heavy for JUST a second and whammo... passing 80mph. Only on the freeway for a few minutes, so I never even took it out of 4th gear. Power was there in every gear (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th for me) no matter if I was at 2000 or [TYPO REMOVED] 3500 RPM's. Guess this is what is meant by linear power? I will have to be careful of the lead foot. It was so easy just to let it go... as if the car somehow wanted to go faster.
Visibility. No big problem there. Spend as much time in traffic as me and you learn to trust your mirrors, so I found it to be acceptable. In fact, where we got on the freeway was one of those jacked up onramp/offramp combos. There was a hefty amount of traffic but I only needed my mirrors and a brief glance to squeeze in front of a sedan traveling on and behind a truck getting off. Looking out the rearview mirror was fine too. It's a small view, but ample. I did notice you couldn't see very far back though, maybe 200 yards tops. Worsened if the landscape behind you is a bit higher than you (noticed this on the freeway.) Of course, if you live in a super flat area, you will likely see further than 200 yards.
Interior. For 30K it looks like 30K interior. No complaints. You want luxury, you know what to buy.
Trunk area. It's small, but I don't find the need to transport a bunch of crap around. I can fit any of my sports related items in there should I chose. So it is plenty.
Shifting. I pussed out and got an automatic (all that traffic driving) but the stick is nice. Very short throws. I did notice/hear the vibration from it, but once again, no big whoop.
Dials. Today was sunny, but I had no problems reading any of the dials.
Noise. Road noise was not bad at all, much better than my P.O.S. Honda. Engine noise wasn't bad either. It's there, but just subtle enough to comfort you and, when you hit the gas, loud enough to remind you it's there.
Still feeling a bit sick, but somehow... a bit better.
Delivery. He was not expecting these two cars for AT LEAST a few more weeks. In fact, he said that they "just showed up on the truck by surprise." Looks like Nissan may be running a head of schedule... at least I hope so.
Paint: I hate red, so..... He let me peek at the silverstone though. Incredible. I hope my silver looks as good. I may regret picking the silver over the silverstone... such is life.
Size. It's funny, at the Danville show the car seemed gigantic. Of course, it was roped off several feet away and next to some tiny older Z's. Finally standing next to I no longer had that feeling. It's not small, but it's not gigantic like I felt prior.
Sidenote. This car belongs to the owner of the dealership. He is ONLY letting pre-orders test drive it. Thus, don't bother going there for a test drive unless you pre-ordered there. This offer to let me test drive the owners car is yet another good experience I have had with this dealer so far. There is also 1 pre order slot available, look here for details: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....&threadid=3956
Exterior: Redline
Interior: Charcoal Leather
Model: Touring
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual
VIN: JN1AZ34E23T000170
Went to bed feeling sick, woke up feeling worse. I went to work nonetheless deciding I would just leave early. Good thing because my dealer called me at work to tell me they had two Z's in stock, one of which was available for test drive.
After driving it, I no longer have any concerns about the purchase. It is the shiznit! For 30K, it is the best bang for your buck.
Pulled out of the dealer and took some fairly rough back roads to the freeway. Not bad at all suspension wise. From the freeway onramp we just about exploded onto the freeway. Mere moments later I am cruising at 65mph in 4th gear. Let the foot get heavy for JUST a second and whammo... passing 80mph. Only on the freeway for a few minutes, so I never even took it out of 4th gear. Power was there in every gear (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th for me) no matter if I was at 2000 or [TYPO REMOVED] 3500 RPM's. Guess this is what is meant by linear power? I will have to be careful of the lead foot. It was so easy just to let it go... as if the car somehow wanted to go faster.
Visibility. No big problem there. Spend as much time in traffic as me and you learn to trust your mirrors, so I found it to be acceptable. In fact, where we got on the freeway was one of those jacked up onramp/offramp combos. There was a hefty amount of traffic but I only needed my mirrors and a brief glance to squeeze in front of a sedan traveling on and behind a truck getting off. Looking out the rearview mirror was fine too. It's a small view, but ample. I did notice you couldn't see very far back though, maybe 200 yards tops. Worsened if the landscape behind you is a bit higher than you (noticed this on the freeway.) Of course, if you live in a super flat area, you will likely see further than 200 yards.
Interior. For 30K it looks like 30K interior. No complaints. You want luxury, you know what to buy.
Trunk area. It's small, but I don't find the need to transport a bunch of crap around. I can fit any of my sports related items in there should I chose. So it is plenty.
Shifting. I pussed out and got an automatic (all that traffic driving) but the stick is nice. Very short throws. I did notice/hear the vibration from it, but once again, no big whoop.
Dials. Today was sunny, but I had no problems reading any of the dials.
Noise. Road noise was not bad at all, much better than my P.O.S. Honda. Engine noise wasn't bad either. It's there, but just subtle enough to comfort you and, when you hit the gas, loud enough to remind you it's there.
Still feeling a bit sick, but somehow... a bit better.
Delivery. He was not expecting these two cars for AT LEAST a few more weeks. In fact, he said that they "just showed up on the truck by surprise." Looks like Nissan may be running a head of schedule... at least I hope so.
Paint: I hate red, so..... He let me peek at the silverstone though. Incredible. I hope my silver looks as good. I may regret picking the silver over the silverstone... such is life.
Size. It's funny, at the Danville show the car seemed gigantic. Of course, it was roped off several feet away and next to some tiny older Z's. Finally standing next to I no longer had that feeling. It's not small, but it's not gigantic like I felt prior.
Sidenote. This car belongs to the owner of the dealership. He is ONLY letting pre-orders test drive it. Thus, don't bother going there for a test drive unless you pre-ordered there. This offer to let me test drive the owners car is yet another good experience I have had with this dealer so far. There is also 1 pre order slot available, look here for details: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....&threadid=3956
Last edited by bighamz; Aug 22, 2002 at 11:22 PM.
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Very cool. I think it's a great idea for dealers to get their own car so that this could be the norm. It would expedite the process and put more Zs on the showroom floor if the test drive isn't up to the customer's satisfaction. How it wouldn't live up to expectations still baffles me...
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