Picked up my Silverstone Touring 6MT in Orlando today. Drove it 100 yards to my waiting trailer, loaded it on the trailer and pulled it home.

I bet I'm the first to get their Z up to 75 MPH going backwards! Of course it was on the trailer. Seriously, if anyone else happens to be planning on doing the same, I used a U-Haul auto transport trailer and I had to back the car on. The front air dam (without aero pkg) would not clear the front wheel cradles on the trailer.

I first tried it on forward and found it lacked the necessary clearance. I then had to unload it and back it on, and it went on fine. Both drives up the ramp, forward and reverse, were high pucker-factor experiences, if you know what I mean. Try that with a clutch and accelerator you're not used to, on a steep incline, inches at a time, with no margin for sideways error and 6 dealer employees giving you conflicting directions on which way to go! And of course you can't see the trailer out either the front or back, only the hand signals of the helpful observers.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the best part. Once I got it on the trailer I couldn't open the doors. They hit the trailer fenders, even when the fender was tilted down, which it is made to do for this purpose. So I had to climb out the window. Yes, it can be done by someone who is 6'3" and 220 lbs. It was kind of fun. I felt like a race car driver for a moment there. Thank God Nissan thought of being able to roll the windows up from outside with the key. That saved the day.

Here's a photo the dealer made on his digital camera showing what I think is the best side of the car (unfortunately I don't have a best side). I got home too late tonight (East Coast, 200 mi drive) to make pictures. I'll post some tomorrow if anyone is interested.

FYI, dealer said it had 19 miles on it when delivered. I believe them. The owner told the employees that if anyone drove the Z's other than the PDI guy, they would be fired. It must have been a long trip off the boat and to the transport.

 

Don't know why jpeg didn't attach last time. It's under size limit and .jpg type.

 

Headroom - As I said, I'm 6'3" and 220 lbs. I have room to spare. The car is also easier to get in and out of than I expected. Wrenching my back in pre-C5 vettes is one thing that eventually drove me away from them. I didn't measure how much room I had over my head when I was sitting in it, but it feels like quite a bit more than the Lexus SC-430, which I recently test drove, and which according to published specs has only about 1 inch less headroom. It felt like 3" more, but I may have just been lost in my euphoria. Tall guys waiting for delivery, rest easy.

Chrome Silver vs. Silverstone. I saw both sitting close to each other in the detail bays at the dealer when I picked mine up. I was surprised to see in person that the chrome is darker than I expected and the silverstone is lighter. The difference is a lot more subtle than I had thought. I was having this problem with the pre-release promotional photos from Nissan which showed what looked like a chrome silver with burnt orange interior, which of course they don't offer. I know now that it was a silverstone and not a chrome silver in the photos. I expected a much deeper gray, but I have to say after seeing it that silverstone actually does deserve its silver name.

Burnt Orange interior. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not. Now that I've seen charcoal, frost and burnt orange all in person on the same day, I'm happy with my choice. South Florida is just too hot for black leather, IMO. The burnt orange looks kind of racey and doesn't clash with anything else on the interior (hues of gray to black) nor the silverstone exterior. My neighbor, a certified car nut, loved the burnt orange. So did the non-car-nut neighbors, for whatever that's worth. One dealer person admitted he didn't like it to my face. So that's an unscientific poll. The main thing is that I'm happy with it. I would have preferred a saddle color, so I guess you could say the burnt orange was the lesser of three evils in my opinion. I won't say any more about the frost other than to say it was in a 5AT that was going to a woman. Don't flame me--that's not my opinion--just the facts.

The 18" wheels on the Touring 6MT match the color of the Silverstone surprisingly well. I did a double take. At first I thought they were painted to match. I'd prefer the Rays, but I'm not unhappy with what I got.

I haven't driven it enough to give any meaningful driving impressions. I need to get accustomed to the close-ratio gearbox. The car is tight--no discernable rattles, except when I wasn't wearing my seatbelt on the first 100 yards. Front-end is also tight. The 6MT is definitely more fun than the 5AT I test drove in a G35. Controls, gauges are all intuitive and easily viewable. HID headlights put out a sharp edge--no surprise. High beltline not an issue for me (except when I had to squeeze through the window to get in and out of the car on the trailer). My advice on the Nav door--forget it's there. There are better things to be doing in this car than opening and closing widget doors.

Got lots of looks on the turnpike and at the rest stop. I think my car-nut neighbor (who's had two new Ferraris, a TT, new T-bird and Lexus SC430 this year, and has a 350 Z on preorder) said it best: "You know, if someone told me that was a $90,000 car, I wouldn't question it." I agree. This car does not look its price. And from the little experience I've had behind the wheel, it doesn't drive its price either.

I wasn't shopping for a two-seater sports car. When I first saw the lines of this car it got my attention. When I saw the performance numbers it got me excited. When I saw the price...I got out my checkbook. This car has the highest fun/dollar quotient I've ever seen.

Sorry, I've got to go out and sit in it in the garage and try out that Bose stereo with some of my favorite CDs.

 

My alternatives were to take a bus, airplane, rent a car one-way or leave a vehicle at the dealer's, 200 miles from my home. I didn't have anyone handy on the spur of the moment to spend a day driving 400 miles with me. My wife had to stay home to pick up the kids at school.

I could get there quicker driving than by airplane, train or bus. There isn't a car rental office near both the dealer and my home.

I didn't want to spend another day going back to fetch my truck that I left at the dealer, just so I could drive home my Z. The U-Haul auto transport trailer cost $55. Simple decision.

But I do think I deserve some sort of prize for: " The member who exhibited the most self-control when in possession of their Z for the first time".

Sorry I didn't get a picture of crawling out the window--that would have made a great post. Hey, in Florida with all the canals along the road that people are always driving off into, it's good to know you can squeeze out the window if you have to. Anyone who's seen those windows in person will appreciate the fact that a 220 pounder can get out. Oh yes, I did take my shoes off first.

 

Okay, I just came back in from loading up some CDs and listening to them in my garage--not a listening-while-driving test.

It works. Based on what others are saying about the auto-volume "feature", I'm not sure I'm going to be that happy with it. I haven't read the manual to find out if you can disable that "intelligence", but I'm expecting that you can't. (Thank you Bose in your infinite wisdom.) Of course, it didn't activate sitting in the quiet of my garage.

I was disappointed in the "subwoofer". Of course the whole system is about 240 watts, if I remember correctly. Divided across 7 speakers that's only about 35 watts per speaker. So one really shouldn't expect to blow out any glass driving down the street. But to be honest, if I didn't know it was there, I wouldn't have guessed there was a subwoofer in the system. I had the bass turned up to +5 and I didn't feel it in the seat of my pants, like I would expect with a real (i.e. active) subwoofer.

I did like the selection of Mix and Repeat functions which allow you to choose either for 1 disc or all discs and repeat for a track. That's something that is missing in other car audio systems. My other cars seem to come with 2 out of those 5 possible modes.

It does say it plays CD-R's, and some other alphabetic concoctions that I don't recognize. But I really hate that it apparently does not play MP3s, the alphabetic concoction that I really do care about!!!!! If there is one feature I really, really want, that's it. Keep the low-power (probably passive) subwoofer and keep the 6-disc changer. Give me MP3 and I can put 10 discs worth of music on one CD and see titles and artist on the display. Get a clue, Bose and Nissan. Take the money you spent on the Bose name and spend it on some 2003 functionality.

Don't get me wrong--the radio is fine. I'm sure most people will love it. I don't consider myself an audiophile and I didn't buy this car to listen to music in anyway. IMO cars, especially moving down the road, make poor acoustic environments for music anyway. My impression is that Nissan makes a much bigger deal over the Bose audio system than I think it deserves. But that seems to be a rule of automotive marketing these days. Lexus has their Mark Levinson, so Nissan has to have Bose.

I really bought the car to hear the pitch of the exhaust as I wring out the gears. That's tomorrow's exercise--well tomorrow as in when I get past the break-in period. That 4K break-in rev limit comes up quick. Oh well, I can practice my short-shifting for good gas mileage.

 

Thanks gcinfi. Excellent write-up. Look forward to hearing and seeing more. Let me know if you have an urge to take a long drive up to Atlanta with your car. I'll by you lunch.
Yes, you do deserve a price for self-restraint. I bet that was the proudest package in-tow you've ever had.
Congratulations!

no_jalopy

 

I feel so stupid. I figured out why I wasn't impressed with the sound of the radio....... I hadn't had a beer last night before I listened to it. Tonight it sounds just fine.

 

Let's see if it attaches jpeg this time.

 

more lo-res

 

Posting multiple pics is not easy.

 

New angle

 

Looks great from behind

 

another angle

 

hatch open showing optional rear mat

 

My legroom. I'm 6'3" with 34" inseam. I have to move wheel all the way up, which is what I have to do in every other car/truck I drive. No problem. I think anyone 6'5" and under should have no problem with this car.

 

Headlight detail. You can see the lens. The light comes through a slit from behind the lens.