Not getting one has been covered now.
This is intended more for inexperienced drivers that already have a 350z.

 

+1, and especially watch other drivers, moms with screaming kids, teens, and in my area snowbirds

 

don't kids always think they know it all? I sure did when I was younger haha

 

PERFECTLY SAID! I'm 20 years old and there's a HUGE difference between me & the 17 year old kid got his 350Z free from his parents.

I drove my dad's malibu in high school, but after saving for 2 years, 6 months I bought my first car of my own a 350Z.

When I am driving around in my life savings I'm more careful then anybody

 

^^^^^^^^ Hey Columbus Ohio - checked out the ZROC club yet? www.zroc.org. You would probably be on the younger side, chronologically speaking anyway, but we don't discriminate. Jim or Don might even give you a ride in one of their GT-R's. Still have at least one driving event his season.
Sorry for the off-topic post.....

 

It doesn't matter. Inexperience drivers will always drive their vehicle as if they hate it and like there is no wear and tear. Whether it's a civic, Grave Digger, scion, or a basket on wheels they'll rice it out thinking a paint stripe and a spoiler make it go faster.

I just love seeing them blow up their engines or tear their transmission at the track! Hey, but it can happen even to the most experience driver as well.

Best advice?? Just Love your Z and enjoy the ride. The clock will always win if you race against it in traffic.

 

Okay. Don't drive like an idiot, obey traffic laws and don't try to get power oversteer on public roads. What tips are you possibly looking for that you might not be able to come up with yourself?

 

There is no difference in the twos driving styles. One just knows have to save the car when it starts sliding.

 

And good attempt on the thread but seriously...

 

There are power in numbers my friend. Like the idea of the forum in the first place. One person does not know everything, collectively we should be able to get a lot more out of it. I didn't make this thread for me, a teenager, a middle aged man/woman, or anyone in particular. Even a 60 year old who has been driving for over 40 years can learn something new. No learning, no growth, and there is always more to learn.

 

Thanks!

 

Respect the vehicle's power. Take it easy in wet conditions...keeping it under 2500-3000 RPM's will help.

Don't go blasting through those really nice twisties that you just found without first taking an inspection drive through them. You may find debris, sand, oil or something that could make you lose control or damage your Z during this inspection. Then look at what consequences would be if you lose it around that corner...will that curb that you hit make you flip...if there is no curb and nice run off will that tree do anything...or will you run off a small cliff?

Think before you drive.

 

that weight transfers....most don't know this...I remember off in a msytical time in the great state of washington. Someone was following me too close. So I picked it up a little...came to some twisties in the road. I keep it moving the car behind me however damn near blew the **** up from all the awesome in my lines...

So to recap weight transfers...

 

If your young and drive a Z use the power of the car to pull more tail then you normally would... then with previously mentioned "tail" get bjs on the highway while doing 80mph+.

 

for inexperience? ... I guess it would be kill your ego at the wheel. Be proud of the fact that you're in a Z but don't let ego push you into street racing by other drivers. Realize people want to mess with you because they're gawking at your car... and NOT paying attention to the road.

You're a young man / woman in a Z... be satisfied with that.

 

friend of the family that I bought my 1st real car from said this to my Mom when we were looking on his lot (I was looking at an 86 TA, 5.0 TPI, 5 speed - she had her eye on a nice little Ford Escort GT - about the same price since it was a couple years newer), he said this to her "he's 16 and he is going to drive to the limits of the cars ability, they ALL DO. Wouldn't you rather him have one that can come back from the edge?".

I drove the TA home ...

eff'd up as it is, he was absolutely right. That car pulled me out of every tight spot I ever put it in. I am here today in some part because of it (cause I was an IDIOT driver, ha). BTW Mom used to race AutoCross in her 240z when I was a kid... I guess it made sense to her.

 

Hey guys I thought this would be a good place to ask you guys to teach me how to drift. I just got a Z for my 16th birthday and I really want to learn how to drift, but I also want to do it safely.

Thanks

 

awesome

 

I would add take the Z to some autocross events. Autocross is probably the best way to see how the car handles in emergency situations that you might encounter on the street. It is also cheap, safe, easy on the car, and a lot of fun. You learn a lot in a short amount of time and gain some humility when you see some old guy or old lady beat you while driving a car 1/2 as good as the Z.

Kudos to the following members who actually gave good advice.

 

Back in high school I used to be a really careless driver. I drove an 87 supra which blew a head gasket. A 2000 Eclipse RS(real slow version) my parents leased for me. Then they thought it'd be funny to buy me the 2003 version even thou they knew I hated it. Finally I traded in the eclipse and bought myself a Z with my own money.

But yea after messing around in an eclipse FWD eclipse for so long RWD felt like I stepped in the twilight zone. I felt pretty much anything I knew about driving was thrown out the window. I'm more of a learn by feel driver so you can imagine my confusion. Apex, shifting weight, throttle control, breaking points, accleration points, and pretty much everything about the car scared me. I drove the car for the first month as if I was taking drivers ed for the first time again.

After a few talks with people that have been driving RWD for a while and a couple more weeks I kinda started to notice changes. In my eclipse I was comfortable with full throttle through a turn. Obviously since the Z has twice as more power I can't do that or I'll end up in the wall. In FWD it was more comfortable to begin acceleration at apex. In the Z I find the ride more comfortable to do enough break to carry a constand speed through the turn until the car straightens out then begin my acceleration. I'm just talking about regular driving not going crazy drift-o. I also noticed that because of the stiffer suspension that I was shifting weight much to early. Another bad habit I noticed was I used to enter the turn a lot earlier with the FWD where as with RWD its much more comfortable to enter at a later apex rather than the more functional straight apex. With a late apex I have to do more breaking before the turn but I can begin my acceleration a lot sooner which feels more comfortable than going through at higher speeds. When I driver through turns I try to remember that the slower I have to turn the wheel the more speed I can carry through, the faster I have to jerk the wheel the less speed I can carry through. These are just a few things that I apply to daily driving.

The biggest tip I can ever tell anyone new to a Z is to properly adjust your mirrors to protect yourself from blindspot collisions. If you can see your car or the car behind in your side view mirrors you need to point them out more.

After seeing a lot and hearing a lot about people messing up on the streets I've been done with messing around on the streets for a long time now. Currently just picked up two 1.6 B6P motors that i'm rebuilding with a cousin of mines for track events. I figure why wreck my Z when I paid so much for it. Plus I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ended up accidentally hurting an innocent person. So I'll keep it to the track with the miata. Hope this helped some what. Oh yea, the info above is just related to my driving style. I figure everyone has their own finger print when it comes to this kinda thing. So start slow and just let the ride happen i guess.

Patrick