Well I am debating my new car purchase and of late,the 350Z and the STi are high on my list. So after weeks and weeks of research and asking questions, today I finally got to DRIVE both of them. Before today, I was leaning towards the STi.

First, the STi. It looked betterin person than in pics. Apparently not many dealers are letting people test drive them but I finagled my way into a drive. WRB with 43 miles on it. The turbo was very smooth, almost no lag. The car was like a rocket around town--I couldn't believe how much power it had. But on the highway it didn't quite pull so hard. And I could feel it lose power as I approached redline. Handling was nice but the car felt...awkward. I didn't feel comfortable pushing it hard for some reason. I didn't like the clutch and I hard a hard time shifting smoothly. BTW, the dealer offered it to me below MSRP with no real haggling.

The Z, on the other hand, immediately felt...right. The seat was comfortable, and I immediately felt like I could go fast. More on that. The car was an 03 Pike Peak White touring.
The Z looks sooo much better in person than it does in pics. Every time I've seen one on the road, I've thought it looks damn good. When I see pics, I think, ehh. But in person, the car is damn sexy. The low, wide, muscular stance, the bulging fender flares--it seems very aggressive.
The Z felt much faster than I anticipated. Probably because of the linear power and what seemed like lots of torque. Handling felt great. It was cool and dry out, and I had the rear end step out on me getting onto an onramp. Pure power-on oversteer, which is great! And not what I was expecting.
The dealer also offered it me below MSRP. "Today only." Right.
Anyway, there were some negatives about the car. I friggin hate the orange interior lighting. Some of the interior felt very cheap, particularly the climate control dials. (I thought they were loose until I realized you could push them for some functions.) But on the other hand, the steering wheel was great and so was the shifter. I wasn't too impressed with the headlights. Visibility out anything but the front window is very poor. Bose stereo sucked.

All in all, I felt more comfortable in the Z. It's not quite as fast, but it just feels right. This is far from a final decision though.

Soooo.....if I were to get the Z, certain things need to be addressed. All the interior lights need to be changed. Anyone done this? Is there any help for the Bose system, or does it need to be totally replaced? What about the base 160W stereo?

But the biggest question is: should I go for the track model? (I really want the brakes, cuz it will go on the track). Or go for Touring, thereby getting leather and still pay $1000 less, and then buy my own brakes?

 

well bro... i know im a jack *** and everyone here thinks i am but... i think if you were going to pay around same amount as wrx id go wit the wrx. BUT if you want to save around 6-7k id go with the base 350z for around 26k. im telling you base line is the best deal.

for 26k your getting a 3.5 v6 287 hp engine.
for 26k your getting a 30k car look.
for 26k your getting a sports car.
for 26k your saving 7k.
for 26k you can use that other 7k to buy anything aftermarket.

thats my jack *** opinion.
and from now on my name shall be known as jack ***.

 

>>and from now on my name shall be known as jack ***.

This is a good idea. Maybe we could start a poll to see what others think of this idea. I'm guesing you would get a lot of support for this move. Don't hi jack threads with your cry baby BS and you might get some respect.

Back on topic, all the things you dislike about the Z, I dislike as well. The orange lights have to go. I have been wanting to change mine, if you ask in the "body, lighting and interior" forum, you might get a faster reply about if this has been done yet. Rear visibility sucks, but you can adjust the rear view mirror with two pivot points, this actually helps. If you are a true audiophile, the bose, the 160W standard stereo and the "Bose fix" are all inadequate. Just bite the bullet and put in an aftermarket system, it is the only way for audiophiles to be happy IMO. $2K gets you quite a nice system.

All the things you like about the Z, right on!!! Couldn't agree more. If you have cash, Z can be made PLENTY fast with more and more FI options available each month. Z is already plenty fast, but you know what I mean

Never driven the STi and don't have much of an opinion one way or another about the performance. It has been debated to DEATH on this forum. Hate to say "do a search" but there is really more than enough written about the STi. If you are looking for both sides of the coin, post this on an STi forum and compare what they say to what we say

Rock on,
Mike

 

If you are buying a base Z for $26K then you are getting a bad deal. I got my new enthziast Z for $26,900.

As far as the STI.....it is a BEAST.....it just gets no love at all in the looks department. If you want pure performance with no finess than the STI is an easy choice for you. Very fast and very easy to modify.

 

If you want a true beast, import the JDM lancer evo VIII from these guys: http://www.evolutionimports.net/

The JDM evo has 320hp and a 6-speed, converted and US street legal all for just a little more than I paid for my Track 350z.

 

with the small drawback of having the wheel on the wrong side of the car

 

Good pint of views Trackstar. I was in the same debate when I was going to buy a new car. The main reason why I never really considered the STi is becasue here in SoCal then Mark Up for the Sti and the Evo where bothe about 8K. The Z on the other hand did not have a mark up. So that kept me away from testing the STI and the EVO.

 

Actually, don't do that. Evolution Imports are known scammers on the evo messageboards. They've yet to actually deliver a car to anyone, let alone legalize anything.

 

The Evo8 is way nicer than the Sti in my opinion. For me it was between the Evo and the Z. I got the Z. For the same price I would rather have NA power than turbo power. Turbo motors wear out quickly also. The Z looks way better than the Sti or the Evo, I'm not on the rally car bandwaggon.

Oh yeah, I hated the interior or the Sti and the Evo compared to the Z. They don't have the real sports car cockpit type interior like the Z, that was a big selling point for me. I also think the Z handles a bit better than the sti or the evo. It all depends on what your looking for, a NA torque monster or a tuner type turbo rally car.

 

Well said. For me it was between the EVO, RX-8, and the Z. The Evolution, while it looks alright, doesn't exactly stand out like the Z does. I ask anyone around here what their opinion is on the EVO, they all same the same word: ugly. Besides, I'm also not concerned with hauling 3+ people around. EVO interior is also not as nice as the Z's. Z also sounds better IMO.
Also, despite what mag racers say, the Z's performance is very similar to the EVO's.

 

but Jack, no xENOnS.
that is something one must have.

 

Sweet, I get to post my favorite links again.

STi Forums in which owners agree their car is a "guy magnet" -

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/showthread.php?s=e0682

Evo Forums regarding weak clutch and Mitsubishi spying on owners at local tracks to void warranties -

http://forums.evolutionm.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=380

 

Actually, if you are a true audiophile, you would realize that listening to music in a car will be at most a tolerable experience and that a car stereo system, no matter how fancy or expensive, will never sound better or more realistic than a good calibrated audiophile stereo setup in the home. There is just way too much crap (i.e., background/engine/road noise) affecting the sound in a car. Keep in mind I said 'realistic' audiophile sound, not the heavy distorted bassy garbage you hear from the riced out Civic a quarter mile away.

The words 'audiophile' and 'car stereo' don't mix well. Just ask the guys at Stereophile magazine.

 

dchengmd= WAAAAAAAAAY more serious audiophie than I am

I totally get your points. I was just comparing stock Bose to aftermarket. There is a LOT of room for improvement with aftermarket.

 

Oh, I totally agree with you. Didn't mean to make my post sound like a flame

As for me being a big-time audiophile, I went thru a phase of that back about 10 years ago. Subscribed to Stereophile, Absolute $ound, etc., and basically became a big ol' audio snob. I am but a shell of my former self nowadays...

 

trackstar...

just buy what you like best. Also, if you have reservations about either the STi or the Z, go try a few other cars, you may find something else that meets all your needs. In the same price range, you should also take a peek at an EVO and an S2000.

That said, if you go with a Z, consider what you will do with it before settling on a model. If you are happy with the car as it is, then a Track or Touring (at the right price) may be a good idea.

However, if you are like most on this forum, you'll wind up modding the car. In that case, the best bet is probably the Enthusiast. It offers some things not available on the Base, but also forgoes items on the higher models that you will probably replace anyway.

 

If this is your only car, buy the STi- the Z is worthless in the snow. Summer tires, RWD, and low ground clearance make this a car best reserved for good weather. Some have purchased winter tires and had some success with those, but personally I don't think its worth it - besides, I don't want road salt or anything else for that matter- scratching up my baby. I have a winter beater to keep my Z (and myself!) safe during the winter months- given the amount of snow we had last year, this was a smart move. Of course this week, my winter beater is in the shop and I have to drive the Z - sucks.

-Ethan

 

I'm not too sure what this is referring to? The guages or the dome lights? Orange lights aren't bad if you call them amber

 

Actually Amber/Orange is used in Mercedes and BMW dashboards as it's the colour which is easiest on your eyes when looking from dash to road to dash.

 

I take it we are supposed to get snow this week ? If so, I will have to dust the cobwebs off the beater (1990 Ford Probe) and check the tire pressures.....I hate driving the beater around...