Tony1M

I just noticed the above suggestion and it is a very good one and I have been doing this very thing for years. For the 350Z test drive the other day I had my shoes off. Otherwise, driving the vehicle would have been even more difficult.

Tony1M

My wife and I just returned from a test drive of the 350Z that I wrote about in my first post.

The first thing I did after opeing the driver's door was check to see if there is any space between the back bottom of the seat and the chassis wall behind the seat. There is a good 1".

The second thing I did was examine the accelerator pedal assembly and it is exactly as I thought -- the rectangular ring behind, and attached to, the pedal runs into the floor and prevents the pedal from being depressed any further.

Eureka!

Therefore, the modifications to the pedals and seat rail that I mentioned in a previous post can in fact be done to increase legroom in the auto 350Z.

But best of all is that my speculation about raising the the front bottom of the seat all the way up, as well as increasing the backward tilt of the seat back did in fact work. Both my legs were much flatter and more comfortable than they were on the first drive. I still have my right knee splayed to the right, between the steering wheel and console, but this time my knee did not bump into the steering wheel at all.

Whem my feet were both under/behind the pedals, as they would be for a highway drive, they were also appreciably more flat and comfortable.

I had a very enjoyable ride. Once again, the performance of the car is like night and day compared to our experience with the various Gs I mentioned previously, although I will still say the the 2011 G37 IPL is a tremendous performer.

The most important thing still is that my wife loves the 350Z. She drove it again and is even more excieted about it that after her first drive.

The next step is a CarProof, then a pre-purchase inspection, then the negotiation.

One thing we noticed today, however, is that the passenger side window drops a bit when the door is opened and then shortly after the door is closed, the window pops up just a bit. The driver's door window did not do this. It stayed completely up after the door was opened and remained that way when it was closed. Also, when the driver's window is "auto-upped", the window sometimes rises, hits its upper limit and then drops down again maybe a quarter of the way down. I assume this is some kind of calibration that's out of whack. I'm sure this is not the only vehicle on which this phenomenon has occured, so I'll do a search for a procedure to correct it, but if anyone wanted to comment on this, I'd appreciate it.

The other thing is that there is some typical pulsing in the brake pedal that indicates the the rotors should be replaced. I've looked at the DIY section and these and pads seem to be a very easy task.

I've read about the tire feathering issue and I understand that this may have been caused by a faulty initial alignment at the factory and it can be corrected by having a proper alignment performed. Is this still the consensus of the forum?

To sum up, I'm acceptably comofortable in a 350Z and unless some issue that I'm presently unaware of pops up, we'll have one in our garage very soon.

I'm very thankful that this great website is here.

NoQuestionZ

iTrader: (93)

I can't heel toe anyway at 6' tall. I just side foot it rather than use my heel!

Tony, you are quite possibly the most thorough "newb" I have ever stumbled upon on this forum. More of you need to be joining this forum rather than ones that ask "how do I lower my car? Is it coilovers or should I cut all the springs out of my suspension?"

I would suggest a C6 vette as I am more partial to the looks than the C5, but only the Z06. I think that would be in 2014 G price range. I don't know about reliability though....

What year Z are you looking at? Just the 03? I would see about an 07-08 if you can. It sounds like you have plenty of money to spend (in relation to Z pricing) so might as well get the faster car.

In the case of your windows, you will need to clean the window motor "wiper" (I think it's called). Even if that's not the fix for the problem, it will be some day. I have been lucky that my passenger side window is not sticking this year (2014, notsomuch luck)

I can't believe your wife is so dead set on the Z!? Definitely strike while the iron is hot there!!!

Too bad you can't get her talked into a MT though, it makes all the difference in a "fun car" imo. But my fiancé is the same way. I taught her how to drive MT in my 05 Mazda 3 hatch, but she is stall happy in that, so the Z is near impossible for her to gain confidence.

My dad is a string bean at 6'6" and he had a harder time going from 2nd to 5th in my car due to the close ratio gearing than fitting. We only went on a few hour drive though(and he gets car sick ) so Idk how it would be for a long drive

Best of luck getting a Z! Pix when you do get one!!!

Tony1M

Thanks for the great compliment, NoQuestionZ. Thanks also for the window issue suggestions.

I may be a newbie to the 350Z, but I am not a newbie to automotive DIY. I'm 64 years old and have been a DIYr since before I got my driver's license at age 16.

For a recent example, my wife was the original owner of a 1992 Honda Accord, which we sold almost 2 years ago. After the vehicle's short warranty period ended, I did all, and I do mean all (except alignment) maintenance on that vehicle. Not to toot my own OT horn too much, 9 years ago I started what has turned out to be one of the most viewed threads ever on the HAF, entitiled "92 Accord 4 dr LX 4AT Timing belt job". After much long, detailed back and forth with experienced members about the job, I posted the following procedure with photos:
http://www.hondaaccordforum.com/foru...977/#post24167

Because the legroom is so great in a C5, and the driving experience is so thrilling, I took a substantial amount of time learning as much as I could on the great corvetteforum. In short, because Edmonton's roads are so bad, and the C5's list of possible mechanical/electronic issues so long, I decided to explore alternatives and the 350Z more than fits the bill, giving an equally thrilling driving experience.

Although its appeance is not as stunning as a C5, IMHO, the 350Z is a truly beautiful little sports car that is at the same time more practical, and apparently more reliable, than a C5. As I said previously, from a side view, the 350Z looks to me remarkably similar to a '90s Supra (back hatch and all). And from our extensive experience with the reliability of our Japanese-designed and built Accord, I believe that it is more than likely that Nissan's Japanese-designed-and-built 350Z will be the same. (However, the 22-year-old cloth seats in our Accord still looked as close to new condition on the day we sold it as they did on the day my that wife bought it. I guess that Nissan has either not yet learned how to make a proper cloth seat, or somehow "forgot" how to do so.)

The reason that I would rather have an '03 or '04 350Z rather than an '07 or '08 is purely economic. The older they are, the less expensive they are to buy. In short, I'd rather spend $10 - $13K on a summer fun toy, than $20K, or well above, on a later-year 350Z or, for that matter, a C5 whose vital electrnic components, by GM policy, may be literally unavailable in just a couple of years.

The electronic brake control module on '97 to '00 C5 Vettes is no longer supported by GM, so when, not if, that unit fails, you either have to find one from a salvage yard or live without ABS and traction control (if your vehicle has that latter feature).

Also, the fuel-tank design on the Corvette was changed in mid-to-late '03 to one in which the fuel tanks have to be removed from the vehicle in order to replace or service the two sending units or other internal components. Unfortunately, the fuel sending units in the C5 and onward are notorious for malfunction, so, combined with the need to drop the tanks to replace them, to me this is a potentially serious financial risk. Not only that, but for Vettes with auto transmissions, in order to drop the tanks, the entire rear drivetrain also has to be dropped. This is either a very challenging task for a DIYr, or a very expensive job at a stealership.

Because the C6 also has the new FFS fuel system design, as well as reduced legroom, I would not buy one.

And the Vette issues don't stop at the end of C6. Many C7 Z06 owners have been shocked that their astronomically expenive toys need to have their low-mile engines replaced because valve guides wore to the point where valves broke and dropped into cylyinders.

So, in short, we were limited to an '01 to '03 C5 with auto transmission. The economic advantage of the C5 is that its resale value is remarkably good, versus the same-year 350Z, which is to my wife and I another good reason to buy a low-km '03 or '04. As long as Nissan or aftermarket suppliers make critical parts for it, I can fix it for as long as I am physically able. Aftermarket support for the 350Z seems to be tremendous.

Anyway, now that we're going to be buying a 350Z in the very near future, I am being driven (pun intended) to learn as much about it as can, as fast as I can. And, as always, my very first step is to somehow cramp myself as comfortably as possible into the vehicle, hence this thread I started with my very first post as a member. Maybe someone with even longer legs than mine will have to follow through with some pedal and seat-rail mods and I hope this thread can provide at least some help in doing that.

I would like to have an MT, but my wife has stated "I will not drive it if it has a manual transmission". If I push on this issue, her support for this summer toy may suddenly evaporate. I simply cannot risk that at this point. Additionally, like your father, maybe a MT is not as suitable for me as it used to be. All it would take is a few hours in some stop-and-go traffic for the shine of a MT to wear completely off.

I will post pictures when we buy a vehicle. I have to admit that I'm getting more than a bit excited about the possiblity of having a 350Z sitting in our garage, available to be driven whenever we want, not just a test drive.

Thanks again to this great forum and its knowledgeable members.