JST4FN

Okay I've got a good deal waiting on my yes or no by tomorrow. It is a 2004 Silvertone, touring model for a really good price. Problem is I'm trading my 03 Cobra (not stock) in on it and I can't seem to decide. I went and drove it today and I love evrything about the car but the power. Although I didn't hammer on it, I did give it some stabs and it seems slow. How did you guys feel, especially guys who had faster cars? I gotta tell them tomorrow or it's gone.
Thanks Mike

TurKGtS

you car was only desinged for one thing and thats speed im sure if you went w/ the 350z youll find alot of qualitys in this car and spend a few grands on it to make it perform real nice.

JST4FN

The Z kills my Cobra on everything except power, and maybe the stereo. The Bose is okay I guess. The Mach460 has better sound, but bad bass.
Thanks Mike

Jetpilot718

The Z is not a drag car. Take some turns. You'll be saying "What mustang...?" in no time.

Losing Grip

you may not have felt much power now, but i have some dyno charts that shows power of a stock 350z with 800miles on it and the same Z a month later with 1200 miles on it. it totally opens up after the break in period. although its not stunning fast, it did surprise me.

-john

WayneTN

Another feature that may be misleading you on the power is the drive-by-wire accelerator. Some cars are set up to provide strong acceleration with not much pedal movement, perhaps the first 1/3 of travel. Accelerator pedals with cables vs. electrical wiring will also feel different.

It is my experience that, on the Z, if you push down for 1/2 travel, you get 1/2 acceleration. On other cars, 1/2 travel might be equal to 3/4 acceleration. This may account for the different "feel" in power, and this concept has been noted before on this forum.

If you push the pedal good and let the RPMs come up to 4,500 - 5,500 (or higher), you will definitely feel the power. It's not a V-8, though, but it is a very strong V-6.

WayneTN

Jason Bourne

WayneTN -

I don't think that's true. I know Nissan (and tons of people on this board) claim that the e-throttle is more linear/progressive/proportional/whatever, but in my experience it is quite the opposite. The thottle tip-in is very aggressive (breathe on the throttle in neutral and it's easy to climb the tach quickly) and the last inch or so of travel doesn't do anything (i.e. at 75% of pedal travel you are at something like 95% throttle opening). It may be pretty linear in the midrange but I have driven a lot of cars that felt much more linear than the Z. Try an E46 M3 with the sport button "off" and then try it with the button "on" - it remaps the throttle to be more aggressive and feels more like the Z in "on" mode than in "off". The sport mode is designed on purpose not to be linear.

Having said all that, I don't have a problem with the way the pedal works - I think it's prefectly fine. But I just don't really buy the argument that you make.

Jason

FairladyZ

I had no problems, but then I was able to floor it. Think to yourself how often you use your power? With the street racing laws now in Tx its very hard to find a street race (or anyone to street race). I am not talking about the 2fast2furious streets races either. I am talking about the good ole days. Goerge Bush Raceway!

WayneTN

Jason,

I have no problem with your detailed explanation. I was only going by what I had heard elsewhere on this forum and by how I think things work. You obviously have a better handle on this than me, so I will defer to your analysis. Thanks for adding your input.

Wayne

EL Diablo

I always answer these "What do I do?" questions saying
if you got money to burn go for it.
If not keep the Cobra.

03 Cobra is a nice car. You modded it. Already have a year paid on it. Keep it. In a year or two from now some new flavor of the month will come out and you can be the first to have it.

Then again a brand new 2004 350Z. Today.

HMMMMMmmmmmmmm.

I say get the Z. Add some mods, Hit the twisties.
and thats Bad A$$.

JST4FN

Well heres the story. I called Wednesday and told them I was buying the car around 10. I called back a little later and had them tint the windows. Around 12 my wife calls and she has had a wreck. I called the guy back and put the Z on hold until we got things worked out.

Anyway we ended up needing the back seat of my Cobra and trunk which the Z has neither( hatch are is to small). It made me really consider buying a two seater having a kid. After much thought and stress I called this morning and cancelled the deal. I think I would have loved the car, but right now I need to be able to carry 3 if needed. Oh well maybe another day.

Thanks Mike

funkdamonkman

Sry to hear that. Is the wife ok?



You could possibly check out the G35. I don't like the styling as much.. but its the same concept with a back seat.

Boomer

I have to agree with Wayne. My experience is 20% throttle gives you 20% acceleration in my 03 Touring. This was in all the literature and people's experience too. I picked my car up 9/6/02 and the throttle has never been adjusted and it feels exactly the same as when I got it.

Jason, I can't explain your different behavior, but it is contrary to all I have felt or read about the drive-by-wire tipin. Yours is unique.

TCL

Let us know how it compares with the Z. What will you do if you don't like the C6 as much as the Z?

tbcz

I agree with this as well. To get the Z to really move, you can't be shy with the throttle. With the other cars I've owned (including BMW) there was not a large difference in acceleration going from say 2/3 throttle (pedal travel) to full throttle (foot on the floor)... there is a large difference in the Z. If you want to haul @ss, you gotta mash it.

Jason Bourne

Not to completely hijack the thread (although it seems like the OP doesn't need us anymore anyway) but I think you guys are saying that the Z's throttle is *more* linear than other cars that you have driven. Not necessarily that it really is very linear. Maybe my standard is too high (for linearity) but I think they certainly front-loaded the pedal travel quite a bit.

Try putting the car in a high gear at a low speed (say 5th gear at ~40mph) then alternate between flooring it and being at 3/4 of the pedal travel (back and forth a few times). There isn't much difference. Of course there ins't much wheel torque at low rpms but if you try this at 5000rpm in 2nd gear you won't be able to do a few cycles before you hit the rev limiter.

Try my test - see if it tells you anything. Ultimately, I think you will only be able to get a true sense of what I mean if you are driving at 10/10 on the track or play around on a variable-load dyno. I have felt it at the track, if you're really pushing it and have the car set up to be neutral, you have to be very careful with application of the first half of the travel but once you're at 75% or so, you can go ahead and floor it - that last 1/4 won't do much to your relative grip.

Then again, maybe mine is weird and all of yours are better. Somehow, I doubt that, but maybe.

Jason

JST4FN

Well today I sure was second guessing the choice on leaving the Z there so me and my wife drove over to check it out one last time. I sure love that car. She finally admitted to liking it better than my Cobra. We have to let them know on Monday. My wife is not concerned with the backseat or trunk issue so I guess I'll quit thinking about it. I'm sure leaning back towards picking it up.

Oh and even though I'm a firm believer in breaking a car in because of my power worries I had to give it some full throttle runs. It was fine to me and I was glad I did. That ended that problem for me. Nuttin to it but to do it now??!!

Thanks Mike

zland

Remember, you can always add a SC on the 350Z and get another 100+ hp. That will solve all the problems and you will have the best of all worlds.

Good luck, Jeff