im deciding between a base and enthusiast but one question. is it really worth it to spend 3000 more on the enthus than the base? i mean for the base, im sure i can get aftermarket HID's. and about the LSD. i know that's limited slip differentials but i really dont' know exactly what that does. living in california there's no snow or anything so would someone fill me in on that? (if i need it or not). and i really like the aluminum petals instead of the regular black ones, but i don't think that's worth the 3000 extra right? IS THERE A WAY TO CHANGE THE PETALS aftermarket or something? (how much) and finally TCS. im sure if i go to the tracks or something i won't need that.
-David

 

I think it's only 2K more.

LSD is worth it not to mention. Cruise, fancy pedals, dimming rear view mirror, tcs.

TCS would be handy in sandy or wet intersectons even in CA

 

Still can't decide, huh? A Base 350Z goes for $26,370 vs. $28,350 for an Enthusiast. That's a difference of $1980. For that you get TCS, limited slip differential, HID's, cruise contol, and the aluminum pedals. Sure you can change the pedals aftemarket. If you don't need the other options, then just get the Base model. Good luck!

 

I felt that the cosmetic changes alone were worth the upgrade from Base to Enthusiast, and living in the Northeast, the TCS and LSD were deal breakers for me. When I went to my dealer, though, they only had a Base on the lot, no Enthusiasts. Since dealers always want to push what they have on the lot, they were willing to make the cosmetic changes for me free of charge. If all you care about are the pedals and the HIDs, then I say go for the Base and see if you can get them to give you the upgrades.

 

I drive a base and only thing that I wanted that it didn't come with were the HIDs. I live in Florida where we get a lot of rain (and a lot of sand on the roads, too) and I feel safe driving without TCS/LSD. The drilled pedals were mearly cosmetic to me and wasn't going to be a selling point. Even though most of my miles are on the Turnpike, I've never used Cruise control so I'm not missing anything I've already had. I also don't have a garage so I didn't need the Homelink system. Another main point was that the base was $2,000 less.

Nissan makes 5 trims of the Z with so many combinations that there is basically one right one for you. I'm sure you can find an Enthusiast on the lot for close to invoice (cheaper than MSRP base) so I'd go looking for an Enthusiast if I were you.

 

Limited slip diff plus HIDs is well worth the extra 2K because the amount of power that the car generates will be greatly appreciated if you have an LSD that can control the torque that both wheels deliver to the tarmac without it slipping and creating power loss or stuff like that (don't know how to explain it correctly). I would also consider TCS because when you're driving in the rain, and it does rain here in SoCal, the amount of torque that the car puts out combined with wet pavement will not be a good combo without TCS unless you know how to control your car extremely well. Plus you get all the other little things that you don't with the base model. That to me is well worth the 2K extra that they charge. The cost for you to add aftermarket HIDs plus an LSD if you do decide to do it later down the road will cost up to 2K so I would just go for the enthusiast.

 

thanks for the info. i guess i'll really find out when i drive the base and then enthusiast. just to get the feel.
-dave

 

I was in the same boat, but I decided to go with the enthousiast...for the extra options you are getting, it's really worth the $2,000 price difference:

- Limited slip differential
- Traction Control
- HID
- Cruise Control
- Homelink
- Auto-dim mirrors
- Aluminum pedals
- And I think dual vanity lit mirrors too

 

Enthu...I like all the little stuffs thats mentioned above ^