BigBadBuford

I finally got the break-in miles on my Z, and my brother and my friend wanted to race. My brother has an '02 Trans Am WS6 which is totally stock except for an air filter lid. We ran a couple of times the other night, from a 5-mph roll and then again on top end. From a 5-mph roll we were very close. His first gear is pretty tall, so in first gear I got a little jump. After he got into his powerband he pulled on me and by the end of 3rd was about 1 car head. From a 70 roll, it was pretty much the same story. We went from 70 to near 100, and he put a 1.5 cars or so on me. I knew he would take me, and I was actually surprised how well I kept up. If you ran into an LS1 car with a bad driver, I think a Z would be able to win. I didn't feel too bad losing to him either, right before we raced, he ran an '03 Cobra 3 times and beat him every time.
Later on in the night I ran my friend's BMW 330ci. We raced from a 5 mph roll or so also. In first gear we were pretty even, but after that the Z pulls away fairly easily. We ended up going a few times, and the result was the same. The sound of the 330's straight 6 and the VQ35 dueling was beautiful. Overall, it was a fun night.

rai

You should try to drive the Z back to back against the 330Ci if you can. I have narrowed it down to these two cars. But the Z is ahead on looks, power, and price.


If possible it would be nice to hear your side by side evaluation, or anyone else that has driven both cars. The thing is everyone says test drive them yourself, but it not possible to test cars back to back under the same conditions and sometimes memory is not perfect.

Thanks

THrussT

In all honesty, it would have to be one helluva bad driver. I owned a 2000 Camaro SS that stock, was a 13.3 1/4-mile car. With only $1500 in mods, it dropped to 12.67 (best). You won't find many bone stock LS1's but their engines (crank) put out 350hp (not 320) or more (mine dyno'd at 305 with no mods). I really can't imagine any scenario (short of incompetence or a stoplight start where the LS1 owner is too busy roasting his tires) where the 350Z could outaccelerate one. The part about him taking down the new supercharged Cobra 3x in a row and barely beating you sounds suspect. The new SVT Cobra is definitely quicker than the LS1's (finally) so I'm also left to ponder who was driving the Cobra if he got beat by a lid-WS6?
True, races are won, not debated, but I wouldn't send out 350Z owners thinking they have any realistic chance against either the '03 Cobra or LS1 in a test of straight line acceleration.
Just my .02

BigBadBuford

I know how potent LS1's can be. In totally stock form, my brother's Trans Am put down 320 hp and 339 lbs. ft. to the rear wheels. The Z did a lot better than I expected. I think the biggest factor is that the Z has a nasty first gear, while the Trans Am's first gear is rather tall. When you get in the higher gears, the Trans Am pulls away easier, but not as much as I would have thought. For a 3.5 V-6, I was very impressed.

The race with the '03 Cobra really surprised me (and my brother) as well. When he first ran the guy, he missed 2nd and he got killed big time. He said he had beaten every LS1 powered car he has run into, so he wanted to run again. I don't know what happened, but 3 times in a row he took him, and the guy in the Cobra wasn't roasting his tires or missing shifts.. it is still a little surprising.

ducati996

A stock WS6 beat 03 Cobra? Must be a really bad driver.