How are you handling the cheap-*** interior of the Z? A local dealer had a demo in which I was able to expect but not test drive. I am really spoiled by my BMW and Audi's interior quality. I was expecting a downgrade of interior quality with the Z but not this much. Cheap hard plastic everywhere and that cover that replaces the navigation. A honda civic or toyota corrolla is better quality. Does the performance make up for it? I am hoping it will when I test drive it.

Before you guys flame me I am not looking for a luxury car so I am expecting a lot for interior quality.

Jeff

 

I had a 2001 Audi A4 Quattro, and when I sat in the "pre-production" Z a few months back I have to admit I was disappointed with the interior finish. HOWEVER...jsut went to the Anaheim auto show last night and sat in a production Z. MUCH better finish, I was impressed.

"I am not looking for a luxury car so I am expecting a lot for interior quality." --?

Isn't that backwards?

 

Yep, sorry about that.

Also not sure if I confused you , kevintari, I guess I mean more of quality of the interior materials. But I do think the DVD space cover thingy is bad quality in general. Audi has the best interiors in the business so I am a bit confused about your response.

Jeff

 

i have a 97 bmw and i don't think the interior is such high quality.bmw is known for not having great interiors. they tried to address this problem with the e-46.

 

sorry got a E46 BMW. Audi is previous gen A4.

 

I meant that I thought the interior quality was much better on the final production model than the one I originally saw. And yes, the audi interiors are awesome--hard to compare a lot of other cars to them. And Nissan ain't exactly Audi, that's more on the Infiniti level.

 

Oh--yes, the nav door is pretty sucky, wish they would have cleaned that up better. Aside from that, I was pretty happy with it.

 

You havent gotten your yet have you? If not post a review of it to this board after a few weeks of driving.

thanks
Jeff

 

We have a new 2002 A4 3.0 Avant (Atlas Grey) and a 350Z Silverstone Touring. There is no comparison on the interiors. The 2002 A4 is unbelievably nice. It really is well designed and perfectly executed. The Z has some rough spots that have been pointed out - most notable is the "cheap" materials. The design isn't too bad but it's details like the "trailing edges" of console, radio face, dashboard trim that don't match the "rugged" yet beautiful appearance of the A4.

It will be interesting to see if these things improve over time given everybodies reaction. Nissan will still have to keep the price down to avoid the price creep that occurred with the 300ZX.

 

The nav door ISN'T that bad.

 

i disagree. its too flimsy. i find that whenever someone else is in the car, they always open the nav door. and then i make sure that i close it. without knowing how to properly close it, i think most people will break it.

 

OMG, the nav door is cheap? I never noticed since I'm ALWAYS DRIVING AND NOT F**KING AROUND WITH MY NAV DOOR!!!

Everyone needs to come off this ridiculous interior quality trip. Really, people. Hard plastic .vs soft plastic. Who the f**k spends this much time caressing their interior? The steering wheel's supple, the shifter is tight. If you're rubbing your dash at every stop light, then you're not paying attention to your driving.

STFU AND DRIVE!

 

Amen to that...

 

Come on, people--shake yourselves! What the hell are you talking about?? I looked at the BMW 3 series extensively and briefly at the Audi TT.

The 3 series has very good fit and finish but the quality of the materials is not particularly high. Many surfaces are hard, there is significant use of plastic and the leather is CHEAP-***! Hard to tell the difference between it and vinyl.

And as far as the Audi TT--materials were very high quality and fit finish is excellent, but ergonomics are awful. Seats are cushy and poofy (read: not grippy or supportive) and the layout has ZERO sports car, cockpit feel to it. Beyond that, the car screams "upscale VW bug."

Might the Z be better off with a little higher quality material . . . maybe. But I love it the way it is. The seats (both leather and cloth) are some of the best available on any car regardless of price. The leather wrapped steering wheel is nice. The "hard" plastic dash and planels are not really that hard--they have a relatively pleasing feel to them. And the Nav-door operation is very cool so long as you take a little extra care in closing it (god forbid you should have to do that!).

Furthermore, the fit and finish is excellent. Overall, the interior is better than anything domestic, better than the G35 sedan by far and about as good as an Acura cl/tl. Not bad at all considering the performance.

If you want a (sub 50k) BMW/Audi, please get one. Just don't cry when Z out accelerates you, out handles you and definitely garners more admiration and praise from others.

And one more thing: if the Z were the new entry level porsche coupe, in exactly the same form, I doubt any of the German crowd would be complaining. Plus, they would probably be willing to pay about 10k more for it.

 

I love the car, but i think the most anoying ugly part of the interior is the door panels. Its just dotted plastic, it looks like sh*t. I think the center consol is not bad, and no probs with the nav door. I think when the car has leather, and if it had lather on the doors, and somthing else too, not one big peice of plastic, the whole interior would feel much better. The radio etc, feels fine to me.

Maybe ill custom leather, or vynyl, the doors? (prob to expencive, but worth a look)

-Josh

 

Nissan already did more than they had to for me to like it. The interior compliments the exterior well, and that's a rare thing in itself. I've seen 100k and up cars and I thought the interiors were horrible. I don't care for luxury interiors either. I must be crazy. But I'm happy crazy.

 

You guys who think the Z interior is bad are spoiled. If you dont like it, dont buy it.

 

I don't think you guys understand, the Z was designed to be as pure a sports car Nissan could make. They spent their money on the drivetrain, chassis, body and rigid platform. The interior is not ugly or cheap, just clearly rendered in solid, tastful polymers that are intended to be functional and non-offensive. The time spent critisizing the interior is wasted when you could be Driving the car.

I think your eyes would be wide open to the Z's charm when you blast by everything except the exotics. By the way, EVO magazine did a road trip and was praising the Z and noting their chase car needed to use most of its power to keep up and it fell behind in some areas they drove to. The chase car was an M3. Believe me, your stock E46s and Audi TTs are not even close in performance. At $35K, the Z is one hell of a bargain and, my seats are leather. The Z is no poseur sedan. Slathering the interior w/ leather would add weight and raise the MSRP. I'll take the Z just like it sits, and I have the Auto 5spd w/ a manual shifting mode. I also prefer it to the Steptronic in the 3 series.

 

Yea, I have to do the same thing. The nav door almost broke twice due to other people not knowing how to close it. The interior is definately cheap, for the price range at least. I think the door should've been split up (top and bottom) and they should've used vinyl or some sort of faux-leather. The dash also could've used soft plastic rather than the hard stuff... And the roof-liner/ pillar liners could've been made of soft carpet instead of the hard plastic stuff. Remember, this car is the same price range as the A4 and the Lexus IS300 and both of those cars have the features I mentioned on the interior that the 350Z doesn't. Oh well, you gain a little and lose a little. I remember when I brought this topic up over 6 weeks ago when I first tested the car everyone went psycho and yelled at me. Calm down people, take the criticism with an open ear, the 350Z is a great car but it's far from perfect.