I own a Civic, used to own a GTI. One of the first things I noticed in the Z is that I feel like I'm going faster than my actual speed!

Is it just me.

 

it's just you. if equal in power, the front wheel drive car will always feel the fastest.

 

Yeah. The Z feels slower to me than actual speed, or acceleration.
I guess the power delivery is so smooth, it gives the slower than actual speed impression. Atleast with me anyway.

 

yeah it feels slower to me. like when i go 80mph or 90mph on the freeway... feels like i'm going 70mph... really smooth and stable

 

We have a Mitsubishi Airtrek turbo (like an outlander in the USA but with a different nose and in the turbo's case the 240HP 4wd drivetrain from an EVO). The same indicated speed feels a lot faster in the 350Z.

I put this down to 2 things
- I'm a lot closer to the floor
- The Airtrek is a tiptronic automatic, but most of the time it gets left in full auto. I tend to leave my stick shift 350 in lower gears to hear the engine noise.

Cheers
Eric

 

Just last night I slowly sped up to and was cruising at a steady 100mph (3am, desolate highway) and asked my friend how fast he thought we were going. He replied, "I dunno, 70?" I laughed. He guessed again "60?"

 

it DEFINATELY feels slower than it actually is going. was in the triple digits and it felt as if we were going 70 or so.

like others have said, the ride was super smooth. i didnt realize how fast we were going until i looked at the speedo.

 

It depends for me.....

I find that sometimes when Im in a zone it can depend. Like when Im just getting up in the morning and on my way to school, Ill be going 45 and it'll feel like Im going 55-60. Then late at night, Im going 90 and I actually think Im doing 70. It just depends on what my mood is and what kinda zone Im in.

 

I have to agree with those that say the Z feels slower than its actually going.

 

Agreed.

 

agree also...

My daily driver (97 Civic hatch)....Takes me about 5 mins LOL, to get that thing to 80mph, and by then, it FEELS like Im at top speed.

THEN I drive the Z. I'll be @ 90 in No time, thinking Im going 65.

 

Bingo, Thats a big problem though...

Officer, It didn't feel like 90MPH!!!

 

Aside from an E or S class Mercedes, I can't think of a car that's more stable at high speeds than the Z.

 

I think the speed feel depends on many visual factors. It depends on how narrow or wide the traveled is, how congested is the road, how many other obstacles are there (i.e. trees, bushes, parked cars, etc) on the road traveled. This would explain why people often fel like they are going faster in the morning (more cars) than in the evening (less cars).

I believe it also depepnds on the contours and angle of the front windshield, but if you're coasting at a particular speed then the previous observations could make a substantial difference.

 

I always felt the opposite. I went from a FWD probe GT and I always thought I was going slower than I actually was, especially when I first got the Z. I was driving it down I95 and almost got in trouble I was goin so fast and didnt realize it

 

It feels slower to me too. Like when I cruise at 100mph, it feels like 60. But then when I slow to 60 it feels like I can get out of the car and walk.

In my g/f fwd car it always feels faster than we are going.

 

Maybe I have more traffic here in Houston compared to ya'll? Would a bad alignment cause it to seem faster? Cause i still need to get my compression rod fixed and numerous other TSB's.