FineWine

iTrader: (10)

agreed. Do yourself a favor and get a garage and a beater before you get a car you want to love like a child.

BrianV

I read this entire thread and it just scares me. You sound just like me 10 years ago. The fact that you take a Scion xB to the dragstrip is what scares me the most. At least with my first car (a 93hp Tercel which I mod'd to like 110 hp) which I nearly completely wrecked a handful of times (and would've wrecked if it had ANY more power), I never took it to a drag strip.... Someone who bothers racing an xB will probably race any and everybody everywhere. We were all once 16-18, and there are NO 16-18 year olds into cars who didn't street race and drive like a complete knucklehead. a 400hp car, just wow. I stopped driving like a tool when I turned 21. I don't know what happened, but I got a good job and just realized there's too much to freaking lose. I haven't even got a ticket since then, but 16-20 it was BAD....

Please PM me your first and last name, address, DOB, any known medical conditions, and your SSN.

As to the topic, get the 370Z. It's less weight, you'll do less damage to property/people if you wreck it. All joking aside, the Camaro just weighs too much and I'm not so into the whole retro thing that's going on (although the SRT8 Challenger looks cool). The retro interiors gotta go. I love Vettes, but the Camaro is just too heavy. I'd assume just get the new LS3 G8 GXP over the Camaro; at least that way you can fit all your buddies in them so they can cheer you on as you drive like a teenager with too nice of a car. To me the 370z's upsides are a lot more than the Camaro and I think it'll perform better out of the box even despite the lower power.

RedSled

Wait until you mature a bit. Seriously. Jumping from "racing" in an xB (if you can even call it racing) into a 330+ HP sportscar is a major leap that won't bode very well for you at your age. Finish college, get a nice house, THEN think about buying a nicer car of your choice.

Marcus's Z

iTrader: (2)

Iam stuck on this to. Iam not sure on what to do. So I am right with you?

greysteelLSX

Not true, a stripper z28 weighed around 3400, most came out of the factory closer to 3500, none were as low as you say.


For a 98 auto perhaps, depending on year (01-02 got LS6 intakes) they'll dyno 285-320.

The Z is a fantastic handling car for the money, and it should hang with the camaro stock, but vette guys with the LS3's are breaking 500 to the ground with cam/boltons.

jerry_2612

iTrader: (1)

The Camaro SS if you want to look good drivng a very fast car.

The 370z if you don't care how the car looks, lower insurance, decent performance and as many have said- Japanese reliability ftw!

kaizenro1

iTrader: (3)

When the Camaro gonna come out? I hear good things about even the V6. I want to just test drive it.

350zbiturbo

iTrader: (1)

Get a v6 camaro man, and forget it. I made the mistake of having my parents buy me a wrx when i was 17, and I destroyed that car and didnt appreciate it. I bought a z myself, 2 years ago and since then have moved up big time. THe z isnt the fastest on the block, but man oh man, at least the 350z was a car to be respected. The second you didnt respect that car, it took you straight into a wall or tree. Nissan cars, have alot of quick jump, which makes the cars spin tires on anything in the model range.

I dont think the Z is a good car for you, in all honesty. Get a car, thats better in a straight line for now, as a car that handles good, is a bad bad bad idea for an 18 yr old not buying it himself. You will not respect the car, i gaurantee it.

Zero350z

^agreed

tolnep

i'll consider a camaro when i can get it with the cts-v motor (550hp).

even then it'll be a lead sled..

supergoji

seriously if you want to get a rwd car, ask a friend how has a rwd sports car to let you drive it in a empty parking lot dry, and then wet.

so how much fun a Z is when it's wet out and your wearing max performance summer tires.

my 300zx has 250hp and it's a handful in the wet, because of two reasons, no much weight in the rear, and my tire choice, i only put the stickiest tires i can get my hands on, on the car.

right now it's winter and im driving around with T/A comps.

just be careful, till your used to the rear out stepping out on you. like i am haha.

my next tire choice is either gonna be pilot sports cups, or AD08 Advan's.

S8ER95Z

x2...

Nissan fans please don't shoot me... I am only speaking the truth here..

With Nissan you get a finely tuned machine that makes use of everything it has available. You get good power because Nissan used everything they had to squeeze power out of a small displacement engine using new technology. The end result is nice power out of the box but it makes it tough to extract power from it once you get it home.

With GM you get a large displacement engine that was tossed together in a back room somewhere using parts they had lying around. While new technology was used to create it the idea behind it goes a long ways back and just works. End result is good power (due to it's displacement) and tons of untapped potential but they never really attempted to utilize it's potential. You can look at it cross-eyed and gain power,and small mods uncap even more potential.

I often wonder what companies like Nissan could do with a 6.3L 376 cubic inch engine knowing what they have accomplished with 3.7L 225 cubic inch one.

S8ER95Z

How do you know what the reliability is of a car that isn't even on the dealer lots yet?

NISMO_558

iTrader: (1)

how many people want to bet that his daddy is going to be buying him the car?

victor1

iTrader: (2)

Get the camaro, help GM. And you can fit 3 girls!

andrew350z

Man this thread is intense! Where do i start? I guess i will start by saying first off that I am 20 years old and have owned my Z from my 16th birthday until now. I payed for the entire car myself caddying at a local golf course in Minneapolis and it is my pride and joy. My parents have plenty of money to buy me a car that I could get by with, but I wanted something more. My mom had a 260Z and my dad had a 280Z and when the 350z came out I immediately new that was the car I wanted. All practicalities aside, we live in snow for 4-5 months out of the year, I play lots of golf, and when i am not at work or school I am playing hockey. Looking back on it, the Z was probably not the best choice for me but that doesn't mean I don't still love it. I had never driven a stick before, learned on the Z. Still have the same clutch. Have only recieved one ticket while driving my Z, and am in college about to graduate with a major in Finance and Entrepreneurship with a minor in Economics.

I will say that having the Z in college kinda sucks and sometimes people are just plain shitty. I had someone (probably some dumb girl) clip my front bumper and drive off last year. Other than that, I have been pretty lucky. I went through a stage of driving rather fast but at some point you reach a place in your life where racing honda's with fart cans and mustangs with mullet loving drivers just isn't worth your time. A porsche here or there or an M3 or S4 but the majority of these drivers just give you a nod with some respect and go on their merry way. As far as reliability goes, I haven't owned any GM cars so i will not comment but i would say buy something you love and something you will take care of. People always comment on how clean my car is and this and that and the fact of the matter is that i respect my car. This probably has to do something with me paying for it myself, but i have plenty of friends who have nice cars that also know and respect their cars as much as I do and they didn't pay for their cars themselves. I never want to sell my Z and part of me thinks I may keep it until I am older. My dad had a 1969 Camaro growing up as a kid that ran low 9's high 8's and he still kicks himself to this day that he didn't keep it.

Overall, I think it takes a certain person to own a car of this caliber at our age. If you are responsible enough to pay for it and responsible enough to stay out of trouble with your scion, then i say go for it. From what it sounds like, you like to race with your cars so i would be hesitant to give you the go ahead but sometimes the reverse happens. At some point you realize that the Z is a great car just rolling around and you don't need to go fast to look cool or impress people. Ultimately, the choice is up to you. The Z wins it for me especially with that porsche turbo looking body kit that was recently released. Think about it long and hard and try not to let the poeple on here's comments get you down. Some of them don't even own the cars they are trying to convince you of one way or another and they are at that 30 year old mark you want to be when you take your car on the Ring. Let them hate and let them be jealous but if you set your goals high and act like a respectable human being in the process, there is nothing they can say or do to stand in your way.
Andrew

andrew350z

oh yeah one more thing, if you do get either car and take it to college, make sure you find a spot you can get every day (even if it means walking) that is away from everyone, or at least can only have one car parked next to it like an end spot. This will save you lots of time, money, frustration, and will keep your car in mint condition for years to come!
Happy Motoring
Andrew

NISMO_558

iTrader: (1)

holy crap dude

you could have gotten by with just:
" I am 20 years old and have owned my Z from my 16th birthday until now. I payed for the entire car myself caddying at a local golf course in Minneapolis and it is my pride and joy"

yogipower

iTrader: (16)

^+1

andrew350z

I was just trying to make a point to all the people out there that think just because someone is 18 years old doesn't mean they can't handle either one of these cars. If i can drive a Z at 16 and my dad can drive a 900hp plus camaro when he was 17 then I have no doubt that with proper guidance someone couldn't drive a new 370Z or Camaro. I realize it was a little long but I don't need to be flammed either and didn't want to come off sounding naive so i figured i would explain myself as best as i could. Agan, sorry for the long post and i hope you take my advice with some consideration because i too was in the same boat, although i always knew i wanted a z :-)