The ragtop ruins the great lines of the Z. Nissan better rethink this idea..but I know they won't.

 

...

 

"lack of power" >>>>whatev.

Our 4 banger keeps up quite well with your LARGER V-6.....

On Sunday a buzz cut navy chump rode up on me and said "you have no torque, but nice car"....
Is it so hard to understand that torque is a dinosaur measuring tool of obnoxiously out-dated v-8 muscle cars? I mean s2k's only have 150 lbs of torque and 2 less cylinders, but I still walked with the Z chump all the way to 130....

Hello everybody, it is now 2003....


P.S. The S2K will pull away from the convertible Z with ease.....

 

It will pull away in your dreams and it does not look as near as nice as a 350Z

 

Your right. the 350z looked sweet the first 3000 times I saw it on the road. It seems like they a dime a dozen these days.... ::sigh::

 

I think you got that backwards, 9000RPMZ. Everyday I drive to work, I see at least 3 S2000... sometimes as many as 6! I rarely ever see another 350Z on the road between our local meets. On average, I may see another 350Z once every other day. They're just aren't that many around yet.

In time, I'm sure they'll outnumber S2000's though. Isn't the S2000 production limited each year? Not to mention anyone with sense will be buying a 350Z over an S2000 from here on out!

Don't get all defensive now... that was a joke. I happen to like the S2000's, too. If I didn't drive in the city so much, I would have bought one a few years ago. I just couldn't justify having a performance car that hit its stride at such a high RPM coupled with city driving...

 

In time??? Try by this summer. Nissan, the damn near bankrupt company that it is, decided to mass produce this car. That is why they took an existing chasis and simply improved on it and took an exisiting engine and simply tweaked it (not to mention all the other borrowed parts they took from the bin) Sorry man, but if you want to talk about exclusivity, you had better not compare yourself to a hand built, entirely exclusive vehicle. Nissan will sell more Z's by August than Honda has sold S2000 since their inception until now.

 

15,000 vehicles a year, vs. S2000's 10,000 a year (30K total worldwide, 15 thousand to the US). S2000 has been out for 3 years now I think? That means give the 350Z another year before it hits the same amount of S2000's on the road.

 

I don't really give a rats *** about being exclusive. I want a car that handles well and looks great. Remember, there is no Santa Claus in this world. It is all about the almighty dollar. If Honda could pull off with the S2k what Nissan has done with the 350Z they would have.Look at Corvettes, In my opinion one of the best body styles ever created on any vehicle( I would not own another). You see them all the time because it is about the buck and if you believe any diiferent you are one of Honda's Lemmings.

 

Lemming....If we were lemmings we would have bought a Z


Just remember >>>>hand built in the same plant as NSX's.....

What the heck do you mean by "If Honda could pull off what Nissan did". As said before, the just used an existing platform and parts. NOTHING NEW! The s2k is like 90 percent new parts fabricated from scratch....


I still love you man!
even though your comments border on the "uneducated" line.

 

From that statement, I am beginning to think you have never driven an S. I have driven a 350 several times and spent quite a bit of time looking at the car while deciding on getting an S2k or getting the 350. I was seriously leaning toward waiting on the convertible Z until I spent some time in the coupe. Yes the engine is fantastic. Yes the suspension is fantastic. Yes, in a few months there will be performance mods available for this car that will enable it to blow the S2k's doors off.

I think the tranny is not quite as good as the S2k's but that was not the reason why I decided against the car. Besides the Engine, Tranny & Suspension, the car is VERY POORLY BUILT. The gaps in the dash are cavernous. The fit of the interior is VERY POOR. I watched in disbelief when I shut the door how various parts of the dash and interior panels shook. There are so many aspects of that car that are going to start rattling and creaking in 10-15k miles(JUST LIKE A VETTE), it is ridiculous.

The whole philosophy behind the development of these cars is on opposite ends of the spectrum:
- Honda, the worlds second most profitable car company (in terms of percentage of revenue), decided to build a world class roadster from scratch to celebrate its racing heritage.
- Nissan, a bankrupt corporation trying to right itself, decides to build a car that will inspire people to start buying their cars again. The car needs to make them huge amounts of profit as the future of the company rests on the financial profitableness of the car. They have a proven engine which needs little development to minimally increase its output. They have a proven transmission in the Maxima 6spd which can be easily tweaked to meet the demands of the new car. They have a storied badge which has a HUGE following. AND they have a huge parts bin to grab from. All of this adds up to little financial output to create a guaranteed hit in the market meaning they can cut corners on quality issues in many areas. All of that adds up to....

S2000 for me

 

I am not quite sure where you are getting your numbers from, but the first year for the S was just over 6k, '01= 7k+, '02=8k+, '03= probably right around 8-9k. Nissan is releasing close to 30k coupes and in the neighborhood of 7-10k convertibles for '03MY alone. Those should all be sold out, if people actually buy all of them, by around August of '03.

Now the G35 Coupe, that will be a bit more exclusive with only 10-12k being sold this year.

 

Im not sure where some of you are getting your profit margin numbers from.

There is a quite a good article in the March issue of Car magazine (pick it up at your local bookstore) about Nissan's turn around (under the direction of Carlos Ghosn).
The companies operating margin is 10.6%, nearly up to Porsche's figures.
Nissan may not be out of the red yet, but they are rapidly cleaning up their act. Give it a read.

(and quit ****ing bitching about the goddamn S2k. This is a Z board, no one gives a ****.)

 

Again, it is you S2000 fans that are getting your facts backwards. The G35 is selling in greater quantities than the 350Z. I didn't believe this until I realized that even here in Charlotte, I see about 1 350Z for every 3 G35 coupes on the road. That doesn't even take into account the sedans that have been available longer.

Nissan has stated that 350Z production will be 30-35K WORLDWIDE. Now, I'm sure that the US will get the lion's share of production... let's say 25K a year. So I stick by my original statement, it'll be some time before 350Zs outnumber S2000s... probably around the end of the second year of production if comparing to you S2000 production numbers.

As for hand-built... hey, I can hand-build a pretty nice go kart in my garage and it will be 1 of 1! I'll sell it to you for cheap-cheap... still doesn't mean that its better.

Don't get me wrong... I do like the S2000. I'm just tired of every Honda owner I come across thinking Honda's are the end-all, be-all of the automotive world.

And for the record, I've lost count of the number of Civics, Integras, Preludes, Acuras, TLs, AND S2000s I have put down with my Z already. If I tracked 'em like fighter pilots tracked kills in WWII, I'd have a line of little car stickers that circle my Z two or three times by now...

 

I'm really disappointed in this design...what the hell were they thinking?? It just doesn't look good!!

 

Its a 911 wannabe.....

 

thats bad how?

 

First, my statement was in regards to WHEN Nissan and WHEN Honda DECIDED to BEGIN developing these cars. That took place back in the late 90's. I know Nissan is doing quite well right now and I really really like allot of what they are producing (M45, FX35/45, Z & G35 Coupes)

As for my comments about the S. I am an auto enthusiast. If I had the money for four cars, I would own the Z coupe as well as my S2000. I am sorry that you think no-one gives a sh** about other cars than the Z, but I highly doubt that to be the case. As I said, I was VERY interested in the Z, but for reasons I explained, I chose the S. They are both great cars, however I really wanted a lightweight, convertible sports car, not a very capable GT.

 

I am sorry, but you are just wrong. There is no other way to put it. Just because you SEE a certain number of cars in your general vacinity does not make it fact. In my area, there are more BMW's and Mercedes then there are Honda's and Toyota's. If I were to follow your logic, then I guess BMW and Mercedes sell more cars in the US than Honda and Toyota.

The facts are that by years end, Nissan will sell more than 35k Z's(Coupes and Convertibles). The G35 Coupe is ONLY slated for a 7-10k production run. Do some research on actual production numbers, not based on what you see in your town. I am not trying to flame, simply debate friendly.

I do not think Honda's are the end all-be all. If you read my post, you will see that I ALMOST got a Z and if you read my other posts, you will see WHY I chose the S and that I really like allot of what Nissan is producing.

As for putting down S2000's, I am always up for a run, ESPECIALLY when I have to opportunity to walk a Z . Seriously, I have run a few Z's. I have managed to beat them all by more than I thought I would, but I attribute that to the fact that the average age of the drivers was around 45-50. I dont think they really had their heart in it. I would love to have a REAL run with a Z sometime.

 

Can the moderator break part of this thread off. I could care less about a squabble between S and Z. I just want to know and see more of the Roadster.