I'm in the market for a SB 350ZR but cant decide between the Touring and the Enth..
How much different is the two? I'm gettin different answer from different dealers..

"Touring ride smoother then Enth..."
"Touring to leather heated seats.."
"Trouring to 6 sp Bose systems.." <-- which I dont care for since I will upgrade anyway..

I hear different things about powerseats... which has it? partly?


Thanks

HL

 

As noted in the 2004 350 Z Roadster brouchure below, heated seats are only avaliable on the Touring model.-

 

I went with the touring, because compared to the Boxter, Audi A4 Cabriolet, Audi TT, Saab 9-3 convertible, BMW Z4, etc. you are already getting the same or much better performance and for so much less money. I didn't feel bad at all spending extra on the touring package. For the same reason, I also went with the 19" rims.

You have already made the considered decision to purchase a Consumer Reports recommended car and one that is vying for Road & Track's car of the year. So, if it makes you happy, splurge on the leather.

Plus for some strange reason, the first thing a number of women have asked me about the car is "Does it have leather seats?" I hadn't expected this. Then you get to arch your eyebrow and say "Why yes, and they're heated!" Silly I know, but something to think about if you are a single guy.

As far as the stereo system, even with the more powerful amp, I think it is just okay. It sounds good, but I'm not completely blown away. I can't imagine what it would be like with the less powerful amp. On the other hand when I bought my Jeep five years ago I said the first thing I was going to do was replace the sound system. And I still haven't gotten around to it.

I don't know if the Touring model has a smoother ride. If so it must be only marginally better than the Enthusiast. My touring model (in my view) has a pretty stiff and bumby ride. (But I like it that way.)

Good luck with the purchase!

 

Thanks for all th einfo..

I did not see that brouchure.. thanks alot.

I do like the leather, but dont care too much about the bose. I always replace my stock system.. especially since I want mp3 capability...

One more questions..

Does both have Power seats?

Thanks

Hai

 

Yes, they both have power seats - it's just the surface material and the heating element that is added to the Touring.

I went with the Enthusiast for the following reasons:

- I hate leather seats in Arizona weather
- I don't care about the stereo (I can't hear it half the time anyway because of lovely sports car sounds )
- It's cheaper!

Steve in AZ

 

I went the the touring because I wanted the Burnt Orange ventilated seats. The ventilated seats feel great with the top down.

 

If you are going to replace the stereo, don't waste your money on the 2 grand extra the touring costs. Save some cash and then get some leather at katzkin which is equal to or better than the stock leather. And, you can throw in heated seats and still save some money.

If you want stock nav tho, get the touring. Its a bit of a pain to add navigation to the enthusiast model. I'm waiting for the fujitsu ten double din systems.

 

I've owned both. Currently have a touring automatic with Nav. that I've had since October. I started out with the Enthusiast 6 spd which I drove for 2 months. If I hadn't had the back problems that were exacerbated by shifting, I would have kept it and been quite happy with it. Matter of fact, when I knew I needed to swap to an automatic, I was hoping to find an enthusiast auto; but the touring, fully loaded, was all I could find. I find I enjoy the adt'l luxury features of the touring. After all, I traded a fully loaded 02 Maxima SE 6spd (incl. Navigation) for the roadster. The seating position differences in the Z made the manual in that car a little hard to tolerate; matter of fact, I'm still having a little trouble in the auto, but not as bad. Anyway...I put a thread out here a couple months ago where I cited my impressions going from one to the other. At the end of the day, people may say there is a difference in ride, but there isn't. There isn't anything different in the touring about suspension tuning, tires, wheels, etc., that delivers a smoother ride. It just isn't the case. However, I felt that my enthusiast 6 speed was just more sporty, and I think it is for the obvious reason of the stick shift. I can get close to that feeling in the auto by using the manual shift mode...which I love, by the way, but it isn't the same. I really do miss the stick. Really. I almost wish, sometimes, that I had hung in there with the car...I might have eventually adjusted. But anyway, back to the differences. I do prefer leather, I do like the heated seats, and I really, really like having navigation again, and the Bose stereo is dramatically better than the stock unit in the enthusiast (I, too, was going to upgrade the stereo in my enthusiast if I had kept it). However, I have no need or desire to mess with the stereo in this touring model. Also, the touring gets a little nicer trim material on the center console stack. It's more of a textured, soft, finish as opposed to the hard plastic that was in my enthusiast. it does lend itself to an overall more put together, and plusher, interior. The seats adjust just like the enthusiast, no differences there. All in all, I would have been happy to have kept the enthusiast except for the expectation that shifting gears was making my back worse. In the final analysis, I don't really know if the shifting made that much of a difference. However, I can't swap again...I need to stick with what I have. In terms of value, the Enthusiast is truly the better financial value. All the goodies added to the touring really inflate the price, I think. The Enthusiast was just a great, straightforward, sporty, fun-to-drive, no-nonsense car. The touring model has a different mission. And it does it well. But if you can live without leather, heated seats, navigation, and you are going to do your own stereo upgrade, you cannot go wrong with the enthusiast model.

Good luck, whatever you do!

 

I think that may have just been an "inline change" as opposed to a model difference. My Enthusiast (build date 11/03) has the soft textured center stack finish as well - it was the same in the Touring I test drove when I was shopping.

I'm guessing this is also the reason some people seem to only have one seat bottom adjustment wheel, and some have two - the more recently built ones seem to have two.

Steve in AZ

 

i went with base and A/Mkt leather, no one but z owners know the difference and i love my payments.

 

i believe the leather makes the touring feel more luxury-ish =) so the ride feels different because of the feel of the leather. When i test drove the other models it actually felt more sporty because the cloth didn't make me move around on the turns(leather self explanatory BUT put the seatbelt on and feels great-without slide all over). I have a touring and I am more than satisfied! the leather makes a big difference in the luxury category...makes the car feel a whole lot better considering the cheap materials(imo cheap design looks great) used....if worst comes to worst get the enthusiasts with leather seats=).....i really feel a difference with leather seats. all i know those with stock seats seriously should think about leather or racing seats.

p.s. yes, the seat warmers....makes me burrrrrrrrrrr to purrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

Thanks everyone for the mass of info...
The one thing them dang deal was confusing me on was the:
The enthusiast didnt have powr seat.. then the enthusiast didnt only has 2 way power seat... then enthusiast only have driver power seat... So I didnt know which is which.. and there was none in town that I can check out..

guess it shoulwnd matter since it's only 2 seat.. and am da only driver.. seat probably wont move much.. but power is nice...

Now where near ABQ can I find a da SB enthusiast... argg...

 

would the touring have a harsher ride on 18's (I think they come standard) compared to the Enth. which rides on 17's. UNLESS Nissan changed the spring rates to compensate for this?

I myself am looking at a auto touring fully loaded, but imo i think its not bad. I am riding on 18's on my spec V thats dropped on Eibach Pro kit and the touring is a lil better not much.

 

For $2370 more, you get
- Bose
- leather
- side air bags
- heated seat
- heated mirror

Not bad. Some other brands will charge you that much for the first 2 items.

BTW, the heated seats really help when I have back pain (Better than Bengay)

 

The Touring Roadster comes with 17" standard wheels. 18"s are an option. Eiter way -not much differnce in ride since I test drove both and coulnt tell any difference. I will say the Bose system 240 watt seems to be better than the stock unit and the Audio Pilot function works well when I have the top down.
Leather,side air bags,seat heater are all nice to have -creature comforts and the total additional of $2k for the Touring seems to be worth the money IMHO.

Rapid Ray
'04 SS Touring Roadster

 

...i'm not sure what audio pilot does for me. I mean, I know it is supposed to manage the volume of audio through speed changes and such, but cannot tell that it does much. It is real obvious in my Maxima, but in the Z, I very often have to manually turn the volume up or down. Do you have similar experience? And I can attest that the Bose system is significantly better than stock; I think I might have already mentioned that. But it is noticeably different.