Read the article today, comparing 350 to audi tt and wrx sti... 350 is pretty much lavished with praise, gets 4.5/5 and wins the review...
but... as some expected, the performance figures were very disappointing...

0-100 6.7 0-400m 14.5 (identical figures to a stock 200sx)
power to weight 350z : 7.1kgs/kw
power to weight 200sx : 8.64kgs/kw
times shouldn't be identical...

performance figures for the sti werent great either but still..

what gives...?

hopefully (assuming the testers so far have had a clue) the car will have more to give as time goes on... personally i am going to try to time mine, im at about 1700ks now

but seriously... 5.4 0-100 0-400 13.8-14.0 vs 6.7 and 14.5 - that's not 8kw difference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm with you bro, how can a car weighing 1454kg (350Z) with more power & torque than the the heavier STi 1470kg ( source Motor March) be so much slower.

Z is 16kg lighter so what gives. I don't understand, the maths don't add up!!!!.

Times:-

STi 195Kw 343Nm 0-100 5.6 0-400m 13.87 1470kg (Motor)

350Z 206Kw 363Nm 0-100 6.7 0-400m 14.5 1454kg (Wheels)

Must be the sh#t Wheels mag drivers??

 

Looks like we are all gonna have to post our own times

 

A good review, very favourable for the Z.

Whilst the overall package of the car is what really counts, and what a package it is, the performance figures are disappointing.

The Audi TT tested, actually shows an improvement of around one second (0 - 100) over any test that I've previously seen.

I cannot understand why we have lost around one second on the U.S. 0 - 60 times, even taking into account that 60mph is marginally less than 100kph. One second cannot surely be caused by the reputed 7kw loss on the Australian spec.

It looks like we have to be prepared to be trounced in a straight line by many family sedans, including the new $40,000 Falcon XR6's and SS Commodores.

Whilst performance mods are always an option, although I haven't seen anything worthwhile yet, they devalue the car, cause insurance issues and cast doubt on long term integrity and reliability.

 

A couple of points to note...

- apparently wheels test their cars with 2 people and a full tank?

- apparently nismo will be offering dealer - supplied performance parts (therefore under warranty) - a friend read this in DRIVE last week

- I raced my friend's slightly modded s15 200sx last nite (trust straight thru exhaust, air filter) - he has an edge from 3rd gear onwards... but it really is just an edge, if u get a jump u would win - so most family sedans should still be beatable! Also getting a good launch seems to be easier in the 350...

- I timed mine from 80-120 and 100-140 (not been able to get a proper 0-100 time yet - its much easier to use the built in stopwatch if u dont have to worry about a launch and gear changing) and the times I was getting were almost a second quicker than those indicated in wheels...
80-120 between 3.5 and 4.14, average 3.8 (wheels 4.6)
100-140 average about 4 (wheels 4.6)

Point of story? Take a bit of heart, it aint as slow as the aussie mags tell us it is!!

 

I think part of this could be explained by the fact that top speed @6600 rpm in second gear is 98km/h, which means that third gear would need to be selected to get to 100km/h. 60mp/h is 96km/h, so with one less gear shift the times would be significantly quicker. Perhaps not by 1 full second, but certainly at least half a second I would think. The rest may be down to the fact that this test car may still be quite new and the engine/transmission/drivetrain may not be fully efficient.

 

Would having VDC on, effect lauch times I seem to remember posts saying they got better times with traction control off. Maybe wheels mag did'nt deactivate the VDC.!!!

 

it affects it BIG time... power is cut back majorly and it takes like a second before it lets u continue to build the power... even the wheels drivers wouldnt be that daft. I think the best time with vdc on would be something like 7.5 or 8 seconds

 

I would'nt bet on that.