350Z Track - bought today
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From: Melbourne, Australia
Hey David,
Glad I could influence you in getting the right colour. The comparison was no match at the Glen between the Silver, Red , and DB..... hmmmm.... even as a silver owner Dave's DB looked pretty swish with the Nismo body kit!
Love to meet up for a drive after you get all your bits sorted.
LK
Glad I could influence you in getting the right colour. The comparison was no match at the Glen between the Silver, Red , and DB..... hmmmm.... even as a silver owner Dave's DB looked pretty swish with the Nismo body kit!
Love to meet up for a drive after you get all your bits sorted.
LK
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From: Oz
I just picked up my car and now I have a whoping 30km on it :-) I can't say much about it, but that it's new so I can't really push it and need to embed all the bits&parts. Though, the dealer told me that Nissan recommend the run-in period to be 5000km!! By run-in I mean no more than 5000rpm, no full throttle and no same speed cruising. Has anyone done that?! Most cars have a run-in persiod of 1000km and few (like Porsche) are run-in from the factory. So what run-in porcedure do you recommend as I can't see myself driving likea grandpa for 5000km?
Also, I did not get any touch-up paint from the dealer. I was told that I can buy it (which I'll have to) ... is this normal as I have not heard of a car that does not come with touch up paint?
For the moment the car feels really slow (I feel like Camrys are quicker than me) ... feels like the engine has a hole and all the power is escaping through there. Though, this is at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and less than 5000rpm. Anyone else noticed that?
ps. Took me 1/2 an hour to figure out how to open the boot :-)
Also, I did not get any touch-up paint from the dealer. I was told that I can buy it (which I'll have to) ... is this normal as I have not heard of a car that does not come with touch up paint?
For the moment the car feels really slow (I feel like Camrys are quicker than me) ... feels like the engine has a hole and all the power is escaping through there. Though, this is at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle and less than 5000rpm. Anyone else noticed that?
ps. Took me 1/2 an hour to figure out how to open the boot :-)
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From: Newcastle, Australia
David, there are many differing opinions on the correct run in procedure.
I was told by my Nissan man to run the car in like I was going to drive it!
So Ive been revving mine since day one, obviously dont go silly.
You have learnt a very valuable lesson, you get nothing for free from Nissan! So, yes, you do have to buy your own touch up paint.
The problem you are having with being overtaken by Camry's is because of the way you are driving.
With the "fly by wire" throttle you get as much throttle response as you push the go button. That is, you push half way down on the loud pedal and you get half throttle response, you push all the way to the floor and you get full throttle.
Hope this helps and if you have any other hassles dont be afraid to yell out.
As always
H
I was told by my Nissan man to run the car in like I was going to drive it!
So Ive been revving mine since day one, obviously dont go silly.
You have learnt a very valuable lesson, you get nothing for free from Nissan! So, yes, you do have to buy your own touch up paint.
The problem you are having with being overtaken by Camry's is because of the way you are driving.
With the "fly by wire" throttle you get as much throttle response as you push the go button. That is, you push half way down on the loud pedal and you get half throttle response, you push all the way to the floor and you get full throttle.
Hope this helps and if you have any other hassles dont be afraid to yell out.
As always
H
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From: Oz
The problem you are having with being overtaken by Camry's is because of the way you are driving.
With the "fly by wire" throttle you get as much throttle response as you push the go button. That is, you push half way down on the loud pedal and you get half throttle response, you push all the way to the floor and you get full throttle.
hmm ... interesting .... how is that different from other cars? I always thought that's how it works in other cars - all the way to the floor = full throttle, 1/2 way down = 1/2 throttle, etc.
Also, I put another 30km on the car and some of it was through twisties that I'm very familiar with. I'm comparing all that I see/feel with the S2000 at the moment (as I had it for over 2.5 years) and keep in mind that I'm comparing it to an S2000 that was setup/tailored to my liking and well run-in. Also it took me a little while to figure out it's limits/characteristics of the S2000 and the first couple of times I drove it I was un-impressed. I liked it once I figured out how to drive it and how high the limits are and how adjustable/controllable the car was there. I didn't think the car was very quick either then. Also, keep in mind that everything is very 'green' on my 350Z and that the tyres are still probably slippery as I only have 70km on the car right now.
I've already made the VDC/TC (stability control and traction control) come on ... not that I'm happy about it so I switched it off afterwards :-) It came ON at one stage around this long tight corner (50kph ?) where the front was just running out of grip. So my first impression is that it does not have anywhere the amount of front-end grip as the S2000 ... but I'll get the alignment done, set the pressures to something stiffer and run the tyres in ... then we'll see again.
Though, the back is glued and you know that it's the front going to be running out of grip while the S2000 I oversteered on the way out of the Honda delership :-)
Also, I can feel that the car is nowhere as responsive as the Honda ... but again, everything is tight so we'll see when I have at least 2000km on the car.
The seats are still very average ... very comfy and soft, but they are built for someone who is 2x my size and have very little lateral support ... will most likely replace them.
Surprisingly there's no 'useful' storage/pockets on the inside ... there are a lot of them but none are the 'right' size. For instance it's either too small my sun-glasses/case or way too big so it slides at the moment. Same with Melways - either does not fit or just way too big .... will need to figure out how to arrange things in there.
Then the 3/4 vision is not much better than the S2000 (not that it was a problem there)... you are pretty 'blind' looking over your shoulder. Though, the small windows there help a little so it's a little bit better (but you can put the roof down in the S2000 which makes thing a lot better :-).
More on the positive, the car looks great and feels solid as a rock on the road. It does not seem like anything can upset it (even though the limits seem low at the moment). The steering feels great as well as it has very nice weighting and the car seems to respond well to steering inputs.
I'll let you know how it feels once I'm a bit more used to it, have it aligned properly, have the tyres with decent amount of air in them and have some Ks on the car.
With the "fly by wire" throttle you get as much throttle response as you push the go button. That is, you push half way down on the loud pedal and you get half throttle response, you push all the way to the floor and you get full throttle.
hmm ... interesting .... how is that different from other cars? I always thought that's how it works in other cars - all the way to the floor = full throttle, 1/2 way down = 1/2 throttle, etc.
Also, I put another 30km on the car and some of it was through twisties that I'm very familiar with. I'm comparing all that I see/feel with the S2000 at the moment (as I had it for over 2.5 years) and keep in mind that I'm comparing it to an S2000 that was setup/tailored to my liking and well run-in. Also it took me a little while to figure out it's limits/characteristics of the S2000 and the first couple of times I drove it I was un-impressed. I liked it once I figured out how to drive it and how high the limits are and how adjustable/controllable the car was there. I didn't think the car was very quick either then. Also, keep in mind that everything is very 'green' on my 350Z and that the tyres are still probably slippery as I only have 70km on the car right now.
I've already made the VDC/TC (stability control and traction control) come on ... not that I'm happy about it so I switched it off afterwards :-) It came ON at one stage around this long tight corner (50kph ?) where the front was just running out of grip. So my first impression is that it does not have anywhere the amount of front-end grip as the S2000 ... but I'll get the alignment done, set the pressures to something stiffer and run the tyres in ... then we'll see again.
Though, the back is glued and you know that it's the front going to be running out of grip while the S2000 I oversteered on the way out of the Honda delership :-)
Also, I can feel that the car is nowhere as responsive as the Honda ... but again, everything is tight so we'll see when I have at least 2000km on the car.
The seats are still very average ... very comfy and soft, but they are built for someone who is 2x my size and have very little lateral support ... will most likely replace them.
Surprisingly there's no 'useful' storage/pockets on the inside ... there are a lot of them but none are the 'right' size. For instance it's either too small my sun-glasses/case or way too big so it slides at the moment. Same with Melways - either does not fit or just way too big .... will need to figure out how to arrange things in there.
Then the 3/4 vision is not much better than the S2000 (not that it was a problem there)... you are pretty 'blind' looking over your shoulder. Though, the small windows there help a little so it's a little bit better (but you can put the roof down in the S2000 which makes thing a lot better :-).
More on the positive, the car looks great and feels solid as a rock on the road. It does not seem like anything can upset it (even though the limits seem low at the moment). The steering feels great as well as it has very nice weighting and the car seems to respond well to steering inputs.
I'll let you know how it feels once I'm a bit more used to it, have it aligned properly, have the tyres with decent amount of air in them and have some Ks on the car.
Last edited by DavidM; Nov 14, 2003 at 01:12 AM.
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From: Newcastle, Australia
David, generally speaking,with "normal" throttles most of the "action" is in the first half of the pedal.
That is, FBW throttle is 1:1 and a normal throttle isnt. Maybe someone else can explain it better?
Anyway, we all encountered the little idiosyncrasies you mentioned. Dont worry the car will loosen up a lot and it will get a whole lot better.
There's not much you can do about the storage, I just try not to carry too many little things as I hate things moving around. I did get the seat back organising and a keep my CD case and street directory in that, that's about all I carry around.
My sunglasses just fit in the hole, have to leave them out of the case though.
The seats are *****! Enough said.
Hope you enjoy it mate.
As always
H
That is, FBW throttle is 1:1 and a normal throttle isnt. Maybe someone else can explain it better?
Anyway, we all encountered the little idiosyncrasies you mentioned. Dont worry the car will loosen up a lot and it will get a whole lot better.
There's not much you can do about the storage, I just try not to carry too many little things as I hate things moving around. I did get the seat back organising and a keep my CD case and street directory in that, that's about all I carry around.
My sunglasses just fit in the hole, have to leave them out of the case though.
The seats are *****! Enough said.
Hope you enjoy it mate.
As always
H
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From: NEWCASTLE - NSW - AUS
It's been explained this way - The amount of useful available power given the gear and no. of revs is always spread over THE FULL PEDAL MOVEMENT.
Like when you are in a convential vehicle, say cruising at
1500 rpm, and you want to accelerate - pushing the throttle to the floor isn't going to provide more power than say, 1/2
throttle - TILL THE REVS RISE and the motor can use the additional gas.
In the fly-by-wire situation the computer calculates the maximum
and most efficient volume/ratio taking your command/revs etc into
account.
FROSTY
Like when you are in a convential vehicle, say cruising at
1500 rpm, and you want to accelerate - pushing the throttle to the floor isn't going to provide more power than say, 1/2
throttle - TILL THE REVS RISE and the motor can use the additional gas.
In the fly-by-wire situation the computer calculates the maximum
and most efficient volume/ratio taking your command/revs etc into
account.
FROSTY
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From: Sydney, Australia
It took my car about 5000kms to feel normal.
When i first got it the suspension were too stiff for imperfect surfaces and I had that bounce issue. Now that things are worn in I can actualy drive around corners with confidence.
The engine too isn't very responsive until it puts on some kms. I've found that it has really improved with time.
As for run-in, treat it like a race car imho. This isn't some POS Camry. I recall redlining it just outside the dealer.
When i first got it the suspension were too stiff for imperfect surfaces and I had that bounce issue. Now that things are worn in I can actualy drive around corners with confidence.
The engine too isn't very responsive until it puts on some kms. I've found that it has really improved with time.
As for run-in, treat it like a race car imho. This isn't some POS Camry. I recall redlining it just outside the dealer.
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From: Oz
Thanks for all the info guys ... and don't take my comments as overtly negative as I'm just being rational about it (ie. it is not the best car at everything just becasue I own it) and I am fully aware that the car will improve with time (though it's good to hear it from you). We will see to what degree.
As far as the 'run in' goes, the manual says "less than 4000rpm for the first 2000km" ... so not sure where the 5000km comment came from. Still, I'll baby it for the first 500km, then be a little bit harder but still try to keep the revs bellow 5000rpm for the next 300km. After that I might take it close to the redline on the odd accasion until the first service (ie. 1000km). Then, I'm driving it as hard as it will go but just on the streets (ie. not track). Well, that's my plan at least.
Meanwhile I'll try and figure out what pressures the car (and me) like, but just out of curiosity I measured the contact patch of the 225/45/18" and 245/45/18" OME tyres on the Zed. The contact patch is just over 200mm at the front and just over 220mm at the back. To put it into perspective that is exactly the same contact path width as on the OME tyres on the S2000 (which are speced at 205/55/16" and 225/50/16"). Considering that the RE040 are not the 'end all be all' of road-tyres, and that the car does weight 200kg more than the S2000, I'd say that the Zed is very much under-tyred. I'm just speculating as I can't say that from experience about the Zed ... just the amount of rubber the weight it has to carry. For instance a Boxster S is over 100kg lighter and comes with 265s at the rear and 235s (I think) at the front. Same goes for the Z4 and look at the 911 with it's 285s at the back (though that has more power).
As far as the 'run in' goes, the manual says "less than 4000rpm for the first 2000km" ... so not sure where the 5000km comment came from. Still, I'll baby it for the first 500km, then be a little bit harder but still try to keep the revs bellow 5000rpm for the next 300km. After that I might take it close to the redline on the odd accasion until the first service (ie. 1000km). Then, I'm driving it as hard as it will go but just on the streets (ie. not track). Well, that's my plan at least.
Meanwhile I'll try and figure out what pressures the car (and me) like, but just out of curiosity I measured the contact patch of the 225/45/18" and 245/45/18" OME tyres on the Zed. The contact patch is just over 200mm at the front and just over 220mm at the back. To put it into perspective that is exactly the same contact path width as on the OME tyres on the S2000 (which are speced at 205/55/16" and 225/50/16"). Considering that the RE040 are not the 'end all be all' of road-tyres, and that the car does weight 200kg more than the S2000, I'd say that the Zed is very much under-tyred. I'm just speculating as I can't say that from experience about the Zed ... just the amount of rubber the weight it has to carry. For instance a Boxster S is over 100kg lighter and comes with 265s at the rear and 235s (I think) at the front. Same goes for the Z4 and look at the 911 with it's 285s at the back (though that has more power).
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From: Oz
z have identical contact area as the smaller tyres on the S2000?
What is written on the tyres and what contact-width they really are are not always the same thing. For instance the width could be at the 'shoulder' and not atthe contact-path ... a lot of tyres are wider on the sides than where they touch the ground. bwtc, by contact-patch I mean the area of the tyre that (at some stage) has made a contact with the ground.
S2000 is known to be 'under speced' with the tyres. They are just wider than the specs would suggest. For reference a HSV R8 with 235/40/18" has a 1cm smaller contact patch (ie. 210mm) than the S2000's 225s at the rear.
It's a well known fact in the S2000 'communitity' that you need to buy 245 tytres for the rear if you're getting something else buy OME. If I kept the S2000 and had to replace the tyres again, I would have gone even wider (ie. for 230mm wide contact-path) as I could have used even more grip.
Though, by the same token, there is a possibility that you can get other (ie. different brand) 245/45/18" for the Zed and that they will have a different (hopefully wider) contact patch. Me, I always went with a ruler to the dealer when shopping for new tyres ... must look pretty silly :-)
What is written on the tyres and what contact-width they really are are not always the same thing. For instance the width could be at the 'shoulder' and not atthe contact-path ... a lot of tyres are wider on the sides than where they touch the ground. bwtc, by contact-patch I mean the area of the tyre that (at some stage) has made a contact with the ground.
S2000 is known to be 'under speced' with the tyres. They are just wider than the specs would suggest. For reference a HSV R8 with 235/40/18" has a 1cm smaller contact patch (ie. 210mm) than the S2000's 225s at the rear.
It's a well known fact in the S2000 'communitity' that you need to buy 245 tytres for the rear if you're getting something else buy OME. If I kept the S2000 and had to replace the tyres again, I would have gone even wider (ie. for 230mm wide contact-path) as I could have used even more grip.
Though, by the same token, there is a possibility that you can get other (ie. different brand) 245/45/18" for the Zed and that they will have a different (hopefully wider) contact patch. Me, I always went with a ruler to the dealer when shopping for new tyres ... must look pretty silly :-)
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From: Oz
Howz the z? You put your foot down yet???
No, afraid not. I've got 320km on the clock at the moment so I'm still sticking bellow 4000rpm (been to 4500rpm a couple of times though) and no full-throtte. Will take me another couple of weeks.
Though, I have been upping the cornering forces a bit more. Of course I'm not pushing the limits yet (as I'm getting there slowly), but I'm trying to see where they are. Car feels very solid on the road and well balanced. I've had some understeer (though not since the 1st couple days of ownership when I had low tyre pressures and 'green' tyres). Though, I've had no oversteer yet. Has anyone experienced overster in the Zed? If so, where/how did you do it? Of couse I 'm not using full throttle at the moment so I would/could not do it with just brute power.
ps. Recenty I had a very good drive of a new 911 C4S (ie. the 4WD 911) and the Zed feels a lot like it on the road. Very solid, balanced and surefooted. On the other hand the Boxsters feel more like the S2000. Very much a different car.
No, afraid not. I've got 320km on the clock at the moment so I'm still sticking bellow 4000rpm (been to 4500rpm a couple of times though) and no full-throtte. Will take me another couple of weeks.
Though, I have been upping the cornering forces a bit more. Of course I'm not pushing the limits yet (as I'm getting there slowly), but I'm trying to see where they are. Car feels very solid on the road and well balanced. I've had some understeer (though not since the 1st couple days of ownership when I had low tyre pressures and 'green' tyres). Though, I've had no oversteer yet. Has anyone experienced overster in the Zed? If so, where/how did you do it? Of couse I 'm not using full throttle at the moment so I would/could not do it with just brute power.
ps. Recenty I had a very good drive of a new 911 C4S (ie. the 4WD 911) and the Zed feels a lot like it on the road. Very solid, balanced and surefooted. On the other hand the Boxsters feel more like the S2000. Very much a different car.
Last edited by DavidM; Nov 18, 2003 at 07:53 PM.
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From: Melbourne, Australia
And just wanted to say Davidm that YOU are a man of STEEL if you've been drivin' around for 320 km under 4000 revs. Never in my life have I had such patience!
I hit the friggin' limiter several times on my test drive. Dealership gave me the car for the weekend (silly buggers) so I could have a good test drive without the annoying salesguy screaming "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH". On a 4 year lease but will probably upgrade at 3 yrs while the warranty is still fresh. So if it's gonna blow I want it to be in the first 3 years. Besides, if Nissan didn't think the car could handle it, they should have put the limiter at 4000 or they shouldn't have sold me the car in the first place. Don't care about the 2nd hand owner after me. Gonna use up all the life of the car while I've got it.
Anyway, I bet you can't wait to put your foot down. I know you haven't yet because you'd be over 4000 before you could get your foot off the pedal again. Glad to hear you're enjoying the handling though.
Can't wait to hit the track again.
LK
I hit the friggin' limiter several times on my test drive. Dealership gave me the car for the weekend (silly buggers) so I could have a good test drive without the annoying salesguy screaming "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH". On a 4 year lease but will probably upgrade at 3 yrs while the warranty is still fresh. So if it's gonna blow I want it to be in the first 3 years. Besides, if Nissan didn't think the car could handle it, they should have put the limiter at 4000 or they shouldn't have sold me the car in the first place. Don't care about the 2nd hand owner after me. Gonna use up all the life of the car while I've got it.
Anyway, I bet you can't wait to put your foot down. I know you haven't yet because you'd be over 4000 before you could get your foot off the pedal again. Glad to hear you're enjoying the handling though.
Can't wait to hit the track again.
LK
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From: Oz
And just wanted to say Davidm that YOU are a man of STEEL if you've been drivin' around for 320 km under 4000 revs. Never in my life have I had such patience!
hehe, Remember that I'm coming from an S2000 ... that thing just surges on the power as the revs rise. Compared to that I'm not feeling much of a 'surge' so I'm not as tempted. That does not mean that I don't want to bounce it of the limiter as soon as Ican :-) I'm really looking forward to pushing the car and 'benchmaking' it against some other cars I can get my hands on.
I hit the friggin' limiter several times on my test drive.
I've had a couple test-drives before I bought the car ... those 'demo' cars had around 3 - 6k km so I did rev those out more than once :-) I would not buy a car without being able to put my foot down.
Can't wait to hit the track again.
I'm going top go to DECA 1st chance I get after I run it in (probably early next year) .... that's probably where I'll be starting with the 'tracking'. I'll let you (and anyone else interested) when/wtih who that will be so maybe you can join me. S2000 guys I know are going to Phillip Island this weekend and are already planning their tracking for next year :-)
ps. More on oversteer - anyone got any in any other situation but power-down in a tight, slow corner?
hehe, Remember that I'm coming from an S2000 ... that thing just surges on the power as the revs rise. Compared to that I'm not feeling much of a 'surge' so I'm not as tempted. That does not mean that I don't want to bounce it of the limiter as soon as Ican :-) I'm really looking forward to pushing the car and 'benchmaking' it against some other cars I can get my hands on.
I hit the friggin' limiter several times on my test drive.
I've had a couple test-drives before I bought the car ... those 'demo' cars had around 3 - 6k km so I did rev those out more than once :-) I would not buy a car without being able to put my foot down.
Can't wait to hit the track again.
I'm going top go to DECA 1st chance I get after I run it in (probably early next year) .... that's probably where I'll be starting with the 'tracking'. I'll let you (and anyone else interested) when/wtih who that will be so maybe you can join me. S2000 guys I know are going to Phillip Island this weekend and are already planning their tracking for next year :-)
ps. More on oversteer - anyone got any in any other situation but power-down in a tight, slow corner?