^Thanks for the heads up...

 

OP, try a Z0K GXP Solstice and let me know what you think. No doubt in my mind I'll mop up that the Nismo 370z at an autox...

 

Do they even make a Solstice for men?

 

Don't forget Liam's Nismo 350Z won the DC Pro Solo event driven by Joe on stock shocks.

https://my350z.com/forum/autocross-r...o-solo-cs.html

Liam won't be taking the car to the Nationals however as he had planned. Military duty is getting in the way. I would have liked to see the car on the big stage.....

 

lmao did I just read that? surely you jest, now GTFO.

 

 

You sir are fail.....the solstices are very, very quick in B stock. This is a racing sub-forum....not one based on personal exterior preference.

 

I consider power-delivery (and brakes) in my subjective favorite list. I have yet to drive a FI Solstice or Sky, but I also have yet to drive a single turbo that didn't have some lag to deal with.

The older EVO's transitioned remarkably well for 4-door cars, but the binary power delivery was a deal-breaker in my book.

I am sure if I owned one, I would "get used to" anticipating when and how much power was coming, but I only have limited time in each vehicle.

The S2k dances very well too, but milking the motor can be a PITA for someone with limited seat time in one. (I also mistakenly short -shift when I drive those. Not the car's fault that I shift by ear)

The C6 Corvette is another car I'm sure I would have more fun in if I had enough seat time to get used to the lack of feedback in the steering wheel. (power delivery is great though)

The APS TT 350Z I drove had good power delivery but was only able to harness about 2/3 of it with 315 race tires.

I'm not denying the available performance of any particular car. Both the EVO's and the S2k's are forces to be reckoned with on the track.


Heck, I don't even know if the Cayman S shows up on the national radar. But it is quick and, more importantly for my subjective list, it's crazy fun to drive.

 

I've driven both a Solstice GXP and a Saturn Sky Redline... both very impressive but this a Nissan forum so I figure I'd poke fun for a little.

 

Lol, I dunno, I just race the thing!

Great showing indeed, but nothing against him or the car, it'll trophy in CS (I should have trophied last year in an 05 but coned it away), but it isn't going to win. On top of that, they didn't even beat FS, and CS is WAY quicker then FS. The Z is a quicker autox car then the Shelby GT.

Totally understandable and fair evaluations. I'd like to consider myself a pretty good driver (hell Sportscar magazine has me as a contender), but even with that, the Solstice is one of the easiest cars to drive fast, and its fun. Turbo lag is very minimal as it feels more like a true american motor (not too refined and no top end) coupled with very short gearing. The first time me ever racing it I took top pax outside Seattle against some of the NW-Region SCCA's best.

As for the Cayman S, I've raced one of those as well. Stock for stock (we race the Solstice on stock shocks, the Cayman had the PDSM) the Solstice is faster.

It's all good, I still love my Z. I just know first hand it isn't going to win the relative stock class its in.

 

And my 2005 Track model on a 70,000-mile-old VLSD and clutch still trophied against some of the top drivers driving the best equipment on the west coast.

The Z is still terribly under-estimated.

 

nice I want to drive one but they're still too expensive for me... have you driven an exige? how does it compare to cayman s, 370, nsx?

 

^If an Exige is anything like an Elise on the inside... its not made for men with larger than a 34inch waist. I barely fit in it... then again it wasnt on a track.

 

I have not driven an Exige, but I have driven an Elise and it's the fastest car I would never want to own. (Unless it was strictly for the track)

-Used to think magazine writers were wimps for subtracting "points" for ergonomics, ingress/egress etc. But getting out of the Elise, while wearing a helmet, has to be similar to what babies go through during their own birth.

I only took one run in it. I remember thinking the handling lived up to the hype, but it didn't get my attention like the Cayman S and the Nismo. (Perhaps because the "expectation" bar was already rather high?)

The power felt better than I expected. It didn't feel underpowered at all.

I have driven two different NSX's. They both reminded me of go-carts because of the seating position, (very low) and reflexes. (Very "direct" steering IIRC) It's been a while, but I think the only gripe I had was power. Don't remember if it was the "curve" or the amount.

The things I like about the Cayman S are the way the front half of the car can be placed as if it has almost no mass, and the wheelbase feels like it's only about 10 inches. Moving the front end of the car seemed as simple as moving the red dot projected by a laser pen. Yet the car was also very stable. (No "pendulum" effect like the 911's I have driven.) Feedback was great too. Always knew exactly where the edge was, from the first couple turns.

My Z is set up pretty well. (Handles great) But when I got out of the Cayman and back into my Z, The mass over the front tires was obvious.

 

Thanks for the breakdown, i've been craving an elise to sc or an exige ever since i drove my friends stock elise and yes it is a stripped down car but thats part of its beauty i think (luckily in this situation i'm not very tall or wide). Cayman would be nice but too much bucks!

 

Just drove a Saturn Sky Redline today! (Although I didn't really push it for most of the runs, because of what I was trying to show the student.)

That being said, the power delivery was surprisingly smooth. It had great balance, and was "flickable" yet stable.

The car "got smaller" the harder I drove it.

 

I got to co-drive a soltice gxp a few weeks ago and had a similar impression.....fun car to auto-x in.