Chromatic

iTrader: (4)

Not a problem.

Listen... My first car at 16 was a 1991, used, 300ZX. It wasn't AS fast and powerful as the 350Z.. but it was a manual 5 speed and had PLENTY of power.. too much actually for a new driver looking back.

I *learned* how to drive a manual with the 300ZX.. I happened to get it in about 30 minutes driving in a parking lot.. after an hour moved to smaller roads.. and within a week I was comfortable driving it with confidence anywhere.

Everyone is different,.. some people take a month to get the whole coordination of the clutch release and gas while shifting and steering down.. .. You just need a patient teacher,.. and it's YOUR car.. so no one is going to be freaking out about your stalling or riding the clutch (or any funny clutch smells ) lol.. when you invariable make mistakes the first day.

Just keep it off busy roads until you get to where you are 100% confident in your manual driving ability.

Once you can get on a 65 degree or greater incline.. STOP, push the clutch in, and brake in. Put it in first. Then take off smoothly from that steep of an incline (and pretend a car is literally WAY too close behind you waiting on the light/stop sign.. so if you rolled back you would get in an accident..)... When you can take off smoothly everytime in that scenario,.. you have gotten to 'satisfactory" level of manual ability to drive , imo, on any road.

Driving in general takes some time to get used to the routes, signs, flow of traffic.. how drivers generally act, etc.

Over time driving becomes LITERALLY second nature. I've been driving a manual (and only a manual.. I can't stand auto's) since I was 16.. so I"m 32, thus 16 years now.

When I get into a car now.. I can be half asleep shifting gears, clutch, brake, gas, steering, and smoking a cigarette -- it becomes that "automatic" in your muscle memory. That kind of automatic driving takes a few years.. but it comes faster than you think.


Also,.. The 300ZX I started with had a 0-60 of 6.7 seconds, and had 222 horsepower. The 350Z (I forget what year you got).. but the one I have, 2008.. Has 307 Horsepower, and a 5.3-5.4 ... 0-60 time.

It is MUCH MUCH more powerful than the 300ZX I had at 16.. which is still a powerful car.

I've been driving manual for 16 years,.. and the driving of the 350z took me a few days to get used to it. Primarily because it has such a high release on the clutch (high engagement action).. and it is such a powerful motor when it does engage the flywheel if you don't give it enough gas you are going to stall it.. Beyond that, 2nd-3rd,4th and 5th gears are as normal. -- But, getting used to shifting to 6th was a new thing to me.. and took me a few days to get it down where I'd stop going from 5th to 4th gear.

Also, It took me literally a full 60 seconds to figure out in my how to put it in reverse.. sigh. You press down on the shift ****,.. holding it down you go all the way to the right and then down. I should have known that from the start.. all 6 speed manuals are like that -- And I drove my father's ZR1 quite a bit years ago before he sold it, and it was a 6-speed.

No, this car is NOT the best car to learn how to drive a manual transmission on.. Why? Because it's so dang powerful. Too much gas and you will be at 40 miles per hour in a split second.. and at redline. Or, you will be burning rubber lol.

Respect the 350z.. it is , in my opinion,.. the most powerful car dollar for dollar at the 28k price tag for the base model (considering it's handling as well).

For the price of the 350z.. you are getting a car that has similar performance of Porches, and other 80-200k vehicles.

I have faith in you.. I did it,.. so will you. If for nothing else, do it slowly so you won't ding it up in some minor fender bender etc.

You are going to LOVE the car though. Absolutely love it.

Oh, and like you .. I had a 300ZX in highschool.. it DOES help with the girls.. Not gonna lie.

Be safe,

iideadeyeii

iTrader: (6)

For winter tires use hancook w409 i-pike they are cheap and fkin boss!!! I ran those on my old 300zx and being RWD wasn't a problem at all. I only ran rears, but I would recommend getting 4 of them

radiocrash

iTrader: (3)

I don't know why everybody is crying about the snow. I drove mine through snow a bunch of times considering it's my daily, with nitto snow tires, and I do just fine. No traction control either. Just don't be a moron and you'll be fine.

gotoel

It's in its new home! ( Sorry for awful picture, will have better ones sometime soon! )

Chromatic

iTrader: (4)

Sweeet man! I know you are stoked about it.

I am still super excited about my 350 and I've been driving 16 years.. Being your age it's hard to contain. I remember I got my 300ZX a few weeks before getting my license at age 15 (got my license the day I turned 16).. and me and friends would just sit in it and listen to the radio.

Congrats!


How did everything check out that we all mentioned in the thread to "look out for" ?

gotoel

Everything checked to be in excellent condition "sadly".

Only two things:
It idles at high RPM's, around 1,000.
One of the headlights looks brand new, the other one looks older, so it must have been replaced.

Those are the only two things found. The only other problem really is that my father has waaaaay too much fun driving it. He took the spare set of keys...

I will have to look into the high idle though, and that should be it for now.

But thanks for all the information on what to check out. I just can't get rid of the Z from my mind... and I have to finish 2 more projects for college.

Bak3rme

iTrader: (1)

congratz man! bet ur cheesin' hard!

Chromatic

iTrader: (4)

No.. that's great. Trust me.. $500 is NOT worth a bunch of problems you have to deal with. I'm already $1200 deep into my new Z over Tires and Alignment issues.. and will need some Caster/Toe adjustment kits installed to get it 100% perfect.. so there goes another 400-500$. It's time consuming to figure out issues, drop your ride off to a shop .. be in contact with them.. have work.. and real life to deal with sans a car.. and well.. it get's expensive fast!

Don't misunderstand me though, I love my Z. I just have to bring it back to shop to get the alignment on the new tires in perfect factory spec , which unfortunately is going to require some additional components installed (very rare in my case.. due to the car (passenger side wheels) being bumped on the curb by prev. owner.. not even that hard..).
The Infinity's are very similar to our vehicles in the engines.. I'd look into this (it won't hurt anything) to see if you can reset your TPS.

http://g35driver.com/forums/intake-e...now-cel-2.html

May just do the trick.

No biggie.. the seals on just about any car around a headlight can get a little loose and moisture then gets inside.. Then it becomes an issue of trying to clean the inside of a light with a LITTLE bulb hole and then resealing it.. OR, just popping a new one on.

lol.. Yeah, the Z is fun no matter how young or old you are. If he bought it.. I guess he gets to have some fun, no?

For what I provided no problem.. dunno if any of it actually made any difference... I know about cars.. but am learning the intricacies of the 350Z now.

Good way to help your "Mind on the Z" is to spend time with it.. lol. Go out to the garage, driveway -- and wash it.. clay bar it.. polish it.. clean the rims.. vacuum it.. clean the windows.. put rain-x on the windows (I love that stuff).. whatever.. every little bit makes it that much better!

Happy for you man.

Syner

Snow in NJ... rrrright

How much?

gotoel

The one thing that's special about this car is that it is the first car I bought with my own money that I've earned working. ( First in answering service/currently in IT )

But my dad does get to drive it SOMETIMES as it is registered under his name and is on his insurance ( which I pay for ). But I do owe it all to him for making this happen, of course with the assistance of you and other helpful members.

Chromatic

iTrader: (4)

Meh.. we didn't do anything.

You paid for it yourself.. that's fantastic. I only put 2 grand on my first car.. worked a year at a crap bussing tables job for that money lol..

Great of your dad to help you with it -- On his insurance it should really help. A young guy like you with a car with 300ish horsepower, and 5 something 0-60.. with top speed close to 160mph.. Is , well.. high. Even at 32.. my insurance with 1000 deductibles is $80 a month.. And I've never had an accident or claim .. ever! Had one speeding ticket 15 years ago.

oldschool350z

iTrader: (1)

Oh please move to a state where you actually get snow. A driver is only as good as his car, and 287 up and rwd in snow is not fun. Even with snow tires physics takes over.

Chromatic

iTrader: (4)

I live in the south.. so I see snow once, sometimes twice a year. I never had problems driving in snow with Rear wheel drive Mustang fox body 5.0's.. SN95's.. 300ZX's.. 240SX's.. 300ZX TT.. etc.

Snow really isn't THAT bad to drive in if you know how to not overcorrect steering,.. It's the ice and other conditions that are more dangerous.

A car is a car. At least this guy has the 350Z with less horsepower than the later models.. which may help with traction in slippery conditions.. But, yes.. a RWD sportscar of ANY type with 300+ hp is not going to be super safe in any wintry weather. If you live somewhere , where you get snow every week.. then you need a truck or other such vehicle for winter months and break out the Z for spring/summer/fall -- and when it isn't slippery in the winter.

That said.. plenty of people drive their Z's in snow.. There's always a level of stupid where people take their cars out in conditions that are basically an automatic fender bender at worst when you have zero traction down a road/hill.. and just slide uncontrollably.. we have all seen the videos, and maybe experienced/seen it in RL a few times.

samsniss350z

Congrats on your purchase. I live in an area where we occasionally get a little snow and I use my Z as a DD and I've never encountered problems, I just make sure I have a full tank of fuel and a bag of cement in the trunk and a very light right foot. Plus I drop the tire pressure by 5psi. If you're careful its possible, anything over an inch of snow and my z stays at home. I've been doing this for over ten years without so much as a fender bender, find yourself a large car park and use it to practice throttle control and getting used to rear wheel drifts. As Chromatic says, thick ice is a different matter altogether, but a little snow, a 6mt and common sense and you should be OK.

gotoel

Thanks! Glad to see someone who has their Z as a DD even in snow conditions. I will definitely have to practice in snowy conditions, which makes buying this car now during the worst of the winter a benefit.

One thing I came about are car wheel chains: http://www.amazon.com/b?node=15706671

Could this be something that could help?

EDIT:
NEVER MIND, chains on Z = bad, apparently.

samsniss350z

EDIT:
NEVER MIND, chains on Z = bad, apparently.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, please don't get chains, check out suppliers or flea bay for snow socks, these things although looking a bit weird really do the job just make sure you give your correct tire size for fitment.

gotoel

Yeah, please don't get chains, check out suppliers or flea bay for snow socks, these things although looking a bit weird really do the job just make sure you give your correct tire size for fitment.[/QUOTE]


Never knew those even existed, thanks! Maybe I can get by without needing to buy winter tires.......?

samsniss350z

Never knew those even existed, thanks! Maybe I can get by without needing to buy winter tires.......?[/QUOTE]

When its cold, frosty or a little snowy winter tires give superior stopping distances over summer tires and a lot more grip in general. Its considered that winter tires should be fitted when the ambient temperature drops to below 44 degrees. I fit mine from November thru March every year and have never encountered any problems with them. They give me a lot more confidence and make a rear wheel drive car a lot more driveable.
I'd still use snow socks though when the snow has settled as they give you a lot more control over the driven wheels.

radiocrash

iTrader: (3)

I purposely went out at night when it was the worst to see how the car would fare. Probably about 6 inches of snow and slush covering the road entirely. It was fine.

Anything more than that, no car would do well.

When it's snowing there's a point where driving at all isn't a good idea, no matter what car you're in. And as stated above, I comfortably drove through 6 inches of it while it was still coming down.

Syner

LOL Wrong.

We regularly get 6"-1' at a time. I have 3.5-4' on my front lawn right now.

My Jeep and truck have no issues both in and out of 4-wheel (RWD).
My GF's Hyundai Accent does perfectly fine (FWD).
My dad has had a Magnum for years without a problem as well (RWD).

Sounds like you don't know how to drive.