I kinda noticed these past couple of months my Z has been performing sluggish and labored. I remember having great instant throttle reponse from the slightest touch of the accelarator and more power. I have an automatic and the other day at WOT the car kinda chilled there for almost 2 seconds before it finally dropped gears and took off!! I have to press the gas pedal waaay more now to get it to respond and it doesnt seem to have the power it used too( not a huuuge huge loss, but definatly very noticable) I dont wtf is going on does anybody have any ideas or clues on what this might be...spark plugs, oil, crappy gas maybe...I use shell V-power 93 octane, just changed oil to royal purple, K&N drop in filter, did a complete fuel sytem cleaner bottle still labored performance. any help is appreciated thanks...

 

Get a manual.....great throttle respond

 

well that was helpful...lol!

but back to the question. how many miles do you have?

 

Your car learns when to shift based on your driving habits. Try a ecu reset and see if that helps. Open your air box to see if anything is in there like leaves and what not. In 5k my air box was full of all kinds of crap and i never drive anywhere that i would think stuff like that would happen.

 

Also consider temperatures. I bought my car in fall. By summer I was feeling the bogged down problem you mention. The Miami heat really zapped the feel of the car once temps were in the high 90's.

It's been getting a little milder on some days and the car feels better again. My intake install seems to have helped a little in this regard as well.

 

It could be just that you are accustomed to the speed now? Coming from a 2.0l jetta, the 287hp Z was and eye opener, I remeber the first test drive, I lightly pressed on the accelerator and I felt like it jumped. It was like that for the first couple of months. then I got used to the speed.

Speed is like a drug, you get used to a certain speed and always want a fix of more HP so you can feel that rush again.

But anyways, try an ECU reset like someone suggested. Maybe it's time to clean your K&N filter with the K&N oil/cleaner kit? Did you put any audio mods to your car that can weigh it down? Do you have stuff always in the trunk that you are transporting around now? Do you have TCS off?

Anyhoo, goodluck.

 

maybe change your tranny fluid?

 

My Z has been feeling sluggish and running way slower times recently with the same 60ft's. One of my spark plugs melted to the electrode on me at the track this past weekend, but all the plugs looked pretty bad. Only 53K on them Nissan says they are good for 105K, yeah right. Anyways I have new iridium plugs coming in tomorrow, Ill let you know if my car seems to run better. I went from running 13.1 @ 106-107 to 13.3 @ 104 with a 1.9 60ft, in the same weather. Who knows how long cyl #5's plug was fouled, and closing the gap slow, until the grounding strap finally melted to the elctrode.

 

Yeah LOL I'll get a manual like in 2009 when they redo the Z but for now...I have 25k on an 03 touring. How do you resest the ECU?? I'll try the spark plugs too, plus I hear the iridium are better than the stocks anyway. And I''l see do the tranny fluid too. Whats funny is that I had to drive a little 1.8 liter civic the other day to pick up some food from HEB and right after that got back in my Z to go work and it felt like a beast! anyway. appreciate the responses, I'll let ya'll know how It goes...

Oh whats a goood trany fluid to go with and how do you resest the ECU??
thanks

 

Don't listen to duaxe_350z, some people just like to make little jibes at other people to make themselves feel better.

For the ECU reset: http://www.technosquareinc.com/350reset.htm

And as for Tranny Fluids, I suggest going with the nissan tranny fluid. Nissan made it very clear that only the nissan tranny fluid should be used an no other.

 

I've got an 05 5AT with 18K on it. I'm feeling the same thing with my Z. I'm going to try the reset and if that doesn't work I'm going to by some crack.

 

Well you live in TX and its summer, im in FL and when its in the 90's here my car runs like a dog. When i take off from a stoplight sometime it feels like it doesnt even want to go.