Bkusnir,
I am no doubt a z enthusiast as the z is the only car I have ever driven. My first was a 260 and I still own two '77 280's. I held out a year to buy a 350 in '04 and did so in Feb. I experienced feathering at 4000 mi and it was unbearable at 6k when I took it to the dealer. The dealer treated me great and and ordered me two new tires and swithced my fronts left to right. I now have feathering starting on the inboard portion of my tires again. Although I have a new set of tires waiting on me at Nissan, I traded my z for a Toyota Sequoia this weekend. I agree that it is probably workable with continually rotating tires with re-allignment, however my tempo will not allow it. I love the 350z and took it in the shorts on a same year trade, however I now have a piece of mind that my $33k investment is a good one. My wife will drive the Sequoia and I will go analog and drive my '77 until Nissan figures this one out. This month, the dealer that I purchased my z from has received three 350z trade ins. The confidence in the product is not there.
V/r
Bueno

 

45psi --what are you saying. the recomended is 35 psi. Seems like it would work since the outer tire tread won't be touching the pavement-but the handling would go out the window!!

 

this thread is dying

 

I guess since there's no news; What suspension should I buy to fix this problem? A while back people thought that the Nismo S-tune fixes the problem, is that true? Is there any other cheaper suspension that will fix the problem?

 

2003 Performance model

I switched to the S-tune suspension and sways at 10K km. I also put on a set of G35 rims and tires (Michelin Sport?) I haven't seen any feathering yet after an additional 12K km.

The ride is also better, but still not a car I could drive 4 hours straight in.

 

All:

I must say after 8K miles I see no signs of any wear or noise whatsoever. Have a slew of you had the new RE040's installed?

I now have no issues at all. The car drives great.

 

I took my car to a Tire/Brake shop that specializes in BMWs. Porsches, Mercedes and other sport cars.

My front tires were feathering again with 5k miles on them.
This shop realigned all four wheels and rotated my front tires side to side.

My car has 2k miles on it so far. It is as quiet as new and my gas mileage has increased by 25%.

When you take your foot off the gas, my car just keeps rolling, and rolling.

Nissan's specs are wayyyyy offfff!

 

Nissan specs ARE wayyyy off! But they are correct for a car that is immobile and not loaded in any way. Here is the problem-- this is a sports car and must of us drive it as such. If I wanted a 1972 Olds VistaCruiser wagon, I would have bought one. When ever a load is placed on this front end, either from braking or cornering, the net effect is force toe out on the affected wheel. That is why the roar occures at braking from slow speed. High speed braking has a different set of physics laws thus sound is not as pronounced.

Real problems...

1. Unloaded suspension height is incorrect. A arms are too low unloaded. Just a minor screw up in engineering. yeah right. Fix is accomplished by lowering suspension.
Nissan attempted a fix mid 2004 year. Nismo and other systems accomplish the fix correctly.

2. Bushings have been a culprit in several cars but not as much of a player as the spring height issue.

3. Nissan fails to acknowledge the issue on a grand enough scale to help its customers. Like most people I got a new set of tires and a free rotation or two but come 36,000 miles it was screw you and the horse you rode in on, Bud.

Summary:
You can jack your tire pressure around all you want and you can swap tires and rotate all you want (add your car to the list of those poor sods with F'd up rims) you will still get feather and roar. The only thing that is always present in a feather edge tire car is incorrect alignment.

Here is the way it happens... Nissan engineer draws up a really kick butt suspension system. Some booger eater at nissan decides it is too low (like it has ground clearance now) and raises the spring height to add a little bounce or raise the sill height. problem is the geometry does not always work like that and raising it caused the A arms to jussssst drop past their designed rotational limits. So whenever the car is loaded down- toe oinks out just a fudge- and that is enough to cause us this heart ache. yet Nissan still makes us feel like we don't know what is going on.

POOP!

 

He took a breath and continued...

I am making the suspension changes cause I love this car. And the cost is more than made up for in two saved tire changes at 1200 bux a pop.

Thanks Nissan for a really great job of engineering and customer service.

 

I love this car as well! However, If Nissan engineering made comprimises that ended up causing our tires to self destruct in 12,000 miles without telling us before purchase, they messed up. And they need to fix the suspension and tires for us!

Extending the the tire warranty from 12,000 miles to 24,000 miles is a smoke screen and does not address the real problem.

Nissan is hoping we are a bunch lemming idiots!

 

Ditto Broke!

But we are not.

 

We also had a 2003 that Nissan bought back under the "Lemon Law"...but just couldn't stand not have a Z...so....we talked to our local dealer and was informed that Nissan had a fix for the problem. We began our search for a Roadster and found one in Denver with 3500 miles on it. Discussed tire issues with the owner and was informed that there was not tire feathering/problem.....so off we went. First flight to Denver to buy our little beauty. As soon as we pulled out of the parking garagage that old familure sound was detected. We made a decision to live with out the Z or live with the problem...we bought it anyway. We have since did additional research and found that it is not as easy of a fix as the dealership would have liked us to believe. We are going to Sema in November to look into after market componets to adjust caster/camber. I believe that this is where the problem lies.

So as the story goes....we LOVE the car but hate the problem.

 

....he said haltingly, while projectile vomitting copious volumes of sarcasm!

 

simply put - DON'T TRUST ANYTHING THE DEALER SAYS! They just want to sell cars regardless if they have problems or not.

 

I have had my Z for two years now and still, of course, have the same problem with the noise. I have been jerked around by my dealer and NNA so long I am raw at the rear! I too, love the car but hate the problem.

The question I would love to ask this forum that has ran for so long, ...... is , what fixes this problem? I will buy the parts myself. Oh, and you know what's funny, I only have 26000 miles on the thing. It's still under warranty!! (WHAT WARRANTY) yeah, that's what I mean.

 

What are you driving now?

I have not been following the thread as closely as I used too. It just makes my blood boil. I now have 26k (after two years) on my car and I am still dealing with the tire cupping. I am running Michelin Pilots (authorized by NNA) and I still have the problem. The Japanese engineers (last year) came out to look at my car and I believe my car was one of the first to have, what is now the current toe spec. applied to my car.

NNA has not been honest with any of us! They are aware of the problem, but are unwilling to correct the problem. The latest TSB only offers a "Bandaid" fix to the problem, but does not correct the root of the issue.

It is a design flaw! For those that read this post and feel other wise, are only fooling themselves.

“The new Z inspires both appeal and appreciation,” said Shiro Nakamura, senior vice president, design, NML. “First, the design offers strong visual and driving appeal. But the Z can also be appreciated for the more practical side that comes with everyday ownership – durability, utility, comfort, reliability and low maintenance.” (Jan. '03)

Shiro is full of BS!! Bakatade!!!

Now after reading this you may feel I hate my car? No I do not.

I am just extremely disappointed in Nissan for NOT standing behind their Flagship sports car. They talk all this BS about Z DNA? But where are they when they could fix this issue and NOT **** us all off?

At one point, early on, when a hand full of us Pre-order 350z owners got together through this web site, we started organizing to be heard about this one issue. It has now been two years and those of us who still have our cars and still having to deal with this? That is WRONG!

Then add to that, the thousand of other victims, since then!
At one point, I was getting emails from about 300, 350z owners! I had to stop replying because it was taking way too much of my time. I do NOT work for Nissan. Though the amount of time and energy I was putting into this issue they should pay me!

If you have issues and you want to surface them up beyond the NNA 800 number here is another number you should call. Ask for Jerry Foley and leave a message OR fax him. (he will not answer your call personally, unless you are extremely lucky)

310-532-3111
Fax: 310-771-3343.
Nissan North America, Inc.
18501 S. Figueroa St.
Gardena, CA 90248

Jerry Foley replaced Bill Bosely, Vice President, Customer Service, Nissan North America, just recently.

 

So if I understand you correctly, the feathering problem should have been mostly corrected (other than the bushings) for 2004.5 and beyond 350z's?

TIA

 

If this was an Altima or Maxima problem they'd be all over it - this is bean counter management at its worst:

NISSAN DIVISION SALES
----------------------------------------------------------------------
September September Monthly CYTD CYTD CYTD DSR
DSR
---------------------------------------------------------
2004 2003 % Change 2004 2003 % Change
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Nissan
Division
Total 70,127 58,989 14.1 630,566 505,679 24.2
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sentra 6,738 8,570 -24.5 81,174 71,348 13.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Altima 21,284 16,459 24.1 181,098 154,860 16.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Maxima 7,456 6,895 3.8 56,486 69,856 -19.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
350Z 2,158 3,386 -38.8 23,939 29,737 -19.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Car 37,636 35,310 2.3 342,697 325,940 4.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Frontier 5,997 6,127 -6.0 52,820 48,986 7.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Xterra 5,133 5,576 -11.6 49,714 50,007 -1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pathfinder 2,168 3,260 -36.2 21,487 27,390 -21.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Murano 5,031 4,644 4.0 42,827 41,050 3.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Quest 3,155 4,008 -24.4 36,921 12,242 200.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Armada 3,104 64 4,556.0 25,691 64 39,867.7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Titan 7,903 N/A N/A 58,409 N/A N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Truck 32,491 23,679 31.7 287,869 179,739 59.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
North
American
Produced 60,769 47,671 22.4 542,286 381,226 41.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Car 35,477 31,896 6.8 318,731 269,927 17.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Truck 25,292 15,775 53.9 223,555 111,299 100.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Import 9,358 11,318 -20.6 88,280 124,453 -29.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Car 2,159 3,414 -39.3 23,966 56,013 -57.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Truck 7,199 7,904 -12.6 64,314 68,440 -6.4
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
INFINITI DIVISION SALES
----------------------------------------------------------------------
September September Monthly CYTD CYTD CYTD DSR
DSR
---------------------------------------------------------
2004 2003 % Change 2004 2003 % Change
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Infiniti
Division
Total 10,223 10,523 -6.7 96,180 89,856 6.6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I35 1,047 1,162 -13.5 9,276 11,194 -17.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G35 Sport
Sedan 3,129 3,494 -14.0 31,227 27,724 12.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G35 Sport
Coupe 2,188 2,554 -17.8 22,084 21,978 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
M45 162 468 -66.8 1,698 3,508 -51.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q45 200 202 -5.0 1,531 1,834 -16.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QX4 0 71 -100.0 10 4,923 -99.8
----------------------------------------------------------------------
QX56 1,265 N/A N/A 8,421 N/A N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FX 2,232 2,572 -17.0 21,932 18,685 16.9
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Car 6,726 7,880 -18.1 65,817 66,248 -1.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Truck 3,497 2,643 27.0 30,363 23,608 28.1
----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

SORRY for the lousy post, I hit submit instead of Preview.

Point was 350Z sales are just >2000 units last month, out of 72,000 vehicles sold.

This year vs. last year Z sales are off 20%, about 1000 cars per month. I am beginning to wonder if Nissan is just writing off the first few year's worth of Z's and thinking they will rework the car in 2006/2007, buy off or ignore the 70-100k 350Z's sold in NNA.

Just my opinion.

 

I feel that seeing the sales declining in the year-on-year comps. is a sign that sites like my350z.com really do have an effect on Nissan sales.

My rational for this is: the 350Z's specs. in comparison to others, in its price range, are still far superior to its competition, yet sales have continued to decline. I believe it is not a marketing/advertising issue, being that Nissan has spent as much, if not more than its competition, when it comes to advertising a sports car. So, I believe it is the word of mouth (from current owners) and web sites like this that are the cause of declining sales.

I also believe, that if Nissan had better customer service towards those who bought their cars sight unseen, we pre-order owners would not have voiced our disatisfaction with the tire issue as strongly as we have.

I say keep it up 350Z owners and we might be able to get Nissan to WAKE UP and take responsibility for the design flaw in our cars. I am sure if we were given a true fix to the root cause of the problem, we would sing the praise of the 350Z and possibly turn the downward slide in sales to a positive one.

And if the Car magazines "had the *****" to print a real in-depth article about our issue we might be able to force Nissan to provide us the customer service we deserve!