About 2 years ago I started drooling over the G35 sedan. That morphed into a desire for the G37 coupe, last Saturday I went out for Chinese buffet and came home with a 370z. I saw it, drove and realized that I loved it as much if not more than the G37. It's such a dirty girl.

This makes my 5th nissan. I've owned a 2002 xterra, 2003 altima both traded for a 2006 maxima and 2006 murano. Just ditched the maxima for the Z still have the murano (love that thing too). No regrets other than I miss the power memory seats from the maxima. Yeah I know the G37 still has them, but this car just feels so much stronger to me. It was worth it.

Anyway, I found this site digging around and love it. Just wanted to introduce myself.

 

Congrats and welcome, tell us more about the 370 you went with (trim, transmission etc...)

 

We're always happy to see intelligent, thought-out first posts. Congrats and welcome!

 

hey thanks, ctzn and Demon!

Sorry I should have done that.

Its a touring / sport with the 7 spd auto. I don't think its missing much if anything.

I drove the 6 spd manual which was a blast, but the reality is that I am pretty lazy, and not a race car driver or drifter. Beyond the power and great looks I was all over the tech features like nav and bluetooth and iPod interface. The glove box where the nav screen goes was killin me after being a Maxima and Murano owner. It just seemed wrong having a more expensive car and not having the screen or ipod interface so once I sat in the Z with the tech package I was like "yep, this is the one"

I mainly just like to put people behind me on my 35 minute drive to work. The maxima was pretty good at doing that, but this is working much much better lol. Now I'm just dodging rocks.

 

That's an understatement. I'm thinking about a big clear bubble for my 370.

 

You aren't kidding, man. I am just waiting for the first good solid rock right to the windshield. My wife said I'd have a ticket my first week with the car. So far I've actually slowed my driving a bit to avoid get nailed by rocks from vehicles in front of me. Buy sports car, drive slower... I didn't see that comin.

 

Yeah it happens, I have a few nicks and scrapes here and there already, and this is just my weekend car; they aren't museum pieces.

Glad to hear you are enjoying the car, break in is a real b*tch but you can feel the car open up more and more as time goes on.

 

That brings up a great question. I asked my sales guy about the break in time on this car. He goes "there isnt one, just drive it". Is it wrong of me to not believe him?

 

That is extremely irresponsible of him:



That is straight from the handbook.

If you google "the 370z" you will find another community that has some pretty good discussions on the topic

 

Nice ride. More importantly though. How was the Chinese? Crab rangoon FTW!

 

nice purchase,
if there is one, I would definitely recommend getting a clear bra for your bumper/hood

 

That's a heated topic!

With the tolerances in modern engines, there is really no need for a formal break-in. Fact is, the cars that are driven normally from the beginning, run stronger through their life. Tuner shops will confirm this. The dealerships usually preach about break-in.

The best rule to obey for the best life out of your engine is to NEVER drive a cold engine hard, and never rev it very high parked or driving - until it is up to normal operating temps.

The auto manufacturers preach about engine break-in as a liability mitigation strategy. The truth is that for the first few hundred miles your tires are ridding themselves of the mold release agent. The o-rings in the shocks are breaking in, the Engine and tranny are breaking in. The brakes are breaking in. Clutch lining is breaking in. The suspension bushings are setting in to allow the desired deflection. there's a lot going on and there are a lot of reasons not to drive your new car at 9/10ths out of the dealer's lot.

BMW actually suggests a bedding-in procedures for new replacement brakes, but they suggest using them easily on a new car.

My wife's 06 z was driven hard from new and the engine is very strong and does not burn a drop of oil (gave it a work-out on the test-drive - the oil level does not move between oil changes. My prevous z (also an 06) was broken in per procedures described in the owners manual - it was not as strong as my wife's and it burned oil and pinged like a biotch. I took delivery of it with 9 miles and right off the delivery truck so I knew it had not been driven significantly by anyone else.

The 07 I have now was received new with 300 mies on the clock - had it shipped from Oregon to California because I had trouble finding a loaded GT in Redline with a 6MT/Nav. I am sure it saw it's share of aggressive test-drives. I drove it normally - didn't beat on it, didn't baby it. The engine is VERY strong and burns zero oil. It puts out above average power on the dyno at a local z-car shop.

Ask a performance shop how it should be broken in - some will sugest on the dyno! I don't know if I would go that far, but who knows

 

I happen to agree with hiz-n-herz on this subject, but I still think it is irresponsible of a salesman to tell you "there isn't one, just drive it".

The best thing you can do is educate yourself on the subject and make your own, informed decision about how to treat your car.

 

Sorry for the late reply, but thank you all very much for the responses. I am over the 1,200 k mark and starting to open'er up a bit and having a blast.

 

Welcome to heaven.