350Z taught a lesson via 1st gen ZX

[EZ-E]

This was really funny in a way, I was just driving around town as where I live usually rolls up the streets at about 10pm. So as Im out and about testing and playing a bit with my new set up, of the things I upgraded on my 82 ZX turbo.

 

Those of which were the turbo thanks to James Thagard, 60mm TB and port matched the intake, and of course a full turbo back 3 inch exhaust, I was out just having fun and seeing what the car would do with the new things and the new turbo at 10psi.

 

I had gotten the hybrid T3/TO4E, .63 exhaust stage 3 wheel, and .60 compressor with a 57 trim wheel.

 

Well back to what I was saying Im going down this one long strip of road and as I pull up to the red light about 500 feet down the road I notice the red car next to me is a new Z.

 

Im like how cool is this a first gen ZX and a new Z side by side at a red light, how often do you see this you know.

 

I roll down my window and blow the horn to give a wave and mention of our both having Z's of different eras.

 

Well that was not to happen as the guy either was very cocky or just an Ahole as he didnt give me a second look, so Im thinking well this is quite rude, he probably doesnt even know what Im driving anyway and left it go.

 

Well the light turns green and I speed off normally, then I hear him come up and hes revving hard, and I think oh he wants to show me how his car is much faster then mine.

 

Well hes about right beside me now and I punch it into third flooring the pedal. Ill say this that the 350Z does have some grunt as he kept up for a bit till about 85 when I hit fourth and was outta there.

 

Worst is I think it made him even madder as I beeped and waved as he went to the right and I to the left, and he still didnt even acknowledge me.

 

Hmm makes me wonder are all 350Z owners just so stuck on themselves?

 

Nice to know though at 10psi I was easily able to beat that new Z. Cant wait to see what I can push outta this car now

[240zprace]

i set one out three cars and still beat it 4 car lenghts in the 1/4....i was boosting at 13lb

[Guest bastaad525]

they're not even that fast... I was very dissapointed in their performance #'s when they first came out... 290hp in a 3400lb car just isn't enough... heck a Dodge SRT-4 will give one a run for it's money, and they have quite a bit less hp... a stock WRX is pretty close as well and that has even LESS hp.

 

It's weird because so many magazines have proclaimed the 350 Z to be this big 'performance bargain' and it's like... yeah right... for about the same price as the better trim level 350's (Track, Enthusiast) you can pick up a Mitsu Evo or Subie STi and absolutely SPANK the Z's *** in every respect.

 

I beat the crap out of a new 350z convertible that didn't even have plates yet in my 240 right after putting the turbo motor... the motor was so shot I was blowing massive amounts of oil smoke every time I touched the throttle, and I was running 10psi of boost (yes I wasn't too concerned about worsening the motors condition!). Anyways I literally 'smoked' that guy! And he at least still had the courtesy to give me the thumbs up and at the next light ask some questions... he at least knew what the car was and such and wanted to know what was under the hood. Usually though 300zx and 350z owners give NO recognition to older Z's... I get more respect from ricer kids who are all into drifting and have seen old Z's in various Japanese cartoons or japanese magazines.

[Guest Battle Pope]

Unfortunately the 350Z and in many cases the 300ZX (Z32) have become a status symbol for many people. Just because they can afford the payment/insurance/maintenance they're better than everyone.

 

Of course there will always be exceptions to this, but there always is.

[Chaparral2f]

What we have here is a failure on our parts to understand this:

 

A hybrid is a lifestyle, a 350 is a fashion statement.

 

Granted there are exceptions to every rule. (But not many)

[Guest bastaad525]

What we have here is a failure on our parts to understand this:

 

A hybrid is a lifestyle' date=' a 350 is a fashion statement.

 

Granted there are exceptions to every rule. (But not many)[/quote']

 

agreed

[fl327]

I dont know about you, but I cant wait to get my hands on a 350z.

They are good for a low 14 out of the box if youre ready to really to beat on it, which most 350z owners dont or cant do. Im waiting on a turbo model if they ever make one to come out, if not, ill be ready for one in about a year. I used to not like them too much, but ive flipped 180 degrees I really dig em, rwd widebody and comfortable, and the engine bay isnt bad to work on, easier than tt for sure.

Yes the owners do kinda suck sometimes, but whatever with that they love the car cant get mad at a guy for picking the right one.

[Guest bastaad525]

I dont know about you' date=' but I cant wait to get my hands on a 350z.

They are good for a low 14 out of the box if youre ready to really to beat on it, which most 350z owners dont or cant do. Im waiting on a turbo model if they ever make one to come out, if not, ill be ready for one in about a year. I used to not like them too much, but ive flipped 180 degrees I really dig em, rwd widebody and comfortable, and the engine bay isnt bad to work on, easier than tt for sure.

Yes the owners do kinda suck sometimes, but whatever with that they love the car cant get mad at a guy for picking the right one.[/quote']

 

 

yeah but come on really why would you want one when you can get an Evo or STi for about the same as the top line 350z and have a MUCH faster and more capable car? I love the way the 350z looks buy my admiration of it stops there... Well okay I guess they handle quite nicely as well but still IMO they are far overpriced... the 240z in it's day was a bargain and the 350 was supposed to follow that track but really unless you can take your Z with the non-LSD and w/o all the other performance goodies the track and enthusiast models have, then the 350 is hardly a bargain.

[S15 200sx owner]

I dont know about you' date=' but I cant wait to get my hands on a 350z.

They are good for a low 14 out of the box if youre ready to really to beat on it, which most 350z owners dont or cant do. Im waiting on a turbo model if they ever make one to come out, if not, ill be ready for one in about a year. I used to not like them too much, but ive flipped 180 degrees I really dig em, rwd widebody and comfortable, and the engine bay isnt bad to work on, easier than tt for sure.

Yes the owners do kinda suck sometimes, but whatever with that they love the car cant get mad at a guy for picking the right one.[/quote']

 

Well i dunno, i have a S15 200sx as my daily driver (i think you guys call them a 240sx) with a mildly modified SR20DET (about 230kw) Its a great chassis 50/50 weight split, nice power to weight for a pretty much stock daily driver, and great balance when drifting through a corner. I was looking at upgrading to a 350z about 6 months back. After having a good long chat to a freind of mine who is a motoring tester/writer (who has driven every type of car you could imagine), i decided to stay with the S15. He said i would be very disappointed with the 350z after my S15, as he reckons compared to the S15 the 350z feels like a big heavy/lazy car with a chassis that is no where near as responsive as the S15. He love's the S15 chassis and thinks that it is by far the best performance car (bang for buck you can get). I agree, my car was NZ$42k brand new in 2000 (can buy today for much less) and i dont believe i could buy another car with equal performance for under NZ$100k

 

Sure they (350z) look pretty cool, and yeah a turbo version would be real nice, but that wont help the chassis.

 

Each to their own.

[Guest JAMIE T]

I would rather drop a few extra bucks and get a G35 Coupe with the 6 speed.

 

You need to under stand that most guys in new performance cars are about the "show". I don't mean

I do some fab work for a shop that it's clientel is mostly wrx owners. The owner of the shop is a huge rallye guy. I was in there the other day and a guy with a STi was talking up his "400 whp" STi. I was not impressed. I told him of my rb26/240Z project and the first thing he said was "Are you going to make it all wheel drive?". (I didn't even mention the HKS turbo's and blitz cams)This guy has obviously done too many "bolt-ons". I didn't like is expressions or his superiority complex. I have this enlightenment that allows me to "see" people for what they really are, and this guy has had too much fun spending his pops money and has never turned a wrench on anything other than his oil plug. I will meet him on the street and Z will prevail as the victor.

[fl327]

350z chassis is based on the misgivings of both the silvia and skyline platform.The option video discusses this in length, and Ive been under one on a rack and seen it for myself, the suspension is z32 on steroids. I like G35 as well, but I dont like or need any more electronics than a radio and headlights, or rear seats.

[Zhadman]

guy with a STi was talking

 

I run into some of those guys and when I mention my WRX I get the "oh...ONLY a WRX" look. The mentality is very elitist.

 

I don't think the 'attitude' is strictly limited to 350Z owners. We have a new breed of car guy (well... maybe not NEW, but more of them lately) who are car guys without being... car guys (bear with me... it's early). It's just show and lingo.

 

I don't want to sound hypocritical... In the grand scheme of things I know JACK. I feel like the mole hill talking to the mountain when I'm asking JohnC suspension questions, or reading cheftrd's posts about RB's. There's so much to learn... you just have to get into it and try.

 

I always thought they should have labeled the G35 the Z. IMHO the styling says Z and... IIRC (and if the world hasn't flipped over in the past few months) the new skyline is going to be based on the G35 platform.

[Guest Battle Pope]

Well i dunno' date=' i have a S15 200sx as my daily driver (i think you guys call them a 240sx) with a mildly modified SR20DET (about 230kw) Its a great chassis 50/50 weight split, nice power to weight for a pretty much stock daily driver, and great balance when drifting through a corner. I was looking at upgrading to a 350z about 6 months back. After having a good long chat to a freind of mine who is a motoring tester/writer (who has driven every type of car you could imagine), i decided to stay with the S15. He said i would be very disappointed with the 350z after my S15, as he reckons compared to the S15 the 350z feels like a big heavy/lazy car with a chassis that is no where near as responsive as the S15. He love's the S15 chassis and thinks that it is by far the best performance car (bang for buck you can get). I agree, my car was NZ$42k brand new in 2000 (can buy today for much less) and i dont believe i could buy another car with equal performance for under NZ$100k

 

Sure they (350z) look pretty cool, and yeah a turbo version would be real nice, but that wont help the chassis.

 

Each to their own.[/quote']

 

Nissan didn't release the 240SX over here after 1998 because sales dropped off so badly. They never put the SR engine in them. People were stuck with the KA24(D)E and the lackluster performance crippled the car. They only really became popular once drifting came into style. Now, the 240 is the new civic - everybody's got one. Your S15 is different though, I'd kill for one of those.

[johnc]

Hmm makes me wonder are all 350Z owners just so stuck on themselves?

 

We will see... I'll most likely be a 350Z owner this summer.

 

Here's some anectdotal information regarding the 350Zs prowess:

 

West Coast Z Nationals autocross driving school. I make one run in Bryan Lampe's yellow 1971 BSP prepared 240Z, a car that I've driven at an autocross hundreds of times and the car is a multi-time regional BSP champion car running new Toyo Proxes RA1s . My time on my only run in the car is 58.8xx

 

I get out of Bryan's car and into a base model, absolutely stock, 5,000 miles on the odometer, 2004 350Z with a 6 speed. No air pressure adjustments, no alignment, nothing. The female owner is sitting in the next seat so I have to take it easy. Never driven a 350Z before. One run: 61.2xx.

 

You guys can talk trash about the 350Z all you want. I was impressed with the car's handling and power and will be doing something significant with one over the next year or two.

[auxilary]

i concur with johnc. i took a 350z out for a test drive, and it gripped. it really really gripped well. It had power where it needed to be, it had lots of grunt, and it had good brakes. If I had money to spare I'd probably own one

 

or an mr2 spyder

[Drax240z]

All indications I've seen are that the 350z is VERY competative in autoX, right out of the box... Bone stock I've seen them beating some very well built 240z's, with seasoned drivers.

[auxilary]

30 years of technological advancements will do that I suppose

[JMortensen]

Weird, it doesn't look that good on paper. .87 on the skidpad, and something like 3200 lbs, right? I guess there's something to be said for 35 years of suspension technology. I bet the 350Z would have a tough time in a Prepared class just due to the weight though.

[SportZ2]

Hey John, way to come out of the closet. When we talked at MSA I didn't think you wanted to mention it too soon. But you carry some weight since all the posts after yours started to become positive.

 

And one other note, the 280ZX was not a first generation Z car. Am I missing something?

 

And if you really want to compare apples to apples, then run a bone stock 280ZXT against a stock 350 and then lets talk. Keep in mind, most of these posts relate to straight line racing. So talking about better handling doesn't fly with this discussion.

 

Just my $1 worth.

[johnc]

But you carry some weight

 

Yeah, and I need to lose about 30lbs of it!

 

Here's my initial plan:

 

Buy a base 2003 350Z with as little stuff on it as possible. Keep it street legal and comfortable enough for me to drive it to race tracks on the west coast.

 

Swap in the Nissan Motorsports (or Nismo) LSD 'cuz the factory VLSD is supposed to have problems. Start doing some R&D on the chassis and suspension and see what the car needs. Add lightness. Don't touch the engine at all! See what track times I can get.