Daily driving an S130???

[OlderThanMe]

Hey guys,

In this time of $4.00/gallon gasoline my Frontier has a very high running and insurance cost being an 04 model.

 

I have found an 83 280zxt with 12,000 miles on a rebuilt motor and turbo, swastica wheels, A/C (VERY important in Atlanta), T5 5-speed, T-tops, newer paint, etc... for a pretty good deal.

 

I'd just be keeping the car stock for now, except for removal of smog equipment and cleaning up the motor, interior, etc...

 

Looking for 25+mpg (megasquirt anyone??) and dirt cheap insurance like I had with my S30. (I.E. $30/month)

 

So how many guys here daily drive an S130?

BTW I drive about 350-400 miles a week to school. I know driving my S30 like that would pretty much kill me but an S130 would be much different I presume.

OTM

[big-phil]

I daily drive mine. I have an 03 Dodge hemi that has moved last to pull my car when the tranny went out. The Dodge has set in the driveway 2 months at a time. Work is 55 miles one way. The car now has about 205,000 miles on it and about 8k on the motor.

 

I leaned out the highway cruse to around 15.2-15.5ish? I get about 220 miles out of a tank? I could get more if I could drive it out of boost for a tank of gas, but I don't think that has ever been the case. I also have RC 750cc injectors.

[(goldfish)]

my '82 n/a was around 24 while I drove it for the summers. That was stock efi, but I think alittle lean. After MS it should be in a range you'll be happy with.

[Devil-Z]

The only cars I own are a 76 280Z 2+2 and an 83 280ZX n/a. I daily drive the ZX. I haven't calculated the gas mileage, but I'd guess it to be @ 20-23 mpg. It's comfortable enough and reliable enough. No complaints.

[BSD]

I was daily driving my Z and getting around 22-25 mpg... of course is wasnt running top notch.. but it is currently being restored, and will be daily driven again!

[OlderThanMe]

Thanks guys!

I used to drive my 260Z 15 miles each way for two years and by the time I got to my destination I would be drenched in sweat. In the summer it was just the extreme heat with my exhaust .5" from my right foot. In winter I would wear a heavy jacket and sweat inside that while my toes and head froze.

It was pretty much misery as far as long drive comfort goes. After 75 miles on the highway at 75mph(3800 RPMs), when I stopped for gas I literally had serious hearing loss for a good 25+ minutes.

So I have decided that my daily driver will no longer be my project vehicle/race car. lol

I think a 280zxt would be subtle enough for me to not really want to upgrade it-too much, but still be fun to drive. Just clean up the engine bay so it looks nice and be able to have some fun with it.

This car seems to be in pretty good shape from what I have seen of it. Fairly fresh L28ET and rebuilt turbo... should be reliable.

[ArmyZ]

hey ya'll.....i daily drive mine and I get 30-35 miles to the gallon. It's in a shop getting painted right now in Columbus, but yeah, I drive it every day. and every other weekend I'll be making an 800 mile round trip to Charlotte, NC.

[nbesheer]

I daily drive my stock ish 83' around 2.25k miles a month and right now I'm getting 25/26MPG average granted I'm not turbo or anything. the only mods I have are a magnaflow on stock piping, and an intake.

[Sparks280zt]

Move closer to school!

 

jk s130 is a good daily.

[BleachZee]

a non-turbo will get you the most miles per gallon. There are some things you can do to the car to maximize your freeway milage.

 

If you're really looking for an economical car for a daily I don't see why you don't buy a 4-cyl car.

[Gollum]

From what I've seen the turbo cars will get the same, if not actually better MPG when driven right. Only reason I could understand it getting better MPG would be the better ignition system, but at any rate I've talked to turbo owners with verified occurences of getting 28+mpg on stock EFI.

 

With megasquirt 30mpg shuoldn't be a problem, and I plan on going to megasquirt on my L28ET soon just because it'll pay for itself in a year with how much I drive.

 

As far as comfort... The S130 is lightyears ahead of the S30. Completely stock they're almost silent as long as the weather stripping is in good condition, mostly around the windows. If the rubber is all good then they're just as quiet as a new car imo. The AC on these cars are almost ALWAYS not working as good as they should, so expect to need to recharge the system.

 

Of the 2 S130 cars I daily drove, never once did I get less than 300 miles on a tank, driving like a maniac. When on road trips 450 miles on a tank was normal. These cars had BIG tanks.

 

If having a spare tire is a concern, make sure to check the spare the car has. Those collapsable tires aren't easy to find, and you'll need to make sure you're can(s) of air are full.

 

If the brakes are mushy just bleed them. Usually these cars respond with very agressive braking, and though not normally "mushy" when working right, you might want to upgrade to some steel braided lines just to add some feel to the brakes if you're picky.

 

The steering is amazing on the rack and pinion models, though the recirculating ball cars still drive plenty fine.

 

Overall I really love the S130 still, and I'm waiting for the day that smog laws are lifted on them in CA... They're not much heavier than a S30 when you're comparing chassis to chassis, and I personally think they're a bit more versatile in what you can do with them. They make much better daily drivers, and can easily make wonderful road trip vehicles. All the electronics have relays from the factory and never once have I had electrical issues in all 3 that I've driven for reasonable periods of time.

 

Stock headlights are a bit dim IMO. Get some new clear lens types with a H4 bulb. I just put 50/65 watt bulbs in my 280Z and they're plenty bright. I think the bulbs I had in there were the same wattage, but the older style lens just robs a lot of direction to the lighting I think.

 

Wipers aren't bad as long as the blades are good. Though the top speed of them still isn't that much better than a S30 wiper when they're working in perfect condition. The difference is that the S130 wiper system is much more reliable and I never had issues with it going slow or not working.

 

T-tops are known to leak. Make sure they're not leaking, and if you take them off make sure you get them back on good and tight. I persoally think that most leaking t-tops are due to user error and either not getting them on tight or crushing the rubber when putting them back on.

 

Hope that's a good enough walk through a S130 for ya.

 

Oh yea, replace the shifter on the T-5. The nissan shifter is a joke.

[(goldfish)]

....

Stock headlights are a bit dim IMO. Get some new clear lens types with a H4 bulb. I just put 50/65 watt bulbs in my 280Z and they're plenty bright. I think the bulbs I had in there were the same wattage, but the older style lens just robs a lot of direction to the lighting I think.

 

.....

 

I've had problems with the headlights not being on a relay. After this many years of arcing, I've had to clean my switch. Easy enough to do, but I have heard of others with this problem. Normally the one head light really dim/ not on.

[Guest n3mi5y5]

my s130 gets 22-25mpg and its the 3spd auto tranny.

[Gollum]

I've had problems with the headlights not being on a relay. After this many years of arcing, I've had to clean my switch. Easy enough to do, but I have heard of others with this problem. Normally the one head light really dim/ not on.

 

Really??? What year? The two 80's, one 81' and one 83'T I've owned have all had relays for the headlights.

[big-phil]

oh, s130:lol: Sorry don't have one of those.

[Gollum]

Well, you HAD one, but you sold it to some kid who started posting videos on youtube... You're such a bad influence on kids!

 

Just kidding of course.

[COmputoman]

I had an s130 I drove just about every day for 3 and a half years straight. Great Car! Fun to drive, Fun to drift and Fun race. Good milage aswell!

[Mayolives]

I daily drive my 82ZXT when I don't need my diesel drinking Dodge. It's a GL model with some suspension mods, upgraded headlights, better rotors and brake shoes with performance tires. With the exception of the quirky air conditioning system, It's a fun car to drive and doesn't beat you up too bad like my 280z cars did. It's not a Mercedes but it's leather seats are reasonably comfortable, it's fast and gets mid to upper 20 something mpg when I can keep my foot from making boost.

[(goldfish)]

Really??? What year? The two 80's, one 81' and one 83'T I've owned have all had relays for the headlights.

 

it's an '82. Maybe it has relays.... I don't recall now for sure, It's been awhile. I assume the carbon build up on the switch could only be from high amperage loads. I don't have my car or manuals near to check out.

[BSD]

From what I've seen the turbo cars will get the same, if not actually better MPG when driven right. Only reason I could understand it getting better MPG would be the better ignition system, but at any rate I've talked to turbo owners with verified occurences of getting 28+mpg on stock EFI.

 

With megasquirt 30mpg shuoldn't be a problem, and I plan on going to megasquirt on my L28ET soon just because it'll pay for itself in a year with how much I drive.

 

As far as comfort... The S130 is lightyears ahead of the S30. Completely stock they're almost silent as long as the weather stripping is in good condition, mostly around the windows. If the rubber is all good then they're just as quiet as a new car imo. The AC on these cars are almost ALWAYS not working as good as they should, so expect to need to recharge the system.

 

Of the 2 S130 cars I daily drove, never once did I get less than 300 miles on a tank, driving like a maniac. When on road trips 450 miles on a tank was normal. These cars had BIG tanks.

 

If having a spare tire is a concern, make sure to check the spare the car has. Those collapsable tires aren't easy to find, and you'll need to make sure you're can(s) of air are full.

 

If the brakes are mushy just bleed them. Usually these cars respond with very agressive braking, and though not normally "mushy" when working right, you might want to upgrade to some steel braided lines just to add some feel to the brakes if you're picky.

 

The steering is amazing on the rack and pinion models, though the recirculating ball cars still drive plenty fine.

 

Overall I really love the S130 still, and I'm waiting for the day that smog laws are lifted on them in CA... They're not much heavier than a S30 when you're comparing chassis to chassis, and I personally think they're a bit more versatile in what you can do with them. They make much better daily drivers, and can easily make wonderful road trip vehicles. All the electronics have relays from the factory and never once have I had electrical issues in all 3 that I've driven for reasonable periods of time.

 

Stock headlights are a bit dim IMO. Get some new clear lens types with a H4 bulb. I just put 50/65 watt bulbs in my 280Z and they're plenty bright. I think the bulbs I had in there were the same wattage, but the older style lens just robs a lot of direction to the lighting I think.

 

Wipers aren't bad as long as the blades are good. Though the top speed of them still isn't that much better than a S30 wiper when they're working in perfect condition. The difference is that the S130 wiper system is much more reliable and I never had issues with it going slow or not working.

 

T-tops are known to leak. Make sure they're not leaking, and if you take them off make sure you get them back on good and tight. I persoally think that most leaking t-tops are due to user error and either not getting them on tight or crushing the rubber when putting them back on.

 

Hope that's a good enough walk through a S130 for ya.

 

Oh yea, replace the shifter on the T-5. The nissan shifter is a joke.

 

This guy right here is my hero.