Motor Trend Test 370Z

great numbers for the Z. regardless of the numbers for the camaro, i would get the camaro - saw it at the car show - what a beast, chevy did an incredible job. Looks light years better than the dodge challenger SUV...

 

I like how the new style is much more distinctive, the 350Z always felt to me like an angular Porsche 996. This one looks like a front engined car again. Some lines are a little awkward, but I think its a step forwards for the Z car styling.

 

The style is very disgusting on that thing.

 

Probably somewhat disgusting to some, but could you compare it to the GT-R for us?

 

IMHO the styling is not that bad, I kind of like it but need to see in real life to make up my mind.
The performance numbers are outstanding and the price/value seems excellent. It looks like a great car for its niche.

 

Of course it is.. its an import! If it had a domestic badge on it, it would be great!

 

I like the new Z alot. But it sounds like crap. I just don't like the way any of Nissans VQ V6's sound. And I own one....

 

I found it attractive, and look forwards to seeing one in person to make a final judgment. It seems to have lost the styling of a mid engined car that the 300 and 350 seemed to have had to me. This has nice flow of details, with lines following invisible connections from different features, something I've always liked in a car.

 

Doesn't look that much different than the 350. Nice evolution of the design, but was expecting more.

 

Nice looking car. I like.

RMX

 

No one mentioned the gearbox?
Probably the coolest feature, hands down, on that car.

 

That is if you don't know how to drive stick....If you have that much of a problem matching RPMs when downshifting, you should probably just get an automatic....

 

For those who do not know what this is referring to, the new Z has a "synchrorev match manual transmission." Basically, as I understand it, the car automatically matches the revs for you when you downshift..

 

The problem with the 350 and 370Z's are that they area basically a sedan platform shortened up and made to look sporty, they really aren't designed as a performance car, so you get a low price, but it ends up being a good car for posers and wannabes, but not a serious tool.

The engine is too far forward, as a result of being made from the sedan, and so the weight distribution stinks. They don't turn in well (compared to a real sports car) and they don't have weight on the rear end so they don't have traction coming off of corners... Although you can offset some of that with tires they really aren't much of a performance car. If the engine was moved back a foot or so I'd be right there in line to get one, but with too much weight on the front wheels they kinda missed the boat in my estimation...

 

Eh, it's a FM platform, not unlike the one found in the 599 and California. The Nissan platform is quite heavy, so the 350Z was a fairly heavy car compared to the S2000 and Miata. Weight distribution is 53:47 IIRC, which is not 50:50, but certainly not the end of the world. I suppose the only way to move the engine back a foot is to either have the steering wheel move back a foot or the front wheels forward a foot.

 

I don't like the looks of it at all, but the drivetrain is a nice step up over my current 350Z. To me, the looks of the 370Z will be the like the 260Z whereas the 350Z is more along the lines of the 240Z. The 350 will age better and be the one people think of more while the following evolutions of it won't hit the spot quite like the first one.

 

But doesn't a 260 weigh more than a 240? People liked to take the 240 and give it more power, but its harder to shave weight. The 370 cut weight from the 350 I believe.

 

Yep, agree 100% here. Except for the lame exhaust note - maybe gothspeed can work on it - the car is evolutionary in the line. Nissan is the only manufacturer looking at their sportscar in terms of refining the sports part of it. They made it lighter with a bigger engine, more performance and an evolutionary transmission (gimmicky but a move up in tems of assisting a manual driver without going all the way to an SMG or DCSG). Now what is Ferrari doing with their latest? Seeking to attract more female owners with their California and more fat cats with their 599's and 612's instead of capturing more sports car enthusiast owners.

So just how do you get more bass in that whimpy exhaust?

 

Well, I test drove an Infiniti G37 coupe back in August and it had a very pleasing, low rumble exhaust note at idle. I don't recall what it sounded like whilst driving, though. Is this the same engine?

RMX

 

260Z and 240Z are essentially the same car. The only difference is primarily the engine, which is nothing more than a stroked 240Z motor (almost all the parts are interchangeable). Later 260Zs, however, did have the US-mandated 5 mph bumpers, which are an atrosity on the clean 240Z lines. The US 260Z was only around for 1 model year, as the 280Z was introduced in 1975. Now although the 280Z is a further evolution of the 240Z, many of the parts remain interchangeable.

As owner of a 1972 240Z, and a lifelong fan of the Datsun Z cars, I think the 370Z still misses the mark. Nissan has made all the hints about it's lineage, but the original Z was light and sporty. The 370Z is still too heavy and the design is pretty bad. I can't stand the head / tail lights, and I think the lines from the rear window down the hatch to the back are too stubby. It pales next to my 240Z, and I much prefer the "retro-designed" Challenger / Camaro / Mustang offerings from the Big 3.

 

Comparing a 53/47 f/r weight distribution to a 50/50 (or better) is like comparing a race horse with a jackass. Fox body Mustangs were 55/45 and were junk. The last generation Camaro/Firebirds had about 53/47 and while that's OK for a "sporty car", it surely isn't good enough get the handling into the sweet spot. If you have ever driven the last generation Camaro on the track you would see what I mean. It's OK, but it isn't ever going to be great, it's just the limitation of the weight distribution. If you look at most BMW's, even the M3 is much closer to 50/50. Making a car handle well is a heck of a lot easier if the weight distribution is where it needs to be, if it isn't you are resorting to chassis tuning tricks to try to get it to work, and that can only go so far. At 53%, the car is going to have a big tendancy to push. Now if you are into drifting, that's cool, since drift cars need weight on the front axle and lots of understeer to maintain stability margin when the back end is out. That looks cool, but that's not what you want for a performance car.

In order to address the issue it would have cost them money and platform commonality, and they didn't do that. They made a concious decision to make a "sporty" car as opposed to a performance car. That's fine if you want to sell it to posers and secretaries, but if you want a real performance car, you are gonna have to look elsewhere. JMHO

 

To my earlier post - look at how porky the 370Z is compared to the 240Z:
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They did a good job with the design, I think. Really cleaned up the back of the car where the 350 looked a bit awkward.

Shiny Side Up!
Bill