He got in my buddies gt350r (unfortunately I was too busy with my student), and no joke! Best his personal best by 6 seconds!!!! For a 15 turn track at thunderhill, Randy avged 0.4-0.5 seconds faster per turn. And my friend is no slouch. Unbelievable!
Yeah that is impressive- to me there is a distinction between drivers who drive fast and drivers who are fast- Randy P would fall into the latter category IMHO
That is an interesting point- IMHO the GT-R has always looked like an Altima with a bad case of IBS and constipation- They obviously ARE capable of making sexy/pretty cars so why they stick with the ass-ugly GT-R styling (actually lack threof) is beyond me.
Nissan has been hanging out with Porsche when it comes to redesigning the GT-R. Although to be fair to Nissan, unlike the Z which now has a new powertrain, the GT-R has been stuck with the same turbo-charged V8 now, and Nissan has basically incrementally re-skeined the R35 generation for nearly 15 years now. I think changing the GT-R shape will come when a hybrid drivetrain is introduced in the R36 generation.
So I went to my local LV Nissan dealer today and talked to 2 guys handling Z's. They were the dealer who were handling all the influencer cars when they were filming in the Vegas area. Here is what they told me: They expect two proto cars in July or early August. Then about 4-6 more and after that they will start to flow in regularly. You can't spec a car. If you go online and try to spec one it just says "visit your dealer". The dealer cannot choose what they get. That is, Nissan will send them so many manuals, so many autos, so many performance and color combos. They said they will know what is coming in about a month before it actually does. I told them I'm only interested in a manual. I didn't ask if they are selling at MSRP. Seems a bit premature. No point in negotiating now. They told me they have a sign up list that has 16 people on it. So I put myself on the list and told them to give me a call. No deposit. If a car shows up around Sept/Oct that would be OK with me. So let's see. If I get one for sure its a manual and probably the performance version as I think it will do better in resale. But 20% increase in the price with no more HP is a bit hard to swallow.
2023 Nissan Z Configurator Launches, Most Expensive Model Is $60,367 Prices for the new Z start at $41,015 https://www.motor1.com/news/603607/2023-nissan-z-us-configurator-now-online-60367-most-expensive/ Image Unavailable, Please Login .
I emailed a bunch of dealers earlier this year (before the specs were announced) and told them to put me on a list for the Proto Spec. One just got back to me saying they'll be asking $20k over MSRP for it so around the low 70s. I said thanks but no thanks. I'm sure they'll find their buyers though.
Speaking of mark-ups... Check this one out: https://www.thedrive.com/news/dealer-claims-50000-markup-on-a-nissan-z-was-incorrect
0ne example from article: Mark Rezi Nissan, Atlanta GA - Proto spec, $78,990 msrp https://www.mikerezinissan.com/new-Atlanta-2023-Nissan-Z-Proto+Spec-JN1BZ4BH6PM310460 .
The New Nissan Z Facebook group (of course, why not, like Ferrarichat only different ) https://www.facebook.com/groups/thenissanz .
That’s knocking on the door of Cayman territory… granted it wouldn’t be loaded with options. Sent from my iPad using FerrariChat.com mobile app
a couple New Z Forums: New Nissan Z - 1,900 members and 14,400 posts https://www.newnissanz.com/ Nissan Z Club - 1,350 members and 38,600 posts https://www.nissanzclub.com/forum/ .
this is one car where digital gauges make sense. Growing up my dad had a 1985 300ZX and I believe it was one of the first cars, if not the first, with a digital speedo. Man, I thought it was the most futuristic thing in the world to ride in that car and watch the speedo numbers.
A pretty positive early review of the new Z: https://www.thedrive.com/new-cars/2023-nissan-z-review-price-spec-driving-impressions
Prior to that, late 280ZXs had a digital dash available. Image Unavailable, Please Login Even earlier than that, the first years of the Aston Martin Lagonda had CRT "digital" dash and membrane control buttons in 1976, through 1980. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Another interesting dealer mark-up on "proto" spec Z: https://www.thedrive.com/news/theres-a-new-nissan-z-with-a-74k-markup-but-the-dealer-says-it-isnt-for-sale-yet Interesting to see if it will sell at that and what other dealers receiving Proto spec cars will do with theirs.
Oops! And at the dealer, in the process of owner delivery. https://www.thedrive.com/news/someone-wrecked-a-2023-nissan-z-already
