Driving home from work last week I come across a new 350Z. It still had the temporary tag on it so I slow down and pull along side to check it out. It was black like my Z28 and all I can say it looks much better in the flesh than in the pictures I've seen, especially the a$$ end. If I was in the market for a new car, it would certainly derserve a look see and a test drive.

Does anybody have any performance figures/specs on this car?

 

I've seen 3 now...

They are OK, but I have yet to find a Japanese car whose styling I can fall in love with.

 

I've seen a few around here, and even found one parked and got to do a 360 degree walk around.

My only comments are that the front and rear "triangular" lights are God awfully ugly.

The rest of the car is ok.

 

I actually saw my first one on the road today. A silver one, looked pretty cool. I thought it was an Audi TT at first then I looked again. There cool, just not my cup of tea. I saw one at the Dallas auto show last year, they have a pretty sweet interior.

Btw I don’t have any official spec on them, but I know they run about as hard as an LT1 Fbod.

 

Car and Driver (even with their conservative driving style), got one to go 14.1sec @ 101mph in the 1/4 mile.

 

....here in Indiana, at Putnam Park Road Course.

I gotta' tell you..I never thought I'd say this about a Nissan, but the more I looked the better I liked it. The car I ran with had the Track Pack option which includes special larger wheels, huge Brembo's at all four corners, and some other go fast goodies. This thing ran 14.1's right out of the box and had many features I really liked....like the guage pod that is attached to the steering column so when you adjust it up and down the dash comes along.

The car was really balanced too. A lot of neat features and some I think would take some getting used to.....different textures and such.

It's a two seater, so this market is getting another real player at around $35k as optioned 285+hp, 6 speed, Brembo's, IRS, RWD and a rumored turbo version.....sure sets the bar higher for any return of our Camaro.

All in all, it's a car that I think will be a hit and will easily live up to it's heritage.

 

AMEN! maybe I'm too old-fashioned, but this car looks like a big joke to me. It's just another example of "we will gladly build pathetic, horrible, counter-intuitive, dysfunctional cars to entice you to upgrade into our relatively mediocre but slightly more tolerable SUV instead"

 

sat in one at a dealership.it had the track pack option.very tight inside no room and at $46000 i think it's too much money

 

I think they are beautiful and the mags are all saying they are wonderful to drive and pretty quick. They start around 34k but with the dealer markup they will have for a year or 2 it'll be hard to get one under 40. I'd buy one in a second if I had the $$.

 

I have seen a lot of them, a person who works for nissan lives near me and has tested like 10 of them. at frist i thought it was ok, but the more i saw it thte more i liked it. especially from the rear, i love how it looks from the rear. with the bulging wide rear fenders that i think were beautifully done.

 

.....right at $35k and the only options she didn't get were leather and the on-board directional thingy.

You can never account for dealer greed though........I heard somewhere that these were selling out quick......

Watching her's scream around the track it reminded me somewhat of a 911 in it's porportions.

Check out http://www.my350z.com for more details......

 

This is not a good time to buy a 350Z if you are looking for a deal.

Most of this year's production is either sold out or already accounted for.

You will pay full list, PLUS additional dealer mark-up.

This is going to sound funny....but I wish Chevy could build a car which could create similar demand and ferver with it's enthusiasts.

 

Gotta pipe in here. That car is an overweight joke. I don't understand why anyone would buy one over a G35 (same engine, same tranny, only 150lb. heavier, better-looking). As the owner of a VERY fast NA 240Z (beats Vipers, Z06s, 911 turbos, etc., results here: http://users.rcn.com/comscc/results/nhis0902.htm ), I was REALLY looking forward to a return to Zness (to me, LIGHT WEIGHT). Didn't happen. Got another ZX. And this time it's as ugly as the '79-'89 ZXs. With that drivetrain in a 2600 lb. car, they would've HAD something. Damn. Did I mention a friend of mine recently bought a 2002 Z28, stripped, for $21,000, that put down 308 rwhp, and did a 13.42@106 run, on all-season tires?! Makes the $33,000 350Z even more ridiculous, but I guess people will buy it because they're being told how wonderful it is by the magazines (cheerleaders). When's the last time you saw a mag ad for a Z28? And when's the last time you saw an mag article on one? Follow me? If I DID want a brand new, rwd, IRS performance car, I'd MUCH rather have an S2000. Or even a Miata. At least it has POTENTIAL (turbo, rotary, TURBO ROTARY?!).

Dan Baldwin
'95 Z28 M6 convertible
'71 240Z 3.1 (235 rwhp, '02 COMSCC SPB champ)

 

Dan's right. Even one of the C&D testers said, "for this price ($35k), I'd rather go to a Chevy dealer and beg them for a sweetheart deal on a Vette."

And don't think Chevy can't generate this kind of interest. Did you try to buy a C5 in 1997-1998?

The Z-turd will be littering the dealers at $5k under sticker in two years. Believe it.

 

I think its just one of those designs that has to grow on you. At first itll seem odd, but youll probably get used to it rather quickly.

As for it being an overweight joke.. eh, I'm gonna have to disagree. 3100lbs aint bad at all compared to whats on the market. Plus, performance isnt everything.

I dont think you can compare this car to a Z28 by anymeans. This car isn't a quarter mile monster, its more of a all around "sports car" with luxury and a sort of "high class" nostalgia. Its gonna appeal to a totally different audience, more of teh corvette audience. The thing is its priced in between a camaro and a vette.

Regardless of the truth, many people are gonna see this car as a high quality, high performance machine. Compared to the new cobra for example, I bet if you asked the general public, they say the Z was a nicer car and the Cobra more boy-racerish. Just think about it, which is a corporate buisness executive more likely to stereotypically drive, a new Z car or a Mustang Mach 1?

A lot of kids would rather have the Z as well just for those reasons. Its a misconception of quality and performance of sorts. This is where Nissan has the edge. American cars = cheap quality to a lot of people. Nissan has its own niche in the market right now. Who do they have to compete with for the Z-car's sales? Nobody really...