Firstly, apologies for my recent absence from this excellent forum - I'm in the middle of moving house and it's taking up all of my time. But enough of that, let's get to the point...
Thanks to my friend who is THE BEST Nissan dealer in the south of England, last weekend I combined the annual servicing of my 350z with a 3 hour test drive of one of his 370z's (
and one of his GTR's - but more of that later).
I approached the test drive
wanting to love the 370z because I really like its looks (
it has only been available here in the UK for a few weeks). I have owned 350z's since 2004, so I know what I want from a Z car...
1. THE LOOKS -
I love how the exterior of the 370z looks - lower, more squat, wider, shorter, more curvaceous. Nissan may have only shaved a few inches here and there, but man have they made a difference.
The only thing I don't like about the exterior styling is the rear wheel arch. It's too big, fat and cumbersome. The rest is good.
I also like the interior, but it was slightly underwhelming. It looks like they've taken the 350z plastics and put a few tarty leather bits on top. My son laughed at the 'cycle helmets' they've glued onto the tops of the 3 dashboard dials - and I too cannot see why they are there. He hates the suede - personally, I can see why it's there (less slippage!).
Inside, I love the slope of the tops of the doors - ergonomically good.
Bose stereo (I was driving the posh model) - adequate, just like the 350z Bose.
Overall, I think the 370z
looks good, but I must say that it doesn't eclipse my 350z - which also looks pretty damn tasty
2. THE DRIVE -
People have complained about the
sound of the 370z compared to the SOUND OF THE 350z, so the first thing I did was to listen.... and to be honest, I think the 370z sounds fcucking BRILLIANT. My 350z sounds lovely, but all the sound comes from the exhaust - it's a sound that turns heads on the street. BUT, although the sound from the 370z isn't a 'street-head-turner', it's so much more meaty. The sound you get in the 370z cabin is the sound of a
powerful engine, not a loud exhaust. I must say that as I drove along I thought, "this sounds like a Porsche".
...so you don't hate me yet - please read on...
The handling IS CR@P -
TOTAL CR@P. At low speeds the 370z feels just like my 2006 350z - no different at all - fairly comfortable, but you can feel all the bumps in the road. I can live with this because of my car's high speed handling. At high speeds (and this is where it matters to me), I had
no confidence in the 370z - it floated, it lurched, it rolled, it made me feel that I had to slow down, which I did (
even though I was on my private road 
). At 120+mph my 350z
hugs the road, it just sits there and it goes exactly where I tell it to go - even at 100+mph this 370z felt dangerous (please don't tell me to check the tyre pressures, they were ok). I sooo wanted to like the 370z, but the high speed handling (or lack of it) killed it for me.
In the UK a 370z costs the equivalent of $60,000 and I would only get the equivalent of $30,000 for my lovely 350z, so the 370z needs to be good and I'm sorry, but it just wasn't quite good enough
BUT...
I got a ride in a GTR
Although I couldn't drive it, being the passenger was... nice! This car KILLS. We pulled nearly 1.5 lateral G on a roundabout (turning circle) - we stopped from 100mph to zero in NO TIME AT ALL - we accelerated so fast that I was pinned to my seat, etc etc. Unfortunately the servicing costs are bad - they recommend $250 per month (UK prices) so that the servicing bill doesn't give you a heart attack (the GTR has to be serviced every 6 months). I love that car, but I don't think I can afford to run it.
SUMMARY - I like the 370z'd looks (although I think they've made it a bit too lardy and comfortable), but HATE its poor handling. Nissan have fcucked up the suspension.
So I'm stuck.
Help - I have a bit of profit from the sale of my house. What do I do? Keep my 3 year old 350z and supercharge it? Get a new car that's not a 370z? Wait until the MY10 370z comes out and replace the suspension
immediately? I'm stuck - help!!!