First post here, registered today to fill this out! Yes, it's a novel, sorry. I've hidden humor in it as an enticement?
I'm newly military, going to OCS in Ft. Benning (I leave for basic tomorrow night and will be doing OCS in January...oooooo excitement!). The pay is good and I've been shopping around comparing sporty cars before I leave so I can make a purchase as soon as I'm able.
First, my driving experience: I've been in sports cars since I was 15 and purchased an '89 IROC-Z Camaro. At 17 I'd saved up and bought a '95 Cobra. I knew I couldn't keep anything for too long so I made sure it was something that wasn't going to lose value so I could get the money back (which I did, every penny). After that I put myself in a '98 Eclipse (absolute piece of junk). I'm proud to say that my vehicles have all been mine. Nobody bought anything for me, though I have recieved help with insurance.
I kept the eclipse out of necessity for my first two years of college and then used the extra money that I saved from my loans to lease an '07 Suzuki SX4 AWD. It's an absolutely fantastic every day vehicle and I was sad when I turned it back in today. I have had zero trouble with it, the suspension is good for a little spirited driving, and it's great in snow. Suzuki's rally experience really shone through. It didn't have much engine (just under 150hp) but the suspension was taught, the steering was great, and it was impossible to screw up in. It handled better than the Eclipse by a wide margin. Anybody who wants a good everyday vehicle that can be an real hoot on a gravel road should look at the car, it's an absolute steal and extremely useful in all conditions. Better value than what subaru offers and just as much rally cred (unless you're talking WRX versions).
I've participated in as much motorsport as I've been able to, going to autocross events as much as possible. I've spent time learning to drive fast on gravel (illegal, yes, but always done in totally deserted areas and without incident...and it looked pretty cool in the videos I made for a class in college!) I'm pretty decent, can heel/toe, and have never crashed. I've been in 6 accidents, none my fault. I got my ribcage crushed in a t-bone accident by a grandma in an F-150...that was not too fun. 1 speeding ticket, ever, and it was in the Camaro, nearly 10 years ago. I never got a ticket in the Cobra...something that I think is quite the achievement for having been 17/18 at the time. I'm from South Dakota, so I've had my licence since I was 14.
Since I've had experience with sporty cars and the ins and outs of handling a vehicle, I'm really particular in what I want from a car, and I know what to look for when I test something. I'm buying a base 370z with sport package. I've compared it to other things in my price range (WRX, RX-8, used C6 Vette, '10 Mustang, '10 Camaro) and I think it's the best buy.
The first thing I noticed while driving the car:
This thing feels like it's made out of a single block of metal. No exaggeration...the chassis has absolutely NO flex or give, the doors and hatch shut like they're made of granite, the whole thing feels like one piece with no welds. I really don't want 6 broken ribs again, and this car feels like it would do as good a job as any protecting me. Naturally a viagra-stiff structure bodes well for handling and keeping interior rattles to a minimum as the vehicle ages too
It feels MORE solid than the Mustang, which has about 300 extra pounds of structure. The only thing that compared structurally was the RX-8. No chassis flex in that either...but due to the suicide door layout, it really doesn't feel very strong when you shut the doors. If I can feel the doors flex inward when I shut them, that's probably not a good sign for crash tolerance.
The interior goodieness:
It's great. It doesn't feel "uplevel" by any means. It doesn't feel luxurious. If you want to see a luxurious feeling interior in a vehicle in the same price range, check out the '10 Mustang. THAT cabin is absolutely plush. I'll put it this way: The new mustang's interior is like a well made fancy leather boot, extremely comfortable and coddling. The 370's interior reminded me of an expensive running shoe by comparison. No, it's not plush, it's not lined with chrome, it's not "cushy." However...which would you rather spend a day walking around in, a boot or an athletic shoe? The Z's interior is purposeful. It feels expensive for a completely different reason than the Mustang's: it's designed to do something specific. The seats hug you, the dials are well shielded from light, easy to read, and look high-tech.
I LIKE the weirdo gas gauge. I've never been in a car where the gas gauge was accurate....the depletion of the gauge is never linear, and that friggin needle means next to nothing. Little red dots provide less information than an analog gauge, sure...but when that analog gauge isn't accurate in the first place, who gives a crap? Let the dots get down to one dot and then fill it up. Easy, simple, and every bit as easy to read and reliable as an analog gauge.
As far as comfort goes...I found the vehicle extremely comfortable. The seats, though well bolstered, do not impede your shoulder movement and they provide excellent lateral support in base trim, at least for skinny little me. The driving position makes it very easy to see out of the front of the vehicle, unlike some other low riding sports cars where all you can see is hood.
The shifter is great, very crisp, and the clutch, while it took some getting used to because the engagement was on a completely different part of the travel than I'm used to, is light and very grabby, excellent for driving like you're not an 85 year old grandma in an f-150. Which you should all be doing. *glares*
Oh, almost forgot. Holy trunk space batman! I bet I could put at least 3 dead hookers back there if I bent them right. Much more space than I was expecting from a sports car. And if you need extra storage space, the passenger side seat pulls forward and there is a spot there that could easily absorb another dead hooker if she were maybe dismembered a little. Or a smallish suitcase or a good sized duffel bag.
Downsides to the interior:
Ok...yeah you can't really see out of the sides if you take a quick look over your shoulder. Those quarter windows look great but are a joke as far as visibility goes. However, and this is a big however...the mirrors are sized and placed such on the vehicle that I was able to completely eliminate all blind spots. I had the dealer walk around the vehicle after I repositioned the mirrors to my liking, and at no point did I lose sight of him. If I can see a skinny little nissan salesman, you can see a car in your "blind spot." Back out of parking lot spaces slowly (or just park that pretty sports car in the back of the lot and walk a quarter block to the store!) and you will be fine. Yeah, the rear window is a slit from the drivers seat, but it's a very wide slit (quit snickering) and when I use my rearview mirror I'm not trying to see the sky..I'm trying to see the road.
Oh yeah. The base radio sucks. The sound is slightly muddled and you can't hear much bass once the vehicle is moving due to the only other issue with the interior...it's noisy. There's a lot of tire noise, though no wind noise that I could detect. The wind noise is even muted with the windows down.
And synchrorev match is going in the negative section, because it worked flawlessly every single shift, smoother than I could ever hope to heel and toe, and it made me feel like an idiot. I loved it.
Exterior goodieness:
Um...it's hot.
Downsides to the exterior:
You might wind up dating somebody who just wants to ride around in your OooOoooOshiny.
Handling
Ok, I'll admit, I scared the crap out of the dealer who rode with me. But it's ok, because when we got back, he started raving to some of the other employees like a 40 year old mangirl. I didn't hurt it either, so if you're in Sioux Falls and you see a yellow 370z on the dealer lot...I promise there's nothing wrong with it due to me. The car HANDLES. It's tuned for understeer at the limit, which is good in a production vehicle with limits this high. The last thing you want is snap oversteer when the shoulder consists of trees or angry cattle. Grip was astounding. It gripped better than the C6 Vette I drove. If you want a bit of a safety net, the stability control is tuned such that you can have a little bit of fun before it slaps you on the wrist and calls your parents. The steering is extremely accurate and turn in is nearly as crisp as the RX-8...but the steering wheel is much higher effort. So, feel free to drive it with a cold, you won't sneeze yourself off the road.
At parking lot speeds (in a parking lot, no less), the wheel is a touch lighter, so you're not going to look like you're wrestling a bear pulling out of your driveway.
Basically, I was just extremely impressed with the handling. On high-speed sweepers (offramps....) small corrections in course result in a tiny bit of stutter from the rear end as it goes over small bumps and comes back in line with the front, due to those big clomping tires and the short wheelbase...but it's a sports car and that's good feedback.
As far as ride...due to the extremely stiff structure of the vehicle, the engineers seem to have been able to work out a no-compromises suspension tune. Since there's no chassis flex, they were able to calibrate things based entirely on the suspension itself and the end result is a vehicle that smoothed out the frost-heaved roads of south dakota with easy while still cornering almost completely flat, with almost no rearing or diving under acceleration.
Engine
It's a good engine. There's a little bit of vibration that comes up the shifter and there's a little bit of harshness to the sound when you get close to redline, but the power delivery is seamless. It's definitely putting out the advertised power. I've read the other reviews on here, and seen that people are commenting that it doesn't FEEL as fast as some other things even though it is. I know why. The reason is that the VQ has a very linear torque curve, so power delivery isn't nearly as peaky as you might get in a turbo motor, or even the V8 in a mustang. That's why this engine wins awards. It's just so freaking linear. The other factor is something I just mentioned: there's almost no rearing or diving under acceleration or braking. We're all used to a car squatting on the rear tires and lifting the front a touch when you hit the fun pedal....this car doesn't do that. That's due to the suspension tuning and the short wheelbase to width ratio.
It's not exactly a great sounding engine. It seems to have a strange electric sort of pitch to it, like some strange metallic synthesizer. The engine revs cleanly and without drama and the intake sounded like something from a videogame. It sounded like somebody took a sample of the engine at a certain RPM and then used a computer to raise and lower the pitch as it revved through the range. I suspect I'll be putting on a new intake.
The exhaust sounded nice though...but obviously that'll get replaced too, especially after having read about the near 20hp gain that can be had there.
Does it FEEL as fast as a new Mustang? No, it doesn't. The torque never gets as high as that engine, though the horsepower and torque under the curve is better...so it IS the faster car and more powerful engine. It's just sneaky about it.
That's about it I guess. The car outhandled the trackpack equipped mustang I drove, and accelerated better (though not by TOO much...they did an extremely good job with the new stang). It handled equally to the RX-8 and made it look like a ninny in the power department. It's not as fast as the vette or new camaro...but vettes are expensive and the camaro feels like you're piloting a drunk linebacker by pulling on his ears. And the WRX, while impressive in handling, userfulness, and power, was slightly behind in all performance categories and looks way too tame for me.
Spring next year, I'll be in a 370z. Now I just have to decide on a color. Why oh why don't they offer a nice metallic green?! I mean, come on, they gave the friggin thing FANGS. At least let me order it in green.