RedlineHR

I took one for a short drive yesterday. It was a touring 6mt with no sport package so no synchro rev match.

It only had 22 miles on it so no balls-to-the-wall acceleration tests.

This is in comparison to my 07 350z.

Clutch:
The clutch is very light, like others have said. It seems to have some compound resistance to it - like a compound bow action. The pressure required for the travel is not linear. Tt is a bit harder at first and then towards mid-stroke, it takes less pressure to continue and less pressure to hold it down you can feel it reach this point on the way down and on teh way up. The clutch is very grabby, which is good.

Engine:
The engine is smooth, smooth, smooth - Did I mention Smooth? At idle, you don't even know its on. I suppose this is thanks to VVEL - you get a conservative smoth cam profile at idle and then it changes as you romp on it.

The engine seems to stay at an RPM between shifts before winding down. This is kinda weird, but easy to get used to - it just does it. The car accelerates like a sports car should. Even with moderate throttle, the RPMs pick up fast. I think the shorter gearing helps a LOT. even though it's only a little shorter.

Engine sounds - Nissan finally learned what BMW did 10 years ago - most people prefer some intake noise to exhaust noise. When you romp on it, you hear the intakes - great sound!

Chassis:
Friggin A... This is where the advantage is - the entire car is just measureably more solid than the old car. Feels like my 97 M3 that I used to have (finally!). The doors and trunk shut with a thud! Even with the windows down. If I shut the door of my 350 with the windows down, it sounds like the glass is gonna shatter! The 370 corners very flat. The ride is firm, yet compliant. It is definitely more luxurious than the 350. The seats feel more substantial and more supportive than the 350. LOVE the faux suade ion the seats - definitely holds you in place more. Seat heater work MUCH better than in the 350. GET THE NAV PACKAGE!!!!!! The hvac controls are much nicer and there is full voice recognition to enter an adress or to find a local gas station or starbucks or whatever you need. Not full business listings, but pretty close. In the 350 nav, there is no voice recognition and you have to pull over and stop to use the dammm thing - very irritating. The Nav is touch-screen as well, which is just intuitive for the iPhone generation of device users.

Brakes seemed very solid, but can't say much since I was not able to use them aggressively.

In the 350, when I am on the brakes and have the clutch depressed, I can feel the mechanical uperation of the windshield wipers through my feet!!! not so in the 370. It's just that much more solid.

Tons of tire noise and I was not even in the sport package with the wide tires. There's not much wind noise on the freeway - it's all tire noise. That's the dominant sound driving down the road - much worse than the 350.

I did not notice the blind spots at all, but I did not have to back up - I am sure they suck for backing up in a parking lot.

The biggest disappointment was the lack of a sunglasses compartment on the roof. Why no holder for the z34? That's just lame. I guess it got cut trying to keep the cost down? Or trying to fit that dip on the roof to make it technically shorter than a 350?? That was one of my favorite things on my 350.

I think that in almost way, this is a superior car than the 350. There are some look blemishes that I hope they'll fix - I don't mind the digital readout in the left gauge pod, but the face of it should not be aluminum - paint the damm thing black! I still don't like the flat-spots on the edge of the fenders, but not much I can do about that - this is what you get when you take a larger FM platform and try to squeeze a sports-car body onto it. The car feels much larger from inside and the dash feels like a wall in front of me - it is much taller and upright - but I still like it. The hood is also quite high looking out the windshield.

The 350 cockpit feels sportier by far - the dash is low and it is a sort of waterfall swoopy shape - very nice. The 370 cockpit feels more upright and luxurious - like a G37. Not a bad thing, just not as low and as sporty feeling.

This is the same platform found in the G37 and Murano and FX Infinitis and other cars. They were able to shorten the length for the 370z, but they can't reduce the height and it's evident from inside. For the $$ this car is a steal and had I not bought an 07, I would buy this 370 hands-down, no question.

But, I'd have to be prepared to throw away $10k to get myself into a 370 and that's not the best use on my $$, which brings me to my onlly other gripe about Nissans - resale value SUCKS!!!.. I know, there's a new body style now and that's part of it, but only a small part ($3k?), but I paid over $40k for my car in 07 and now it's worth $26k to a private-party and less than that as a trade-in (obviously).

I can say that my 97 M3 did not suffer NEAR this much depreciation when the e46 M3 came out. It was always worth more than I owed with similar $$ down and Interest, etc. Not so with the Z. Too bad.

I may pick up a z34 this summer. I eventually want to go FI, but if I am going to sink that much $$ into a car, I am going to sink it into a Z34 platform - not a z33.

For now, I think my 292 WHP 257 WTQ 350z will keep me occipied. I still have to tune it and am hoping for 315 WHP.