Quote:
Originally Posted by MacCool
The 280ZX Turbo was only available with an automatic transmission, at least in the first year 1981. Their manual couldn't stand up to the torque. Rear end squat was common...I remember installing springs and sway bars on both of mine.
Interestingly, that turbo made it one of the fastest imports in the US back then. They added the turbo because the thing was becoming fatter and emission-laden to the point where the normally-aspirated 280ZX was slower than the 240Z. As fast as I remember it being, 0-60 was like 7.1 seconds. My 370Z supposedly does that in 4.5 seconds according to my Dynolicious app, 4.8 seconds according to Car & Driver, and 5 seconds according to Edmunds.
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Yeah I remember them saying the turbo was faster than the Vette at the time which wasn't what it used to be either. Later also finding out the ZX was the red headed stepchild in Zs cause it had blown up in size and weight due to luxury and comfort.
The 82-83 looked really good, vs the 81 with the mesh wheels and chrome. 82-83 cleaned up nicely with the covered bumpers, strakes in the b-pillars, tails, and those nice swastika wheels. I scored me a set back then and they were the sportier size, a whopping 15". I installed some KYBs to help with the rear end squat after the Z kept busting up the hydraulic shocks I had prior. They knew me at Western Auto cause I had a lifetime warranty on the shocks and I kept bringing in dripping shocks to get warrantied. Did it probably 5-6 times until they finally asked to put it up on the lift to see what the problem was. They didn't find anything but they saw I even replaced the springs. Got tired of replacing them so I went with KYB. It helped but I realized it was just a flaw in the design.