Hello from Sunny Southern California!!!
San Diego to be more specific. Last month I purchased my first Nissan ever, a Gun Metallic 2012 Fairlady Z sports package. After lurking for a week, signing up and then waiting to be verified for a week, and then reading, searching, and researching for another week, here is my 1st post. I'll tell you a bit about myself, share why I picked the Z, and give my impressions of it so far.
About me.
I am an automotive and mechanical engineer by trade, and currently fund my car habit as a Junior Project Manager at San Diego International Airport. In a previous life I worked as a bumper to bumper mechanic for Toyota for more than half a decade, and became relatively proficient at slinging a wrench. I have lots of hobbies to keep me busy, but the main two of them are music and racing.
I DJ and produce music semi-professionally (soundcloud.com/sebastian-blix) and absolutely love me some electronic music. I try to get out to a club or festival at least once a week, and try to leave the country to perform or punter at least 3 times a year.
I am hopelessly hooked on speed and lateral Gs, and have been racing cars since long before I acquired the sense to do it safely and legally. The last sporty car I owned was a 910kg (2000 lb) Toyota Mr2 Spyder with a Lotus Exige drivetrain and a heavily modified (by me) everything else. That car was an absolute hoot to drive, and I was able to win a few trophies, sour a few "faster" cars owners in the mountains, and even hold a course record or two. After blowing that car up a few too many times, I sold it and moved on to more mature (read: slow and boring as all hell) vehicles such as a Scion xD and my prior Subaru Outback. Driving these cars for a couple years forced me to reign it in, and I've since tamed and learned to control my inner speed beast, and become a model for safe, sane, and plain driver. On public roads, that is.
Why the Z?
When it came time to get a more interesting car (read: I finally had enough expendable income to do so), the 370z was high on my list, alongside the Porsche Cayman, FD Rx7, and Porsche 911.
The 911 was at the top of my list, but also outside my price range by a lot.
The Rx7 was 2nd in Line, but the amount of time it would spend down for repairs/modifications would mean I wouldn't be able to drive it much, which defeats the purpose of having it.
The Cayman was 3rd, but the cost of modifying/maintaing it also put it out of my price range.
This left the 370z.
The only Z car I've liked or cared about (before the 370z) was the 1972/1973 Datsun 240z. However, I've actually had a huge crush on the 370z since it was released in 2009. Nissan got the styling just right in my opinion, and its a stunningly beautiful car. I test drove one and tried out synchro rev match (which I thought would be gimmicky, but could actually heel toe more consistently than I could) and was hooked. Bought it the same day in fact. I'm still a bit in shock that such an attractive car is in my garage.
Driving Impressions
PROS:
The seats are very comfortable, and hold you in place in the bends.
The ergonomics are great, and everything is where you expect it to be. Except for the seat controls. Weird, but I've already gotten used to it.
It sounds great, and from the clips I've heard here and elsewhere, it sounds better with every mod.
Power feels linear, and feels like it keeps increasing all the way up to the redline.
Grip, it has oodles and oodles of it, and it handles pretty well out of the box.
SRM. really, really much better than I thought it could be. Seems like it gets it exactly right, every damn time, no matter how hard I push it.
Its fun to drive. Seriously, I love driving this thing, even when just commuting.
Inside and out, its beautiful. Sometimes I go down into the garage just to admire it lol. Great job Nissan!
CONS:
Weight. This actually is my main gripe, and its something I'll have to get used to. My last sporty car weighed 590kg (1300lb)
less than the Z, and I can definitely feel it. It doesn't like to quickly change directions (yet) and you can feel the brakes working hard under heavy deceleration. Too be fair, it handles and stops great for it's weight, but that weight is definitely present.
Clutch. Actually, the flywheel to be more specific. The flywheel in my last sporty car was 4kg (9lb), and 14kg (31lb) feels monstrously heavy for a sporty car of this power and torque. This makes acceleration feel sluggish to me, and when I shift gears it takes bloody forever for the rpm to drop suitably. I think this over weight flywheel may also contribute heavily to the whole jerky 1-2 shift phenomenon.
Future Performance Mods
Cooling. I've read pretty extensively about the Z going into limp mode when pushed for too long, so I've got an oil cooler on the way. I'm looking into lowering the oil pan with one of the kits I've seen here. I'll also get a vented hood when $$ permits.
Suspension/bracing. I've just started researching how, but I'd like to make it go around corners and change directions better.
Flywheel. I drove a car with a 4kg (9lb) flywheel for 3 years and loved it. The responsiveness was outstanding, and I had no beefs at all with the daily drivability. If I can find a good strong 6 to 9 kilo (15 to 20 lb) flywheel for the Z I'll be happy.
Weight. I know I can't lose much without stripping the car out, but I will take it out where I can, and try to make it count as much as I can. Lighter two piece brake discs as I've seen here, lighter flywheel, lighter exhaust, etc. Are all on the table.
Power. This car feels like it deserves and would be happy with around 500 hp, so a turbo kit of some sort is in the future. I've already started saving...
