Quote:
Originally Posted by abm89
Interior:
Also, what is that center gauge, turbo airflow? Idk why I need to see that if I have boost pressure.
Powertrain:
The VR30 seems like the obvious choice, but I have not heard good things about the motor reliability when you start to tune them. As someone who would tune their sports car, that's not very promising, but I see it as adequate for most people who will buy the car. The retention of the manual is a smart move by Nissan, but I hope they fixed the issues with the syncros and moved back to an outboard slave cylinder. I absolutely dislike this transmission with my list of "Better shifting" manuals I've driven being my WRX, a stock Mazda 3, a NA1 NSX, and a 987 Cayman S. A mechanical diff option would be nice instead of viscous for the more hardcore enthusiasts, and it would be nice if that traction off button can do a full kill. It's still kinda lame I cant turn the traction off ALL THE WAY without killing the yaw sensor.
...I just have a hunch that Toyota (or BMW) will release a 3-pedal Supra conveniently when the Z is released.
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A couple of counterpoints....
On the triple gauges of the ProtoZ, I think you mean turbo RPM gauge? That's a clear sign that the ProtoZ has the 400HP VR30 in it, as the 400HP VR30 utilizes turbine speed sensors, whereas the 300HP VR30 doesn't. Really a bit of data that wouldn't be very useful to the avg Joe, and if you do a turbo upgrade you may lose that function and have a useless gauge. Maybe the 300HP variants will have an alternate gauge there (unless all Z's use the 400HP VR)
As for tuned reliability. I have never seen any German turbo car or Japanese turbo car have perfect reliability when tuned. Tuning a turbo car makes significant gains and really pushes many things. I owned a 2016 GTI DSG with a JB4 and I popped the DSG at 20K miles. There's plenty of YT content on how unreliable a slightly older turbo BMWs are.
The issues some VR30's have are not out of line for any turbo car. Heck, compare a tuned VR30 to a turbo VQ37 and I am quite certain the VQ37 can have just as many issues.
Keep a few things in perspective: Many enthusiasts who tune their cars hard also realize something may break. The VR30 will not be expensive, for an enthusiast, to repair if they break something. It's been out for a while now, and parts will be plentiful. If you want really fast and reliable, probably need to look at a recent Corvette, they are very fast and somewhat similar to a Z. No boost means they are fairly reliable.
When I was researching cars in 2015, I seriously looked at the WRX. WRX's don't do huge HP gains like German cars, and they have a bunch of issues like ring lands, wonky fueling, and their transmissions aren't all that great either.If you put $3000 into a GTI and $3000 into a WRX, the GTI would make much more power than a WRX. Same for a BMW.
As for the Supra, I have a HUGE issue with BMW making it. I would totally buy one if it were an actual Toyota. Toyota cars do NOT respond to tuning very well at all, but they are RELIABLE. I'd buy a Toyota-made Supra in a hot second because I'd feel it'd be reliable for 20 years. The BMW Supra is great because it inherits BMW tunability and can be easily tuned for big gains with modest $$$, but I wouldn't want it past it's warranty.
The new Z is all Nissan, and that is a huge benefit. The VR motor in the Z is just as responsive as German turbo engines. I have scoured the Q50/60 forums for VR30 issues and they are manageable and quite typical of any turbo car that is tuned. I have also seen that Nissan has made an actual effort to improve the VR30 reliability. (I generally don't trust Nissan here as I have owned a few of their vehicles that had issues that are never resolved) The repairs made on the VR30 are usually done with updated parts, and the belt-throwing issue is quite manageable itself.
After constantly having my GTI in the shop (10 times for repairs) over the course of 3 years I was so happy to buy my Q60, and in 2.5 years of owning it I have never ever had one issue with it. If the new Z fell somewhere between my Q60 and my GTI in reliability I would be OK with that.
BTW I 100% agree with you about the MT...I was surprised when I learned about the CSC. The last Z I replaced a clutch on didn't have such a weirdo setup, but that was 22 years ago! Knowing Nissan, they'll continue using the same, crappy CSC. Many Z enthusiasts believe they can maintain the CSC through fluid changes until the clutch needs replacement, it's just a quirk of owning a Nissan, I guess. Again, if the Supra was made by Toyota, I'd be all over that!