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Base Member
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Dania, FL
Posts: 148
Drives: 04 S2000
Rep Power: 16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AK370Z
Coming soon!  Nissan do not want us to discuss it but it's coming  |
Looks like Nissan has been giving some S-Tune 370's to a couple of people in Japan to drive. This is a review (biased imo) from my350z.com
Quote:
Hi guys, I'm new around here but seeing as this is a Zed forum and I was one of the lucky few in the world up to this point to drive the S-Tune last Saturday, I thought I would subscribe and tell you how the day went.
Ive also included a small writeup of my own and some comaprisons between my 2006 Forester STi and the 370Z.
You may think I'm slightly biased, haha, but I'm being purely subjective!
"I had the privilege of being one of the first in the world to drive the, yet to be released to the public, Nismo S-Tune 370Z last Saturday up in the hills around Tsukuba, a famous area in Japan for its mountain roads and track racing history.
The car had only just been released to journalists for road testing and had racked up a mere 1200 kilometres by the time we got our hands on it. During our day in Tsukuba we added more than 300 kilometres to that tally which included taking it to the highway, local roads, back streets and then up to the hills for a series of punishing touge runs and then home again.
I had with me my Subaru Forester Sti that, when used as a relative yardstick, proved to be more than a match for the Z in many ways, not least of all being in the braking department.
The Z's brake pedal was to the floor while the STi was mildly spongy for example...
The chassis was excellent - it was well planted and very stable - you could dive into a corner carrying what may be considered far too much speed and the front tyres never gave in - under steer was virtually non existent. It really has a great footprint at both ends.
The Subaru on the other hand gives a lot in understeer when thrown into a corner but it's progressive, you can literally feel the point where the front is starting to find grip and then you can mash the throttle and blast out of the bend - you drive the STi with it's nose.
With traction control turned on inside the 370 Z S-Tune, there was a noticeable intrusion from the computers on acceleration and cornering which to me seemed overly intrusive but with more than 330hp on tap, and this being a one off, it was probably safer to leave it on.
I could feel the computer checking my every movement - it cut fuel and spark when i applied to much throttle and adjusted the cars dynamics when it thought I was too far out of angle for its liking.
Acceleration was underwhelming. It seemed a little breathless at low revs but did give a powerful surge between 3000 and 5000, at which point, the engine picks up an understated rasping growl all the way to the 7500ropm redline.
If this car had 330hp, it certainly didn't feel like it did except for the meaty surge of power in the middle of the power band. For an N/A is was adequate but could use more low down grunt. No doubt there are fan-boys and tech-heads working on a snail to fit to the manifold.
From a standard start and with the 370's traction control off, it will get to 100 in around 5.5 seconds but is completely hosed by the Sti, which when launched, pulls 2 car lengths within a second or two. The 370 suffers from wheelspin, with the wide rear tyres struggling a little for grip while the Subaru, lifts hard from all four corners, pulling a 4.9 second 0-100.
The 370 claws back ground once it is rolling - 3rd and 4th gear between 100 and 140 are good zones for the Z, the midrange torque of the 3.7 liter VQ37 pulling the 2.5 Forester EJ25T back a bit which is losing ground having to scramble through gears and a lack of power at the top of the rev range.
This brings me to the gearbox which, on the Z has incredibly long gears. It seems to take forever to get through 2nd and then again in 3rd. We all agreed it needs shorter 2nd and 3rd gearing. Shift throw is beautiful, short and precise, not a snick in ear shot and the billet aluminium gear stick is a nice touch.
Brakes wise, the 370Z is a bit of a let down. To be fair, the majority of it's failings here could be put down to brake fluid that has a lower boiling temperature than it needs but that doesn't really matter when your going for a bend and find yourself pushing your right ( or left ) foot in towards the firewall...
The brakes are big Nissan badged aluminum 4 pot Brembo mono-block calipers on the front, single pot on the rear. Ventilated discs all round complete the package. Nismo has added S-Tune pads to the mix which, although great for stopping power and have a high resistance to fade, need to be combined with better fluids and braided lines.
Compared to the Nissan, the Subaru has much better brakes. I experienced a mildy spongy pedal after 4 hard runs up and down hill, while the pedal in the Nissan was to the floor and that with relatively the same brake package. The Brembo's on the Subaru though are a slightly better caliper than those on the 370Z but the Subaru is carrying used, standard pads!
Having covered some 300 kilometres in both cars, I would have to say that from a pure performance perspective, the STi is a better car - It offers more in the way of feedback, is more supple and is something you can take to the track and whip around faster than a majority of vehicles, travel home at a doddle and then go and pick up the wife from the hairdressers, the kids from school and still have enough room for the dog and the shopping.
It takes a special car to have that sort of mix.
The Z is raw and hard - its got a great chassis, is extremely well balanced and offers a much nicer interior and a relatively more solid build but at what expense? The S-Tune packages will set you back more than $15,000 which is a lot of money to pay for parts for car that has in essence been very lightly tuned, has only 2 seats and appears to have issues in a few different areas.
The Z isn't a bad car at all, far from it but from a real world perspective, you would be better off buying a standard 370Z and tuning it from there.
First stop would be to get braided lines and uprate the fluids, both for the brakes and radiator, then look at adding a turbo.
With those additions and 4 to 500 hp, this car has the potential to be a real weapon, just as its predecessor was when tuners turned the wick up on it.
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Hopefully we get to see some more info shed on the S-Tune as the release date gets closer! The review seemed a little poor due to a comparison of the wrong car (Forester STI) and no previous experience with the 370z makes this review exactly the same as a review on a 370z equipped with a sport package. The one thing I did like in his review was the mention of Brembo mono-block calipers, but from the pictures they look like the akebono brakes fitted onto the 370z sport package. We'll see!
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