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Originally Posted by ZKindaGuy
Yea but the problem is in order to justify their publishing of the magazine and possibly to point the finger away from themselves in terms of liability in light of the crash that occurred during the first test event, the author/editors wordsmith the story so that the testing and resulting data reads to sound as if its judgement applies as well to the overall safety, quality and driveability of the 370Z while driving under normal conditions.
There is in the way they chose to write this critique a very fine obscure line between truth and "yellow journalism" so they have backdoors to squirm through when necessary yet render an unjustified negative judgement upon the car and manufacturer.
And one has to consider this may be again another attempt to discredit foreign car makers in the court of American public opinion since the American car industry had to be bailed out. Whereas Toyota and Honda got fried by Congress and by the media, Nissan managed to escape the fire in the first time around.
I find it interesting the sole focus of the written review was only the braking system as if to vaguely lay down a veiled suggestion that somehow Nissan has the same quality problems as Toyota and Honda as recently identified and incessantly harped on by the media.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ZKindaGuy
I think alot of folks here need to get real and finally come to the long and overdue undertanding with the fact that a "sports car" and a "race car" are entirely two different types of vehicles.
In addition folks here need to finally come to the understanding that the act of buying any car doesn't include making the car dealer or the manufacturer your personal indentured servant who will pay for everything to convert the car into something you think it should be meant to be.
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First off, I clearly understand the distinction between a race car and a sports car—as do most, if not all members here. To give you the benefit of the doubt my reference should have been included the full text to Nissan response regarding an oil cooler:
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"Nissan North America: The 370Z has an engine protection system that reduces peak engine speeds when the oil temperature exceeds recommended levels in order to protect against possible engine damage. Aggressive driving of the 370Z on a race track at sustained high engine speeds can cause increases in oil temperature and may activate this engine protection system. To avoid activation of this engine protection system and these reduced peak engine speeds, Nissan recommends an oil cooler be fitted to the 370Z before driving it on a race track. A Nissan Motorsports accessory oil cooler kit is available for customer purchase through authorized Nissan dealerships for race track use. The part number is 21300-SS370.
An oil cooler is not necessary for normal operation of the vehicle on public roads. The addition of an oil cooler would have raised the price of the car and potentially moved it out of the reach of some customers. Value has been a core principle of the Z car since the original 240Z and we choose to uphold this core principle by not adding additional costs that are unnecessary for normal use. For those individuals who choose to drive their vehicle on a race track, the oil cooler is available as an aftersales item.
The oil cooler is a Nissan Motorsports item and as such is sold without warranty, express or implied, unless expressly prohibited by law in which case the warranty provided is the minimum required by law. The installation of the Nissan Motorsports oil cooler does not, by itself, “void” the vehicle warranty. However any damage caused by the installation or use of this part is expressly excluded under the terms of the Nissan New Vehicle Limited warranty."
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My inference was to the line above that I have intentionally made bold (not Nissan) on how Nissan is willing to sell you a Nissan branded product, but supply no warranty (even if installed by a Nissan dealership) as said part is deemed above normal operation. The Car and Driver test did
not single out Nissan as Mazda, and Subaru was in attendance too. Car and Driver's
suspicion is that Nissan has not designed the cooling aspect of the front brakes well. (Hmmmm…where have I heard anything about cooling regarding the 370Z before…let me think.)
In my response to your post where do I state that I am indenturing Nissan or any Nissan dealership to pay for anything? However, I am at a lost to understand how Nissan can authorize full engine swaps—under warranty—as has been done for forum members, yet Nissan has no faith in neither their dealerships' ability to install an oil cooler nor Nissan's oil cooler design that they sell without providing a warranty? I have had far too many vehicles with the option of additional cooling supplied through the dealership, with factory products, and have not encountered such nonsense until the 370Z. If you follow any of the Japanese blogs you find they mention the 370Z (Z34) propensity to get too hot to quickly. I believe that the press cars first driven on US shores were supplied with an HKS kit (that is actually a two part/two oil cooler kit) utilizing the part that is tucked away at the front of the US driver's side wheel.
Owners' motivation for an oil cooler may not even be related to driving the car enthusiastically, racing, etc, but for the piece-of-mind regarding additional oil and additional oil cooling. Though many of us are more than experienced wrenchers and very capable of installing an aftermarket oil cooler there are reasons that we might choose not to: Factory warranty, time, and circumstance. Some owners are not up to the task of installing an oil cooler (and they admit it). For owners' wanting this product, and willing to pay for this product, it beyond any rational reason that Nissan does not demonstrate even basic faith in their factory branded accessory that cannot, and should not be solely designated as a track/race item; because someone chooses to install an oil cooler does not mean that they will do either. The added benefits to engine and oil life, are nothing more than common sense, if not engineering sense.
Will it surprise me if others learn that the front brakes have insufficient cooling? Not one bit. Will Nissan answer the call? I believe that Nissan would rather obsolete a complete model without anteing-up versus admitting to any of their mistakes. Hence, Nissan's "value-laden" sales pitch approach. Look, we all the know the Z is a value.
We get it. Nissan simply needs to pull their head out of their a$$ about issues and at least allow owners' to address the issues—with Nissan parts and warranty—even if it means owners' coming out of pocket.
Original Car and Driver article:
The Lightning Lap, 2009 - Feature
ZKindaGuy, are you affiliated or do you work for Nissan?