bjhines

The Datsun 240Z was a smashing hit and it was a pure/nasty little sports car. The Datsun beat everything even 5 times as expensive. It absolutely turned the sports car market upside down. Nissan has never had the guts to do it since they dropped the Datsun name. Nissan Motor Co. thought Datsun sounded "less Japanese" and would appeal to Americans better. Once they crushed the old plastic-doggy-doo-makers misnomer they dropped Datsun and used their maiden name Nissan. They also made more expensive Zs to suit a wider market. It was just not the same incredible Z after that.

The 370Z is a limited car. It only has 2 seats and you can't fit 3 occupants with 2 mountain bikes inside it. It is also too soft and delicate for track use. It has potential, but only with a great deal of money and effort.

My beef with all of the Nissan cars built on that chassis is the complexity of the suspension and sub-frame mounting points. By the time you have replaced all the squishies you have a NON-streetable car. If I ever wanted one I would buy the base model, toss everything chassis and brake related, and go pure aftermarket.

The BMW offers higher performance and durability for occasional track time with a perfectly streetable car. It has 4 doors, 4 seats, fold-down rears with a large trunk. It has 50/50 balance, fantastic brakes, holds 8 quarts of oil in reserve, durable driveline, and solidly mounted suspension components. Track prep is easy and weekday-reversable. Change brake pads/fluid, change wheels/tires, align for track duty and go tear it up. The BMW was a much more expensive car to buy, and a much better car for dual duty track/street.