370Z... modern day FD RX-7?

[The_Zed_car]

Definitely not Rx7 in spirit.

The FD3S is a "better" sports car.

The Z is a different beast.

[wstar]

Originally Posted by fly yellow

Whatever happened to flip up headlights on cars. Are they now illegal, or just no longer in style?

Not to derail too much about the wonderful RX-7 above, but I hate flip-up headlights. My last car had them. The reason I hate them is that they change the aerodynamics of the car on a night drive.

[nogoodname]

and then the inevitable happens....the one light pops up only

[damascus]

... that's why i don't drive it at night. it looks funny and the lights suck too!

[510z]

do not sell that car. you will regret it forever. just wait until you can afford the 370z also

[nogoodname]

you got to keep it...it's a classic


keep it as the garaged car and use it for summers

[Togo]

Love the car! I've been a huge fan of 3rd Gens since I first saw one, wayyyyy before "that movie" came out!!!

[GreenJalapeno]

wow gorgeous ! theres a white FD up my block with 40k on the chassis and a rebuilt+streetported engine. One of the cleanest i have seen... I was so close to buying it but the owner changed his mind last second.

[edeeZee]

Originally Posted by damascus

style is a part of the change - looks butt ugly with the lights up for sure...

cars are not as low in the front end anymore for modern lighting issues and more recently, due to NHSTA mandates addressing pedestrian frontal impact design. have you noticed the huge change recently in front bumper/grill/hood areas? take a look at how the MINI Cooper, Nissan Maxima, Toyota Camry, etc. have evolved. You can even see it in the new 370Z and GTR. The front end is almost completely squared off to address the pedestrian vs. automobile issue. Sad...

No way, the flip-ups are gorgeous! At least the FD does it gracefully. Yes, the sign of times deems that flip-ups are 80's-ish.

But yeah, the FD was one of my dream cars during high school. I had a friend who had the R1 brand spanking new, the red one. It fell apart easily from what I remembered i.e. the paint chipped easily, it overheated, it consumed oil too fast (I understand that rotaries consume oil), and had poor gas mileage.

I was about to buy either used S2000 AP2 or a FD prior to my 370, but I wanted to ask, are FD's really mechanical and tuning nightmares? I'd like to pick one up in the future because they're so gorgeous.

[edeeZee]

Yes: 370 = modern day FD3S

Why?
Because: both RX7 and 370 give same horsepower regardless of trim level
both handle 0.98 g's on skidpad
R1 is analogous to sport package base 6 speed--> cloth seats, no frills all business
both cars use aluminum body panels, but FD more so
both cars are gorgeous, voluptuous
both cars do a back-to-basics sports car approach i.e. no frivolous gadgets (OK maybe not the synchro-rev but it's 2009 peeps)
both are 2 seaters, no more 2+2 elongated "limo" Z a la Z32
Nissan engineers paid special attention to little things to reduce weight via the 370 base stereo, doors, hatch and hood, but 4 inches from wheel base and 2 from overall length

But uhh...the 370 can accelerate a little harder through the 0-60 and 1/4 but their top speeds are essentially the same.

So yes, the 370 grabbed the torched from the FD3S because the RX-8=fail.

[AK370Z]

Sweet car. I think somewhere down the line you'll regret selling something like that. 350Z/370Z are mass produced cars. ANYONE can walk up to a dealership and get their own. What you have in your garage is something not easy to find. Thanks for sharing

[damascus]

Originally Posted by edeeZee

No way, the flip-ups are gorgeous! At least the FD does it gracefully. Yes, the sign of times deems that flip-ups are 80's-ish.

But yeah, the FD was one of my dream cars during high school. I had a friend who had the R1 brand spanking new, the red one. It fell apart easily from what I remembered i.e. the paint chipped easily, it overheated, it consumed oil too fast (I understand that rotaries consume oil), and had poor gas mileage.

I was about to buy either used S2000 AP2 or a FD prior to my 370, but I wanted to ask, are FD's really mechanical and tuning nightmares? I'd like to pick one up in the future because they're so gorgeous.

great comments from all... the poor paint issue was resolved for the '94 & '95 model year - the '93 also had inferior interior trim pieces. rotaries do run hot. most of us have addressed that fairly easily with larger intercoolers, radiators, etc. no problems now. oil consumption? you bet! they actually have a 'OMP - oil metering pump' that sends oil into the combustion chamber to assist in cooling the motor!

[edeeZee]

Originally Posted by AK370Z

Sweet car. I think somewhere down the line you'll regret selling something like that. 350Z/370Z are mass produced cars. ANYONE can walk up to a dealership and get their own. What you have in your garage is something not easy to find. Thanks for sharing

Here's the thing. In the mid 90s, the reason why the 'twin-turbo' Japanese sports cars died is because the yen-to-dollar ratio (the yen was 'overvalued' relative to the U.S. dollar) turned $35,000 Japanese cars into $45,000+ cars. The Supra MKIV twin turbo was like $52,000 brand new. This alone made all the Japanese car manufacturers vastly reduce their outputs of these twin turbo cars. Look at Toyota now, they are no sports cars for sale. MR2 sypder and Celica=bye bye. But if Supra is revived, then 370 might get whooped on. They're into what sells mass quantity-wise i.e. Prius, Camry and the likes. And also, changes in trend back then, SUV's started becoming popular thanks to rap-stars.

It's not that they were rare per se, it's just they were getting too expensive i.e. becoming poor values and people dramatically started buying less of them.

The average rate of inflation is 3%/yr. A $35,000 sports car in 1993 is a $56,000 car today.

[Diversion]

Without getting into a reliability debate, we know the clear winner here. It's even hard to say mod for mod which one would be faster considering again, the reliability of how long a FD RX7 would last.. lastly, I'd almost RATHER swap in a LS1 and get functioning AC (if possible yet?) and turn the RX7 into a reliable, faster than a 370Z machine tbh..

Edit: And how many well kept, clean RX7s do you see anymore? I can guarantee you'd break more necks in the RX7 than you would in a new 370Z.. And us 370z owners break A LOT of necks..

[edeeZee]

Originally Posted by Diversion

Without getting into a reliability debate, we know the clear winner here. It's even hard to say mod for mod which one would be faster considering again, the reliability of how long a FD RX7 would last.. lastly, I'd almost RATHER swap in a LS1 and get functioning AC (if possible yet?) and turn the RX7 into a reliable, faster than a 370Z machine tbh..

Edit: And how many well kept, clean RX7s do you see anymore? I can guarantee you'd break more necks in the RX7 than you would in a new 370Z.. And us 370z owners break A LOT of necks..

I read into the LS-7's on Hinson's website, and uhh...I'd rather do the 2JZ swap. With the LS1, you need to cut the front of the FD's chasis, I won't compromise the structural rigidity of a car-->you automatically ruin the handling, weight distribution and SAFETY of the car when you do that. A 2JZ swap runs close to $20K, a LS1 swap is a little cheaper, I think $15,000 for a basic. If I'm gonna spend $10,000 for a blown-motor FD and another $20K on top, that = $30K...and uh, I'd rather have a brand new car with a factory warranty over some precarious "project car."

I live in S. Cali, where most people are superficial and 'what you drive is who you are.' I only seen 3 370Z's thus far on the road here in Los Angeles, and it's been out for like 6 months already. I doubt the 370 will become ubiquitous because of the current economic conditions. I sure hope they don't at least. I see more curent model Mustangs and even the new 'bumble bee Camaro' than 370's.