First Drive = One Problem
 

First of all, everything that you have read is true. It's a drop dead mean looking beast. Rock solid, not one sqeak or rattle on some very rough roads. Just one thing, the wheel well liners are made of a hard plastic. I ran over some small stones and I could not believe how loud it was in the car. I'm sure some material could be added to insulate the road noise. The wheels on the sports package are perfect. The wheel gap in the fenders is acceptable. You did a great job Nissan.

Sounds good! Need to experience the noise in person.

Interesting. First time I've ever heard of this specific problem before.

It not a small problem. How did the factory not catch this blunder? I used a product called Dynamat in an old Porsche once, it will do the trick.

I'm not sure if I would call it a blunder. Any car makes noise when you spit up rocks. A sports car that isn't meant for luxury is understandably lacking in 'insulation' from road noise.

No reviewer has mentioned it, it'll be interesting to see if it comes up as more people test drive the car. I'll make sure to run over some rocks when I test drive one :tup:

Namir, believe me. I've owned many sports cars and a hate to sound negative. The new Z is exceptional in every way. But the material that the factory selected to use in fender liners is mistake, an NVH engineering mistake.

Eh, I'll have to hear it for myself to decide if you're totally right, obsessive, or just a total nut.

I found it. From Car and Driver (Feb. 08) "Finally—and this is the big one—the sticky Bridgestones double as megaphones. Boom, slap, echo, hiss, the swishing of water, the pinging of pebbles. You name a road-borne sound, and the tires can magnify it. Perhaps it’s the fault of paper-thin wheel-well liners, because neither engine nor driveline NVH find their way as effortlessly to your tympanic membranes."

February '08? They were running around in pre-production models back then most likely.

I'm sorry Feb. 09 2009 Nissan 370Z - Road Test/Japanese Performance/High Performance/Hot Lists/Reviews/Car and Driver - Car And Driver

funny. guys looking to reduce the weight in the G are going with thinner liners and not caring about the road noise. It is a sport car geet over it guys.

+1. It's definitely not meant to be a cushy Lexus.

Hmm, looks like they did mention it. I must have overlooked it in all my excitement haha.


Oh well, in the end... I would have bought a lexus if I wanted a nice quiet ride, I think I'll get past the noise, or just avoid roads with pebbles on them.
Good to know though.

Brilliant, screw up the NVH on a 3700 lb car to save 8 pounds. I'm glad that I'm not a dumbass kid anymore. I'm just a dumbass adult. Happy New Year and cheers!

+1. I put drag radials on my cars and those pick up rocks and throw 'em around like crazy. If I was going 10 MPH down a side street, I was listening to rocks getting thrown around. Doesn't bug me one bit. I bought the car for a purpose.