They took a great car and made it much better.
 

I had no idea that Nissan had plans to totally remake the Nissan Z from the ground up. To be honest with you I was never that excited about the appearances of the 350Z but this new 370Z is a show stealer.

I can't wait to get one. I test drove one the other day. As soon as I put the car into first gear and pulled out of the parking lot I was sold. I had NEVER driven anything as good as the 370Z before. I plan on renting one first and buying one later that is fully loaded without the Nismo.

I wonder who else decided to buy the Z based on a test drive.

Just curious, what other cars have you driven?

RX8...













...hehehe

an 82 Mercedes based on his profile ;)

Where can you rent one? Hertz doesn't have one in their inventory.

That comment about the looks of the 350 hurts my feelings. ;)

I actually prefer the 350 over the 370, but I haven't seen them enough to really like them. Yet....

I've driven the Elise, 911, 300ZX, and a few other sporty cars. I like them all for different reasons. I like my current car because it's mine and I had wanted it for so long.

AVIS has the 350Z coupe and convertible in some of there lots. I rented one in Sacramento (seen the convertible today) about a year ago, I now own a Z because of it :-).

I travel in and out of some major cities but have not seen any 370 models, just the 350. I would imagine by this coming summer AVIS might pick up a some 370 models.

Also, if you find one at an AVIS near you, you can always print off a coupon from there website worth $20 off a rental.

:icon18:

Looks-wise and performance-wise, yes; but I keep reading 'bout little nuisances like the power windows acting up, oil-temp issues, still the old clunky MT...Don't get me wrong, their engine, ATs, cooling system, electrical system, etc., are tops. It's just those "mini bugs" that keep popping up through the years that get to me.

Sportscar people are very picky on new cars. If you look at the actual reliability ratings and number of complaints, the 370Z ranks quite high in the grand scheme of things

SAME HERE :tup:

Power Windows - There is no issue with them. The only issue is the reset process is forgotten by many after unplugging their battery. Definitely not an issue.

Oil-temp - Only a problem for those that track their car. Sure, it's slightly higher in some Z's than what the 2004.5 350z's ran under normal conditions (from what I've read), but daily street driving we should see zero negative impact. For tracking, an oil cooler not being an option or even standard is more of an issue.

"Clunky" MT - Nope. Is it a perfect MT, no, but I wouldn't say that there are issues. Most of the small nuances that people complain about apparently diminish quite a bit after some mileage gets put on the car.

I have owned:
> '90 Toyota Celica GT (current)
> '98 Ford Mustang GT Convertible (sold)

I considered buying each of the following (no joke, constant online research, visits to dealerships, etc.):

> 350z (sat in it, didn't like it, no point in test driving)
> Honda S2000 (test drove)
> Chevy Corvette C6 (test drove)
> Porsche 911 Carrera 4 (test drove)
> Porsche Cayman S (sat in)
> Porsche Boxster S (sat in)
> Ford Mustang GT California Special (test drove)
> Ford Mustang GT500 (test drove)

I had been car shopping for 1.5 years.

Then, the 370z came out, and I heard some good things about it. I visited the local dealership to check it out. Walking up to the 370z, I started to fall in love with it. I sat down in the driver’s seat, and it sealed the deal. The Nissan engineers really put some time into designing this car. I test drove five 370s for a total of eight test drives before making the decision on what I was going to order.

2010 370z Touring/Sport/Nav Red/black w/carpeted trunk mats & floor mats (I.E. every factory option less the orange illuminated kickplates which I don’t think would look very nice on a red car.)

The 370z was the by far, the best value out of any of the cars that I considered. I could have saved at least $10k and bought the used 911. But the 370z trumps all of the above cars for reasons I can’t fully explain.

I think the kick plates look great, even on my red Z.

There's a DIY out there for replacing the LED with another color. Even if you didn't hook up the power to the orange LED, unlit they would look better than the stock kick plates, imo.

Sounds like you did your homework!

:iagree:

Well, there is the "issue" of hearing clunk-clunk-clunk when depressing the clutch in first gear while the engine is under load. This has been highly discussed in several threads on this site, and I didn't think that it was resolved by adding mileage. Nonetheless, the transmission is a GREAT transmission, and the clunk-clunk-clunk noise can be avoided. Its just not something you would expect from a $40k sports car. Although I guess it isn't... it is a $30k sports car with $10k in options lol.

EDIT -- ths may not be the MT anyway now that I think of it. Wasn't the issue that I'm referring to somewhere in the vacinity of the clutch/flywheel? If so then correct, this is a perfect MT!