Loved my first 370Z test drive... Want one but what's important

wheelspeed

Hi folks!,

Test-drove some cars last Saturday. I only put about 7k miles/yr on a car while living in the 'burbs and having my 4.5 mi drive to/from work every day.

Drove two '20 Miata's... soft top and RF... Felt fun but too small mostly because at 5-11", my eyes were only about 2" below the upper windshield frame. I had to crink my neck to see when the light turned green. Too small and didn't love the lack of space behind the seats. Do you really want to stop and get out to go to the trunk for a bag of chips because a bag of chips won't fit behind the seats on a Miata?

Tried a BRZ... liked the interior space but yeah, as I've read, that mid-range is pretty uninspiring.

350Z and 370Z has been one of my favorite body styles for years, and test drove an '09 and it just seemed to "fit". The size seemed right, ergonomics seemed good, and I could see beneath the windshield frame! And power felt GREAT coming from my current Mazda 3.

So, when looking for 370Z's, what's important? I did search quite a bit, so know some things. But many things are buried in 100s of subforum pages.

Wife loves the C7 corvette, and gave me the okay to buy a new one, but I just don't think I'm a corvette dude. More of a Euro guy... 911, Cayman, old M3, M2, Z3 M Coupe,... and the 370z always seemed more like a euro car for a person who didn't have euro money or want the repair costs later. And I've owned four 80's BMWs that were awesome for motor-train reliability, but I just don't trust them (edit- trust modern BMWs) anymore. The bean-counters got to them (modern BMWs).

I'm thinking of a 2-4 year old 370Z. With all of that background, here are my questions:

CSC - I guess this is Clutch Slave Cylinder. I don't mind that some of these go bad sometimes... happened to a previous car... I replaced and it was fine. But if there is some specific thing that let's me know it would need to be replaced soon after a test drive, please let my know.

Suspension - Some old threads said the 370Z is choppy and might bounce or skip over sharp bumps in a turn. But I wonder if those old threads have a writer that doesn't understand that good cars could come with cheap shocks to save some money. If a 370z seems a little active over mid-turn bumps and has 60,000 mi on stock stuff, couldn't I just try some better shocks?

Sport vs base- Sport comes with the VLSD and cool looking brake rotors. I absolutely am not going to have a sportscar without an LSD. My old bimmers had a 60% clutch-lock up LSD and I liked how they behaved. I assumed I'd filter my 370z search to Sport to get the VLSD. But... is it good? Or, if I find a great 1-owner 370z base, is it worth it to scoop up that car and then just get an aftermarket LSD and have it installed?

As far as the brakes on a "Sport", I imagine Stop Tech or whoever makes some good brake upgrades if needed on a Base model. I might do a couple trackdays, but I've done a couple with my Mazda 3 and didn't hurt the brakes so I'm not worried... I'm not professional, so I don't abuse brakes on a trackday. Trackdays to me are just for fun and getting a little loose on the exits of turns.

While looking at cars that are 2-5 years old, do you have any suggestions for things to listen to or things to watch out for during a test drive... other than the usual things of vibrating wheels, pulling while braking, clouds of blue smoke, etc.?

And... blue or that dark red is best.

Shoeshear

Brakes:
Sport/nismo vs base is a pretty big difference. The sport akebonos, although on the heavier side, stop significantly better than the standard brakes. It's not just a new rotor. New calipers as well. I find that the stopping power of the standard brakes is plenty for the track, but definitely needs a pad upgrade, especially on tracks that tend to be harder on brakes. This car will be more abusive to brakes and tires compared to the Mazda.

Suspension:
I have the stock sport suspension and I find that it's a bit nose-dive-y for dedicated track use, but because I do mostly street driving, with 1-2 track days per year, I personally wouldn't go too much firmer that how it is stock. Otherwise, the car tends to have some mid-corner understeer, with some lift off and power-on oversteer. You can get sway bars to adjust as desired. Either way, it's certainly not a super plush/squishy ride. On the firmer side as far as passenger cars go.

CSC:
The design of the slave cylinder has the slave in the bell housing, concentric to the shaft in the trans. Unfortunately, its construction leads to relatively early failure, especially with harder use. People seem to have variable luck with it, but generally, it's anticipated as something to be fixed on most 370zs. A lot of us go with an aftermarket slave that is either not concentric, or is of sturdier construction. There are a few different options out there. I went with the CMAK from Z-speed, I think. It auto-adjusts, whereas, some of the other kits need manual adjustment.

VLSD:
Not one of the Zs strong-suits. Much like the one on the E46 M3, the VLSD on this car can overheat relatively easily with heavy use and it will lose it's ability to lock, effectively converting into an open diff. Obviously, much more drivable than some of the aggressive counterparts. If you're not tracking very often, it probably doesn't matter. If you track regularly, it's probably worth switching it out at some point. It's on my "someday" to-do list, but I haven't gotten around to it.

Sport vs base: definitely opinion. If you like the synchro-rev match, you can only get that in the sport or Nismo. If you don't care, and plan to do a huge number of modifications anyway (i.e. you're going to do brakes, aftermarket LSD, wheels, etc.), it might be worth it to start with a base and put that money towards the mods. I went with sport because of the wheels, brakes, and LSD. I don't plan on doing a crazy big brake kit, the wheels offer me tires that are a bit more appropriate for track use compared to the base-model 18s (and I like the look of these), and an aftermarket LSD (I was looking at helical) was going to be out of budget. You're looking at around $1.2k for a new helical LSD, plus install or the time for install if you're doing it yourself. The Rays wheels that are stock on the sport are relatively light for their size, especially for an OEM wheel. The biggest downside for me, for the sport and the base, are the seats. They're not bad, but I found the Nismo seats to hold better around corners. Not a deal breaker for me obviously.

Things to look for. Other than the usuals you mentioned. The rear diff bushing can pop and you'll see this black stain all over near the diff and rear subframe. If that's the case, make sure the bushing has been replaced, or plan on replacing it. I'm sure others who are more knowledgeable can chime in. Hope that helps!

Ultrakla$$ic

C7 z06

/end thread

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Quicksilvers

For a Japanese sports car overall the Nissan 370Z is a very reliable and dependable vehicle to own and are very solid. The Nissan 370Z is a wanted vehicle in the current vehicle market and they have excellent resale value which is a plus. The only con is the minor factory defects which can easily be corrected. If you are truly a Nissan 370Z enthusiast and love our cars you will be willing to purchase a Nissan 370Z and do the minor repairs our cars need. I’ve went with friends and even people I don’t know to inspect and test drive used Nissan 370Z’s people were interested in purchasing. The only issues I’ve found were wrapped rotors, leaking differential bushings needing replacement,and failed VLSD’s aka one wheel peel. I would recommend to anyone purchasing a Nissan 370Z or waiting for Nissan to unveil the Z35 model which will be well worth the wait.

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Mr. Clean

wheelspeed

Thanks for the very useful replies. A helical LSD is a little more than I was thinking just for the parts, so that's useful info for choosing a Sport vs Base, along with the better brake setup. Sounds like I'll look for a Sport but won't disregard a base if the right one came around. Thanks again!

Ventruck

I think a base is the way to go if you're going for a very elaborate build.

Sport's real gem is the SRM. As much as people may flex their rev-matching abilities, it's undeniably convenient even in just everyday driving. The brake pedal sits pretty high imo and that makes for an awkward feeling for me when I try to match manually.

Taking cooling and CSC as an upfront cost is perhaps better than most other cars. I was shopping a C7 - and mind was thinking might as well do a Z06 at this rate - but I couldn't reason with getting rid of the Z or having it sit. All the imperfections (and that's each to their own) just grew on me. As much as I don't like how some people over-glorify the car (and that happens in any community), it's a real nice car. Even something as simple as the somewhat driver-centric interior is something I can't find with most other cars at price point.

JARblue

Well said.

I'm happy with my sport purchase. The value was definitely there for me - I daily drove the car for years without modding any of the sport package items. I'm now in the process of turning it into a track/autox car. And the only sport pkg item I'll probably change is the wheels, which would be the case on any model Z. BBK and aero would be way down the line and dependent on my skill progress.

From what I can see, the only real PITA to upgrade of the sport upgrades is the rear spoiler. There are a lot of mounting holes on the hatch and most aftermarket spoilers are going to expose anywhere from a couple of holes to all of them after installation.

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Spooler

I am a Nismo guy, can't beat the factory body kit for quality and looks.

OptionZero

Nismo vs all other versions: the price difference is only justified for the exterior, as buying nismo components and having them painted is gonna be a PITA

Otherwise, grab a sport model for the brakes. Everything else is getting tossed out anyways

The CSC is a time bomb, so just plan on doing a clutch job when you get the car:
lighter flywheel, aftermarket clutch, and one of the clutch slave solutions (Zspeed or Z1)
It solves the CSC issue and opens up the revs

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OptionZero Build Thread

tonythetiger

I went with base model knowing I was going to mod pretty much everything. no regrets so far, I try to go occasional track days throughout the year. Only major issue was fuel pump failed and csc went out on me.

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alcheng

if you don't drive your Z like you stole it, there's not much you need to change.

I have mine since 2011, MT, have 190000km on it and it's running strong.

I don't gun it on every traffic light just to let you know.

I bought the base, cos I know I will put in wheels and BBK and aftermarket audio.

Thus it depends on how are you gong to drive your Z, track or DD, or if you are going to mod it like there's no tomorrow, that will help you to decide Sports vs Base.

Regarding the CSC, I upgrade it to that heavy duty one while changing the clutch, just a peace of mind.


CAD$0.02

Dynamis

Get an automatic and save yourself the headache. People might not like it, but the auto is superior to the stick in pretty much every way.

To boot, you can drive it like a stick any time you want.

FPenvy

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324whp/258wtq AAM Tuned |F.I. NonRes CF CBE/NonRes TestPipes #373|UpRev Tuner|Akuma Motorsports Intakes|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler

FPenvy

better chime in again so you actually make it to $.02 USD

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324whp/258wtq AAM Tuned |F.I. NonRes CF CBE/NonRes TestPipes #373|UpRev Tuner|Akuma Motorsports Intakes|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler

FPenvy

just under 80k miles on my 09 7AT and it's never seen "D" since i bought.

only drive in manual mode.

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324whp/258wtq AAM Tuned |F.I. NonRes CF CBE/NonRes TestPipes #373|UpRev Tuner|Akuma Motorsports Intakes|Z1 34 Row Oil Cooler