I will not post a new thread until I have my Z
 

If I buy my Z it is not that up settling for 2nd best. I want a reliable 2 seat coupe that's enjoyable to drive and is affordable.

If I could afford any car, I would purchase an E-Type Jaguar coupe with modern electrics.

Perhaps I would purchase the base Cayman if I could justify the cost. USAA car buying service arranged for a great price. However, I have to be somewhat rationale.

I hope I can pull the trigger this week. Base Z, black 6 speed. I wish it had hill assist like the new Cayman.

people have been driving w/o hill assist for as long as cars have been around. i think you will manage just fine. just practice. you'll get used to the car.

I agree. Neither my XKE, nor my 370 has a hill assist. I live on a mountain and hilly Frisco is only 20 minutes or less away. You can do it too.

Why? Connecticut isn't that hilly. Hill assist can't do anything that you can't do yourself. Use a low gear to obtain engine braking and use the brake pedal when you need to.

I was at a BMW event when they were unveiling their hill assist system, and sitting in the passenger seat I was asking the driver "and why do we need this?".

What is "Hill Assist?"

What is its purpose? Please explain it to me in layman's terms, because to the best of my knowledge, the hand-brake is used on an up-hill start, and engine-braking is used going down a hill. Neither of these require some fancy crap with a new name like "Hill Assist". Is "Hill Assist" something else, or is it like these "manumatics" that all the girls I know use as an excuse to claim they "drive a manual"?

More accurately it is called Hill Start Assist and Hill Decent Control.

Hill Start Assist holds the brakes for you until you start accelerating eliminating the need to use the e-brake or 3 foot it.

Hill Decent Control prevents the vehicle from accelerating down hills at low speeds. You can use the gas pedal to change speed but it will hold that speed by applying the brakes. Only works < 25 mph.

The more we buy into these new technologies the more nails are driven into the coffin of 'independent' driving. There is a technology out there that will actually align your car behind the one in front with the same technology and then align the car behind you etc similar to a train on the tracks. What fun is that!!!! But that's where it is going somewhere down the road. Why? Safety (and that's ok) and for those who are too bloody lazy to put any effort into real driving. They'd rather text away than pay attention to the road. Or, let the car park itself because they lack the skills. Not that it's difficult, duh! :tiphat:

its a good and bad thing this kind of technology. I think its similar to synchro rev match. Yes, it makes it easier to drive stick and takes some of the required skill out of driving. However, it also maybe helping to attract more people to driving stick, who otherwise would have not considered it. The fact of the matter is that less and less people are wanting to drive stick with each passing year. Its not even offered on a lot of vehicles anymore. Once enough people stop wanting it, it won't be made anymore. So if this helps keep it alive i'm all for it. However, like synchro rev match, it SHOULD be able to be turned off, which as far as i know, on many models, you can't turn off the hill assist, and thats kind of stupid.

Sheps, good luck on the decision, man! Post pics of your new ride when you get it!

Get a 370Z, you wont regret it...I have had 4 Z's now and never regret any of them...I have a 2010 GTR for my track car and I am telling you Nissan is the best, I have been a fan since the beginning. Only bad thing about Nissan is how they try to void my GTR's warranty for anything....Even if I fart in the car, it voids the air conditioner warranty, ridiculous!

Oh yeah, throw that Jaguar out the window....I will personally hate you for buying a Jaguar! lol :p

Have you BEEN to Connecticut?!?:icon17: Hills galore. But I agree, good technique eliminates the need to help on hills. But then again, I don't understand the synchro rev thing either - been toe heel shifting since I was 17. [Dave puts on flame resistant suit and waits]:ugh2:

Synchro Rev and the hill assist are just little luxuries and not really necessary...The synchro rev is more a marketing scheme in my opinion, but I like the option/function of it.

Good luck! I'll love either one! Hope u get the Z!

Buy an automatic if you are afraid of rollbacks, but then my Prius has that feature anyway.

Honestly if your afraid of roll backs to that extent, dont buy a sports car period lol.

Just PMed you some aggressive deals!

hill assist, omgz :roflpuke2:

Learn to use your bloody handbrake :shakes head:

I macho macho man me no need Rev match or hill assist me hate technology technology for girls mmmmmmmmm girls woman! go get me meat and dual clutch transmission

Girly men use the handbrake. :p

You guys just crack me up!!!!!

But professordave, ure only 18.　　:D ;) (4 decades ago)

No flame suit needed. I'm a heel-and-toe shifter as well. I was originally looking at touring Z's without sport packages, thinking I'd like the ride with those 18" wheels better and I didn't need those extras.

After test driving the Synchro-Rev, I was amazed and had to get it.

I think with hill assist, I'd like it too. I love the direct connection with manuals, but fighting hills (and traffic) is something I'd rather do without.

WTF is skirt assist?

I've never found a need for this tech either. I was driving around the Rocky mountains in a 84 Prelude with no problems. It's a bit hairy at times going over some of those large passes but thats part of the fun. Knowing there were emergency safety ramps every mile helped my nerves a bit. :)

Yeah, I love to stroke my handbrake whilst starting up on a hill, makes me real horny :tiphat:.

Seriously, I guess it's because we Europeans are more used to driving manual cars than Americans and thus options such as hill assist wouldn't even be considered when buying a car. In fairness, over in Europe, a lot of people just press on the foot brake to start up on a hill but this means you'll most probably move backwards quite a bit.

Personally as far as hillstarts are concerned, I was taught to use the handbrake and apply a little gas, when the car starts moving off you then release the handbrake. This is very easy to do and prevents the car from moving backwards. I just don't see the point of getting hill assist or park assist, or whatever kind of unnecessary assist. As far as ESP, ABS, etc., it's a different matter, it's for security reasons which I'm personally all for. I could do without Synchro Rev but then again it's just a gimmick on the 370z and is not optional in any case so no choice.

Also, if the Z had more options to offer it would probably increase the base price for it. The reason why there's not many options on the Z is to reduce factory cost for production. As far as I can tell they don't make Zs on order but rather they churn out Zs every day with different optional combinations, i.e. some Zs are produced having sports package, some base, some nav + sport, some with persimmon, different body colours, etc. If you were to bring out more options such as hill start assist, etc. then the cars would have to be built on order and this would mean a more expensive base price for the Z.

OK I'm not 100% sure what I say above is fact or not (built on order or churned out from factory) but it makes sense and it's pretty much based on what my dealer has told me (which is probably bollocks but oh well...). Someone will know better if i'm wrong ;)/

Someone, hold my Handbrake?

:iagree::iagree:

Besides I like to make the guy behind me nervous when I start to drift back before accelerating away on a hill...

You have to keep the people around you a just a little bit afraid of what you will do next...

i think theres nothing wrong with hill start assist if its a feature that can be turned off. come on, who here wasn't a little nervous the first time(s) they started on hills when they were learning how to drive stick?

:eekdance:I'm going to insist that we count it as 3 decades, as I was 17 29 years ago :icon17:

Funny story about the handbrake method - while teaching my son to drive (on an RX-8 of all things), he employed the handbrake-hold method on a steep hill. He gave it a ton of gas, dumped the clutch, forgot to take off the handbrake and layed a patch about 15 feet long before stalling. :eek:

The combined smell of clutch disc and Potenza could be detected for quite a while.:facepalm:

^ thats a funny story :icon18:

honestly, i feel like the handbrake method is more daunting for someone new to driving stick.

'ok real simple. With your foot on the brake, press the clutch in, put the shift lever in first, pull the hand brake, but hold down the button, now let go of the brake, gradually let off the clutch and give it a little bit of gas, and then release the handbrake.'

OR: 'do the same exact thing you normally do when starting, but let the clutch out a little bit further before taking your foot off the gas, and move your foot from the brake the the gas quickly.'

Over here we always learn on manuals so it's pretty much like second nature. But I totally understand that it might be problematic if you're taught on an automatic and then given an uber powerful manual car to try this on.

During the driving test over here you have to go through a hill start without going backwards, otherwise you've most probably failed. So we learn to use the handbrake right from the start. But most people can't be bothered to use it when they gain some experience and just use the foot on brake --> gas method.

I like that method better. it allows me to text message and put on make-up :ugh2:

:roflpuke2:

ahhh, sorry doc, my mistake. :tup:

that's a funny story. :bowrofl:

Yeah, it had to be the first time I experience drive wheels spinning like crazy while being "held" by the e-brake at the same time!