Engine harshness

bvl · 06-20-2011, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicknick

I do not take offense, as you have not fully read my post and if you have read my post fully then you have come away with prejudice. No i don't own a 370Z but until recently I was seriously considering it. Remember Motoring journalists don't own the car either but they make commentary don't they? That is all i did. Oh and the MX5 is obviously not as fast a 370z in a straight line, but please understand there is more to driving than straight line performance.

I think whoever that poster was quite a while ago wqas onto something regarding MX5 doors. Don't knock until you have tried and i have tried the 370z on numerous occasions. So in a nutshell.....aGIAN..... the Z is a great car, no doubt, it has many things in its favour, looks, handling, quality, braking, features etc BUT for me this quality of engine noise for a car such as this just turned me off, for now. Maybe I'll revisit the Z showroom again and drive a manual Z like I originally did and then i thought WOW. The auto simply made the engine too thrashy.

I think you need to step back and more clearly ask your questions

Harshness and noise are very subjective.

I am in the camp of the OEM exhaust sound is under tuned: many ways to fix this (I went with a NISMO, which still is a bit understated but a step up). Example: The OEM G37 exhaust is more aggressive then a Z, which is unacceptable

The second part of the engine sound equation is intake, which IMHO is actually quite good in the Z. Its got a good growl without sounding obnoxious.

Coming from the honda world, then into a Miata (I known them inside and out, having driven NA/NB/NC, and owned a FM II NA6 for 12 years) the NA/NB engines were very harsh compared to a Honda engine...but I learned to live with it just fine. I think that quite a few Z owners are in that camp too.

Mazda spent a lot of R&D on the exhaust tune of the Miata, its one of the defining characteristics of the car.

NVH often is a function of chassis and tires. We own a 2010 roadster (which basically replaced my FM II Miata), and I can tell you road noise in the car is because of those enormous tires, but compared to the NA6 miata, the Z is quieter in every respect. Even with those big donuts, road noise is subdued compared to running 15" Kumho V700's on my old Integra...tires matter

The Z has a much stronger chassis with almost no bump shake, quieter top (layered cloth vs. 1 piece vinyl), and less wind noise at speed.

Subjective still, but if you actually measured things with a sound meter I would bet you will show lower readings. If you are not happy with how the Z feels then don't compromise on such a thing: continue to drive a MX5 or whatever ride makes you smile the most.

When we went to replace the miata, we had a list of must haves...we didn't sway from that list. Somehow, we ended up on the Z. Is it perfect? Hell no. But for the money, we thought it was a fantastic package for what we were looking for.

My top 3 wishes would be:

A real exhaust note from the factory
smooth out the valve train above 5000
Can a brother get a clutch that doesn't clunk at low speed please

- b

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