actually on the contrary... after all the filing and paperwork was done ( i got top dollar for my Accent, since it was in great condition and less than 25 k miles on it for a 2008) The Z is my 2nd car. and the woman that finalized the paperwork looked at me and said " arent you excited at all? your now the Owner of a BRAND NEW 2011 NISSAN 370Z...... and yet.... your just sitting there, straight faced and silent. .. your not the least bit excited?"

" no im excited-"
" your not exactly showing it"
" i am, but its now my car now. and i probably will have this thing forever... excitement can wait"
" thats a very mature way of viewing it, most kids 21 years old like you would be smiling from ear to ear and literally bouncing off the walls...your.... just....sitting there stoned face"
" im excited. "
" well thats good"

i love my car. and if anyone else besides me drives it, im texting, calling. exc to get it home (mom, dad, exc) lol .

my excitement for the Z, comes with me being very protective of my first ever sports car. you know i hear all these stories about guys in the 50s, 60s and 70's saying " i remember my first sports car.. man... i really wish i still had it"....i want to be able to say " yea i remember my first sports car... its right there, and still runs perfect" :tiphat::driving:

do i have a larger than life grin at the thought of having it? you bet haha.. now

Regarding the Porsche Boxster Vs. 370Z comparison, pay attention to what you're actually comparing...

A Base Boxster has a 265hp 2.7L engine*. It's rated @ 30mpg highway. $50K
A Boxster S has a 315hp 3.4L engine*. It's rated @ 28mpg highway. $61K

A Base Cayman has a 265hp 2.7L engine. It's rated @ 27mpg highway. $52K
A Cayman S has a 320hp 3.4L engine. It's rated @ 26mpg highway. $62K.
A Cayman R has a 330hp 3.4L engine*. It's rated @ 27mpg highway. $66K.

*These engines are newly Direct-Injected, which accounts for their MPG improvement over the other engines.
(And no, this isn't from memory, I'm looking at porsche.com for the numbers)

A 370Z has a 332hp 3.7L engine. It's rated @ 26mpg highway. $33K. No direct-injection.

A base Boxster should trump a 370Z's MPG because its engine is direct-injected, a liter smaller, and produces 70hp (and 60 ft/lbs of torque) less than the 3.7 in the Z.

If you want the ~330HP & similar torque that a 370Z brings to the table, you've got to look at a Boxster/Cayman S or better. At that point, you're within a couple of MPG of a 370Z. A Cayman S, is exactly the same @ 26mpg. 1-2 mpg differences are quite irrelevant, as the difference will vary much more than this by driving style, driver, conditions, etc. And especially when we're talking about $60K+ cars, who cares about 1mpg more or less?

Am I happy with my Z's fuel economy? Yes. The EPA window sticker on my 2011 370Z MT says 18 city, 26 highway. With 6,700 miles on my odometer, I'm getting 16-19 in the city (highly dependent on the trip distance & my right foot). Steady, 70mph cruise-control highway with negligible wind, I'm seeing ~27 mpg. This is stock + K&N drop-ins, if that makes any difference (which I doubt).

I would humbly suggest that if your Z is literally only getting 20mpg on the highway, something may be wrong with your Z. I'd get it checked out. :tiphat:

this has nothing to do with mpg. please post comments about tornado generator and effective product of the like.

:tup: Nice analysis work,

augustus is sailfree in disguise. :icon17:

Hi Gang!
 

I agree. My original post said, "I didn't buy the car for its fuel economy...".

Even though some folks appear to have not given that statement the weight I had hoped for, I want to thank you all for posting in this thread. And some made a good point: I was comparing my real-world experience to ad copy. And I have to confess, I drive with a heavy foot--hey!, that's what the car is for, no? :icon18:

So again, thanks to all for your contributions here. I like my Z and I like this forum: they're both about having fun.

i noticed mr.onzedge really held back on his post cause he really wanted to remove the "oxy" out of that post after posting it. :icon17: haha

:tiphat:

But not too practical for sports car shopping.:p

I'll see you at the pumps!!! Or maybe not, maybe I'll be at the pump up the street!:roflpuke2:

:icon18:

I'm a big Porsche fan, but more towards the Cayman S model...kind of right in the middle of all of them. Anyway, I don't think you're comparing apples to apples.... I think if you bought the Z to be a straight line beast, you bought the wrong car. While 300 + RWHP isn't too bad, my pontiac solstice was pushing that to the ground and did 0-6 in under 5 seconds. Now thats a power to weight issue too but after around 80 MPH, its not going to contend with a big V8 or muscle car. Put it into the turns and most V8s wont see anything but its tail lights. The Porsche is a great car and each has its own purpose. After having the Z for a few months now, it's definately designed for carving up the curves. :tup: Its a purpose built car. I bought mine as a daily driver, so I made no mistake that this was going to be a canyon carver for the daily grind and not a weekend trailer queen. And for the $, I think it's pretty refined; campared to my previous Pontiac Solstice GXP. There are a lot of great cars on the road to choose from. Perhapse look at getting a used Porsche for the weekend rides or something? :tiphat:

I actually thought 20mpg was still pretty good. I usually average around 22-28mpg of mixed, but mostly highway driving. On the highway, I can get it up to the low 30mpg's......then I see an open stretch of road and forget I'm trying conserve fuel, lol. Lately though, I've been borrowing my sister's Civic for commuting while I finish detailing the Z in the garage. I'm getting close to 40 mpg on the highway. I forgot how nice $40 fill up's with regular were.....but man, the commute is oh soooooo boring. It's like driving an appliance.

:icon18:

:bs:i WAS averaging 25.3 miles.. but there's more than one person that hijack the key to mine. therefore the MPG is around 21.3 right now