Which car would you pick?

Nismo89

i did it because i didnt want more than 1 passenger in my car, too much distraction and let me have an excuse to let me drive it alone EXCLUSIVE. Plus i wanted a sports car that actually "felt" like a sports car..... sat in a 5.0 and the power was lovely and all BUT the inside of it just didnt click to me and register in my head like i felt a Sports car should have............ When i sat in the Z though, it had the look and the inside of it, fit everything i wanted in what i pictured a Sports car to look. so Z it was.

for me it had to not only have power but look and FEEL like i was in a sports car.


" oh we can take your car....................... wait..... i forgot..... only 2 seats..." >

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Why yes.. Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs, The Ford Commericals,Deadliest Catch.. is my cousin.
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i outta back hand you with my right hand! and call you b*tch!..... and im Left handed!

Davey

Easy there, buddy... You don't sound like you're laughing to me.

Maybe before you went all keyboard commando because you were butthurt I said something negative about your glorious Mustang, you should have take a deep breath, relaxed, and read what I wrote objectively.

I said it handles well, but you can certainly tell it's a solid rear axle... And you can. Or at least, since I learned to drive in heavier cars with live axles and drove them for years, and recall what they felt like, the Mustang brings back faint memories of 1970's GM handling that weren't all that welcome, which I, perhaps incorrectly, attribute to the SRA. But whatever the reason, the handling is far from flawless.

It does float a bit, it does take some time to "set" into a corner, and it does feel a little odd when changing directions quickly or over mid-corner bumps. Is it the SRA? Is it the inadequate stock damping? I really don't care, I just found it less than ideal, and overall it just didn't feel as great to me as I thought the magazines have implied.

And I said that I feel that C&D glossed over the shortcomings of the suspension and car in this review, and made a joke that Ford probably paid them to. Then I said it's a really great handling car for what it is. I mean, regardless of whether those shortcomings are that horrid mess of underdamped whatever you said, or the SRA, they made it sound like it is without flaws, and it certainly is not.

As far as the lap time, well, it's putting down almost 100 HP over anything else in the game so, hey, that's just terrific, who would have expected that.

Have a terrific day arguing about magazine numbers and chassis dynos, I'll be driving my Z.

Red__Zed

I'm sorry, I know sarcasm doesn't translate well through the internet, but I thought the "come unglued like a cheap Chinese iPhone" comment would have given it away. Especially to someone so discerning.

Davey

Sure, I got your sarcasm, what makes you think I didn't? I guess dismissing someone's entire argument because they failed to comprehend your point could be interpreted as failing to interpret sarcasm, especially by someone so open-minded as yourself.

I understand now that even though I've driven cars with live axles vs. cars with IRS and think the Mustang feels like a live axle, it really doesn't, even though it has one, and I just think that because my wine smells like bananas.

This is all making perfect sense now.

Red__Zed

I'm sorry the C&D guys don't agree with you. It seems to have upset you a bit. I guess you can't win them all.

Turns out, my car still handles fantastically regardless what some dude on the internet thinks. And more importantly, since you are apparently out driving your Z, I refuse to continue this discussion in the interest of safety.

Red__Zed

I'm honestly curious whether you can articulate what you feel?

Is is the lateral movement? If so, it takes less than the cost of an oil cooler to resolve.

Is it L/R communication? Because you'll snap the axle before you notice that, and everybody that claims to notice it is smelling bananas in their wine.


So many people get caught up on these things that they forget that the major advantage of an IRS isn't inherent to the design. It is the adjustability...and it requires a rather well-sorted IRS to even notice these things. I'm jealous of the camber curves for the Z's multilink...they're insane. You don't have to worry about dialing in unreasonable rear camber at all, because it is there on demand. On the other hand, the toe curve is horrendous, because they tried far too hard to correct the 350Z's corner exit flutter.

Of course, the unsprung weight on the mustang is a bitch, but that's another discussion entirely.

Davey

The Car & Driver guys can't even agree with themselves, so it doesn't really upset me too much one way or the other what they say at this point about anything. I mean, the first line of my post was ripping on them for awarding the "best handling car" to the car with the most electronic driver assist nannies, and my post was full of laughing emoticons, such as and in case you failed to notice that.

Maybe you should take a step back from that "Another Z fanboy bashing the Mustang" podium ask yourself why I'm upset that the Mustang doesn't seem to me to handle as well as the magazines say it does in practice, on the street.

As does mine.


No, no... I lied. I won't be doing that until later. But it's nice of you to...



Wait a minute...


I thought you were'n't going to continue this discussion! Well I guess we both lied.

No, I don't think I really can articulate what it is. It just "feels like" a SRA to me. I suppose it's the connection between the left & right wheels when hitting a bump with one wheel and not the other that is apparent, but I supposed you'll just say something about banana wine or dampers or snapping axles so does it matter? I felt it. Even if it was imaginary... Which I don't believe it was for a second... Does it matter to me? Not in the slightest. I buy and pay for a car to enjoy driving it, if I don't, then, why have it, for whatever reason?

The SRA wasn't the only thing I didn't like about the Mustang, anyway. Sure, a few thousand dollars worth of suspension mods could have taken care of some of it, maybe even most of it, and I probably could have lived with the rest of it, but I realized that I liked the Z just as it was, better than the Mustang as it was, and I'd rather buy a car and leave it "as it was."

In the end it doesn't matter what you think or what Car & Driver thinks, the guy asked for opinions and I gave mine. I've driven the Z and the Mustang pretty extensively on the roads I drive on every day, and I'm a much better judge of what I enjoy driving and what "handles better" to me on those roads. You can disagree all you want but there's really no point in changing my mind that the Mustang is just far less enjoyable to drive in stock form than the 370Z.

If you want to talk about track performance, take a look at the Z's numbers without the straightaways vs. the Mustang GT in that test. I can't find the PDF anymore, but I recall they were pretty much tied... So I think it really comes down to if more straight-line acceleration is more important to you and/or which car you think is more fun to drive.

Red__Zed

Well, sounds like you've got the car for you, which I never debated. Everyone has different wants/needs, and there are certainly a number of plusses to both cars.


It sounds like your stance and reasons have changed quite a bit since your original post. No argument here on most of what is in the above post.


Thank whoever has been lending you a Mustang for letting you drive it, and have a good day

whoady4shoady

Considering your background, Id say that the best compromise and bang for buck in your situation would definitely be the 5.0. Id get the BOSS.

kenchan

i would pick the 370z.

Davey

Again?

Davey

Absolutely!

I gotcha. I think you read my post as more ripping on the Mustang than I intended, and perhaps I'm at fault for that at least partially, or even entirely, but I intended it to rip on C&D and actually car magazines in general IN LIEU OF actually driving the car yourself and deciding what is best for you, because their articles are always posting contradictory information. I used the Mustang as part of the example since I have experience with it and illustrated some negative traits I feel the car has, which I think C&D glossed over, to show that IMO you can't really rely on what any of these publications tell you.

Other mags have said "make no mistake, you can tell it's a SRA" and C&D says they can't tell. I sure as hell thought I could tell! Someone (Motor Trend?) said the steering on the Mustang was "precise and communicative" and C&D says "not a puff of smoke" as far as feedback; which is it? Well, I did think it was a little numb but it certainly wasn't over-boosted or anything.

And with respect to the other cars, other mags (and many enthusiasts) say that the Miata is the most fun you can have on two wheels, a true driver's car - And then C&D says, "Oh, except a car with more gyroscopes and electronic nannies than a black ops helicopter, that's waaaay more fun." I mean, come on.

So, that was supposed to be the point. Someone brought up C&D and how they ranked the cars and I think their rankings were ******** for the most part, and I think the only way to pick a winner is to forget what those C&D clowns say, and go drive the damn thing yourself.

whoady4shoady

Whod a thought?

SailFree

Went from G35x to 370 Z. In 8 years I had more than 2 other persons in the G ONCE. It was very reliable, which influenced Z choice. I consider the Z an Infiniti.

Choice was Infiniti G37x versus the Z. Got the Z so wife couldn't buy much when we were out and about! Only half kidding.

Also just got the old nostalgia for my youth when I owned Corvettes. But hate Vette seats.

blackcherry20

I'll have one each:
**370Z (oh-check that-have one already)
**Boss302 please-anything but blue-thanks!!

If i were only born independently wealthy--**sigh**