Why can't very capeable people do what Ford can ....

Davey

UNKNOWN_370

This is what you're missing. The Z... is a NA 3.7 ltr V6 that rivals a challenger rt in performance. V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6VVVVVVVV666666. the key word is v6. just the fact it can hit 13.1 second quarters on an automatic stock is a huge feat for a V6. 1g of grip for 35k? Cutting edge technological breakthroughs left and right in the car like srm and vvel. Rays engineering wheels... Not enkei's or some other middle brand. Rays!!! Akebono brakes on the Z are the shortest real world stopping brakes under 70k. carbon fiber driveshaft and radiator housing and high grade aluminum everywhere.

Why does the Z need to be as fast as a mustang? i say make it a permanently low volume car in the USA. 3k units a year including nismo models and sport pkg. let us bid for a Z. American market doesnt deserve the next gen Z or the GT-R. Everyone buy a mustang if they care that much about straight line... let europe and asia keep enjoying what we cant understand in america.

I totally understand now why it took 30 years for nissan to bring the skyline this way. Most just don't get it.

mults

I agree 100%. If you want a car with a V8, RWD and just like every other "chach" car out there, get a Mustang, Corvette or Challenger. If you want something that is faster than 95% of the vehicles on the road, and a truely unique car, get a Z! If you want a Z that is as fast as the cars listed, then you are only a few mods away.

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mults
40th Anniversary 'Z', 312.06HP/260.58TQ (Dynosty EcuTek Tune)
Build Date/Number: 1/27/2010 #706
Berk HFC + CBE, R2C CAI, Clear Bra, Cleveland Z Club

UNKNOWN_370

YUP... Besides, I don't see anyone saying, "THE CAYMAN COSTS $60K+ AND IS SLOWER THAN THE MUSTANG". The Z may or may not be in the porsche's league as a budget version???? But they offer the same "TYPE" of sport driving. I dont see anyone saying the cayman needs to be faster than the mustang or its price rival... The corvette Z06.

b1adesofcha0s

I'm a firm believer in "competition breeds innovation", especially for the automotive industry. Why wouldn't you want the Z to match or best the performance of the Mustang? Staying competitive with its competitors is the only way the Z will survive and live to get better. You're missing the fact that the Mustang is not only faster than the Z in a straight line, but also around a track.

Nissan should be setting their aims high rather than low. Why go after the V6 when you have the capability to take down the bigger and badder V8 mustang/camaro/etc. That's what it did with the GT-R and it has earned so much recognition because of it. They could have easily had it best the BMW and Mercedes in it's price range, but instead they went after more exotic supercars that cost like 5 times as much.

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Project: b1adeZmobile (2009 370Z) | Uprev Tune by AAM Competition | Berk Exhaust
Project: b1adeZmobile 2.0 (2014 C7 Z51) | Corsa Xtreme Exhaust

UNKNOWN_370

NISSAN370Z=V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V6V 6V6V6V6V6V6
MUSTANG GT=V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V8V 8V8

INNOVATION???????? If nissan chooses to FI and reduce weight on the Z to be faster than a stang... Awesome. but dont forget what the Z is. And the Z is not and never was or should be a v8 or 4cyl.
Selling it out with a 5.6 to appease some domestic muscle-jocker is out of the question to ANY TRUE Z ENTHUSIAST.

REMEMBER THE GTR COST 106K NICELY EQUIPPED AND THE MUSTANG AT ITS HIGHEST IS 70K. gtr point not taken

Actually the shelby starts at $54,900
The nissan gt-r starts at $96,820

HUGE DIFFERENCE

Spikuh

I see letters and numbers, but little more.

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wolf370z

Cars like the 370z are nearly extinct in today's car market. There's practically no sports cars in its price range that actually compete with it. The closest competitors to it are the Boxster ($48k+ MSRP), Cayman ($51k+), BMW Z4 ($48k+). The Z starts about $10k less (of course you can option it much higher) and can offer similar (or better) performance to these other cars.

The closest things on the cheaper end of the scale consist of the Subaru BRZ/Scion FS-R, Miata, etc. The STi and EvoX could potentially belong here for sake of those car's performance, but they do not fit the "sports car" bill, sorry Suby and Mitsu fans!

The problem is those little cars simply cannot keep up performance wise when you compare them to the 370z. The Z is in sort of this middle ground where it's powered by a (relatively) large displacement NA 6 cylinder. It doesn't have any sort of F.I., meaning that it has less tuning potential at the same price point (i.e. $3k into a FI car gets you much further than $3k into an NA car). So it's not sporting a smaller size 6 cylinder with FI nor is it powered by an NA v8 (like the Mustang GT or Camaro SS, which are similar in price).

So what you end up with is this sort of unique car that doesn't seem to fit into any other categories, isn't seen often on the road, and offers true sports car feeling and performance all in "fairly" entry level price point. I kind of enjoy this notion of minor exclusivity at a fairly cheap price. I hope I'm not taking this too far, but you're almost "pigeonholed" into the 370z if you're looking for a sports car that makes around 350hp.

So now I'm coming to the real meat of my post; I apologize for the massive introduction. There is no real DIRECT competition for the 370z, that's why you see it getting roped into comparisons with the Mustang GT, Camaro SS, and Challenger SRT8 (i.e. the muscle car crowd). The Z's legacy lies in 6 cylinder engines, but times have changed. Honestly, I enjoy seeing the return of muscle, I'm a huge muscle car fan and I love the idea of bang for your buck, that's the heritage of muscle cars.

My idea is that Nissan should use that "miniature Z" platform to produce a new model that hails back to the 240sx. Make it into a small "sporty" car with a turbo 4 cylinder, back seats, and rivals the performance of the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ (give it a bit more power, it's great to create more competition). Meanwhile, take the 370z into the v8 direction. Develop a version of one of their existing v8's, call it a VK56VHR (I'm not too good with naming schemes) and make it a higher-revving performance oriented version of the existing 5.6L.

So now they offer a turbo 4 cylinder sporty car that could hint at the later year 240sx (97-98, or "kouki") styling. The G37 is still available if you want a sporty 3.7L NA v6. Even the sedan's that Nissan offers can still be "peppy" with the 3.5L v6.

Lastly, the Z is now a v8 powered sports car that doesn't take the back seat to the muscle cars, while still managing to produce that euphoric feeling of driving a sports car!

Of course all of this is just pure speculation and sort of a pipe dream of mine...

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Good drivers just drive.

UNKNOWN_370

In other words... it took way more money to make a GT-R faster than a mustang shelby.
the culture of the mustang is a V8 standard vehicle built up to sports car status and succeeded incredibly.
The Z was built as a sports car from the ground up with different characteristics that set it apart from standard cars in its character, performance and behavior. The Z is not designed to be in NASCAR. that's why there's is no NASCAR Z.

This is amazing. you guys want the Z to be everything for under $50k. Handle like the cayman. beat the mustang and have the interior quality of BMW. I think you guys should be looking at ferrari and not Z. Unless you want the Z to cost more than the GT-R. its not feasible at sub 50k with everything the Z offers.

AND THIS IS NOT OUR DOMESTIC. It's JAPAN'S interpretation of a sports car.
Do you go to a french restaurant and tell them I want the frog legs but with gator meat? While going faster and innovation is somethiong we all want. Lets keep it in perspective to Japans vision of the Z. I personally dont need a mustang transplant in the Z. That's why ford throws R&D money on the stang to be what it is...

There's other ways for the Z to be fast aside from it copying muscle-car culture... The Z isn't a muscle car.

Davey

I agree that it would be great for the Z to compare to the GT - and really in everything but power it does very well. The Mustang has quite a bit more horsepower, and doesn't weigh that much more, relatively.

So, while the Mustang does corner well and puts down great track times, no doubt about that, with a similar power to weight ratio the Z is right with it, and IMO in a much more enjoyable-to-drive package.

wolf370z

I think the problem boils down to the Z getting beat at it's own game. It's not much of a sports car if it loses to muscle cars on the track

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Good drivers just drive.

Davey

It is kind of disappointing that the turns vs. straights breakdown doesn't show that the Mustang is losing in the corners and then making up time on the straights due to the HP advantage.

Footloose301

Exactly.

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2010 40th Anniversary 370Z

wolf370z

I agree. It kind of is. Even worse when you start to think about the performance of the two vehicles after doing some basic mods. The Mustang GT just keeps getting further and further ahead. The 370z, without any sort of FI or similar displacement in its NA form just loses harder and harder. That is, assuming, both cars spend the exact same amount of $ in mods.

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Good drivers just drive.

UNKNOWN_370

In my dreams i would love the Z to forge more vital areas of the Z powerplant while finding new materials to reduce weight on the VQ by 90 lbs. A 3.7 or even go back to the 3.5,. Add the in-house forced induction piping that has been done on prototype level. refine the VQ platform by perfecting VVEL technology... maybe introduce direct injection, if necessary? Retune the Z ecu to make 300hp/300lbs of torque from its NA position and allowing to integrate the in-house turbo to add 120hp to stock engine. The NA version of the Z will be as stated and the FI would be around 420hp/380lbtq weight would be around 3000-3100 for this car.

Or just make the 3.0tt a 375hp car. with the reduced weight in the 2800-2900k lb area for this one. Refining the 3.7 would cost alot more money unless??? they'd been secretly working on it. At least turbos reflect decade one of Z culture. v8's are to heavy and will make for clumsy cornering on a wheelbase shorter than 104 inches. I love the handling too much at 100.4 to lose it.