370z sports car?

GingaBreadMan

Don't take the question literally. Of course it's a sports car. It's amazing. My only gripe is how it handles bumps. I also know someone who had a 350z and he said he never had that problem. I wanted 2 see if anyone else felt the same as I did. I'm taking the car 2 my performance guy soon 2 see how I can alleviate this problem. The 370z should be represented correctly. It's an incredible automobile. I don't want 2 hafta hold back on the "track" because of this minor issue.

kannibul

No, because for whatever reason, I can take corners with my 97 ford ranger faster than I can with the Z without the rear end trying to swing out.

My truck USED to do it, then I put new shocks and tires on it...

spearfish25

I've been suspicious for a long time that the sport Bridgestone tires have some issues. First I thought they needed to be broken in a bit. Then I thought they needed to be warmed up more. Finally I'm thinking they just plain suck for street driving.

They don't have the grip during daily that I would expect. My best guess is that they just don't reach the critical warm temp needed to get nice and sticky. When I had the car on a track a few weeks back, they performed great once I had them nice and warm. On the street, they stay so cold that I usually spin them like I was driving on hockey pucks.

Granted the suspension setup is quite stiff so bumps are not the Z's friend. I too had read that the Cayman is much better in this respect, but I don't have the automobile acumen to explain why the Cayman setup is better. It does seem the Z suspension could be loosened up but likely at the expense of road 'feel'.

Forrest

first thing that i noticed with the 370z was its "soft" suspension.

in the 350z i had more left and right "body roll" but no bouncing up and down over bumps, i would feel like a go cart stifness.

with the 370z i have like no body roll but on bumps for its soft and bouncy for the average user to feel comfortable.

This is what i would attritube to the unsettling of the car over rough road, but i could be wrong. I perosnaly if i could would switch my suspension to something a little bit more stiff or 350zish with out lowering the car. I have no need to lower the car its 100% street driving, going lower wont help me to much.

bluzman

Dude, if your truck corners better than your Z, something is very wrong.

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bluzman

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jginnane

I think what he's saying is that he's used to driving vehicles with a longer wheelbase. These will always tend to track better in a straight line.

kannibul

It could be that I'm just way more used to driving my truck too...

What I'm speaking of specifically is when you hit a bump, the Z loses traction (and the rear swings out) easier than my truck due to the wheel hopping off the bump.

My truck does it too, just it grabs again quicker...

kannibul

That's something I've not even considered - lol...

It could also be weight distribution too...

My truck obviously rolls more in corners - but I can take a highway interchange near here at 60...and it'll freak me out a bit when I hit the bridge on the exit ramp (and it's bumpiness)

Do the same thing with the Z, and I'll be trading paint for cement.

Smooth-flat surfaces, Z corners WAY better.
Rough surfaces, toss up.

edeeZee

I see, you start your thread with a sensationalistic title to draw attention and responses, but there are many misunderstandings among people. Some might view it as you denigrating the 370 while implying it is subpar relative to other "sports cars."

But "sports car" is an equivocal definition to many. A Porsche 911 is a "sports car" though it has 2 impractical seats in the rear. The reason for the 2 rear seats is to lower insurance costs. My friend who works at an insurance agency told me this; because a GT3, a car I once considered, is noticeably more expensive to insure than the run of mill 911.

FricFrac

So while you're mentioning that you should also mention that the 370Z on a smooth surface will out corner the 350Z. Its all about configuration. Do you want handling over rough surfaces or smooth. Do you think every racer uses the same set up for every track? Not a chance! You tweek to optimize for your conditions and when you optimize one thing you comprimise another but its a matter of the overall benifit.

I personally would love to see the pickup truck at 110 MPH in the rough corner... should be entertaining....

Forrest are you confusing the 370Z being "soft" in the bumps as loosing traction rather than being soft? Typically a car with little body roll is stiffer than the one with more body roll. The 370Z is stiffer and more like a go-cart as you were describing than the 350Z.

Anyhow this is all pit racing - we need a real racer to chime in here....

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zilent_jay

True, but the Z is not a race car, and never will be. It's a street car. Unfortunately the street is not smooth, nor some tracks for that matter. I'd rather have a car that handles well all around like my old 350, than one that only handles well on smooth surfaces. Then again, that's just me.

Forrest

I know this is hard to explain, but if i went over a bump in my 350z, it did not give me a soft bounce, it would shudder like the car did NOT LIKE THAT BUMP. I would assume thats a hard suspension.

In the 370z i admit it has no body roll compared to the 350z, BUT why do i feel like when it goes over a bump its soft and gushy like my previous altima?

And no i dont mean loseing traction as my previous post about the traction light going on, ironicly enough when that traction light went on, i felt NO bumps what so ever which confused me as to why it lost traction. But that could be due to the suspension is so soft i didnt feel the bumps and didnt even know i was losing traction. Maybe in my 350z i would have felt the crappy road due to that hardness; I feel the 370z does not have.

My 350z was 05 PPW Enthuisast AT 100% stock.

GingaBreadMan

That's a great point. With that said the 370z is utterly outstanding on smooth surfaces.

spearfish25

My wife has an Altima which I drive regularly. The 370 and the Altima suspensions are COMPLETELY different. The Altima floats and doesn't have much feel for the road. The 370 lets you feel every bump and I've certainly found plenty that jar the teeth out of my head if I don't avoid them.

Doesn't sound right if you think the 370z has a soft ride over bumps in the road...it doesn't.