Now in a Stingray, Z end of an Era
 

A little bit of back story - Last year I test drove a Huracan at an ultimate adventure in San Diego that my wife set up for father's day. That car made me question why I am still so loyal to Nissan and my 2009 370Z 7A. It was also one of the first cars in a long time to scare me just a little bit.

http://www.the370z.com/members/my200...60-huracan.jpg

Fast forward to 2 months ago and I find myself test driving a 2017 C7 Corvette Stingray 8A and I get the same lurking feeling about my Z. I leaned into the throttle in Sport mode using the paddle shifters and a whole new part of my brain was awakened by the torque, gobs and gobs of torque! That was it, no more making excuses for my 10 year old car. Bye-bye Nissan. Until the next Z can lay waste to the outgoing Stingray I will not spend my money in your direction. For crying out loud I can get 30 mpg in the Stingray...

http://www.the370z.com/members/my200...9-stingray.jpg

Best wishes for all Z owners and I will always be open to restoring or modding a 240Z but will not buy new until Nissan totally overhauls their entire performance division and approach to all things automobile.

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Sweet new ride !! After 10 yrs. I get it, especially if it's a daily
Enjoy

Congrats! Also, you'll be waiting a loonnnngggg time. The outgoing Z is just an even match for a 20+ year old c5 corvette, much less a c7.

Now in a Stingray, Z end of an Era
 

Congrats on the C7 but comparing it to a 370z is kind of unfair. Not the same class of vehicle price wise or performance.


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I bought my wife a C7 Grandsport. I like it but I don't like all the craziness that comes with it with people. I still have my Z. The Vette just get's too much attention for me.

Wild. My 370z got a lot more interaction than my c6 z06.

Enjoy your new ride and have fun with it

Congrats on the vette but geez man let the GT-R deal with a modern vette. I wouldn't call it loyalty to pick a Z over a vette, huracan or any car in that class. You buy a Z because its a modern-day 260z/280z or you just want a capable sports car. And have you hung out on corvetteforums.com yet? Let just say the crowd over there is kinda different lol

You have no idea. People go stupid over it. It is beautiful.

I hated it. Not into people approaching me. That said, I was just surprised when people did over the 370 and not the z06.

Mrs. ZCanadian drives the 370Z in our family. She gets thumbs up or compliments almost daily.

Congrats on the C7, my2004Z! They are a nice car, and very capable. Enjoy!

People just won't understand the LT1 till they feel it. It's like nothing out there in the price range. Congratulations!!!

If I lived where I could own a sports car and wanted one, the c7 would be very hard to pass up.

I disagree that it's an unfair comparison. The GTR is neck and neck with the Huracan and the Z gets owned by Mustang GTs and the Camaro SS. Too big of a gap IMO. The Z in 2009 owned everything in its price range and the equivalent position in 5 years will be what the Stingray does now. Performance, Styling, Technology, and Adjustability are the name of the game these days. Dont get me wrong, I will always love Z cars but wont make excuses for Nissan's lack of progress anymore.

You know the 30k base Z is basically just as fast as a Nismo, right? So the comparison could be to a 30k sports car. Not sure if you'd call that a fair comparison.

If could have got an allocation for a ZR1 that is what I would be in today instead of dumping what I did in my Z. Old farts and douche bags got them. LOL
The C7 drives like a Z. That is why I like it. The older Corvettes drove like crap. Not impressed at all.

Say what? My Z drove like an oversprung Altima. My C6 Z06 drove like a sports car.

Everybody's tastes are different. Corvette's prior to the C7 sucked.

I get that taste varies, but when the car just can't stay planted because it lacks any semblance of rebound control, it's more objective than subjective.

What did you have? The Covered Wagon 370z. LOL

2012 Touring with Sport package. Every time you hit an expansion joint or anything in a corner (such as on a bridge), the back end would dance around, scoot sideways a few inches. My Dad hated riding with me, and I found it rather odd, as none of my other cars from my 1988 GT to my 2011 Z06 did it, and my Jeep and CX5 (both of them) afterward didn't do it. For 2013 they supposedly fixed the Z's suspension with better shocks/struts though, so I dunno if later years had this under-damping issue. All I know is that it was the worst "behaved" car I've owned since my 1988 GT (which had some nasty habits with a huge cam, max power at 6K+, and 4.10's out back with a 3.27 first and factory width rims, lol!)

Anyway, I remember the steering input on my 370Z being similar to the CX5 I have now. Sharp, but not "razor". My Z06 was razor. You ask it to do something, it did it THEN! Not when the body stopped the tiny bit of roll induced by the quick turn. THEN. No waiting. As firm as the Z06 was though, it handled bumps way better than the 370Z. I lived in Shreveport, LA at the time, and the roads were terrible. The Z06, I could hit a bump on the highway and it would just soak it up. The 370Z, if I hit the same bump (before you ask, go to that shithole and drive around. The roads are concrete and done in "sections" to account for expansion...well it didn't. So they ground them down, and the result is a very "wavy" highway with some serious "rolls" in it) at the same or even lower speeds, I would lose traction and get a TSC light flicker out of it. This also translated t o bumps mid-corner, like expansion joints, etc. They upset t he 370 greatly. The Z06, you knew they were there, but it didn't lift the tires and skip. In short, the 370Z seemed like how a child thought a suspension should be "Make it stiff! Springs springs springs!!!" The Z06 and almost every other performance vehicle and even my CX5s have been much more mature, in the sense that if they were sprung forcefully, they were also VERY well damped. You didn't have a "jittery" suspension that had what felt like a very small range of motion. You had a very taut suspension that felt like it articulated a lot, and shocks and struts that damped that motion so as to prevent the car from "bouncing all over". On a perfect surface like a skidpad or a test track or auto X, the issues don't show up. Daily driving, they were and are very apparent. It was also readily apparent cresting hills at high speeds or dips. The 370Z gets really light on its feet after the suspension compression if you don't properly brake to damp it. Other vehicles, much less so.

That explains it. Shreveport, Louisiana. Louisiana roads are horrible.

My thing with the 370z was taking corners... I fixed it's shortcomings with the koni shocks n swift spec R springs and the eibach sways set in the middle setting. That pretty muchbsorted out all its problems for about $2k. Stoptech used to sell a brake upgrade kit for the Z. Which improved my brake modulation coming in and out of a corner.
As far as steering. The Z in my opinion was TELEPATHIC. Not almost, not kinda. Very telepathic. The only car I've driven with better steering was the giulia and the Mercedes amg gts. Im even gonna go as far as to stay The Z steering feel is better than a 911.

Im in a camaro 2ss with MRC which is the grand sport corvette suspension. The 1LE widens the tires stiffened the springs and lowers the car by an inch, getting 1.2g vs the 1.1g I pull in my car.
The SS and stringray was designed to benchmark the 1LE and Z06 of last generation while the Z06 and 1LE surpass the performance of the MRC SS and stingray... The z06 and 1LE of last gen was already destroying most of what was out there for the 1st time in a while... And it's gotten better now. These cars are great. And obviously are going to eclipse a Z... But that said. A Z with those minimalistic mods I mentioned and with its short wheelbase and size? It's hard to beat as an overall drivers car feel!! I mean yeah. It needs an exhaust to give it life for your senses. But it's overall drive and steering feel is way above its weight class. And the New Nismos are really well sorted out. Nissan has made a more refined Z even though they haven't given updates you can see... They've added finesse to the handling. Maybe you guys just really weren't built for the Z or didn't understand the Z. I'll admit though. You have to mod the Z slightly to be optimum. But even stock it was well sorted. It feels so good you don't mind performing small mods for big gains in handling enhancement. The Z is a canvas to a true enthusiast.

LOL, I didn't sell my Nismo. Not gonna either. The C7 Corvette handles more like a Z. The stock C7 Grand Sport suspension is better than a stock Nismo. Mine has been modded though.

Eh, my Z was far from telepathic or well sorted. Like my cx5 better in thebhandling dept, even if the narrow tires give obviouslwer limits, its better behaved and more intuitive. Im thinking your opinion comes from your mods, which sound rather likely to have fixed the issues I had with it.

I drove my Z 6 months b4 I modded it...
It drove better than all the muscle cars of last generation. Better than the Audi TT and BMW Z4. It was only overshadowed by the Porsche Cayman. At the time I hadn't driven a 911. Modding it only made it better. Maybe you had a defective car? I don't know...

But I'm still perplexed you're comparing a Mazda to a Z.. It's just so friggin apples to oranges it's ridiculous. Put 332 hp in your cx5 n see how uncontrolled and lacking poise it has. It's easy to feel sorted with 180hp. It's n I t hard to get great handling in a 4 banger. I've driven Kia Rio's with great performance vigor on mountain roads? Does that make it in the same class as a Z? Smh...

You're pretty delusional right now my man. I mean really... I'm glad you're enjoying life and enjoying your batcave lifestyle. And being the former owner of an FD RX7 I know Mazda is amazing with handling. I'm sure your CUV feels great for what it is... But it's nowhere near the same as a Z. The powertrain pushes the wrong end. You're not gonna take curvy roads in the triple digits comfortably. It's not that type of vehicle... And you're not gonna convince anyone that a cx5 is comparable to a Z.

Hrmm...my CX5 has 250hp/310tq and is AWD. Where did you get your specs from?

The only way I'll own a vehicle anymore is if it's "pushed" from both ends. AWD is superior, IMO, especially in inclement weather, etc.

That said, it's more composed and better sorted than the 370Z ever dreamed of being (mine, anyways, 2012 Sport/Touring). That does not mean it was objectively faster, just that it was much better executed, and doesn't skitter and dance and break loose and bounce around like a pogo-stick when you encounter irregularities like the Z does. A vehicle doesn't have to turn better lap times, etc. to be better sorted. The Z is definitely faster, its suspension is just woefully underdamped compared to every other vehicle I've owned, including my CX5. I can upset a 370Z without even applying the gas beyond maintaining speed. Just give it a dip or irregularity and watch it step sideways/lose traction. My Dad hated going out to supper with me if we took the Z because it did it on overpasses just cruising at the speed limit. Unnerving.

As to the triple digits and curvy roads...well, depends on the road and all that, pretty subjective, your statement there.

My advice is go to a dealer and drive a CX5 GTR/Sg model. It won't surprise you with the speed with only 250bhp but the suspension might make you take notice, and 310# of torque at 2000rpm sure is nice.

Wow, we now are comparing CX5's to a Z. So, it wasn't an April fools joke after all. I don't even have words. :icon14::icon14::icon14:

I guess so. Like comparing an 84K Vette GS to a 38k 370z. LOL it is truly comical.

...........i wasn't gonna jump into this thread. However, did you really compare a CX5 to a Z and go even further to say it has better handling? i think it may have been in need of a driver mod if thats your findings :bowrofl:

what in the actual fuck :facepalm: i hope you're just trolling.

:gtfo2: if serious.

ImportConvert has been balls out crazy for his little CX-5 on the forums recently. Let him have his time. Though he must think he is on a Mazda forum or something. I don’t know. Oh, and yeah, 250hp with AWD, that is about 170hp with AWD drivetrain loss. Cheers!

Lol. Can a CX-5 traverse a pothole, expansion joint, railtrack, etc better than a Z. Yep, it probably could.

A CX-5 is a different critter then a Z. :shakes head: Comparing the 2 is just fvcking stupid. :shakes head:

He misses us. But doesn't have a Z to talk about. So he wants to talk about his CX-5. And no one really cares. He has detoured 2 threads here so far.

Not trolling as hard as Nissan was when they set up that suspension. Bouncy bouncy.

Seriously though, you guys are trying to compare 370z to Camaro and Mustang, and that makes even less sense. 80hp gap between my cx5 and your Z, and my cx5 has 40# more torque than your Z. Camaro has what, 118hp more than your Z? Yet you compare...and then we have people comparing a Z to corvette handling...even more ludicrous. Ive owned a Z, a Z06, and 2 CX5s. Go drive them all. Get back to us.

Im just commenting on suspension though. The cx5 gtr is much more composed than the 370z in the corners, etc. if any ireegularities exist. Its just a better balanced suspension regwrding rebound control. No amount of driver mod can overcome the fact that when you hit an expansion joint, the rear end is going to dance sideways in the corners, etc or when you encounter dips at speed, its going to break traction. It can only help in dealing with those foibles. Foibles unique in my driving experience to the 370z, compared to the other cars mentioned.

Seems that Im not the only one who notices the finer nuances of suspensions...
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/20...nissan-370z-2/
https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...omaniac-14710/

https://autoweek.com/article/car-rev...g-review-notes

Pretty much mirroring what I've said all along...

well then if you're serious.......

i'll address your comments in order.

the Z is comparable to mustang and camaro regards of HP gap due to the fact it can handle quite well. i have played around against both cars and the Z holds up well to the point depending on launch i've kept up to and/or beat a new 5.0 mustang.....in mexico of course.

as for the suspension, what was wrong with your Z that you experience was that bad? also what is your age? seems to be weak, whiny, older guys who say the ride and suspension sucks and buy soccer mom SUVs. although i know multiple distinguished older owners in here who roll on full race setups like gangsters.

i'm pushed my Z on stock suspension/brakes very hard and it feels great. the one failing part i've experienced was rolling a tire sidewall. those tires got switched at the end of that season.

and yea i'm sure an MX5 feels more composed when you can't get it past 80mph. :rofl2:

Lol, I never said it was fast. Just composed. Its around 200whp, btw :P

Mainly, Im stoked over the level of OEM polish the thing has, not its raw numbers. Something the Z crowd can surely relate to with a 100hp deficit to every other car in the 370s segment...?

I was in my late 20s when I had my 370z, and part of my observation comes from that I went from a c6 z06 with a much more buttoned down suspension to the Z. My sole complaint about the Z was that it was oversprung and underdamped for any environment with ripples or bumps or anything. Even Spring Mountain would be annoying with the dip on the back curves with with poor rebound control.

I find the flaw amusing and even more offputting, considering even my CUVs dont share it.

i dont like this tactic switch to flattery.........:wtf2:


regardless the comparison of an MX5 and Z is just ridiculous. obviously some soccer move SUV is gonna be "composed". it's not a sports car its meant to keep someones wife comfortable with a turbo 4 banger that she may never get into boost with.



:worship:

Boost off idle bro...310# torque by 2k rpm :P

Anyway, no, its simply better composed. Same corners, same speeds, no sideways stepout like the 370z.


Speaking of absurd comparisons, this all started because you all were absurd enougb to compare this 370z with a c6 corvette, even saying "it drove like crap"... An even larger performance gap than my cx5 to your 370z...would be that c6 vs. the 370z. Huge gap.