Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post

Pharmacist · 02-01-2012, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red__Zed

As promised:

5.0

This car was a real surprise to me, and it doesn't really surprise me that most people still don't accept it for what it is. Check out the Motortrend videos where they stack it up against an M3 for a pretty good idea of what the car is about...then take one for a spin to get a REAL idea of the beast this car is.

The power is the first thing most people talk about on the car, and rightfully so. Over 400 hp and nearly 400 ft/lb of torque is nothing to sneeze at, and the car is a power monster. We are talking no-problem power-on oversteer on demand, "go" power that is only traction-limited, etc...but it is really not the major story with the car, at least in my opinion....

Why?

The handling prowess of the new 5.0 is absolutely, disgustingly amazing. The car bites in sharp, corners flat, and exits with as much power as you could hope for. Balance is incredibly neutral, meaning you are using all four tires at the limit (side note: this neutral handling is awesome for actual track use, generating great feel and response, but costs on skidpad grip, since it is (misleadingly) done in a throttle-on state)

Even relative to my Z with the best alignment I could find for it (no front toe, 3* camber in the front, 2.5* in the rear), the Mustang holds its own. Against a stock alignment Z, the Mustang bites in far harder and seems much more eager to dig into a turn, belying its obesity.

The 6 speed trans is very impressive. The 5 speeds available in previous 'stangs got the job done, but never impressed me much. The trans in my 5.0 is a slick unit with fantastic feel.

Of course, as with any car, it is not all peaches and cream. The most obvious complaints with the mustang are the looks (subjective), interior(subjective), and the rear suspension.

I've got no problem with the first two. I don't mind either, and they are lower on my priority list anyways-- I'm driving the car, not looking at it. Other people who have different priorities may feel differently, and since they are subjective anyway, no sense giving you my opinion. Take a look at one and judge for yourself.

Now onto talking about suspension, where I bring up the issues created by the solid rear...wait....

The car catches a lot of flak for the SRA, but in my 6k or so miles, I've found it to be a non-issue, not having upset it once on the street. In contrast, the 07 mustang that I test drove a while back was a legitimately scary experience that resulted in me swearing off the S197 for a while. In my opinion (and corroborated by several other drivers), the mustang SRA is more stable than the bump-steer-prone 370z multi-link for street use, which means you won't run into any problems.

The real "issue" with the rear is a pair of floaty dampers that get flighty when cornering over 90mph. Swapping them out for Koni Yellow's seems to address that, although I am still on stock suspension and have no issues driving quite spiritedly (on the street). For high speed track use, swap them.

The Mustang also feels "big." I actually hated it the first time I drove it. The car is huge, and it is a completely different feel from the Z. I can say you do get used to it (and this is coming from a guy who wondered if he would ever get used to the ridiculous size of the 370z). Do I wish the car was smaller/lighter? Sure, but it notably outhandles a variety of lighter cars, so I am pretty happy with it.

Steering feel is pretty bland as well. Not impressed with it, but at the same time not tremendously bothered by it.

The brembo package is a must. In addition to the great looking wheels/brakes, the car stops faster than sport package Z, rocks some excellent Pzeros all around, and includes some slightly revised spring rates, traction control tuning, etc. It's freaking great.

Overall,* I freaking love this car, and it kind of annoys me that it was introduced without a lot of separation from the previous gen mustang-- it catches a lot of flak from ignorant people who don't understand the revisions that have been made....on the other hand, the community is full of enthusiasts (similar to the way the 370z community used to be), which is always a great perk with a car. Barring anything catastrophic, I see myself actually keeping this car for quite a while--which will be quite a change for me. Who knows how that will actually turn out though....

Cliff notes:
Neutral handling is sweet
tons of power
steering is bland
rear dampers are floaty

test drove one a few days ago and agree with most of what you say. but i do have a few observations:

- the mustang may "feel" faster at turn in, and may very well be more neutral than a Z or even an M3, both of which are designed with a slight bit of understeer from the factory. but you also have to remember that part of it is due to the very unusual square set up of the tires with the brembo package (mostly due to the skinny rear wheels on the mustang). almost all performance RWD cars come from the factory with staggered set up with the rear wheels being wider. pretty sure you can eliminate the understeer on the Z, or the M3, or any other RWD car, with a simple wheel/tire swap to a square set up. Anyway, a mustang may "feel" like a better handler than a Z, but objectively, numbers don't lie and I don't recall a single time when a mustang objectively bettered a 370z in terms of cornering g's or lateral grip, either on a skidpad, slalom, or road course.

- the big size thing I find really unacceptable. why they had to make it so darn huge compared to the previous generation mustang, i have no clue. but to be honest, if i were to get a car that big, i might as well go all the way and get a 4 dr sedan for the added practicality. small and impractical i can understand. big and practical i can understand. big and relatively impractical is just illogical.

- the numb steering is probably in part due to the electric power steering. no idea why ford would do that. bmw actually removes electric power steering from the M version of its cars and replaced them with hydraulic systems for better steering feel

-what do you mean by bump steer prone Z? I never had any bump steer on my Z. In fact the rear end was very planted and had lots of grip. maybe you drive on roads full of bumps and enormous potholes. but if that's the case, you dont need a sports car, but a 4X4 jeep. eitherway, any bump steer problems you had on the z are probably due to the stiffer springs and dampers relative to the mustang, not because of the multilink suspension.

- do you have the actual numbers about stopping distance of a mustang being shorter than a 370z? i was quite unimpressed by the look of the brembo brakes. the front rotors are about the same as the z (i believe both are 14 inch) as for the rear brakes, they for some reason remain sliding calipers, not sure if they're any bigger than the non brembo mustang brakes. for a car that big with brakes that small, i can't see how it can outbrake a 370z. could be pad material, but then again, a z's brake pads aren't really all that bad (as long as you don't overheat them with repeated braking)

My conclusion: A 370z is still the proper sports car. The mustang is a very good handling muscle car (undergoing a slow transformation to a sports car).