NOTE: YOU CAN COMPLETELY AVOID THE FIRST THREE PARAGRAPHS - JUST BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT MYSELF AND HOW I CAME TO FIND THE Z
Hi all, name's Mat. I grew up loving cars and long story short came from a home where everything was incredibly limited all the time, never went on a vacation, etc...but never went without. I promised myself from the time when I was little that I would buy myself a dream vehicle as soon as I could, financial responsibility need not apply. In high school I had a 1999 Jeep Cherokee and loved it to death and got rid of it in 2011 (for a girl - that was one of the hardest lessons life has given me thus far, still dream about that Jeep) for an Elantra due to gas mileage. Ick. Either way, the Cherokee made me a Jeep guy for life and I promised myself that as soon as I was able to that I would buy myself a Wrangler and build it myself. I graduated college in December of 2012 and this past March I bought my Wrangler (same color as my Cherokee, of course) and spent the summer doing my first build, and I gained quite a nasty set of scars in the process.
About a month ago I found a 1991 S10 with 62,000 originally miles and NO RUST, new shocks, tires, wheels, and brakes to boot so I snatched it up on the spot to stop putting miles on my Wrangler/save money in gas (S10 gets about 25-28 MPG combined.)
Over the past several years I've had the opportunity to drive some amazing vehicles including a ZR1 and 911 Turbo, but I had always forced upon myself that I would wait until I was 25 to buy a fast car. About two weeks ago I test-drove a Scion FR-S and was honestly amazed by how much of a true "driver's car" it felt like and nearly purchased it. I went back into the dealership about a week later and saw a 370Z and figured I would take it for a test drive. One test drive was all it took. I loved being able to know exactly where the power was instantly the first time I rowed through the gears (and not having to make a fool of myself attempting to heel-toe it for the first time in months in front of the salesperson was definitely nice), plus...the handling.
I bought her that night...a 2010 40th Anniversary. She was owned by the local public defender who simply got too old for her and traded for an Altima, but in the process of getting too old for her he put 61,000 miles on her. I initially planned on making it solely a Sunday Funday car, but no matter how hard I try I can't keep myself from getting behind the wheel - it's become a drug.
I simply have some initial questions for fellow Z owners, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to post any questions in this section of the forum, but maybe ya'll can help me with that too.
First - the brakes suck...I've never driven a performance vehicle which has brakes which fade so quickly and, honestly, dangerously. Inspected the brakes and they're definitely in ok shape with about 6mm of pad left on the fronts and the rotors are solid. New brakes are my first upgrade, so any tips from other users who have a shared experience and how they solved it would be greatly appreciated.
Second - I need new tires. I want a high quality performance tire but would rather not spend over a grand for the rubber if possible - any suggestions would be incredibly helpful.
Third - how durable is this gearbox? Has anyone had failure under skillful and appropriate driving with it? Are there any signs I should be on the lookout for?
I'm so entirely thrilled with this car...it's true love. Gah.
Oh, I got it for $19,900.00 Not sure if this is high (the car was very well maintained) and I honestly don't care, I love everything about the 40th and plan on this being the car I keep for life and hand to my son in 25 years.
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