Musings of a new (to me) Z owner.
 

New user and owner here. So far so good! I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts so far with my 13' 370Z I just picked up a couple of days ago.

My background

I had been out of the sports car game for a good 5 years. Marriage, responsibilities, bills, blah blah blah, forced me to sell my previous love, my Porsche Cayman S and enter a dry spell of fun driving. My Ford Expedition was my ride and it's not fun to say the least nor is the 11mpg daily driver toll it takes. Finally I talked the boss into realization that I needed a new ride as a daily driver. I had been holding out to maybe jump back into the Porsche game, but my wallet and wife just have other ideas.

The Search

So I boiled it down to 3 rides, the 370Z, Dodge Challenger, and S2000. Ultimately I choose the Z based on I'm more of a track racer then a straight line enthusiast and as much as I like the Honda they are just too old for the money. So Z it is. The search began.

After doing my research on years, changes, options I concluded what I wanted was a low miles 2013-2017 Touring w/sport , 6mt, navigation preferably in gun metal or navy. Then the searches started. Using the various car selling sites I soon realized that to find exactly what I wanted was going to take a while. After 3 weeks of looking only 2 cars nationwide that I found even matched my requirements, but none in the colors I wanted. Add to that I'm a pretty impatient person. So I started lighting up on the color requirements. At the time black and red were the colors of cars I was seeing for sale. At first I was stead fast against the red color as is my wife. But as I looked around and watched more YouTube videos on the car and seeing it in red it grew on me.

Ultimately I pulled the trigger on a red one that fit the bill, 2013 Red Touring w/sport, nav, 24k miles at a dealership in Arkansas of all places. Buying a car sight unseen is always a little stressful for me, but I did well with buying my Cayman unseen and hoped for the best and made the deal.

I debated back and forth on shipping or flying out and driving back. I'm in Miami, so it's a trek. Prices were around $800 for ship. Flight I paid in points, and have family in North Carolina ultimately I did that route. Flew out and drove it back.

Picking up and Go!

Flew into NW Arkansas and was picked up by the sales man. Paperwork had been signed already and after a few more signatures I was ready to go. Plan was to immediately head east 8hrs and make it to Nashville TN. Then proceed next morning 5 hrs to Asheville NC where I would chill and test out the new ride in the twistys of the Blue Ridge. After 2 days it was a 12 hour day down to Miami. That was rough to say the least.

Impressions of the Car

The car is fun for sure. The long stretches of highway gave me time to learn all it's features and set up the systems the way I wanted. Can't say hours on end was the most comfortable ride, but then again not much would be.

I do have some nit-picks on some things and constantly find my self comparing the Z to the Cayman which isn't all together fair to the Z. Most were well known from my research into the car so I wasn't surprised by it. The biggest "features" I would say would be:

• Road Noise
• Vague Transmission
• No auditory bliss from the VQ
• Lack of trunk space and place to put your phone

But anyways, that's just picking on things. The car is fun, looks the part, and is a good base for future mods and tinkering. Something I was hesitant to do with the Cayman. Looking forward to enjoying this ride.

Highlights of the Trip

Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway at 7:00am, empty and 62 degrees out.Then heading down route 151 of the parkway which is like a mini-tail of the dragon. A blast of a road that always puts a smile on my face.

Then coming to the end of the twistys on 151 and hitting the brakes. There was an ambulance, police car, and salvage truck and small group of people. The car was being pulled up on the flat bed. The young man walked up and asked if I wanted to buy any Nismo parts. Turns out he had just totaled his Nismo on the bends of 151. I declined and that sobered me up pretty quick and I drove nice and easy on the way out.

PS, Waze saved my butt more times than I can count when it came to the authorities. On a long road trip it's a life saver.

Thanks for reading this long rambling post!

Congratulations!

Some quick thoughts:

Road noise - I've had notable success dampening road noise with a layer of GTMat (non-brand name Dynamat) and generic closed cell foam (CCF) from Amazon in the trunk floor and double layers of both on the rear wheel wells. Multiple threads here on how to accomplish that.

Engine noise, lack of - Z1 cold air intakes really let the engine sing. Round out the symphony with a Fast Intentions exhaust and some high-flow catalytics.

Now for the real fun part: you have a 6MT, which means you have a CSC. Which is going to fail. Repeatedly. Replacement requires dropping the transmission. So unless you intend on putting your local mechanic's kids through college, invest in a CMAK from ZSpeed. Trans only has to come off once, and while it's off you might as well get a new clutch and flywheel. Package deal for all that runs about $1,300. And if you do intend on putting your local mechanic's kids through college, there are ways to do that with pre-tax dollars :rofl2:

Additionally, I've heard Miami is hot. Temperature-wise. The 370Z is undercooled, and will start pulling timing once oil temp hits 240*F. I'd recommend a Z1 Motorsports 34 row Setrab oil cooler kit. Pretty much every mother's son on here has installed an aftermarket oil cooler, and the ones who say they haven't are probably Russian bots.

Again, congrats! Feel free to PM me if you have additional questions.

Enjoy your new ride.

Yes, except this is Florida so Test pipes > (plus they're cheaper)

Not if, when.

Cannot confirm or deny the last part, just don't have an oil cooler. Gave it some thought but I usually don't go over 220. Except Zdayz, the dragon was getting close to 240.

Lastly, congratulations on choosing the right car ;). My opinion is, if you want full enjoyment and gratification of your Z do the basic bolt-ons. As for road noise, see previous sentence and then road noise is irrelevant.

:iagree::iagree:

Congratulations and welcome. Thanks for sharing your story. :tiphat:

Upgrade the tires, dynamat the hatch and trunk, open her up with exhaust and intakes and bam! You’ll be in love again. Also replace your csc and get an rjm clutch pedal assembly

Welcome aboard, love the color too .

Welcome and thanks for sharing your perspective.

I always say CSC first. It is more expensive and perhaps less exciting to think about than than bolt-ons, but if you do that and decide on a lighter clutch + flywheel, you're gonna find it legitimately adding more "life" to the car.

Surprised Challenger was on your list. It's pretty different against this, the S2000, and your Cayman. I had an R/T rental. While an SRT would've made me happier, it was fun in its own right, driving around town in a loud....boat. Honestly that was fun, but holy hell gas costs.

beautiful car...

Welcome to the forum. :tup: Beware, once you start to mod your Z. We will help you spend your money. Your credit card will be a molten piece of plastic. You will know what the phase of "It's better to ask for forgiveness, then to ask for permission" means. And when you enter the rabbit hole. There is no going back, and no 12 step program to help you. Just look at some of the build threads.

Amen.
So true but the smile per mile never ends.

Dynomat /hushmat the trunk, rear wheel wells and doors will eull some noise. Biggest win was the constant *pinging* of debris under the car. Really drives you mad when you do a 5000km road trip and most of the driving was in rain.

Yes there is a 12 step rehab problem.
1) buy parts
2-11) blablabla
12) repeat

To cure a hangover just have another drink.

Smiles per Gallon. We don't care about Miles per gallon.

:iagree: I'd have to take off my shoes to count the number of times in the past 12 months I've sworn up, down, and sideways that the purchase I was making would be my last "for a while."

There is a 12 step program, and oddly enough the first step is kinda like AA's... stop lying to yourself that you aren't going to buy any more parts :driving:
The truth will set you free.. emotionally. Financially you'll probably end up in debtor's prison like the rest of us.