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.

As you start down the rabbit hole. It's kind of slow going at first. But the deeper you get in the rabbit hole. The more you spend. Then you discover that there is no bottom.

Nice Z OP welcome to the club. The Z is good to go in stock form. Now if you do decide to go down that rabbit hole, this forum has a vast amount of information for mods. Take your time with your purchases. A window tint is always a good first mod and will make your car look completely different. Good Luck have fun and be safe.

Thanks guys for the feedback, appreciate it.

Buying sight unseen does have its consequences in the form of scratches and blemishes that didn't show in the pictures and the dealer didn't disclose. So those are my first priorities.

Had the windows tinted yesterday. Today I'm dropping her at a wheel refinishing shop to correct curb rash on the two rear rims. After that, there are some chips in the hood I need to address. May try to do my best on those my self before paying a pro to fix.

As far as mods go, I've got some stuff in mind but it'll come down to when I'm ready to throw down the cash. Wife will go crazy if I throw down $2k on upgrades after just getting the car, so I think I'll be driving stock for the near future. I would like to do CBE and intake, maybe the whole exhaust exit system of headers and high flow cats as well. Then that leads to a tune and so far in my initial research I have yet to find a shop local that can do that or that comes recommended. Guess when it comes down to that time I can travel a bit to get it done but would rather not should I need issues resolved.

Might do the CBE though sooner than later. Since it's my dd I don't want some crazy obnoxious sounding system. So far in my research I've liked the Invidia Gemini system as well as the Stillin. I know they are just a slight uptick from stock in sound, but that's basically what I'm looking for and I know once the other pieces are in place more sound will come out.

For now, cosmetics are on tap. Need her looking her best.

...and negative on the rims today. Pulled up this morning only to have one of the workers tell me what I wanted to do wasn't going to come out the way I expect. Owner yesterday stated he thought after the respray of the rims the color would be close enough on the two rear wheels, but the worker today said I would notice the difference. He said doing both wheels on one side would be better. At $195 a wheel I declined for now. I'll consider moving one of the front with slight scarring to the side with the rear that has the worst damage and maybe do just the one side, but prob best just to do all 4 to match but that's going to have to wait a bit.

My Z is also my daily driver...

I highly recommend the Fast Intentions CBE with 12” resonators. Yes, you’ll wait 3 months or so to get one, but we’ll worth the wait. It looks, fits, sounds and performs awesomely!

I had it shipped directly to Z1 (a short 12 hour drive for you :0)

I had the FI exhaust (still running stock manifolds and cats), Stillen Gen 3 CAI, Z1 34 row oil cooler, hood struts (I hate prop rods!) and a full tune. They turned it around in about 8 hours.

Off the top of my head, I believe labor was was just around $1000.

Exhaust was $1300?
CAI was $400
Oil Cooler was $400
Tune was $1000
Struts were $60

So for somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 I went from 273 WHP to 319 WHP with no codes and no smog issues.

Scroll down a bit to hear the FI exhaust.

Nevermind, can’t seem to link the video of the dyno run

Trying again! You have to scroll down to Sept 20th 2018. Click on Gerald’s Z and play video.

https://www.facebook.com/Z1Motorspor...type=3&sfns=mo

My name is Baronsmokes and I'm a modaholic.
It all started with if only I had more horsepower.

My name is Rusty and I'm a modaholic.
It all started when I joined this forum and did my first mod. From there, it has been down the rabbit hole ever since.

At 195 per wheel with no guarantee of an exact match, might as well leave them be and save up a bit more for new wheels...
I had wanted new wheels, but had just gotten new tires, so I just waited till the tires were worn out. Gave myself some time to save up a bit.

If you want to drop down farther into the rabbit hole. Get a set of ForgeLine rims. :tup:

Congratulations on your new ride. I am also new to the Z. Bought 2019 Passion red M6 and so far i love it. I live in Ocala Fl and its hot here to. I only have a few thousand miles on the car so I will wait on an oil cooler for now. Had a tread on this and many people explained that if I am not racing the car it should be fine. Ant way welcome to the forum. Hot Rod Z

Fasttimes,

Congrats and you picked the fastest color

Enjoy your ride


Spoiler

Ticket Me Red. :rofl2:

Welcome to the 370Z forums. Caution do not fall into the rabbit hole there may be no way out.