New owner of an awesome Z. Have some newbie questions
 

As a former Mercedes and Porsche owner I am no stranger to luxury vehicles that have power and grace. About three months ago I started looking for a fun car, just a car because I WANT one, not because I NEED one.

My first stop was a used Maserati Spyder, but with no maintenance records and six owners in under 25k miles I decided to pass it up. I looked at all sorts of cars from Toyota and Subaru to BMW and Jaguar. Then I saw the Ford Mustang. I was dead set on it until I found out the manual transmission is not made in America. It is not even made in the Americas. It's from China! No sale!

Now I have seen the Z cars out there since the days of the 280Z. I wanted a 240Z and in California that means no smog control hardware, a definite plus. Well I decided to check out the Z mainly because I saw one on the road that just struck me as the most beautiful thing I ever saw. I followed it to the dealership and it had promptly sold to the test driver. But I was hooked. I wanted a white one. Magma red would work too.

My search began. I test drove a few models and was not to keen on sport or A7 but I did like the GPS. That means the touring package (although the dealer swears they can put the GPS into the base model). I wanted to finance a meager amount to have it on my credit file. So with a $20k down payment I was going to finance $10k on the base model. Then the dealer told me the payments for a $10k loan would be $395/mo for 6 years. :roflpuke2: They even had the nerve to add GAP insurance with such a hefty down! A little reverse math put them at around 25% interest. I said no way. They countered with 16%. I left to go to another dealer. Then I found I had left my license at the first dealer, so back I went where they then offered me 9.99%. No sale.

I found myself drifting from dealer to dealer. I used truecar to get a better feel for the prices and my phone was flooded with calls from dealers all over the place.

Eventually I saw the error of my ways in not considering the sport package especially with the shift-rev deal. Sweet. But to get sport and nav means touring. The only place I can shave is on A7 vs M6 to save a few nickels. I really wanted to stay under $40k.

Finally the stars aligned. A dealer told me they had a Touring with Sport, Nav, A7, and all the fixings for $39k, down from $43k. The M6 version was still listed at $41k. Why so little? Well this car was getting old, it had a whopping 40 miles on it and was getting a bit long in tooth at the dealer lot, so they wanted it to get a new home. And I was just the person to make that happen. With $27k down I was at the perfect point for payments and all, and for well under 5% too. Take that other dealership! :gtfo2:

Only thing is that the color is gunmetal grey, which is really growing on me with those red brake calipers radiating through the most awesome rims that planet earth has even had grace her outer layer.

So here I am, a new member, wanting to learn and know all that I can about this beautiful piece of art I now possess!

hi

Welcome! :tiphat:

:worthless:

And


:welcome: :woot:

:iagree::pics:

This ^^^^ Plus Juan !

Welcome... Gap protection with 20k down... Lmao
Those Z cars must depreciate pretty bad.. LOL

Sweet. Welcome! Now go get a clear bra, a set of the nismo rims and post upsome pics!

Nice to see someone who clearly knows what they're doing :tiphat: I'm guessing you won't be starting any "What kind of oil should I use" or "What is the best intake/exhaust" threads :icon17:

Gun Metallic is the best color! Although I also really like both the Midnight Blue and Magma Red options :yum:

IMO, PW is second only to GM.. :stirthepot:

Throw up some pics new member!

Hi

Will get some pics today. I prefer to stay stock unless the item to be added is super convincing. I think the sport rims are the hottest looking rims I have ever seen. They won't be changed out any time soon. I may get a different airt intake and the cat back tailpipes are something the dealer says would be a good move. Clear Bra for sure, just need to find a local installer.

If you dont want to waste your money on worthless mods stay away from an intake kit. The bast intake (agreed by most) is the stillen g3. My buddy has that kit and i have a better track time with k&n drop ins(only by .08 seconds) but my point is for all practical intents its a waste of $500. However cat back system is by far the first mod you should do. Not necessarily for power but it completely transforms the sound! Good luck with the modding and definitely do alot of reading around. Lots of info here!

Welcome and congrats!!:driving:

welcome to the family

Gratz on Z

More coming...

http://oi42.tinypic.com/2j3i89k.jpg

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2zhjfhd.jpg

http://oi39.tinypic.com/dzgxll.jpg

http://oi42.tinypic.com/30ayh5f.jpg

Cat back, got it. Thanks for the info. Do they sell these at the dealer or is this an Ebay thing and I can do it myself? I also want a fog light on the rear, it gets snowy and cloudy here and I can sure use it.. Kinda would like fog lights on it anyway but without 4WD it won;t come out much in the winter.

I know a guy who drilled holds in the little indents on the inside edge of the front lights, you know, that strip about 18" long with little indents on the hood side. He put little LEDs in there as running lights to augment the existing LED running lights. Looks great. I wonder if he can make them move/scan up and down. Probably too distracting and I'd get a ticket.

Well I posted some pics I shot this morning before going out. Any requests?

Nice buyer's story. I bought mine from Fontucky Nissan as well. Enjoy your modding journey.

I lived in Valencia back when you only had to dial five numbers to call a neighbor. :-)

Welcome and Congrats! :hello:

My old car. Note that if it hits a tree it won't buff out. No I was not the driver.

I like the Z better.

http://oi39.tinypic.com/2e4i4nm.jpg

Very nice love the color...Dont buy an ebay special exhaust! haha I think most people on here would agree with that. There are tons of vendors on this forum and tons of videos on different exhausts to buy. For instance when I bought mine it was between 3 different kits: 1) the hks hi power system 2) the FI system and 3) the agency power system. I ended up buying a used HKS system and am so glad I waited it is personally the best sound a 370 can produce (all personal preference) but i get complements weekly if not daily on the sound. Checkout my exhaust thread for more info and sound clips. Exhaust kits for the z are expensive but hey if you have the money for a z then u should spend the money to baby it JMO. for instance the hks is $3000 for pipes. Now hadI not gotten a good deal in the used parts forum Then I was about to go with the agency power which a vendor sells on here around $750 maybe lower brand new and that system sounds good too. Anyways comment on my exhaust thread if you have any more questions Ill be glad to help out!

A few easy questions (I hope) from a newbie....
 

1. Why install a GT-R start button? What am I missing? It does not look like it'd be visible in the dark, but is it? other than it being from a GT-R is there anything else?

2. I saw a 350Z or 370Z the other day with the front license plate on the left side of the bumper. Why is it not centered? CA requires from plates and centering it would be the way to go, no? I wondered if maybe there were installs or mods which may need to leave the front grill as clear as possible.

3. Why is such a huge deal made over if the car is auto or manual transmission? We can respect another person's sexual preference, religion, political leaning, and even if they are a vegetarian, but for some reason AT vs MT is a point of contention that will not rest.

4. Do we have a thread for mods that suck? Or any add-ons for that matter? I'm sure some of us have spent from $5 to $500 and felt it was not worth it, how about helping the rest of us learn from your exoeriences?

So many questions, such little searching!

1) GT-R button is red.
2) Doesnt have to be centered. Thugs just add it on the side to be different.
3) Auto takes little skill to drive. Its faster then the manual. The standard/manual is a "true" sports car transmission. The 6speed dynos more horsepower. The 6speed has synchorev.
4) Mods that suck... K&N typhoons. Haha jk.. Its all personal preference.

Google search, "the370z worthless mods" or "the370z gt-r button"

:drama:

thats because there is a front tow hook on the front, passenger side of the car. this is perfect for using a tow hook license plate mount to prevent having to drill into your bumper.

He walked right into that one! :tup:

True!

GT-R start button just looks more upscale than the plain white "Altima" button stuck in the Z's. It's a cheap, easy first mod that personalizes your Z, although now that everyone has it, that point is probably lost. :icon17:

wat we need here is a thread for newbs that suck.

1. I dont think it light up at night. i havent purchased it because I thought it was a waste of money. Plus the orange light the stock one has matches my orange interior!

2. Not sure I think its just for looks. I dont have a license plate in the front because I cant stand the look of it.

3. Because 6mt.... Haha jk! All my cars previously were autos/DCT so I dont mind automatic, I just find driving manual is A LOT of fun (especially with the SRM). I just couldnt purchase this car in automatic.

4. I havent done much modding so I cant tell you which mods "suck". I do research the hell out of everything I want to do before I purchase it.

I swear to god, them trolls are everywhere!

1) +100 hp

2) What license plate?

3) Because opinions

4) All mods suck cause they are huge money sinks, keep it stock

You might want to consider reading the news - so far as I know, no wars yet on transmission topics. Still lots of wars going on over religion, sexual preference, and politics.

lmao

What? They have the same button on the Altima??? Really???? That's reason enough to change it!


The search engine sucks on forum software. And we weren't all born knowing everything like you.

a joke, it was...

The auto has SRM as well, it relies on it to downshift properly. 6MT is for nostalgia and building your left calf muscle :P

It's cheap, easy, and you get to see it every day. It's less useful when you don't know it's the GTR version and/or the white one is an Altima version. It's not any more or less visible, if you ask me. But I like it! It's a good, easy way to get under your center console and feel the pain it is to work in there.

We get regular discussion on this, but not really any seriously insulting trolls on it. I think for the most part both Auto and Manual are respected around here for what they are. Unlike many cars where the Auto really is weak and adds nothing to the car, it's solid on the Z and adds to the car. When you're buying into a $30-$45k sports car with high insurance top ends, you tend to leave behind the lower half of the car enthusiast child-trolls. :)

Other car forums are far more vehement in their A vs M discussions...and it never converts anyone.

Very little gains from Short Ram Intakes (K&N Typhoon, Injen Short Ram, STILLEN Gen 2, etc). Big gains from the STILLEN Gen 3 (I think Takeda makes a rip off version that makes good power that is cheaper). High Flow Cats and Full Exhaust (quality one) make great power but don't go HFC if you are planning on going FI. Tuning is huge after bolt-ons. Don't waste money on things like Pulse Plugs, cheap exhausts, short ram intakes, non-dyno tuning solutions.