First impressions
 

New owner here. Thought I would share the first impressions as I wrap up my first week in my 2015 Nismo Tech.


Loooove the seats. The steering wheel and steering feel rock, as well.

Loooove the integration of the nav/info system. I thought it was a bit busy with all the buttons before, but I like dedicated buttons. Navigation seems a tiny bit clunky... I was trying to find a local place I knew but the search wanted me to put in the address, which I didn't know, which seemed counterintuitive. I probably need to RTFM, though.

I've scraped in the front a couple times already, so might need to investigate an aftermarket protection tray or something like that, maybe a skidplate... That has made me paranoid to park, as well since I scraped on a parking curb once as well so now I'm usually too far out. :o

Coming from Hondas, this is a beast down low but should be expected from 3.7 V6 which is rather huge compared to what I'm used to. I'm still in break in period (I generally 'breaking in the way you're going to drive it' school but who knows what the ECU is recording), so not real dogging it yet and have the rev light set to 4500 (so it starts blinking at 4000). :D Nice little feature. Love the burble of the stock HKS exhaust.

My only real complaint so far is something rather petty: the placement of the trip meter switch. Worst position ever! If it was on the outside edge of the circle, perhaps on the bottom end at around 4 o'clock, it would be perfect.


On the whole this should be the normal base model Nismo as maxed out without extra charge (so call it $39-40k MSRP with invoice in the $37k range) and most to all of the legitimate criticism should be mooted. Navigation systems are such a car maker rip off that I'm hoping the proliferation of smartphones will eliminate so they just integrate Mirror Link and Car Play. XM is right up there, too. Given the lack of rear visibility, the backup camera should be standard feature (as it is for say, Honda Civics, now for example).

I will say I got my first weather alert this morning, which was nice. Checking traffic seems kinda awkward though with a list of a bunch of stuff that is close but going different directions. Perhaps if I actually set a destination...

Sounds like you are enjoying your Nismo.

Back into your parking spaces to avoid scraping!

Congrats. The car is amazing. People look at you like you are in a Lambo. They just don't know what it is. Very aggressive exterior styling and I love it. Interior is sick too.

It's funny you mention that. I had a guy last weekend pull up to me at a stop to ask what kind of car I was driving. I don't know why he would ask because it is clearly marked on the back. Anyway, after I told him it was the Nissan 370z Nismo he said he thought it was a Lamborghini. Good for a laugh.

2nd week is more settled into it. Can't wait for the break-in period to be over.

Perhaps driving a bit more aggressively but had to fill up twice in one week. :eek: Mileage is average about 19.5 according to the display. Haven't double checked against my receipts just yet and a bit chagrined not meticulously noting this stuff yet as I like to do. Anyone using any apps for this functionality? I'm being rather mild in the break in period so think this is going to be my upper limit once she gets unleashed.

Did my first wash Wednesday with a light Meguiar's wax. Was sort of rushed. Was a bit... concerned at the brake dust on the bottom of the rear wheel well. Used a different sponge for that area. Don't see the paint has messed up or scratched at all but definitely intend to take more care of that area in the future. Is it a problem area? Many of the videos in the show & shine section seem to be broken links... at least on my phone, might have to revisit.

Drive on some twisty roads, enjoy the feel. As far as protecting the paint follow the Junkman and you will be good imho. Spray those areas with brake dust with soapy water before putting a sponge to it. I could be wrong but gas mileage might improve after break in. Change the oil and put in a magnetic drain plug if you have not done so already. I recently changed my oil and noticed a significant increase in gas mileage, not that I care for gas mileage, but I don't know if it has anything to do with it. A few things you can do to protect from scraping, invest in a front camera, invest in a front parking sensor, and finally learn how not to scrape, I took the ladder. It will come with time. Congrats on the 15 Nismo just beautiful:tiphat:

Wrapping up third week:

Weather alerts got annoying. About high surf when I'm about 40-50 miles inland. Turned off the voice notification. Traffic doesn't seem to be accurate either. Using navigation yesterday told me a road was closed. It wasn't. Usually only see a yellow or red road when I'm looking at tail lights, too. Suppose both of these are XM issues which means I won't be inclined to pay, that's for sure.

I'm at 19.9 on my mileage but filling up twice a week seems almost the new normal. :eek: I drive about 20 miles to and from work every day. I could probably make it last 5 or 6 days but don't like to get below 1/4 tank.

Starting backing up into parking spots and works great. The curving prediction lines work great to line up the spot. Good advice, TerribleONE.

I'm not noticing new car smell anymore. Might be that I'm used to it. Have to ask a friend or someone to see if they smell it. :D

Break in period is over.

:happydance:

For some reason in my head I was thinking 1400 miles though. :o Made her roar a couple times. But will probably get more aggressive this weekend except for the occasional blinking red light on the dash. I expect mileage to go down.

Week 4: yeah... :mad:

http://www.the370z.com/nismo-370z/10...way-floor.html

Yeah not so much fun. At least it only.

When they have to ask you what car you are driving = Not a car guy.

Congrats on the Z.

Back with a new clutch and good as new apparently. Up to 20.4 on mileage. Went to 20.6 for about a day but then break-in ended and came down. That was BEFORE the CSC went out, though. Still rather mild on freeway cruising but like to head redline 1st to 3rd whenever possible.

This is the first car where the mirrors seem kind of... obtrusive to the view from the driver's position. More of a nitpick than serious grievance, though.

Finally..let the fun begin! but dont forget to change the oil first! that break in oil is no bueno :gtfo2: & congrats :)

Hmm, I was planning to change around 3000-3500 or so. Was not aware of that. Trying to decide if I go to synthetic and if it will be Redline or Mobil1. The threads are... conflicted on the idea. ;)

Couple more things I noticed:

1) I looooove that this car doesn't bug the crap out of me if I don't put my seatbelt on.
2) The blinker is a bit too silent and if I'm not careful, can be left on. :o
3) Neither the NISMO logo in the tach (nor the red ring) glow at night. Does NISMO and regular Z34 tachs illuminate the same?

oh yeah

4) Very odd that there's no "SET" indication for cruise control.
5) seems like I could eliminate at least 4 buttons on the NAV without any loss of functionality with duplication: zoom on the map already works with the center wheel on the map which loses those buttons. Brightness could re-use the wheel as well, which is at least two more, if not the on/off (which should be in the settings anyway).
6) I'd also like to make the info a bit more dense. On the STATUS, seems like the AC status could be integrated with the radio, mileage info without losing anything. Could also be on the status bar in the Map menu, as well. Wasted space to just look at AC.

Love that placement though. Too bad it's not a bit more MFD ala GTR. Would love to see data logging, sensor display, etc all as options OOB. Would also like to see NISMO on the startup screen under the logo, if not a NISMO theme.

Congrats on the Nismo :tup:

I have a potential tip regarding pulling into a parking spot:

If there is a concrete parking stop in the spot to your right, I find that when the right hand side mirror looks to be hovering just over the adjacent parking stop, you are golden in front; neither too close nor too far.

Not sure how much height plays into this or seating position, but I'm sure it does as even though its using two fixed points to use as depth and distance cues, the perspective of the driver will vary.

No harm in trying. If you hear a scrape, you can sort of re-calibrate your perspective in relation to where the parking stop is relative to the bottom of the side mirror to minimize future scrapes.