Same for me, it was actually between the Nismo and a blood red 2010 M3 coupe w/ black wheels. Looked awesome, but dealer wouldn't budge on his (over KBB) price and it had like 45k miles (in 3 years?!). It was an easy call to get a brand spankin' new Nismo over that.

I have gotten a ton of comments on my car lately since taking it out of the garage. Although it pertains more to the FI exhaust I have installed, a vendor at my work saw me in the parking lot and was like, "Dude, those pipes sound beastly!" and proceeded to ask all kinds of questions about the Nismo in general. It seems like it gets a lot more appreciation from guys than girls, unfortunately. My buddy's sister saw a bunch of our friends fawning over it and was like, "It's still a Nissan. I like Mercedes." wtf ever, I am still not sick of looking at my car and it's been over a year since I bought it.

I bet the chick is a known gold digger too huh.

Or shes asian. My wifes japanese and they have this predetermined ignorant bias engrained in their very DNA that having a merc or bmw means your successful. No other company, no matter the price. ESPECIALLY if its a japanese car its instantly looked down upon. Having the cheapest merc made would be prefered over a GTR or a LFA. Whatever, other people are allowed to be as stupid about opinions as they want to be, its still just an opinion. I know my nismos a sexy beast. Fact.

My asian wife's list

Nismo 370z
911 GTX variants
SL550 or 63

But she drools over the Nismo the most, she loves that ***!

My girl loves Audi's. She wants the RS5 even though it's severly overpriced, in my opinion lol.

see the connection? seems that japan has a german complex or something. 4 of the 5 listed. my wifes dad drives 3 bmws and a merc and always talks about how he wants a GT3 RS. I keep telling him to not waste his money, get a nismo which looks exactly the same and TT it...... and get the same results lol. 100k cheaper. I dont know how many times ive been at a gas station and have been asked "what year is your porche" I just roll my eyes and point at the big OBVIOUS nissan badge. But in their defense....... if you set the GT3 and the nismo side by side...... they look identical, with the exception the porches 2 exhaust tips are in the center, not on the outer edges. did nissan do that on purpose? even the rear break cooling vents on the *** are the same lol. which btw.... do nothing.

^ you should make a thread listing all the machines that aren't "a waste of money" in your opinion lol.

Are you really comparing a Nismo to a GT3 RS? :bowrofl: Come on dude. Even if you TT a Nismo, a GT3 is still 10x's the car

They look exactly the same? A TT'd 370Z Nismo is as good as a 911 GT3? I love my Nismo, but no offense intended, I don't blame him for not buying what you're selling. :confused:

Not selling. And yes, comparison isnt that far fetched. Nismo 42k gt3 rs 175k. Nismo+135kin lightening, suspension,engine mods would be an all out race car that would run rings around the porche. Point is, dollar for performance/fun? Supercars are WAY past the common sense line. You pay an inflated premium for a name, and a car that doesnt need modified. Brilliant cars of our current gen? The 5.0 if they could get quality standards up, the BRZ, the fiesta/focus ST and the GTR always makes the list as you can get one used for 1/4 the price of any other car that holds a candle. Its all about what the car delivers per dollar spent in quality, looks, performance, reliability, warranty, daily drivability and usefulness and that "smile" factor. If you REALLY believe 175k is worth a lighter, more powerful but much less reliable and more expensive to fix that will last 60k miles then you in the wrong car. Go buy yourself a porche. They are built for one thing in mind, and that thing is not being used as a car for 10+ years. Ask anyone who thought they would be "smart" and buy an OLD porche like HAHA!!! i didnt pay a fortune! Abd this was the fastest porche in 1995!!!!!! And then they realize what a maintenance HELL it is. I dont know of a single Z car u couldnt run 250k miles + until the wheels fell off, then give it some love and a big one time overhaul and it will do it again for you. Aka engine swap, tranny, wheel bearings and shocks/springs. Which is still about as much as porche probably charges to change the spark plugs on a GT3

Yeah same. I love my car a lot - probably more than I should, but it's no GT3.

A 911 not reliable? Other than the rear main seal issue on 996 non-turbo/non-GT3 models, the 911 is very well built. The air-cooled ones are fairly reliable as well, other than the fact you're looking at a 20+ year old high dollar German car. Any deferred maintenance is going to hurt. I'm a big fan of Zs, but to put it in the same league as a 911 GT3RS is crazy. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess you've never driven a 911.

Yes, with enough money anything can be faster than anything else on a track. Look how many people run rings around other cars in Miatas. There's a lot of people who want something that's a great car out of the box, and can pay for it. That doesn't mean it's a waste. The average supercar owner has likely spent less on his supercar as a percentage of net worth than any of us have spent on our Zs. It's all relative.

The barrier to entry is the maintenance, not the sticker price of the car. With an expensive car come expensive parts (OEM or aftermarket). If you can't afford an additional 30% of the original price of the vehicle when sold new, you can't afford the vehicle. I think a lot of people don't understand that and get into trouble with cars like the R35

I can agree with that, ive driven a cararra 4s, it was fast and refined as **** but nothing screamed at me IM WORTH 100k DOLLARS!!!!!! considering I also drove a 2012 GTR on a track and it was 10X better for the same price....... I dont know about you, but lap times dont = happiness/fun on a track for me. those guys in the miatas are having a BLAST. but its still a miata.

Exactly. The GTR has a maintenance schedule that rivals the costs of all of the more expensive cars it competes with from a performance standpoint. And God forbid you break something out of warranty. When I was looking at cars, a used late model 996 turbo was actually cheaper to maintain than a much newer GTR.

We should all get Tercel's and spend 42k on them to run circle around the Z.

Then we will laugh at the Z owners for having slow *** cars

That's what the guy in the GT3RS is saying about us in our Zs. :rofl2:

And let's be honest. If you were in the position to buy whatever car you wanted no matter the price, would you really buy a Z and mod it? It's easy to say that until you've got cash in hand, but I'll bet just about everyone would come home with a supercar if cost wasn't a factor. I know I'd have driven right past the Nissan dealer and driven home in a McLaren.

Given an infinite amount of cash I'd have a garage with a Lotus Exige, a GT-R, an Aventador, a McLaren P1 and my nismo 370z :3

I guess the GT-R could be the "family car" because y'know...4 seats etc.

lol 100% honest here. when i BOUGHT my z i had the money for other choices. but in personal opinion the nismo 370 in my eyes is a DAMN sexy car. couldnt give 2 ***** that a poorly made, cheaper 5.0 mustang blows me away. just like my favorite 70s muscle car is a 1971 AMC javelin SST 401, red with a white stripe and black interior. fastest? no, best? no. just personal opinion of overal package and mainly looks. the nismo is a damn pretty car. a car can be beautiful, or cool. the aventador i would classify as cool, but a nismo, or a vanquish have better ...... something i cant explain unless you simply "get it"

yeah having a lambo would be kick *** for performance numbers but thats about it. would probably hate living with it, worrying about it, maintaining it, each person has a personal preference and to me the nismo is one of the best looking cars you can buy today that doesnt just fall into the good looking because its "cool" catagory. best performing for the money, best overall package, super high moding community support, and if your into this kind of thing the nismo is exclusive from what i hear 500 a year per region and not all 500 are even sold. dont confuse me just bashing high end cars because i "cant" afford one. I can, and i wont because there is a threshold that after a certain $ amount is a rapid decline in what you get for what you pay. I would say the nismo OVERALL is one of the few cars that are right at the peak of that slope. but your right, whole argument is null if your SOOOOOO rich it doesnt even matter, then you can buy anything you want and dont have to "think" first.

The demographic for Lambo buyers really doesn't worry about any of this because it's not their only car, and the maintenance costs are less of an issue to them than Z maintenance costs are to us, respectively.

The people who these cars are intended for aren't looking at any Zs. For a point of reference, think about it like this. If you make $150k annually, a Nismo is 26% of your annual income if you just bought it outright. That same percentage of income spent by someone who makes $1m/yr (not a huge amount in the scheme of rich) is $260k. That's the target market for these cars. The people with a quarter of a million to drop on transportation are not looking at Zs. Honestly, they're not really looking at GTRs either.

This is exactly right. The thing is, the lambo doesn't seem like a sensible car for you because you don't exist in that tax bracket. I bet the nismo 370z doesn't seem like a realistic choice for someone in high school either. This all goes back to my earlier point that owning a car is an experience with upkeep costs and not just a "point of sale" transaction. I can still remember a point in time where I thought a $300 car repair was exorbitant ;)

To them, it's "Oh damn. The Lambo's down again. Should I take the SL65 or Panamera Turbo to work today?"

Or just call my driver and have him pick me up. :tup:
Also, on the comparison of a GT3 v a TT Nismo is not fair, the GT3 is NA (compare it to a GT2).

true true, hell im guilty of the make more spend more syndrome myself. but if i was rich, i would STILL own a 370 nismo...amung others lol. an NSX type R, an EVO 6, porche 914 GT-6 "for fun, they are ugly" Austin martin DB5, lancia stratos HF turbo, Siera cosworth RS500, WRX STI S201, and a 1969 240Z. and probably each of the Z cars therafter just to have them. nowhere in my life have i had the overwhelming urge to buy a varon, lambo, or some other crazy thing. I focus on the cars that were "greats" best bang for the buck by far. some on the list are pricy, and maybe not the best financially but were still known in history to be some of the best cars ever made. I have a feeling the 370z with all its little quirks will be a car people look back on 20 years from now and refer to as awesome.

Honestly I would still own my nismo if I hit the powerball jackpot but only because I've modded it too much to ever be able to sell it :3

I would, and mines stock lol. Ever watched those best motoring japan vids? they have put the STOCK nismo against carara s, 911, boxter, BMW M3, Z4, NSX, ferrari mondeo, and a **** ton of other cars..... and its never once finished last. these are all cars of a different class all together. I dont even CONSIDER a possibility that a Z with equal power to weight ratio couldnt keep up with a GT2 on a track "making it fair" the Z is without a doubt for its price an AMAZING car. If you put a 4.08 gear in I bet that even the carara S wouldnt pull away on the straights, and they are ALREADY side by side on the corners. so much for that "awesome" handling that makes the porche 500% superior to all other cars..... lol. when I drove one I realized something..... it FEELS more responsive and light because it IS. not only is the car lighter, the engines in the back..... so obviously the steerings going to feel light and perky. in my personal opinion, the 370z is this generations NSX "when it first launched" not the 05 version that was 80k lol. hopefully the Z wont evolve into an overly expensive supercar.

Best Motoring has never tested a stock Japanese car. They all get a little extra love from the manufacturer before they go out there. Can't be having the Japanese cars losing to Ze Germans.

see..... I dont think thats true. because they HAVE entered aftermarket modified japanese cars in, such as the white amuse nismo and it blew up mid race lol. All cars involved are stock, be it japanese, american, german. comes straight off the floor and on the track. they dont even change the tires if you look close.

There's a long history of car manufacturers handing out ringers to magazines and other tests. It's easy to tweak the tune and throw in some higher octane gas to pick up another few ponies without changing anything mechanically.

You don't see value in cars that cost more than your Nismo. That's great. I think Zs are great cars. The Z has always been a 911 competitor at 50% off msrp. That doesn't mean you can dismiss anything with a higher sticker price. There's a reason they cost more. Better performance out of the box, interior quality, build quality, warranty, etc. Sure, you can throw $X at Y car and it'll be faster around a track, but if it blows up it's your problem and it's rarely as well engineered as a car that came with that level of performance stock.

You mean like Ferrari putting different tires & tunes on cars depending on the test, even during the same magazine testing day? :shakes head:

Ferrari always cheats. At everything. And if you call them out on it, you don't get to buy a Ferrari. You and I are off the list now.

That is ok, I prefer to have other cars. :driving:

Me too. The F430 I drove was a turd.

Lowlife. :leghump:

So. How would they know it was YOOUUUU? :tup:

when you have that much money, you know everything.

and if you want back on the list, all you have to do is say you dont want one. they cant stand that.

I had a Lotus Elise and EVERYONE will ask/take pictures. They would take my picture more than Vipers even. Im thinking about buying a white Nismo. Will it get THAT much attention?

Not as much as an Elise...

Now if the nismo you get has 662hp then it's a different story ;)

Did a trackday yesterday. After my first session was over. I had a lot of people come over and ask me about the Nismo. As I'm the only Z tracking at Pittsburgh International that I know of. Going down the front straight in 4th at 8,000 rpm, then braking for T1, catching a down shift with the revmatch is pure music with LTH's and the whole FI exhaust. :tup: