Miata vs 370Z

N1atmax

It's too girly for me, but I know they kill in autocross.

/Angelo350Z/

I respect the Miata as well-balanced, fun to drive, and cheap to maintain track car. Would I buy one? Sure, but not for $30K. Would I DD one? Absolutely not. I mean, they're too small. And I'm straight .

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2013 MB NISSAN 370Z SPORT

felix0121

Seriously, what exactly does the 'well-balanced' mean ?

I have often seen that term on many articles, but still get confused what it means.

How can we know a certain car is well-balanced or not ? Are 370Z and the other Z series well-balanced, too ??



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bvl

There are dozens of these threads but I'll bite as I drink my java.

On the street, if you are well aware of driving dynamics, weight is the enemy.

What makes the miata fun is how tossable it is *without* getting into trouble nearly as quickly as you do in a higher HP car.

Bake a turn in a miata and you can very easily correct it with steering and throttle modulation. You can get the tail out gently: its not going to bite you hard as many cars do once you start losing things. That is the tossable feeling many folks reference.

The Z's tuning of stability control is the weakest feature of the car. Its on/off: you can't coax a bit of tail out of it, nor is there a looser sport mode. That is the one thing I would change about the Z. It handles well for its platform, but its a bit nose heavy. It performs as well as much more expensive cars but does so with kind of a meh feeling (good steering, not fantastic, good suspension, not fantastic: its a darn good package, just not fantastic IMHO)

For us, the Z (roadster) is a GT car: very heavy. I mean...look at the size of the Z's arse. Its huge Red line 2 shifts and you are going really fast.

Red line 2 shifts in a lower powered car, and you spend more *time* hearing the sweet sound of the engine before you are illegal.

This is the difference between driving a quick vs a fast car. The Z is a fast car, no doubt. A light miata is a quick car. Our Cayman 2.7 is a very quick car where as the S is a fast car and I experience similar gratification driving the lower powered p car around the back roads: you can hammer on it without going too illegal.

With miatas, you either get it or you don't. And that's fine if you don't get it, just don't dismiss it because some men have performance issues and insist on dis'ing them instead of having a good ole time.

You can get plenty of strange driving a miata

- b

Inspector71

I am laughing so hard. I used to own a Nissan Pathfinder (2006), and then, when about to buy another one, they "chicked it up" (rounded it out and put in all kinds of "comfort" frills I wouldn't want) and it looked more like a mini-van than an SUV. I posted my lament on a Nissan forum and got blasted off of it for calling it a chic vehicle. The story ended well. I have a Z now.

Pearl zed

50/50 weight distribution front to rear

Z1NONLY

There are a couple different things people could be talking about when they use the term "Balanced" to describe a car.

The F/R weight distribution is one.

Another is the mixture of all the "ingredients" that people want in their cars. Power/handling/looks/efficiency/cost of ownership etc.

At the track, "balanced" is usually used to describe a car's behavior at the limit. -Usually oversteer vs understeer specifically.

The static weight distribution mentioned above is a major factor in how a car behaves at the limit, but suspension setup, wheel/tire selection, and even something as simple as an alignment can get cars with less-than-perfect static weight distributions to be well balanced. Likewise, a 50/50 weight distribution can be (usually unintentionally) made to handle like crap.

The Nismo 370 has excellent balance at the limit. When you turn off the nannies, it does everything you tell it to do when you tell it to....even the stupid stuff.

I have not driven the latest Miata at the limit yet, but I can't recall driving any stock Miata with bad balance. They are great cars.

mishuko

saw a new one on the road... they look like a mini jaguar in the rear.

they're decent cars but way over priced in Canada. under 40k for top trim... brz is running a tad above 30 top trim. 32k for the FRs 2.0.

if they had a better pricing point I think they would be a lot more popular alternative to the twins.

as to a 370 rival? uhhh they are sort of different cars. if anything it'll be a cheaper more affordable, not break my wallet z4.

edk370

This new Miata is a really good looking car. They should offer a turbo version, or a V6 NA version as a huge upgrade. Someone already shoehorned an LS3 into one. Bet it's stupid fast.

Z370Z011

For 30k, I'd much rather buy a z, then buy the 1st gen Miata and track it. My gf has a 1st gen Miata and they're a lot of fun. It's slow but it feels like a legal go-kart lol.


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Duc_Z09

God, what a terrible looking car.

Attached Images

	First-Generation-Mazda-MX-5-Miata-front-end.jpg (330.6 KB, 34 views)
	LightningMcQueen.jpg (25.1 KB, 23 views)

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2009 370z #206 (all mods are Home Depot)
2009 Ducati 848 (full Ohlins, Termignoni, etc)
2003 Grand Cherokee (long arms, big tires, 4.56, lockers)

nis350

I still have the first gen Miata. It's manual gearbox and clutch is much better than the Z. Not a fast car, but a lot of fun to drive.

N1atmax

ROFL... I had one for 7 years, there is no way to find one without issues. They are all 21 to 23 years old, parts are getting rare and it will only get worse. My instrument cluster cracked and I order one of the last two in the world for a left hand drive. Beautiful car, light, tt, but you better like to turn wrenches or else you will bleed money.

edk370

Yeah, some ebay seller with the FD3S "all original, 23,000 miles, all receipts for service, records, no modifications, old man owned this, R2 very rare model, blah blah blah" want $30,000 for a 20+ y.o. car. These sellers may think it's worth that much....but people aren't pouncing on them. I see them relisted over and over for 2 years straight.

LS swap is the way to go if you want one of these cars. C6 Vette power and torque in a 2900 lb. car.....can't beat that.

Dirk McGurck

RWD
Manual
Front Mid engine
50/50 weight
roadster
2.0L I4

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2009 370Z Touring with Sport