Initial thoughts and pics of my new Z!
 

Okay I've had my car for a whole day now but I put over 100 miles on it so far. The weather has been less than ideal with wet roads and left over gravel from the snow we had two weeks ago.

First off I LOVE THIS CAR! I've owned a lot of vehicles, but this is the first one I repeatedly go to the garage and just stare at. I know its design has been panned, but I really find it sexy, muscular and graceful at the same time. It reminds me a lot of a Cayman S from certain angles. I love the door handles, another design element people have complainted about. To me they really suit the car and are so much different than everything else on the road.

People have been going crazy over this car, I realize it's new and all, but everywhere I have gone people stop and stare, take pictures or come and talk to me. It seems like I'm driving a Ferrari or something.

I have been taking it pretty easy on the engine letting in break in as directed. That said, the exhaust note is great, not too loud or imposing, but not civilized or quiet either. It did not drone at all in the cabin, but the tires sure do. On very smooth asphalt it's quiet, but on any rough road it is very loud. The ride is very nice, much more compliant and soft than I anticipated, but sticks to the corners nicely. The outright acceleration is fantastic! As many people have said the rev-matching kicks ***. My wife drove today for about 15 miles and found it very easy to use the clutch and shift.

The steering is heavier than I thought it would be, much more so than my FWD V6 Accord. It's not a problem per se, just will take some getting used to.

The Bose system seems fine, nothing like the Mark Levinson I had in my IS350, but fine for a non-audiophile like me.

The negatives so far: The huge blindspots are terrbile, and very challenging in a busy parking lot. Why there is no standard rear view camera baffles me. No heated mirrors in the "touring" edition? WTF my wife's Focus and my 2000 Dodge Ram have them. :thumbsdown:
The steering wheel has tilt, but no telescope feature. It isn't that hard to find a comfortable position, but this is also a glaring oversight in a $40k car.
I have a really bad rattle at the back of the car. When I was washing it today it appears that it is from the taillight assembly. I'll take it in when I can and have them look at it.
The front lip spoiler is very low, I have already scraped it twice, and the dip wasn't deep at all.

These are just my initial thoughts and observations. I think I will use this thread as a diary of sorts to post my thoughts and feelings/problems with the car.

Attached are pictures that I took today. Enjoy, and if you have questions feel free to ask.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...g_tin/coke.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j..._tin/zhome.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...tin/zhome2.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...tin/zhome3.jpg
http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...tin/zhome4.jpg

Good review!
The ML system is simply amazing. A lot better than the Logic 7 in my car for sure!

Just curious, how did you go from your Accord to the IS350 to the 370z?

How bad are the blindspots? I'd think they'll be the same as the 350z?

I had the IS first, had it for a year or so and decided that it was too expensive for my 4 mile commute to work. So I bought a 07 Accord V6 Coupe which I loved, except for the damn FWD. I drive my cars HARD, and the damn torque steer drove me insane. It was paid off so I lived with it for quite a while. I finally got the new car itch and drove a new C6, Challenger SRT and was going to wait and drive the new Mustand and Camaro, but I got tired of waiting. My wife's car seats 4, and I have a 4x4 truck so I did not really need or want back seats.

Awesome review. :tup: BTW, the exhaust will get WAAAAY louder. I have a video of "onethreefive's" 135i exhaust tone at around 30 mile on the odometer. That tone almost doubled or tripled in loudness by the time he hit 1200 miles. The exhaust system slowly breaks in as well as the whole car.

Tight or heavy steering is something you'll find in most sports car. They make it this way so that the steering have the total feeling of the road. Many people complain BMW steering wheels are tight but they are tight for a reason.

The blind spot issue can resolved with a simple back up camera. Other than that, good review. I am glad you're enjoying your car! :tup:

that car is sex on wheels.. exact replica of what I'm ordering. that being said, I thought that the Z had a back up camera or a sensor or something you could add on the options list?

I could be wrong, but I do not think there is any option for a back up camera. My car has every option except the 7AT.

When do you get your car?

funny you should ask,
my dealership is complete garbage. about 3 weeks ago I called to ask when I could order and when they'll get some in so I can go drive it. the dude said idk so he took my number and said he'd call back in a few mins. So a week later, I call back and a different dude answers and says the same sh|t! anyway, I called them today and they said I can order it whenever I want but I'll have to wait for feb to get a test drive :S... it's like they don't wanna sell me the car?

ps - I'm getting 7AT, also I think there is a back up sensor option

Well it's the island brah! LOL, I lived on Maui for quite a few years so I know what it's like there.

I was browsing on this site earlier on and ran into a thread that said this option isn't offered on US models, but is an option in Japan. :(

wow that color actually has me rattled. i defs gotta go with it, it makes the spoiler blend right in and the butthole is barely visible hahaha.. sick whip

Exactly, you don't notice the butthole at all, the fangs blend right in and the black plastic piece along the front also is not noticeable.

Correct. It's an option for JDM fairlady Z34s (370Z)

Nice feedback :tup: Well, I've got about 200miles on my 370z so far and I have to agree with you on most of your comments.

-MIRRORS-
It was very dewy this morning and I had to pull over and wipe off the passenger side mirror, without that you can forget about lane changes. They deffinitely need heated mirrors, next time I'll know to check and see if I need to wipe them off before starting my drive.
Also very important, I think they should have lowered the mirrors an inch or or so, they are in direct line with your vision and block out people walking in cross walks parking lots etc. A slightly lower mirror would have solved this problem. you have to be careful while turning, look around and over them.

-BLINDSPOTS-
I'm getting use to the blind spots, at first I was very wimpy at changing lanes, etc.

-TELESCOPING STEERING WHEEL-
Yes, should have one :confused:

Ok then, If I may ad to this list, keep in mind these are all minnor things, there are way more things that are right about this car, the cool list would be much longer :icon17: Here goes.

-REAR TIRE NOISE-
Its amazing at how little pebbles and rocks can make so much noise when hitting the inside of the fender wells, those tires pick up every little thing!!!
I looked in the fender well and there is a plastic insert that seams to be the culprit. I'm going to try and take off and coat wih some rubber or plasti-kote, this should help soften the impact and eliminate the noise. I can't beleive they didn't catch this in pre-production vehicles. :confused:

-PHONE NOISE-
Have you ever had your cell phone next too some computer speakers and all of a sudden it starts spitting out a bunch of static and chatter, I'm sure your familiar with the sound. Well it does it in the 370Z!! and it is very annoying!!
Anyone else experiencing this???, I have a first gen Iphone.

-CLUTCH CLUNK-
When going from first to second gear, if I haven't got the revs up to around 3k or above, when I depress the clutch to go to second it makes a very distinctive clunk sound. It only does it from first to second, and only if the rpms are low. I can also get it to surface if I'm in first going slowly in a parking lot and depress the clutch, I'll here it then too.
Anyone else experiencing this????
It's very grabby, seams like it takes a lot of finess, this is my 5th or 6th manual car, so it's not like I don't know how to drive one. I'm attributing it to high strength pressure plate, and probably needing to break in a bit. Not sure if I should take it back to the dealer and mention something though.

That's about it for now, other then that, it's a great little car, lots of fun to drive. :driving:

Braden

Well, that's about it for now

Thanks for your feedback too. These are fairly minor gripes, but the lack of heated mirrors is a safety issue IMO. How that was left out I have no clue.

I have not noticed any clutch noises, but I only have 100 miles on the car.

I have not paired my phone up yet, I will do that in the next week or so. I'm not a big talker so it's low on my list of priorities. Tomorrow I'm going to program the Homelink.

Anyone else hearing this clunk sound? Wonder if it is driveline lash?

I've heard of this before, but what exactly is it? and what is the fix?

thanks!

Braden

Yes, I agree, it is a safety issue.

The speakers were making the racket before I paired the phone up, it just has to be in the car :werd: :mad:

Does it make that noise with your phone ALL the time? Or just when someone is calling you??

Howzit...so which dealership did you go to exactly?

I have paired my first generation iPhone and I have no issues.

Congrats and thanks for the pics. I'm liking the black more and more everytime I see it.

congrats on your new whip!
isn't it nice to have other cars (4 drs) also as a beater/winter backup car also..
house is my main goal right now...then the Z

Great intiall feedback on your whip. keep us posted!

Great Reviews! I am getting the feeling now of how the Z driving experience looks like.
How is the road noise at the expressway?

heh, my 86 300ZX Turbo had heated mirrors! I agree, major oversite!

looken so good in black.

Good review. Thanks for the write up!

It does it every so often, prob when it is pinging a cell tower, and when I get a text or email. :mad:
I found that if I put it in the storage area in the door, it's not as bad. But when it's in the center, it's
really bad. Not sure what to do about this. It does this even if the radio is turned off!!

I found this link to a vid on youtube, this is the sound, I'm sure you've all heard it before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23rdefO4gBU

Braden

Interesting, do you have the Nav option?? I wonder if there is something else causing it.

Here's a video explaining what the noise is and how to fix it for *computer* speakers. Unfortunately this doesn't seem like a viable fix for your car system because you would have to take out all the speakers to get to the wires.

Namir,

Thanks for that video!! ;) Snap choke cores huh. Ok, well at least I know there is a possible fix for this annoying thing. I'm going to wait and see if any others start experiencing this, if it is widespread, maybe Nissan will issue a fix and I won't have to deal with pulling out the speakers myself. :tup:

Braden

Okay two more observations on the car:

When I drove home from work last night I noticed that when I have my brights on the little blue indicator in the dash is very bright. So bright I moved my arm on the steering wheel to block it. And when you dim the dash lights down it does not change in intensity.

I use a radar detector (of course) and the power point location is in a very odd location. Down low near the passenger's feet. In fact when I first started looking for it I could not find it and I was freaking out a bit.

And the lack of heated mirrors was a problem again last night. Huge blindspot+useless side mirrors equals danger IMO.

Congratulations!
Just purchased a black sport edition myself.
Taking delivery on Monday.
:tup:

Sweet! You'll love the black. What are you doing with the old Z?

It's odd that it doesn't have heated mirrors. My 06 z has heated mirrors. The power outlet has always been near the passenger area but there is another one under the center armrest. I don't think i've ever used my highbeams around the seattle area.

heated mirrors is an easy fix. just run an electric current through the mirror.

how much you wanna bet this is the 3lbs of "audio system" weight that was shaved haha.

blind spots sound really annoying to me.

look into a set of multivex mirrors.

there shouldn't be blind spots if you adjust the mirrors correctly... (facing out.. not toward the side of the car)

Yea it seems kind of ridiculous to have to do yourself. Hopefully there will be a TSIB and they (Nissan) will fix it themselves.

True, but if they are covered in ice or dew it's a moot point.

They should start putting split mirrors on US spec cars. I know they use them in Europe and they really help with blind spots. My friend had them on his 3 series and you can see the back of your car and your blind spot without leaning forward or turning your head.
http://oempl.us/images/B6_MkV_Split_Mirror_Blue01.jpg