370Z as my only car? Owners please chime in.

Robert_Nash

I love Z cars and sportscars in general. I have a 370Z and I have an M45X.

You can live with almost any vehicle as a daily driver/only vehicle if you want to badly enough but overall, the Z, as will be most true sports cars, is not really intended for year round daily driving or for hauling much more than a weekend bag or a few groceries.

My 370Z’s ride is great – for a sports car but if I were making a 500 mile trip; I’d always be in the M45 (unless the whole point of the trip was a “Z” related event, etc).

If I lived in DC I just wouldn’t have a Z as my only vehicle unless you tend to use public transit and/or some other means to commute (at least in the winter). If you lived in Southern California or Florida or Texas it might be another story but even here in ennessee there is enough bad weather that my sports car doesn’t leave the garage for days at a time.

I certainly don’t want to put you off a “Z” but I would think long and hard about this before I’d spend $30K or more on something that doesn’t work for you in all the ways you need it to.

__________________
Robert
-My Basset Hound Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student and Barack Obama -

shumby

^^^^ wow that is awesome MPG lol it's ok we know you meant MPH

__________________
Originally Posted by SAM@GTM
Engine detonation is not normal and it should never never happen, and whoever told that need to do something else for living .
Sam

Sergio98

My fat fingers don't help

__________________
Sergio

Educ8r

370Z daily commuter
Single
No Children
limited # of "friends"
8 hour trip to visit parents [enough room in the back for my bag(s)]

What can I say... I love it!

__________________

imagination + creativity = endless possibilities

SMcK23

I bought a brand new 2007 Touring 350z in 10/08, I absolutely loved it! However, I live in NY and it was terrible to have as my only car! Yea, I just graduated from college and lived at home so I could use my parents' cars, but that got old too! Between not being able to drive it in bad weather or not having enough room in the car for bags, groceries, etc. it drove me nuts! Most days went by where it sat in my driveway and I drove someone else's car, but I was still paying that nice size payment to watch it sit in my driveway! It was so bad, I was dying to get out of my lease and I eventually did for a 2008 Altima coupe (FWD is a little more practical). I wish I had the 350z still, but only if I could afford to have it as a weekend car! A Z is meant to be a sports car, a weekend car, that doesn't have to come out unless there is no salt on the roads and its a clear day to just cruise. So, for now I am sticking it out with my Altima coupe until I can afford to buy a used SUV and garage a beautiful monterey blue 370z that only comes out for an enjoyable cruise in good weather. So Swift, my advice is not to buy it as your only car because in the long run it hurt me finacially big time! I am paying a ridiculous amount (the same I was for the touring 350z) for a base line altima coupe since I lost about $4,000 when I traded it in!

sprix!

I have to say I strongly disagree with this statement. The only time I have seen such limitations placed on the Z is here. The Z, like any other car, is what you make it to be. If your Z is something that you bring out only on the weekend, fine, but don't tell me I can't bring mine out whenever I like. I think the designer of the S2000 said it best (paraphrased) "impractical only for those who don't understand the joy of driving."
I am sure some people will be mile hoarding clock watchers and only drive their Z's 2,000 miles a year. Others will beat the hell out of theirs and put 25k miles on every year. Everyone is different, and people will buy their Z's for different reasons.
Not to mention that not everyone can afford to have multiple cars, and some may even think it wasteful to have more than one.

Robert_Nash

Things are a bit different in Washington D.C. than in Atlanta weather - wize. Weather conditions you have to face has to be a significant consideration when you are talking about any vehicle as your ONLY vehicle...I went through the winter of '73/'74 in Chicago (Great Lakes) in a 1973 Trans Am; I made it through but it wasn't much fun and I'd never do that again!

I agree, if you are willing to put-up with what a sports car can't do in terms of capacity, etc. then you can certainly live with one year round as a daily driver but a rear-wheel drive sports car with wide summer-compound tires (or even all-season for that matter) is not fun in snow/ice. and DC gets its share of both.

Just my $0.02

__________________
Robert
-My Basset Hound Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student and Barack Obama -

sprix!

Great point, and I am glad you brought it up. I know a thing or two about adverse weather conditions. I am from Denver, Colorado born and raised. We sometimes have more snow on one day there than DC will have in an entire season. The funny thing about that is in the right (or wrong) conditions ALL vehicles, not just RWD sports cars, are rendered useless. The only means of transportation is a snow plow. Everything else is useless. That is, unless you can drive your vehicle through 6 feet of snow, you are stuck at home like everyone else. And when the city's snow plows come out to clear the snow, everyone is able to get back out on the road that chooses to do so. People always talk about how unsafe driving in a sports car is in snowy conditions, but the truth of the matter is that driving anything in snowy conditions is risky. Don't forget that driver experience and skill comes into play heavily with how well one fares driving in wintry conditions. I have seen people in vehicles of all types have accidents under all kinds of circumstance, but accidents normally happen because of a mistake on part of the driver of the vehicle.

There will always be unknown risks that we undertake when driving, but **** happens to everyone. Even those who are "prepared" and in the "proper" vehicles for such conditions. While living there in the snowy conditions I had a four wheel drive Ford Bronco that most would consider quite capable of handling the conditions. While driving one morning, I stopped to make a right turn onto a main road from a side street. I made a complete stop and started to turn, and after getting onto the main road, found that I didn't stop turning. I slid out into the intersection going about 7-8 mph because there was a patch of ice there. Guess what? Not all of the 4wd or FWD or RWD technology in the world can give a vehicle grip when there is no grip to be had. Everyone else in the area saw what was happening, and just stopped and waited until I coasted to a slow and safe stop against a curb, and no accidents were had.

My point- stop perpetuating the myth that RWD sports car + bad weather = horrible, grisly death. It just isn't true. Sometimes people don't know how to properly manage their cars, and sometimes the conditions are too unpredictable to be trusted. However, the fact that accidents happen to some RWD sports car drivers in bad conditions doesn't mean that RWD sports cars are not able to driven accident free in wintry conditions. Accidents in adverse conditions can be had in FWD, RWD, AWD, 4WD and any other setup that exists. Besides, I always find it funny when people blame accidents on the cars they drive as opposed to accepting the responsibility for losing control or perhaps driving too fast for the conditions. It is almost as bad as blaming guns for killing people. Guns don't kill people- people kill people. Similarly, cars don't have wrecks, people have wrecks.

I don't think that any vehicle in any configuration can be driven without regard to caution in wintry and icy conditions. I don't know about other drivers out there, but I found that driving my 4WD equipped Bronco in icy conditions was every bit as harrowing as driving my S2000 in icy conditions. Call me crazy, but I don't think driving any vehicle is fun on ice.

And on a somewhat side note, Atlanta gets ice, well below freezing temperatures and even an occasional snowfall just like DC and most other places. We have been having lows in the low teens all this week, so Atlanta is not the paradise most people think it is in the winter. As I make this response, the temperature is 19 degrees Farenheit. Its cold here too!

Robert_Nash

I'd just add two things...

The weather we've had in the south this year has been much colder/snowy than normal; our daily highs and lows have been half of NOAA normals for the winter (I've lived in Tennessee since '96; grew up in Ohio and have lived in several states over the years; including areas of the country that in the winter, often require even 4x4s to have chains on). Yes, the south, even Atlanta does get snow/ice on occasion but it's usually very short lived...it's usually a matter of a few hours before temps are back above freezing.

While it's true that all vehicles are affected by snow/ice; there is no doubt that some vehicles are far more affected than others...I have an all-wheel drive M45 which I've had occasion this year to substantiate that it is much more sure-footed on snow than a rear-wheel drive only model...I've had many 4x4 Trucks/SUVs over the years and they all are far better (although not invincible) in snow/ice.

If I wanted a Z (or any other sports car) badly enough then I can certainly live with it as my only vehicle; but it's not an ideal situation.

__________________
Robert
-My Basset Hound Is Smarter Than Your Honor Student and Barack Obama -

sbkim

As noted by other posters, 370z is def a weekend sports car. Honestly, I don't think it has any more luggage space than a Miata. If you want the Z, I suggest picking up a used beater for winter and general use.

jayhawk

Of COURSE it can be your only car! When I was somewhat (ahem...) younger than I am now, I bought a new 1973 Datsun 240Z as my only car, and was my only car for several years. I was in the Navy, and lots of the aviators in my squadron had Zs, or 911s, or 914s, or MGBGTs, or the like. (The MG might have had back seats, I cannot remember...) Even put three of us (including me, the driver) in the Z for a weekend at Lake Tahoe while we were on a detachment at Fallon Nevada NAS (about an hour from Tahoe) The guy in back did not complain much at all. (but as I mentioned, we were somewhat younger...) After I was discharged, I moved across the country and everything I owned fit in that car. Including some serious WestPac stereo equipment. (Sansui Quad Channel Receiver and all....:-) Then I worked in Southern California, where as some of you may know, if you're young and single and don't drive a sports car, then you ain't sh***t!

Then when you marry the girl of your dreams, you still can use your Z as a daily driver for work, grad school, and then a career in sales in the tech industry.... Who needs more than 2 seats! (if you do, let someone else use their boring sedan...)

I still have that 240Z too. (I'm am finally starting the "frame up" restoration) Plus a '93 300ZX. And we have just replaced the family minivan ('96 Caravan with 240,000 miles) with a new Murano. And the "kids" now have cars of their own, (2 Mustangs and a WRX).

Moral of this windy post: you can ALWAYS use and keep your 2 seat sports car - especially if it is a Z!

--jayhawk

(who wants a 370Z, but will probably have to wait until the Social Security checks start arriving.... pretty soon now :-)

sprix!

I am no 370Z owner, but I do own an S2000 which is my only car. At two points in my nearly 4 years of owning S2000s, I have had other cars. I only got them because I liked the two rides I picked up. I never felt as if having a sports car as my daily driver was a problem. I don't move every other week, and I don't have a lot of friends bumming rides. I find that my S2000 holds enough groceries and what not that I have never had a problem. The 370Z, from what I have seen, has more room than an S2000 in most aspects, so I think I would have no problems with it as a daily driver.
It seems like it all comes down to you. In the end, only you can decide if this car is suitable enough to be driven as your only car. If road noise and comfort are a concern, I think you would be less than happy with this as your only car. In my opinion, it is a sports car and not a comfortable cruiser and certainly not a hauler in any fashion. Tell your friends to take a cab to the airport.... Life is too short to make decisions based on what your friends need. Unless they are helping to pay for the car, I would not base the purchasing decision on whether the car has enough room for a hauling a friend's stuff.

Black kNight

^^^^^^
I agree with u . u have to know what u want ?? not what your friends need or want .

it is your money .
but go to your dealer and see 370z and see the other cars in your list

sensi09

I had multiple cars to drive before moving to solely a 350Z for a short period of time. If you're use to the space, it is a hassle, but you definitely get used to it. Back seats that you thought you never used are surprisingly handy even just for random things.

I've made costco runs with the Z without too much hassle. The only time I really needed more storage space was when taking tires to the shop.

On the plus side, when going out with friends, I never had to drive anymore.

sensi09

In terms of comfort, I think the Z is definitely livable for day to day driving. On one note though, if I hadn't driven the Z for awhile, I was reminded that it really is a fun car to drive. You somewhat lose that feeling or take it for granted when driving it daily.