"Where is your enthusiasm..."
 

[Rant On] All right, I am not usually much of a pot stirrer but this is pissing me off. I have been a Z enthusiast for a looooong time. I have owned a TwinTurbo for just over 9 years now and currently own 4 Z's. One could say that I have a certain sense of community and heritage when it comes to Z cars. More than that, I am a car guy! Period! If it goes fast and makes noise, I'm in. I love that people love their cars and even though they may not mod them in the way that I would mod mine, I can appreciate their effort and passion regardless... even if they do strap what looks like a see-saw on the back of their Honda. Back to the point...Why is it that when I drive by someone in a 350Z and wave, no matter which Z I am driving, they stick their nose up in the air? WTF!?! Any model before or after, I always get a smile and a friendly wave in return. I know that there are 350 drivers out there that are like us. I have plenty of friends that 350s, bad a$$ ones, that love everything Z car. I think there should be a Z car loyalty certification that you have to get before you purchase a Z. I am just sayin! [Rant Off]

Disclaimer- If you own a 350Z and you are reading this, you are obviously an enthuisast and I am not talking about you. :tup:

Happy Friday everyone!!! Go out and drive your Z this weekend! :driving:

i think it is because 350's are at that perfect age and price which allow them to fall into the laps of your average joe shmoe who doesn't really care about cars. If you've got a z32 or prior, you have an old Z, and clearly, you like z's, because people don't drive 15+year old sports cars unless they are enthusiastic about them. if you've got a z34 you just bought a new car, and chances are if you're willing to drop more money for the newer version of the car, you're more enthusiastic about it than the person who says 'i'll just get a 350 because its cheaper (not that there is anything wrong with that).' 350Z could be anywhere from 3-7 years old, which puts them in an affordable price range for someone who is just looking for a fast, nice looking car, but not necessarily a Z enthusiast.

so more to the point, a Z enthusiast would be willing to either:
A: drive an 15+ year old car because they love it
B: Drop the extra cash to get the newest model Z around.

You don't need to do either of those things in order to own a 350Z, making it the most likely Z for a non Z enthusiast to own.

A used 350 is priced right for any HS douchebag. They are all over the place so you get a lot of bad apples.

yea, if you buy a 350, and you're in HS, you've got probably the cooler cars at your school that you could have bought yourself. anything more expensive and you're parents bought it for you.

The first couple of years of the 350Z their community was probably closer to what we have now as reflected on this forum. Fact is though now 350Zs are relatively cheap and plentiful. This makes them available to a wider variety of folks -- not just Z enthusiasts. Older Zs while some may be cheap, are actually hard to find in good condition and are now typically in the hands of Z enthusiasts. I'm guessing the 370Z community will resemble the 350Z community we have now in about 5 or 6 years (if the 370 is as successful as the 350 was). Fact is we have a mass market sports car and once they get a few years old and are available to any old Joe the percentage of folk who own the car and appreciate it for its heritage will dramatically decrease. It will increase again once the 370 is old enough to start getting hard to find. So you just gotta wait it out. :)

This is very prevelant with the motorcycle crowd as well. I have had a number of sport bikes and I made it a mission to wave at all other motorcycles on the road. I would wave and most motorcycle enthusiasts wave right back. It gives a great sense of community. However more times than not, the leather clad hard core Harley guys would just ride right by and rev their motor with a dirty look. It definitely irritated me but I felt it best to just keep waving.

By the way. I passed a mid 80s Z yesterday with a couple of teenagers. They were completely enjoying themselves with the t-tops off and some music playing. Both waved and I waved right back. :tup:

careful waving while riding the bike :tup:

This has the potential to take the "most posts per day award".

Sorry, is it me? Who is that?

Larry David from "Curb Your Enthusiasm" :facepalm:

:wtf2:

ive been snubbed by 350Z drivers too. haters

300Z owners wave though....

I think people are afraid to look at someone in the eye and acknowledge another human's presence. This age is dominated by online social sites and facebook owns all. This is unfortunate since socialization skills are key to our existence. Just sayin...

To be honest, I bought the car cause I like the looks & the way it drives, I'm also a huge car enthusiast. But I didn't buy the Z to join a community or a way of life. Yeah OK, I joined the forum but that's different, I like to learn about new things about the car but that's when bored at home. If I drive my Z I don't personally want to have to wave to every Z owner on the way, I'd rather concentrate on the road.

It's also like those yearly Z outings that the dealer is asking fellow Z'ists to join and go on. Personally I hate the idea and would rather not. I don't especially feel the need to talk to other people who just happen to have the same car as me.

Of course, If a Z'ist decided to wave at me I'd automatically respond by waving back, I'm not going to be a tit.

To each his own i guess.

By now most 350Z's have been passed around more than your cheating ex-girlfriend. There are a lot to be found in the $10k-15k range. Also, if someone is still driving a 300ZX or older they've gotta be in love with it. :D

The enthusiast world is NOW all about elitism. When the 350z and G35 came out. It did something no other japanese sports car could do before. It swayed the bimmer, mercedes crew into the JDM arena, thus changing the tuning game forever. People don't care about the cars performance as much as they care about having bose and nav. The only way people seem to care about performance is in what's printed in the magaines. Instead of worrying about the reviews, assess what the car means to you in your own driving style.
Most care about if the Z is a pussy magnet or if they can hang with a camaro SS from corner to corner. This is what the new age enthusiast is.
I cringe at the words that the Z is unrefined in its engine sounds. Unrefined as opposed to what? A 5 series? Why buy the car if the engine sound annoys you compared to your 2001 M3???
If I couldn't afford an aftermarket exhaust id put a straight pipe muffler delete. Cuz I want my car to sound loud and raspy,crazy and aggressive. I want to learn how to drive my car to various extremes and maneuver it like no other. Its not just about going fast.
I laugh at people that by a sports car, yet are afraid to take off the vdc. With the vdc on you are basically driving a fast sentra. Why not just buy the sentra. It comes in manual. Lol
Its all about the status and less about the sport and love. The status symbol of the sports car has overtaken.

Why do 350z owners hate on every other Z?
The answer is simple. They think they are too good for the 300zx and hate on the 370z owners.

Funny how some 370Z owners on this site are hating on 350Z owners. I have a 350, used to drive a 300ZX, and also have a 260Z. I don't talk trash about different generations of the Z car. I don't know why you think we hate on others or envy them. I just came back from the Midwest Z Fest, went to Zdayz earlier this year, and go to C&C all the time. I'm a car enthusiast.

The fact that some of you guys think that 350Z owners are young and immature and hate and then have to post about it makes me think you're looking in a mirror.

I tend to think along similar lines. It's a generalization to say that 350 owners are rude or whatever. The fact is, as with any driver, some number will be enthusiasts and others will be posers. I've met several 350 owners who love cars and return my waves. I've been denied waves by 350, 370, and even 300 owners. Some people act genuinely shocked when I wave to them. But I couldn't pin it all on just 350 drivers. That's pretty laughable.

:iagree: repped

Raped :ugh2: oopppsss repped :tup:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/attac...rip-thread.jpg

VDC on = I am not confident in my driving skills but it will save my butt. Fail.:shakes head:

Yet another thread falling to the VDC on/off debate. Frankly I don't care whether you drive with it on or off, but compare how many "VDC off = crash" threads compared to "I drove with the VDC on and my dick fell off" threads :)

When I had my vettes, everyone waved, when I have my f-bods, a good majority waved, so on and so on. But the 350 owners just have zero interest in waving. In all the years I've been driving the 350, then the 370, I think maybe two have returned waves.

you don't even have to have the same car to wave and be like 'nice car'. this older guy in a 911 gave me a thumbs up a few weeks ago. Its just that, obviously, if you have the same car, and its not a beater, you are fond of the car, so it would make sense that when you see another one you'd be like 'nice car'

when i drove the Z on the 57 freeway i had a VW golf with 4 kids in it all giving thumbs up as they sped by.

i saw them later on pulled over by a cop for speeding :roflpuke2:

Thanks for playing...and all of the great feedback! Even a few perspectives I hadn't considered. :tup:

:iagree:
I give thumbs up to cool cars all the time, regardless of make. A pretty tricked out camaro ss gave me a :tup: last week.

I get quite a bit of positive comments on roadster. Actually, it is the first car I have owned that people feel compelled to talk to me about... in traffic. The same night that I was referring to in the original post, a woman in an Infinity passed me in the left turn lane at a light, came to a stop behind the first car, and backed up three car lenghts to talk to me about it. It's a blast and I would never blow anyone off that was interested.

I can see one problem with this thread, it is "enthuZiasm." :)

:icon18:

I can appreciate the safety additive of VDC, but if you aren't confident without it? The only thing that's a fail is your level of driving skill.

Dude, your an individual, and as a whole, I would hope that there are people like you with 350's I used to own a G35. I was an enthusiast of the G35 then and NOW even though I'm on the next G... truth is though, on a general level, the culture has changed and the values are different. Nissan has been most affected due to the amount of press its gotten in the last 7 years.
I know when I lived in NY, workin in mahattan. Those yuppies were ball lickin, bimmers all day n didn't even know what they owned. They just saw its shell and BMW self professed motto of "the ultimate driving machine". When the G came out, then they wanted a infiniti, not knowing it was just a glorified Nissan skyline. 50% of buyers go into infiniti dealerships not knowing its part of nissan. If you don't know this you are chasing status and not a cars history of performance.
I don't look in any mirror and hate on any car. But truth be told. The new enthusiast in general takes the fun out of being an enthusiast. I blame it on over involved media first. Then I blame it on consumer ingnorance.people are just not renting and test driving various cars and finding out the truh. They look at distorted media hype, and make brainwash purchases.
I also own a 3.5 altima. You should see how many people are shocked when I take a group out in my car n I'm driving on the highway. People look at altimas and think. Oh, family sedan. Then you drive one or ride one n u think, damn, its a sports sedan. The media never sells the altima as a good sports sedan. But if you never gotten in one and beat it up, you'd never know? My altima is capable of taking 48mph, 90 degree turns with me driving it. The few times I tried it, I blow myself away. Try that in a honda accord? It ain't happening without borrowing a second lane on the approaching street.
So I'm just generally sayin. Learn how to drive. Get those true skills in a regular car. Then enhance those skills on a track first before getting in a car u r scared to drive if 20 computer programs aren't running to keep you safe... Learn how to drive cars with and without saftey programs, cuz at the end of the day, having those skills will save your life. Also having those skills at the end of the day builds you into being a better enthusiast instead of being a one sided fan boy. When driving sports cars. You will have a more objective outlook of its true performance by enhancing those skills.
And lastly, don't hate or look down on the next man. No matter what car u own. But truth is, the generalization is woefully true. And it sux.

getting back on topic,

OP stated "they stick their noses in the air", are you refering to when someone nods their head upwards as a "Whats up" motion? thats not brushing you off, thats saying Hi, but not with the wave.

I've stopped waving or complimenting 350s unless they do it first. I've just gotten tired of getting scoffed at. Alot of the women just don't know and alot of the younger people think they are gods gift with their 350. I've never had the same reaction from a 300, 280 or 240. Just the 350. I've meet some cool people who drive 350s but they seem to be few and far between.

Personally, I take great offense if any Z driver does not immediately pull over, give me a manly hug and/or hand-shake and add me on Facebook.

Social skills are going the way of the dinosaur. No more "Grandmothers" to teach you how to act and behave in public :p

:icon18: :tiphat: