What can we expect from 2012 Z?

wolf370z

So you're not looking to get a 370z at all? In all seriousness, I'm curious why you're on here? I mean it's fine and nice to have more knowledgeable people on the forum (based on your pasts posts) but what brings ya here?

I am going to contest your claim that the '11 GT is a direct competitor. First, of all the '11 Mustang GT is NOT a sports car, the 370z is. In fact, there is no reason why these two cars would even be cross-shopped unless you're looking at a particular price range for cars that boast performance. If you're looking for a sports car you're not looking at a Mustang. If you're looking at a muscle car you're not looking at a 370z. Just saying.

However, you're correct. If you're looking for a pure performance vehicle the Mustang GT is significantly faster in just about everything, even for a *gasp* muscle car is still edges the 370z on a track (on a tighter, more technical course the gap is significantly shorter) due to it's power advantage. Also, despite it being a SRA setup, the Mustang GT actually handles impeccably well and it's a pretty good driver car.

Now, looks wise, you cannot really compare although I will say I've gotten quite a few stares and compliments on how it looks. The problem that you'll find with the Mustang is, unless you've got an exhaust that deafens everyone in a three or four block radius, the car doesn't stand out like the 370z does.

All in all though, performance stats aside, the Mustang GT and 370z, when looked at rationally, a logical deduction concludes that cross-shopping them makes little sense unless you're simply looking for the fastest car under $40k.

Which again, makes me believe, that Nissan won't do anything performance changing for quite a few years to come.

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ImportConvert

I prefer the looks of the Z over the GT myself, personally. I don't think there is anything wrong about cross-shopping the GT and the Z. They do the same things, only the looks and way they go about getting them done differ. That is stylistic.

wolf370z

If the 370z and Mustang GT both do the same thing then I guess you cross shopping a Ford Taurus and an E55 AMG make sense because they both basically do the same thing....? In fact any two cars or any two SUV's or any two trucks could be compared since they essentially do the same thing?

My point was people would compare the Mustang with the Camaro and Challenger because they're all "muscle cars." I think that fact alone separates any of the three cars from being cross shopped with a 370z or another similar sports car. That's why I believe that Nissan really offers something special with a true sports car at a pretty affordable price for the market. Like I said before, unless you're trying to compare any performance-oriented vehicle then it would make sense to cross shop all of the above.

I also don't think there's anything wrong with cross shopping a 370z with a Mustang GT. In fact I did cross shop the '09 370z with the '10 Mustang GT. Then I heard rumors of the '11 Mustang GT and thought for a while. To be honest my initial thought was that Ford wasn't really going to bring much to the table, that the Camaro would dominate the Mustang GT again, and the 370z would edge it out due to the weight differences.

Clearly I was wrong, and even after hearing the rumors about the newly designed 5.0L, I was convinced that the other weight rumor (a 4000 lbs Mustang GT) was probably going to be true since all the muscle cars leaned towards the ultra heavy side.

However, I couldn't be happier with the 370z. Once you've driven the two cars back to back they're pretty incomparable, I thought. I love both equally but the 370z was just a much sportier car and certainly much more fun to drive based on test driving the '11 GT. And yes, this was quite literally me driving the 370z and then stepping out into an '11 GT to test. The differences were extremely noticeable. The '11 GT seemed much smoother as a driver and I feel would be even easier to drive in traffic than the 370z. My problem was I felt the 370z had even more room and that I was cramped up against the dash because the clutch felt about a mile away in the '11. I'm average height (~5'10") and it felt like the car was designed for tall people while still managing to remain comfortable for me. It was quite a weird experience.

Of course after testing driving the '11 GT, climbing into the 370z was so hard because the GT really was a far smoother car. But hey, that's the price you pay for a sports car... and I couldn't be happier!

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Good drivers just drive.

Nismoracer

Two tone paint scheme.

Nikkolai

I concur with you. Same could be said for cars like the Subaru STi and the Mitsubishi Evolution. They pull the same numbers as the Z but they are not considered sports cars. Even the Corvette can be thrown into this. It has a huge engine but it's considered a sports car and not a muscle car. It is hard to even classify the GT-R.

jakoye

I would definitely cross-shop between the Mustang and the Z if I were looking to buy a car TODAY (and I didn't own a Mustang as I currently do). I think your previous point that some people are just looking for "performance" for around 30K is key.

If the 370 had been around back in 2006 when I bought my current Mustang, I'm sure I would've cross-shopped between the two.

Now that I've owned my Mustang for 5 years, I'm almost ready for a change and the Z is really the only car I'm considering. The other "muscle" cars don't interest me. I'm looking for superior handling most of all and good looks... and the current Z has those in spades!

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