Is the 370Z a good car for long trips?
 

I Just turned over 800 miles on my new 2011 Touring/Sport 7AT. I use this car for a daily driver but have some concerns driving this car on longer trips. I have a need to take a trip once a year and it will be approximately 450 miles each way. I'm wondering if the road noise and limited room in the car will wear on me. I love this car for everyday driving and commuting. My son complains he doesn't have enough leg room on the passenger side. Has anyone taken this car on long drives?

The longest I have been in my Z and driven is about three hours. Mind you, I'm very young as compared to the rest of the forum, being eighteen years, but I haven't had any issues with comfort. I am a bit antsy though, so every hour or so I had to get out and stretch. Driving is a lot better than not driving, and being in the passenger seat of any car makes me sore after an hour.

I drove it 1000 miles in a day to sell it. It was very comfortable. :tup:

I just did a 400 mile trip no problem for me.

Might be a good idea to ask your height and weight.

regular Z? probably just fine..

nismo? nope. while i love the stiffness, i cant do more than an hour or two of straight driving without feeling like someone punched my kidneys. damn those linear springs!

Don't all cars have linear spring rates?

yup, most cars dont have progressive springs.

After several trips from Phoenix, AZ to LA, Cali (325~mi. one way) I can say this much:

1. I have no problems taking it on the road, its a very fun/responsive car in the turns and in the straightaways, the possibility of cops are the only reason it's a 5 hour trip instead of a 3 and a half hour trip. :icon17:

2. Road noise I find is not a problem, although I can hear the road, I'm not so anal not to expect it from a car in this class/height from the ground/form of tires. If that might bother you, another set of tires might help out. However, to combat this I either roll down the windows and let the wind drown out the road noise. I also turn my stereo up and that takes care of it. Lastly, I'll just push on the gas a little more and let my exhaust take over. :tup: Plenty of options in this wonderful car.

3. At 6'0" I find I have plenty of leg room on these cruises, and even still I make sure when I can to set the cruise control and put my legs in a more relaxed position until I get into traffic again. Gives them a break. On the passenger side, there are no pedals so theoretically he should have more room?? :ugh:

4. The only thing I will say about long cruises is depending on where you are climate wise and what type of terrain/elevation changes you will encounter, you will see your Oil Temp rise. With 100*F+ ambient temps, on the biggest uphill portion of my cruises I do hit 240*F oil temps. Now this is not to cause an alarm, but it still higher than I'd like to have it. So an Oil Cooler is a good idea if you plan on making these trips often... Just something else to think about.

Hope that helps. :tup:

I have driven 1600+ mile round trips over a weekend in my Z34 n several occaisions without any problems.

Driver comfort is great, fuel economy is good - no problems

I have driven from Virginia to Georgia for Z Nationals about a 11 hour trip. To my satisfaction I had no discomfort during the trip. Last year driving the 9 10 hours to ZdayZ in a caravan did not result in any discomfort either. I expected to be stiff from the drive and have an aching back but did not. I'm 5'7" and about 170 just to add some context to my input.

I take my Z down to Delaware (central Jersey to LSD- lower, slower Delaware) every weekend. It's a three hour drive, 180 miles door to door, and I find no discomfort at all. In fact I look foreward to the ride. Road noise is not a problem, and the ride is sweet.
Ride is comfortable enough that my wife falls asleep for half the trip.

:tup: Reporting From the Mother Road!

450 miles each way is nothing in a Z. It's actually a pretty comfy cruiser for a sporty car.

I'll find out in 3 months ZDAYZ Babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 860 miles away!!!

i drove about 300miles to dallas the other weekend. Believe it or not it was more comfortable than my mazda 6s with leather. I have sciatica and that was an issue when buying this car. After that trip and hour long traffic commutes, no pain at all, thats with a clutch too.

For long car rides, i definitely recommend it. I wouldn't worry too much about road noise. If you have luggage, that should quiet it down. I didn't and it was fine. There were a few stretches of road on I-10 that were bad, but what the hell, turn your radio up or zone out, you'll be fine!

i drove my z for more than five hours 350 miles to alexandria virginia last september and no problems at all

I’ve driven to 3-4 hours to Vegas 7 times in my Z and love it. I’m a fat and happy guy (5’10/280)… and never had any issues… maybe it’s the extra padding :tup:

Once every couple weeks, I do a 75 mile commute to an office for work, and after a 10 hour day, that trip home is exhausting. Otherwise, for a pleasure trip, just take lots of breaks. Stop for coffee, then beer, then coffee, on a rotation every hour or so, and enjoy the view of your car from the outside.

Yeah I'm 6'3" and drove from Gainesville Fla to Tenn and several back roads then back to Fla. My Wife and I had a great time very comfortable drive and had a blast on the Dragon too!

Just got done today taking the Z on its first long road trip from miami to lakeland in central fl. Was pretty comfortable, only grief I had was trying to find a comfy position for the seat to be in, the drive is like 4hours or so and about the 3rd hour in my legs start to feel a little bit restless like there not getting the right bloodflow thru them, but it might be because I slouch in the seat after driving for so long.

oh man...took a 120 mile round trip today and that nismo suspension was killing me. the potholes and hardly paved roads of SF were murder!

Long trips have been fine for me (3-4 hours), like many people have been saying there are several factors that influence your experience- driver/passenger size (height, weight), NISOM/Coupe/Touring Coupe/Roadster etc./road quality

haha. especially if you over-inflated the tires by 5 lbs like i do :)
when i used my nismo as a dd i didn't realize how hard the ride was. then i got another car as a dd and drove it for a week. weekend came and i got into the nismo. man, what a big difference! :eek:

:werd: yea no joke...ive been driving my 06 corolla, lowered on H&R race springs for the last few weeks. i used to think THAT was stiff! oh man...the nismo is just plain harsh after DD'ing that for the longest time.

i just drove from phoenix to san francisco, it was great, until LA... then the roads were just terrible all the way to SF... and with the 370z, you can definitely tell!

I did Harrisburg, PA to Raleigh, NC in about 6hrs.
I was none the worse for wear after the trip.

I don't know about you, but I'm always up for a roadtrip in the Z. It's just more fun than not lol :)

I have made trips from ATL to DC and Ohio in my Nismo and it wasn't bad. I find the noise from my WRX exaust to be worse for long trips than the harder springs in the Nismo.

No foolin' about the California roads. I've been dodging new pot holes every day lately. I still have yet to do a long drive, but still look forward to one. Now that the exhaust notes changed.