New Car and Driver review of the 370z... oil temp fail!

DLSTR

One would think a car magazine would know without being reminded by the maker of the car in question lol!

jakoye

But weren't all the other cars stock as well?

Assuming they were, then the verdict is that they're better track cars than the stock Z. Not that big a deal, but I don't think there's bias happening here.

Still, it's good to know that with just a few tweaks, the Z rules the day.

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kent370

True, but the oil temp problem has been encountered by a semi-spirited drive up a public mountain road... That is unacceptable for any modern "sports" car.

Mike

at least they ran into these problems and didn't even get as far as fuel starvation, they really would have loved that! Brakes and Oil cooler were easy fixes.

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NISSAN: 75 280Z / 86 300ZX GLL /87 Sentra SE / 03 350Z / 23 Z
Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968

Red__Zed

I don't understand how they lapped it so many times, and never ran into that issue.

cossie1600

I don't know how many laps Car and Driver did on their car straight with the stock pads and fluid (it makes sense how they dont want to do any prep work on the press cars), but man it seems like a bad idea on a track with some heavy braking zones. I know my brakes feel a little softer after 4 hot laps straight at VIR. Someone had said they don't use real professionals to drive the cars?

At the end of the day, not happy about the $1000 on the oil cooler and the fuel starvation. Brake pads and fluid are almost given on any track days

Red__Zed

I know a couple guys that drove for them, rode along with one of them at an autocross. They aren't even competitive drivers for the most part (some of the dudes were +3 seconds or so on most courses). No idea how they decide to hire some of these people.

cossie1600

Do they use different guys for the track test though? I know Consumer Report guys are the same. They do okay, but not really fast, at least I don't know if I trust them for any hard testing.

I have the same exact timing equipment as car and driver, my car was 6mph down the straight as they were at vir. I know my tires are better, but not 6mph faster. I am not a pro or anywhere close to one either. Just take everything with a grain of salt and not worry about it.

Red__Zed

For the lightning lap, they have a bunch of people driving the cars. A lot of variance in skill level, which is why comparing times across cars isn't necessarily meaningful.

sonic370

gets a 7 on least fun to drive come on!

cossie1600

At the end of the day, I am sure they know enough to make it around a lap. Even if there is a difference, I don't believe it is that big. It's definitely a good reference, but not sure if I swear by it.

RiCharlie

All these reviewers care about is race track performance. They dont mention a word about how it takes the bumps or how comfortable the seats are or the sound system.
They get some car out on a track at 130 mph and complain about the brakes or the oil system not handling that...Who drives that way in real life?

nicknick

And the MX5 came second! For a car that is not an all out straight line performer, it shows what a "balanced" car can achieve. I think the 370Z should drop around 100 kilos and just watch the benefits. As Colin Chapman once said, "power is good in a straight line, but less weight is good everywhere".

Dwight Frye

The Evo should have been disqualified just for sheer ugliness.

cossie1600

I don't recall the last time I see a stock EVO on the track. Everyone I have seen has more $hit done to it than Heidi Montag.

Also another thing I learned. There is always going to be someone or something faster, you will live a lot happier if you don't worry too much about it.