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

Pharmacist

You do make some valid points that i totally agree with. But some of your arguments are nonsense. Yes the oil temp thing is a flaw and a big fail on Nissan's part. But it's easily fixed. A minor flaw like this shouldn't really be the sole decision in buying a car. Almost any car would need some upgrades before doing serious track duty, even porsches and ferraris. As for the brakes, yes the Z's pads are oriented towards daily driving and are rubbish on the track. But that's a common problem with all cars. I have hp+ pads which work wonders on the track, but with the amount of brake dust and squealing they do, it's not hard to see why Nissan and other car companies don't offer such pads on the car. Keep in mind most sports car buyers are NOT track rats. They probably don't even know what an apex is. Yes I'm sure Evo brakes are better than the Z's but I doubt they are stellar either. I'm pretty sure you would still need at least pads and fluid for serious track duty.

Can't argue with you about practicality. But it's a 2 seater sports car. It isn't made to be practical, and it's ridiculous to expect otherwise. Really, who the heck goes to buy a 2 seat sports car in order to carry military gear to a base? That's what pickup trucks are for. Hit and run magnet isn't the fault of the Z. It's the fault of idiot drivers. Unless the Evo comes from the factory with idiot driver repellant, I'm not quite sure about your point.

And I have an even harder time understanding the VDC argument. VDC being crap on the track is excellent reason to turn it off and go into Lewis Hamilton mode! Who keeps the traction control on while lapping anyway? As for the street, VDC is what it is. It gets the job done, which is to keep you from killing yourself if you do something stupid like flooring it while doing a U turn on an icy road or whatever.

Really, apart from the oil temp issue which is a totally legitimate problem, and the lack of practicality (which you should have known in the first place going with a small 2 seat sports car), the rest of complaints are quite petty and ridiculous.

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2009 370z Sport Touring/Nismo shift Knob/Z1 motorsports 34 row oil cooler