370z Driving Feel

UNKNOWN_370 · 10-04-2011, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZzzZz

For it's price, we all know the Z performs great #'s wise (straightline and ever more so in the corners) and it even improves upon the 350z in every way, but there is something more to be desired in terms of the overall driving experience. In creating something better than the 350z, something was lost along the way. What the 350z had was a living aura. Even if it performed worse, it felt alive. This 370z, while super quick and precise, feels cold - almost ghostly.

Care to express your thoughts on the Z's driving feel? What do other members here who own a 370z think? How does your driving experience compare vs prior cars; BMW, Mini, Mazda, Subaru, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Honda, Mercedes?

Having driven 33,000 miles since Feb. 2009, I'll start first.

Many car reviewers complained about NVH, road noise, and the high-rpm engine ruckus. It's more than that. To try and put it into words...

- I've got to drive 8+/10 of the car's limit (acceleration/corners) to really enjoy it. For those times I'm just cruising, if there's traffic, or if I just want to chill, I don't enjoy driving the car at all and it becomes more of a chore. Like a caged wild beast, it's just dying to roam free. It seems like it's really not in the car's personality to enable the driver just to sit back, drive casually, appreciate "all its' little things', and enjoy the ride. I'm not talking about creature comforts here, more about the general lack of "sports car refinement" in the feel and acoustics of the car pertaining to the powertrain, intake, exhaust, suspension, shifter, throttle, on and on. Something's missing... like the body is there but the soul is not.

Some may just brush it off and say "it's a sports car - it's supposed to be like that". However...

- There is some sort of manufactured artificial feel to it that makes me feel disconnected from the road and driving experience. A sports car should not be like this. It's like going at it bare-back vs. going at it solo WITH a condom if you know what I mean. There's just a certain numbness and fakeness to it. I'm not sure if its the suspension or chassis tuning, engine/throttle response. Now I'm 100% stock so those of you that are modified feel free to chime in here.

- It would've been ideal if the driving experience felt like it was more than what the performance #'s shows on paper. In that regards, a little more like a BMW.

- Smooth roads are great but... There is a general lack of suspension/chassis tuning and refinement on non-smooth roads. Any type of highway bridge joints or just general uneven pavement makes the car twitchy & jittery and feel sloppy cornering. It's borderline nasty and makes me dread the noises and feel of it.

- It's been well talked about on Edmunds Inside Line and other automobile blogs/reviews, that given a choice between a garage full of other cars and the Z, the Z is one of the last one out of the garage. Everybody knows what awesome performance and beautiful exterior the Z has but I feel Nissan's design decisions & sacrifices in search for performance #'s for $30k totally lends itself to NOT being a more well-rounded sports car.

It's almost as if the 370z is designed to be a 3rd car, one for the weekends where you really couldn't give a sh!t driving balls to the walls like a madman. If they really wanted to go all out on performance and chase #'s, go all out and forget all the creature comforts and compromises like emissions, MPG, muffling the intake/exhaust, trying to make the car smoother. Be a brutish, crass, unrefined hardcore mofo - don't even attempt to hide it! It should be like a stripped down POWER version of what S2000 stands for in terms of handling .... and do it well. A 375HP/380TQ "Japanese Muscle Car" that can handle the corners a bit. Then there would be no trying to mask it as a sports car. We would all know what it is.

Does it suffer an identity crisis and lack focus? Is that why sales of the 370z suck so badly? You can mention the weak economy but lots of other cars like the new Muscle Cars are selling well. I chalk it up to being lifeless and unable to stir the emotions of the marketplace.

Or is it really just me?!

Happy

Dude... same thing I feel. I saw F&F and said, "dude, jdm is the shizznit. So I bought a spanking new jdm-mobile. My neighbors thought I was hot and my steering felt like the best thing since sliced bread. It really helped car mags were praising the Z for being the best performance buy on the market. I felt really good about myself and my purchase.
Then some time in the middle of 2010, Z reviews went down the tubes and car forums weren't as jealous as they were in 09? To my disappointment, the Z is no longer the Ace Bro cool of automobiles. It began to feel poserish.
So one night I was home bored and I wanted to watch a movie... I rented transporter 1 thru 3. That's when I realized, maybe there's something to german cars? I began reading corporate sponsored mags and going to german car blogs. I made a new friend at the job that owned a M3. He let me drive one.

That's when I knew I was driving a LIFELESS pos. I was like how can I have spent the last 16 years driving jdm when I could have been driving german aryan perfection. I know those cars are $50k more than mine. They stay in the shop more than peoples garage. But the steering is so full of life. And those darn asians. They just can't build a sports car. All your points hit like home. THANKS! I'm going to spend 30k more so my sdrive can be more refined and less sporty while maintaining my current performance numbers.

kenchan · 10-05-2011, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UNKNOWN_370

And those darn asians. They just can't build a sports car.

hey, you darn americans are too fat to drive a sports car. you are the weight bogging the car down.

LunaZ · 10-05-2011, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

hey, you darn americans are too fat to drive a sports car. you are the weight bogging the car down.

The Sparco EVO2 "Plus" racing seat, which is the larger version of the EVO2, used to be called the "America" model. Their polite way of calling Americans fat-asses!

UNKNOWN_370 · 10-05-2011, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kenchan

hey, you darn americans are too fat to drive a sports car. you are the weight bogging the car down.

Hahahahahahahahaaaaaaa.... and you know, that was blatant sarcasm. Lol

kenchan · 10-05-2011, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UNKNOWN_370

Hahahahahahahahaaaaaaa.... and you know, that was blatant sarcasm. Lol

ofcourse!

zZZZzzZz doenst seem to get sarcasm.

onzedge · 10-04-2011, 07:53 PM

Unknown's post is dangerously close to blasphemy (or treason).

It is a Z, warts and all.

brucelidat · 10-04-2011, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onzedge

Unknown's post is dangerously close to blasphemy (or treason).

It is a Z, warts and all.

I do believe he was being sarcastic...I hope

Alchemy · 10-04-2011, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucelidat

i do believe he was being sarcastic...i hope

i hope

Red__Zed · 10-04-2011, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucelidat

I do believe he was being sarcastic...I hope

he. take a look at any of his other posts.

birdmanx1 · 10-05-2011, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brucelidat

I do believe he was being sarcastic...I hope

I don't know, the majority of his posts are way out there. That's all I'm saying ... bipolar tendencies sometimes

shadoquad · 10-05-2011, 11:04 AM

We're not fet, we're big boned

onzedge · 10-05-2011, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadoquad

We're not fet, we're big boned

kenchan · 10-05-2011, 11:10 AM

hahaha.

you guys are funny.

asian's cant make sports cars. only japanese can with help from french guy.

Mt Tam I am · 10-05-2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZzzZz

For it's price, we all know the Z performs great #'s wise (straightline and ever more so in the corners) and it even improves upon the 350z in every way, but there is something more to be desired in terms of the overall driving experience. In creating something better than the 350z, something was lost along the way. What the 350z had was a living aura. Even if it performed worse, it felt alive. This 370z, while super quick and precise, feels cold - almost ghostly.

Care to express your thoughts on the Z's driving feel? What do other members here who own a 370z think? How does your driving experience compare vs prior cars; BMW, Mini, Mazda, Subaru, Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Honda, Mercedes?

Having driven 33,000 miles since Feb. 2009, I'll start first.

Many car reviewers complained about NVH, road noise, and the high-rpm engine ruckus. It's more than that. To try and put it into words...

- I've got to drive 8+/10 of the car's limit (acceleration/corners) to really enjoy it. For those times I'm just cruising, if there's traffic, or if I just want to chill, I don't enjoy driving the car at all and it becomes more of a chore. Like a caged wild beast, it's just dying to roam free. It seems like it's really not in the car's personality to enable the driver just to sit back, drive casually, appreciate "all its' little things', and enjoy the ride. I'm not talking about creature comforts here, more about the general lack of "sports car refinement" in the feel and acoustics of the car pertaining to the powertrain, intake, exhaust, suspension, shifter, throttle, on and on. Something's missing... like the body is there but the soul is not.

Some may just brush it off and say "it's a sports car - it's supposed to be like that". However...

- There is some sort of manufactured artificial feel to it that makes me feel disconnected from the road and driving experience. A sports car should not be like this. It's like going at it bare-back vs. going at it solo WITH a condom if you know what I mean. There's just a certain numbness and fakeness to it. I'm not sure if its the suspension or chassis tuning, engine/throttle response. Now I'm 100% stock so those of you that are modified feel free to chime in here.

- It would've been ideal if the driving experience felt like it was more than what the performance #'s shows on paper. In that regards, a little more like a BMW.

- Smooth roads are great but... There is a general lack of suspension/chassis tuning and refinement on non-smooth roads. Any type of highway bridge joints or just general uneven pavement makes the car twitchy & jittery and feel sloppy cornering. It's borderline nasty and makes me dread the noises and feel of it.

- It's been well talked about on Edmunds Inside Line and other automobile blogs/reviews, that given a choice between a garage full of other cars and the Z, the Z is one of the last one out of the garage. Everybody knows what awesome performance and beautiful exterior the Z has but I feel Nissan's design decisions & sacrifices in search for performance #'s for $30k totally lends itself to NOT being a more well-rounded sports car.

It's almost as if the 370z is designed to be a 3rd car, one for the weekends where you really couldn't give a sh!t driving balls to the walls like a madman. If they really wanted to go all out on performance and chase #'s, go all out and forget all the creature comforts and compromises like emissions, MPG, muffling the intake/exhaust, trying to make the car smoother. Be a brutish, crass, unrefined hardcore mofo - don't even attempt to hide it! It should be like a stripped down POWER version of what S2000 stands for in terms of handling .... and do it well. A 375HP/380TQ "Japanese Muscle Car" that can handle the corners a bit. Then there would be no trying to mask it as a sports car. We would all know what it is.

Does it suffer an identity crisis and lack focus? Is that why sales of the 370z suck so badly? You can mention the weak economy but lots of other cars like the new Muscle Cars are selling well. I chalk it up to being lifeless and unable to stir the emotions of the marketplace.

Or is it really just me?!

Happy

See my sig for my mods. Handling is exceptional, power is not, just good.

RE: There is some sort of manufactured artificial feel to it that makes me feel disconnected from the road and driving experience.

Take the condom off. Turn off the VDC.

RE: Smooth roads are great but... There is a general lack of suspension/chassis tuning and refinement on non-smooth roads.

I am part of a Ferrari group. Your complaints are the same in a Ferrari, except refinement and they won't turn off their traction control. So this car is not for you either.

RE:
..... This 370z, while super quick and precise, feels cold - almost ghostly.

...... There's just a certain numbness and fakeness to it. I'm not sure if its the suspension or chassis tuning, engine/throttle response.

..... Something's missing... like the body is there but the soul is not.

A lady in the Ferrari group owns a 430 a 458 and another 458 on order, a Lamborghini 670 SV and more, including a GTR as her daily driver. A very impressive list. I asked her about the GTR and if she felt it soulless (my experience). She laughed and said no.

A few weeks later, she thanks me, then tells me she bought a 370Z and loves it. It has all the things the OP ( ZzZZz) says it doesn't. Now it is her daily driver.

RE: Or is it really just me?!

I believe both you and the other ladies experiences. I just do not think you are cut out for a modern sports car. Perhaps an older one is more to your liking. They tend to have soul and lots of character. My XKE has everything you want, including an unbelievable smooth ride. No ABS no nannies. Total connectivity.

Good luck.

Alchemy · 10-05-2011, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mt Tam I am

See my sig for my mods. Handling is exceptional, power is not, just good.

RE:

I am part of a Ferrari group. Your complaints are the same in a Ferrari, except refinement and they won't turn off their traction control. So this car is not for you either.

A lady in the Ferrari group owns a 430 a 458 and another 458 on order, a Lamborghini 670 SV and more, including a GTR as her daily driver. A very impressive list. I asked her about the GTR and if she felt it soulless (my experience). She laughed and said no.

A few weeks later, she thanks me, then tells me she bought a 370Z and loves it. It has all the things the OP ( ZzZZz) says it doesn't. Now it is her daily driver.

Please get me this womans number, I think I found my soulmate

10-04-2011, 07:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
onzedge A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Battle Lake MN Age: 64 Posts: 183,964 Drives: 370Z 240Z Rep Power: 2684737	Unknown's post is dangerously close to blasphemy (or treason). It is a Z, warts and all. __________________ Koni\|Swift\|Michelin\|Motordyne\|Berk\|RJM Performance\|Gates\|SPL\|Motul\|Technafit\|Ate Super Blue\|Hawk Tommy Kaira\|Momo\|Optima\|Hella\|Hotchkis\|Red Line\|ZSpeed\|Stillen\|B&M\|H&R

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shadoquad A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: . Posts: 42,608 Drives: . Rep Power: 3887	We're not fet, we're big boned

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