What else did you cross shop?
 

I haven't test driven anything else but the Z yet, and not sure I'm going to. It just seems like for the price I'm not going to get anything even remotely close.

I was going to take a look at the Cayman and maybe a vette, but not sure it's worth the effort.

So I'm just curious as to what everyone else looked at before deciding on a Z.

The Z is a tough bargain to beat. I also drove a Lancer Evo, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, and a Ford Mustang.

Sold an '08 Corvette, Considered a slightly used Cayman S, but the modability and general rightness of the Z won me over. This car is very good, expecially for the $$..

135i is a very good competitor IMO. I just LOVE the low end tq in that bmw. It's true that your pay close to 6K more for the 135i (vs. base with sports Pack) but a similarly equipped 370Z Touring should cost the same.

I think the only other competitor I saw when buying the 370Z was a 350Z and I was already driving that ;).

Porsche Carrera, Porsche Cayman S

I wouldnt buy any car without driving a couple first. You never want to have any regret.
I crossed shopped the solstice, sky, I had already owned an 06 corvette, so I guess you could say I crossed shopped that. There are faster cars out there, there just wasn't the mix of speed, handling, and most importantly QUALITY that the Z had.

EDIT:
Also shopped camaro, which lost out due to poor interior quality and Mini Cooper (works) which lost out due to FWD.

acura tl, bmw 335i, audi tt

135i
Genesis Coupe :wtf2:

Couple of threads like this already but i'll bite once again ;)

Like AK said.. the 135i was my other tough decision.. Almost fully loaded 135i (minus Nav) the car was 5k to 6k more in price. The car drove much smoother, and definately had a lot more torque down low but didn't feel sporty to me and definately didn't handle like the Z. The savings in money and the Z being a much more polished vehicle and much more track worthy is why I chose it in the end. Plus I get horrible boost fever and would blow up the 135i in atleast 1 years time trying to get that extra HP.

In about a year i'll see what the boost market is like for the Z and I can take the 5 to 6 thousand dollars I saved from not buying the BMW and put a supercharger/TT kit on my Z.

Can't believe no one has said slightly used Lotus Elise. I cross shopped that, the 135i, and used Corvettes.

Just go sit in some of the cars and they will be ruled out immediately due to obvious lack of quality. Drive the ones that still feel good to you and figure out what you like best.

BUT, also consider things such as brand reliability and resale value. Those count too.

I tested the new audi tt, the old audi tt, rx8, mustang gt, and the 350

one thing that kills me is I found out alfa romeo is coming to the US, and i would have loved an alfa

I purchased a 350 in 2006 and I knew that I would upgrade to the next model. I am slightly intrigued with this
http://img.skitch.com/20090510-pugn8...rdej3gx64i.jpg
but my next auto will probably be a 5 series BMW.

If you guys are shopping a used Cayman S, a used M coupe should also be in the discussion.

I'm still cross-shopping. Started with an open book. Only poor rear visibility, oil temp issues, and my horrible customer service experience with NISSAN 19 years ago are holding me back from firming up my decision for a Z.

My finalists:

Chevrolet Camaro -- 6 cyl has 300 horsepower and better fuel economy than a Z, plus better rear visibility, more luggage space, no reported oil temp issues, etc. and costs several thousand less. SS model, we're talking 400+ hp at a price competitive with a Z. No, a Camaro won't eke out that last .04G of grip, but on how many public roads can I use a Z to get that last .04G? (None. And I won't be driving on the track.)

G37 -- Dealer is too far away for even a test drive. If you can see out of the back of a G37, it might be the better fit for me. The performance difference between a G37 and a Z is negligible. A good driver in a G37 will smoke an average driver in a Z.

VW GTI -- Better visibility, better refinement, slides under the radar better, but . . . 200 hp and no better mileage than a Z?????? Nah.

MINI John Cooper Works -- Plastic on controls is cheap looking. No way a MINI should cost as much as a Z but, with the right equipment, it does.

BMW 135 -- Very nice. On most public roads in the hands of most drivers, will probably outperform a Z and do it with less fuss. But it's an ugly car. And I really don't like the poseur image that goes with the roundel.

Others eliminated earlier in the process: Cayman, Z4, Solstice Coupe (may it rest in peace), S2000 (may it rest in peace), Mustang, Challenger, Mazdaspeed 3, Subaru WRX STi.

You do understand that a 6 cyl Camaro that "has 300 horsepower . . . and costs several thousand less" is also 1.4 seconds slower to 60 and doesn't handle nearly as well, right? The SS is the closer competitor and costs about the same.

For handling, the 6 cyl Camaro is the closer competitor. It's a better handler than the V8 because the engine is lighter and the chassis is better balanced as a result. On a tight road course or autocross course, the LT Camaro is the better way to go. Of course, as I said, neither is a statistical overall performance match for the Z (although I haven't seen or heard of anyone driving a 6 cyl Camaro as slowly as you claim). But from a practical standpoint? . . . Nobody is using the maximum potential of any of these cars on the street. That's why cars like the GTI and the MINI have a fighting chance in this market. It is always more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slowly.

The only reason I'm even considering a Camaro are the visibility issues of the Z, the lack of luggage space for the Z, and the poor customer service history of Nissan. If the Z were to be my only car? It couldn't happen.

But since my wife drives a fogey-mobile . . .

Well, if you feel that 10/10th performance isn't the most important thing to you I'm sure the V6 Camaro would suit you fine. That is if you are placing more emphasis toward visibility and luggage space than absolute performance. And that is totally understandable if it's not a weekend warrior.

I'm currently crossing the Z with the Camaro SS. Orignally I had it up aganist:

Camaro SS
2010 Mustang GT
Genesis Coupe ( both versions )
Challenger RT
Evo X
G8 GT

I agree that a slower car is more fun to drive fast than it is the other way around, but then again, 426HP will be a lot more fun than 304HP. Straight-line acceleration does get boring, but it's hard to pass up the extra power.

Unless someone is buying a base V6 with little to no options, it doesn't make sense, at least to me to spend a tad bit more for the bigger engine.

That's why they make more than one kind.

Back in the day, there were just about always two sizes of "hot" cars in every lineup. The 289 Cobra was the handling/road racing machine but the 427 Cobra was a straight-line monster (Le Mans with its then 4-mile Mulsanne straight was the exception among road courses). The big engine made the car too nose-heavy. On most road courses, the 289 would beat a 427. On most drag strips, the 427 would win. It was the same with Mustang (351/429), Camaro, Trans Am, Barracuda, even Jaguar's XKE had the six cylinder for handling or the V12 for straight line power.

A Camaro LT with upgraded brakes might be the perfect mountain road weapon (among new Camaros). The bigger engine would be a detriment in that application. It's all a balance of weight/handling vs. power.

370z with bugatti veyron of course :)

haha where is the evo X in that list :p?

2010 Mustang GT
Challenger SRT8 and R/T
Camaro SS
Hyundai Genesis
New 2008 Z51 C6
135

Leftover 08 Z51 C6 = :drool: very reasonably priced right now. I would drive it!:driving:

Even 09s are going for cheap http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-d...chevrolet.html

I came very close to buying that 08 model. It was jet stream blue, but in the end we were still about $4k apart in price and I know how fast they depreciate so I walked.

M3 ...
335i ...
G37 ...

My requirements. Daily Driver with "decent" mpg for a beast of a car.

EvoX Or ralliart. 370z. Corvette 2005+.

EvoX looks great, handles great. Price expensive
Ralli art, same as above, price really good. But they both have crap MPG.

Corvette finding a used one with 1 owner is hard and i was getting real skeptical of buying used sports car.
Corvette new, still in my price range but i was not looking to break the bank.

So it came down to Corvette and 370z. I already owned a 05 z and i loved it. I figured i dont need the extra power, i wanted it but i dont think i needed it.

So a new z, kind of better gas milage, decent power i must say. Its the brand i like it seems.

Maybe one day later, i can get a ralliart and a corvette.

Ha ha you are dreaming if you think the evo X will give you good mileage... I used to have one.. gave me about 12 mpg when I drove it like it wanted to be driven...

my requirements verses what i stated as why i ruled both out.

Rims kinda looks like sport package 19" rays

That's an amazing price. A much more realistic price.

for those who had vettes and now have 370z or have driven both, what made you decide on the 370?

reason i ask is because i was gonna buy a vette this spring. economy and gm situation put that on hold perhaps permanently.

what i'd like is the power of the vette in the z. but alas.... is not to be..

so how about some comparison info?

crossshopping...
 

IS-F, 335i, and M3...

I didn't cross shop any cars. I was watching college football bowl games and Nissan was airing their 370Z ad at least every 10-15 minutes (seriously), so after all the bowl games ended I went and bought one. Hey, it was a badass ad. I was actually going to just keep my 05 350Z until I saw the 370Z.

I looked at:

Used c6 vette (felt like it would fall apart long term, but was very fast)
Used 996 911 - no wow factor
335i (wanted a true sports car, with 2 seats - that is what the wife decided)
s2000 - too small and too tight
WRX - too soft
Mazdaspeed3 - too much of an econobox - small
Boxster - a little slow, tough on maintenance costs

If I could add any: Genesis, Camaro

It really came down to 335i and Z, and the Z won out.

Have you seen the recent adds for the Yellow Genisis Coupe drifting around the track?

has that add worked on you? It really worked on me lol It really makes me want to buy a 2.0 Turbo and modify it for the track hehehe.

We had a 06 Solstice, and were waiting for the Solstice GXP coupe to come out. We found ourselves excusing quite a few of the Soltice's shortcomings based on it's price, i.e," Yeah, so what if the interior has too much plastic- it's only a $20K car". But when push came to shove, and the GXP coupe price (for what we wanted) came out to be over 30K, alot of what we felt made the Soltice a cheap car had not been addressed in what is now not a cheap car. For us, the only other option was the 370Z, and regardless of price, there have been no regrets.

Was it this commercial? ;)
YouTube - Nissan 370Z First TV Commercial Leaked 12.27.08

Yep! thats the one. Great commercial!!

:driving:

I was thinking of the G37s, but then realized that I wanted more sport than luxury. I have a '09 FX35 if I want the luxurious part. Nissan/Infiniti really make some quality machines, and they just keep getting better. I bought mine the day the pricing came out. I never drove one or saw one in person. I just knew by owning my other Infinitis and Nissans it was the one.