Interior quality is pretty solid for sure. I was very happy with it, no real weak spots to complain about (besides the rattles, but that's common in many cars at this price).


I am still convinced the oil burning is at least largely due to improper break in procedure, not necessarily the car's fault

Good riddance. Dropping weight like my Volvo driving X gf wishes she could. :bowrofl:

How do the rattles compare to your mustang GT? More/less? I ask, because the 370Z's I drove drove like pieces of solid billet. Even the one with 9K miles that had been abused to hell and back all its life. (Oil had not been checked or changed at that point).

:icon18::icon18::icon18:

I like Mazda, though. Niche vehicles though they are. Mazda would impress me with a proper RX-7, especially if it's based on the Furai. :icon17:

IC if I was you I would just keep your Z06, & not even get the 370z. But to anwser your earlier question I have about 27,000 miles on mine & my seats don't really move around at all, I feel the side bolsters could be better as they don't really hold you in that well.

i like this tier'ing...i would class it prob the same way

Mustang is rattle-free, but I only have about 2k on the clock, so that means nothing.

It was nowhere near as bad as the 07 gt I drove. Worse than my Subaru/BMW but not by much.

I had a 2009 so I had that nasty rear brake light (i think) rattle/squeak.

I appreciate your opinion, but can you quantify it?

My reasons are: I really like the 370Z's interior. The Z06 is just so lacking. Resonance with the stereo vibrating door panels, seats that slide around when you take a corner, the NAV unit looks like it was made along-side the ATARI (why I opted not to get it, my TI83 graphic calculator has it beat). The list goes on. I am just NOT happy with the Z06 unless I am flooring it. I am a realist and know I cannot do this 100% of the time unless I want a bigdick ticket to go with that bigdick acceleration.

I feel that the 370Z is an all-around better car, handles equally but with different feel, and definitely lacks in acceleration, comparatively.

Am I misleading myself in your opinion?

(Further, will be cheaper, added bonus, as I am trying to save more money for a move).\

Is that it? My main concern/hatred is when I am taking an un-even incline and can hear the entire interior/car shift as the body flexes. Or when I hit a bump and every item in the car creaks against its neighbor.

To me the rx-8 would have been great if they had an option to put the mazdaspeed 3 motor in it, dreaming I know. Hopefully they don't **** up the rx-9. I'm glad to hear the Mazda reps say that the rx-9 is going to be what the rx-7's successor should have been.

Your mind is already made up. Just do it already.

You're right, why have I been hesitating? brb going to buy porn.

Wait, different conversation?

Mazda started in 1920, in 1979 Ford bought 7 percent of the company gradually going up to 33 percent over the next couple of decades. Then Ford sold off most of it's shares and now owns about 3%.

There is only one pure tier 1 car......the 2004 1/2 350Z with Miata doors.....everyone knows that!

Cannot. There are absolutely 0 370Z's that meet my demands currently. So I am masturbating over the idea until one hits US soil.

I have not seen it featured in a rap music video yet. It cannot qualify.

I had no body flex squeaking at all. The chassis is incredibly stiff.


The rattles are just looses "stuff". I think the creaking is the back of the dash against something. Nissan trimmed my dash and greatly reduced the issue.

I'd hold out for the Nissan Juke with the GTR drive train!

I'll allow it! :bowrofl:

yet they still suck. time does not equal experience. :tup:

:iagree: zoom zoom zoom!

fixed! :icon17:

:bowrofl:

at 18 month of ownership on my 370Z, OTHER than the oil consumption problem that lead to its lemoning, everything was perfect...quiet, no rattles, smooth, power was always there....mod friendly...the ART pipes really woke this car up....

I did have the intermittent throttle lag problem though

To me that's all petty stuff, the Nav you could upgrade, if you think the z06 speakers are bad, the 370z speakers are worse. Alittle fatmat/dynomat can help with vibration in the door panels. The steering wheel can be replaced with a nicer dsport*, grant, or even the centennial wheel for about $400-600. Seats can be replaced with something nicer as well. Although the Z06 doesn't have syncro-rev match, it has a damn 7.0L V8 & a much smoother transmission that makes up for it.

Lots of mods with no real value when I go to sell the car. Seats, wheel, etc. would run about $4K. NAV would run another $1K at least. The speakers in the 'vette...have you heard them? There is no way the 370Z isn't better. I just listened to one today. Much improved. Further, the 370Z I drove felt a lot stiffer. I like that. No discernible chassis flex going up/down drive-ways.

Is the transmisson in the 370Z that notchy? I drove a couple and didn't think so. Found them about equal.

On top of it all, costs $3-400 more per month depending on how I finance the 370Z. That is about 1 acre per 3 months I could have bought...

import you should just save up and buy the Z cash.

The nav you could get alil cheaper then 1k, I started with the base model Z because I planned on upgrading the nav & the base seats weigh 80lbs less then the touring seats. If you want power in the Z, it's forced induction or nothing. In the Z06, cam & bolt-ons and your almost at 600whp.

I <3 Mazdaz

i cant get over their stupid :D <= grin face.... :shakes head:

I agree, that's teh ghey.

But my dad owned a 2000 MX5, and I DD a 2003 Mazda6. Those cars don't have :icon17: grilles.

My impression is that the Z's interior is the real deal. It's nice. You do begin to notice some "$40k" qualities in various ways when you drive the car every day, though, such as:

-ergonomics (for example, resting your arm on the left armrest does not put your hand in a great position to hold the wheel, for long drives - I drove an M3 and have to say it was PERFECT on this aspect)
-clutch smoothness (or lack thereof)
-clutch chatter
-knotchy shifter
-engine harshness above 5-6k
-incompetent traction control system
-can't open hatch from inside
-big blind spots (you get used to this quickly though, with proper side-mirror alignment)
-apparently, short people can't see over the big side mirrors

On balance, I think these issues are minor for what you are getting. And for people who use their Z as a weekend car, most of these are probably not an issue whatsoever. But when you DD a car, you will always catch on to its imperfections.

At the end of the day, These are mod cars. They are built to a certain spec and you need to complete the rest. JDM is all about incredible platforms that need personalization.

IC,

I see you're alot closer to this move than I thought based on some of your earlier posts on this topic.

Some thoughts:

1. I agree 100% with you that everyone who loves cars should, at some point in their lives, own a supercar or car w/supercar performance, it's totally worth it.

2. House > car all day long if you plan ot be in an area long term. I think you've posted before that you'll be looking to purchase property/house once you move.

3. The 370z will, if you're looking for a 2 seater sports car, do everything just good enough to keep you happy, while it's no 505bhp rocket, it's plenty fast and enjoyable on the street. I can totally empathize with having a car you can't open up at all legally except for the track.

4. Trans issues seem to be less frequent in 2010+ Z models. I have a '10 and have no problems, even after 4 track days and almost 14K miles.

5. Good luck with your decision/purchase.

yah, especially the exhaust is too quiet for sure...

You and JDM. Honestly you could say the same thing about any car in this price range.

Nothing is going to be "just right" south of $40k.

I have to jump up to GTR/911 and higher to find a car that I wouldn't feel the need to change anything on.

FYI, these are all 6MT-specific. The 7AT doesn't share these problems :)

This is a big one to me. They really could have done a better job making it less-invasive than it is. It tries to nanny you too soon and too harshly. At the very least, maybe a programmable option to make it default-off instead of default-on would have been nice.

The "proper" side-mirror alignments are indeed proper, and there is no blindspot when you set the mirrors correctly. The problem is not with the car, it's with the 95% of the population that's apparently never learned to adjust a side mirror correctly.

I'll add two more complaints to your list:

- Power sockets. One hidden where passengers will inevitably damage it with their feet (or anything plugged into it) and the other hidden inside the center console? They should've killed the one under the glove box, and replaced it with one in the center stack near the ac/radio area. That or just dropped it and put a couple of USB power-outs there.

- Dangerously Addictive. I swear this Z is like crack. It's just too much fun to drive and too easy to mod. Look me up in 5 years and you'll find me selling body parts to keep up my Z addiction. I can hear it now: "I'll give you a kidney for a set of brake pads and a track day fee".

I learned something new today. I had no idea there was a power socket under the glove box. Seems like an odd place to put one.

/\ I'd amend that to be 100-150K honestly.

If you picked up a 911 or GTR, I can GUARANTEE you that w/in 6 mo or less, you'd be looking at tweaking/improving certain things here or there. It's just the way it goes with folks like us. :tup:

How are we doing with setting up that support group? :bowrofl:

I need to get on that. I brb, I'm going to receate a thread for us...