my350z all over again...

Fanboi's all over again, is more like it :(

Dude you gave up like 20% rigidity and added 300 lbs with a vert. I COMPLETELY BELIEVE YOU! But you can't compare to rigid coupes to your bloated less rigid vert.

Actually you have less than 200 lbs added weight with the roadster. Not sure about the exact amount of rigidity loss, but the 370 is not like the 350 where the 'vert was an afterthought. It was designed from the get-go with a convertible version in mind and the actual performance loss is rather minimal and more than made up for by the topless experience.

Imho the Z can lose a few. 3100lbs would have been more appropriate. But it should be easy to obtain if you mod. As far as the FRS being an econobox trying to be a sports car??? That's really harsh. I look at the FRS as a prime entry level sports car that can get the novice driver in some really good sport driving habits and make the expert entertained if this were the experts daily driver.
Its not a hardcore sports car. But neither is the Z to a point. We need $2k in mods to make it that. Sure its cheap to do but we don't buy it out the box this way.
I do agree that suspension and drive feel wise, the lighter cars feel more track ready, but come underpowered for any serious sport driving. The Z comes with a serrious sport engine but needs some weight reduction. Its a trade off.
It depends what you want out a car.

I feel the Reviews are one sided and harsh on the Z. But I do believe the positive on the FRS. I just think these guuys are seriously overstating in order to belittle the Z for corporate sponsors.

3330+200 is 3530. Its already tipping the scales. I have a base sport weighing in at 3280. The vert is 200+lbs heavier than the heaviest coupe. Its still going to affect performance by a huge margin. I would never buy a 3500lb v6 roadster for performance. That's a chiillin car. Seriously
CORRECTION
The base Z was 3232 and base vert was 3426 which is a difference of 194lbs @ base.

So what $2k in mods will make the Z a hardcore sports car?

Get rid of cats (biggest bottle neck) upgrade suspension

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Handling-wise yeah. The Z flaws are really easily fixed with springs and sways which makes it a much more neutral handler. Given that power is already there I would say that next would be oil cooler, new pads and brake fluid. That right there makes the Z capable of being tracked a fairly long period of time. So yeah, I think 2k will satisfy the hardcore sporting driving enthusiast on the most basic and pure level of the sport driving experience.

For smoother power from the stock engine. I would agree with removing the cats. But to keep torque up, you need to go from the intake all the way back. The whole breathing section.

I didn't.... I'm comparing my current Z roadster to my last roadster, the S2000. The cars are both presented as sports cars by their respective companies so i don't have a problem making a comparison. I'm not disappointed in my Z roadster. I'm 42 and looking more for a cruiser anyway, my track days are over and didn't want a convertible sedan.

I'd say it's more $1k for brake pads/fluid and oil cooler to make it track ready. Not sure if I'd call it a hardcore sports car at that point. Sports car it definitely is, but I guess our definitions of hardcore are a little different. I'd say if you were one of the guys that stripped out their Z's for the track, then you have a hardcore sports car.

The S2k is a true sport roadster that weighed 2800lbs. The 370 is a powerful GT that weighs nearly 3500lbs. Even 90 extra hp will make it hard to cover 600lbs of extra weight.makes it hard to compare.

But like you said and I said. The Z roadster is a chillin car for cruising. We agree there.

This is funny. I love my Z, but a lot of you guys seem to be insecure with respect to your choice of sports car. This thread has reached 13 pages about a video review that no one really takes seriously -- the reviewer makes no attempt to hide his bias for the Toyota twins. To contrast, the same video only got 3 pages on the FT-86 club forums. Now we're not only criticizing the twins, we've stooped to criticism of each other's choices in Z model/trim level

Divide and conquer I guess ...

Try real tires