I just had my first test drive in a 370Z

hellmen

I've wanted one ever since I saw a 350Z next to me in Miami. The looks are fantastic, the 370z really stands out. I booked a test drive at home (in sweden) and drove a black 2012 version for about 20 mins. It was hard to do it justice because of all the traffic.

Manual gearbox - seemed clunky. I didn't like it much. I've read reviews claiming the automatic does the engine more justice, does it?

Noise. My god. Ok, I've never owned a performance car before so what do I know, but jesus it's loud. Swedish roads are not in great shape, but the road noise was very much an issue. I'm not sure I could cope with this car alone, I'd need an A-to-B carrier for transportation and shopping or lose my hearing after 500 miles.

I also connected my iPhone via bluetooth and called a friend to check that function. I heard him fine but he said I came through horribly. Sounded like talking out of a tin can. Unfortunate since I was hoping for a good hands-free integration. Maybe it was just that one time.

But, driving-wise, hair on fire bad-*** fun which is what I came hoping for. I'm in the market for a fun and impractical sports car to thrill me for 1-2 years. No kids, no wife, not even a dog. It's readily available at good prices in Germany thanks to the cheap euro, much less than similar cars from porsche and BMW.

If you had the choice between a used Porsche Cayman S, BMW Z4 35is, 335i convertible or M3 convertible or a spanking new 370z which would you go for?

I've emailed the sales guy to get an idea of what the cost of ownership is, service intervals and so on. Any major snags to expect? As a brand, Nissan is pretty reliable isn't it? Much like Honda.

Anyway, I appreciate any input. I wouldn't want to pass up a great car based on it being loud.

Also, I'm not sure what it's like in the US, but in sweden cars like this tend to lose value quite quickly. The market for them is not great to begin with and people tend to stick with the well-known models and brands. In the segment, I think the 370z is a bit of an outsider. I've yet to see one on the roads here at least, but I've seen three GT-Rs so far.