370Z Sport Package vs Mazdaspeed 3 GT vs S2000 vs Cayman S vs Mazda Rx-8

gtaylor370

I'm surprised you found the Z as a disappointment. I found it to be awesome. The Mazda 3 is pretty quick too but I don't like hatch backs. S2000's are nice little convertibles, I would own one. The RX8 is a pretty fun car to drive but it just doesn't have enough "go" for me. I hate the Porsche Caymen, I think it is way overpriced. It is a boxter with a hard top and it's really not that fast for 50 grand.

I would honestly choose the 370. It corners great, the acceleration is a thrill, and for 30 grand, you can have Porsche Caymen like performance. No, it may not be quite as fast but it's not far off, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper. With the 20 grand I save on the Z, I'll mod it to make it destroy Caymens and even faster cars all day long. But that's just my opinion.

mook

Porsche and its parts are definitely outrageously overpriced, wouldn't even think of buying it new or out of warranty.

Problem is, I don't race others much and when you are not racing against the clock or another person, it's all about the feel and the tossability, the entertainment value basically. Not much of a drag strip guy.
So the weight is one of the biggest issues here. When I choose my motorcycles I bitch and moan about every extra 10lb, cars - 100lb. Makes a huge difference as far as entertainment goes.

Those extra 20k you are talking about (more like 30k after options) won't make the car much lighter and that's a problem off the track and off the highway (I am not about to start tossing seats out of it for weight reduction, of course)

If Z had the weight of an MS3, it would be the best street sports car around no question about it, engine rough or not. The Porsche wouldn't stand a chance.
If it had the weight of a Cayman, it would be the greatest car for any amount of money and people like me would line up in front of the dealerships at 6am.
And if had the weight of an as S2000, it would become a classic, even if it was the ugliest car around.

Of course, this would narrow the appeal and Nissan would probably not make any money and shut down the party, just like Honda did.

I am gonna go back to the dealership and give it another spin. I think part of the problem is the low end oomph of the turbo made me a bit lazy, so when I drove it, I expected the same kick in the gut too far from the red line. Maybe if I was coming off the S2000 directly, I would be much more impressed. Because of the heft, I may need to rev much higher to launch and ignore the salesman whimpering while shifting closer to the redline.
And if I have to squeal the tires a bit in the corners... well it just has to be done.
I guess the numbers and the reviews set my expectations way too high. I thought it was because it had no low end torque, so I looked it up and there is actually plenty. So I am still puzzled. You know, you should not need a dyno to tell you the car is powerful, a test drive should be enough. Most likely it's the weight.

I was kind of hoping to have a car that is fun to toss around the streets at low speeds (kind of like an S2000 on steroids). I am not much of a drag strip guy.

355890

Hum ! The Porsche Cayman S is an amazing vehicle. If I could afford one, which I can't without being streched, would be my first car of choice. Anyone who slams this Porsche has no real merit to thier conversation. I had to get that out of the way.

That said, I did alot of research in 08 as I was planning on another purchase, all I knew is I wanted a 2 seater sport car again...........there was not one, and I mean not one, that was better than the Z for the price. I had never owned a Japanese car before, so it was a plung.

NOTE to self - I do miss Turbo charged engines.

__________________

"Burnley Football Club supporter" ENGLAND...ENGLAND...ENGLAND

TBSS2008

My wife use to own a 2007 Solstice GXP (Auto), in stock form the power was ok. After I had it tuned to 290hp 325lbft at the crank it was a little rocket. Well unfortunately I totaled the car one day coming home from work.

I needed another car to replace the Solstice and still wanted the fun factor as you described the Mazda Speed 3 has. I looked at a lot of cars, but came down to buying the 370z. Coming from a tuned turbo charged car like the Solstice it was hard to tell if the 370z was faster. It’s the extra torque that made the Solstice feel like a rocket; the 370z is faster the ¼ mile times don’t lie. The best I could get with the Solstice 13.6, based on others confirming the 370z 7AT 13.3 ¼ mile time is faster.