Driving a New Z home
 

Hey guys,

If everything pans out right, I will be driving home a 2013 6 speed black 370z:driving: My question is anything i need to do on the drive back. Its going to be about a 2 1/2 hour drive. I have done some searching and most threads point to the idea of not staying at the same speed but changing every 10mins or so. My question is do i need to changes gears between 5th or 6th or just leave it in 6th but change my speed.

Has it been test driven by others cause if it has they drove it like it was stolen! :icon17:

Sadly yes, it has 41 miles on it:eekdance: but for the deal that I am getting Id say its worth it.

I would say to leave it in 6th gear but just change your speed.

The break in schedule in the owners manual says:

During the first 1,200 miles follow these recommendations to obtain maximum engine performance and ensure the future reliability and economy of your new vehicle.

Avoid driving for long periods at constant speed, either fast or slow.
Do not run the engine over 4,000 rpm.
Do not accelerate at full throttle in any gear.
Avoid quick starts.
Avoid hard braking as much as possible.

maybe make a few stops along the way for shopping or something to give the car a break, cool down then be back on your way.

if you dont want to vary your speed, just keep switching between 4, 5 and 6. all of them can handle highway speeds just fine, and you will get the same effect.

avoid hard braking? what's the logic behind this or is there none with this whole break in period thing?

basically so you dont have the wobble effect caused by hard breaking and causing the brake shoes to heat up and leave deposits on the rotors, not stomping on the brakes lets the rotor build up an even layer of brake shoe deposits...on the other hand i have heard something to the opposite effect so i'll let someone else chime in who knows more about it :)

Enjoy the ride...I had a 4hr ride back and kept it in 6the all the way.

Just drive the damn thing how you would normally drive. If you baby it when it's new it will be a constantly leaking POS when it's not. Get the seals and rings accustomed to your habits so that they will break in appropriately. That does not mean to live at the red line ALL the time.

Thanks for the tip guys. The other thing is that this will be the first manual I will own. I have driven my friends manual a couple of times. This is going to be an interesting drive back:eekdance::driving:

Before you take your perfect new out and risk a chip or two, have them put ClearBra over the front bumper and hood. Your car (or at least the most vulnerable portion of it) will then always be perfect. Once you've driven, you risk having to do touchup and then ClearBra. Not as good. Everyone's different. That's my approach. Enjoy you're new car. Four years now and I'm still getting a thrill every (dry and sunny day only) I drive her.

I am not too worried about chips and such as i intend to repaint the cars in a couple of years to lime green. :p Yes i do have a very odd obsession toward the color green.:happydance:

A prior thread talked about the cost of professionally repainting a Z being huge, maybe $5,000 or something in that range. Maybe that's what you do for a living. Then a different story.

:iagree::iagree:

Yeah, I have also done some reasearch into how much a full repaint would cost, but I am willing to save up for it :happydance:


I thin i will just change gears as it would be more fun than just letting off the gas. Thanks guys

I drove about 100 miles to a dealer to find the Z that I wanted. It was all freeway on the way home but on a Saturday in SouCal it still took 2 1/2 hours and entailed speeds from a bumper to bumper 5 MPH crawl to speeds around 30-40 for a few miles, and then back to 80-85 MPH which is common on the freeways here. It got a decent range of RPM's that day. One important thing to do: Bring a tire pressure gauge. The dealers jack the PSI up to about 45 pounds on the lot, something about keeping the tires from getting flat spots I seem to recall. I pulled over a few blocks from the dealer before I got on the freeway and let the air out of all 4 tires until they were at 35 PSI. It would not be good to break in the tires on a long drive at high speeds with them grossly overinflated.

If it is a NISMO check to make sure they took the spring blocks off (shipping thing)

i would be more concerned about front end damage from rocks. do you have clearbra? if not, bring some painter's tape and tape it up real nice. front bumper, side mirrors, maybe 1/2 up the hood.

also tires if you dont want to get those dirty. ;)

^^Agreed.. Get some bra on... Full hood and bumpers

:iagree:

I bought mine used with 28k miles, and bumper and hood were a bit beat.

I fixxed hood chips as best I could and put a bra on, and its ... okay, but bumper is pretty nuked. color match, sand down, repaint what a messy time consuming PITA! not to mention you never EXACTLY get the color right, and paint might peel later if not done just right (specially on plastic bumper)

Dude! put a bra on it! (or you could plastidip the whole thing! lol) Hood, a pillars, front of roof, bumper, and mirrors. Trust us you will be glad you did!!!:tup:

ps, I track my car quite a bit and other cars are spitting little rubber tire bits and whatnot all the time! Dont even get me started on the "sand" colorado puts down in winter (that lingers halfway through summer) that bra is worth its weight in gold!

humm i didn't not read this or heed the warning and redlined my car twice the first day i got it. I have been driving at variable speed/revs in stop and go traffic for the first 600 miles which is where I am now.

outside of those two redlines I have taken it to 5 or 6K RPM probably about 10 times. How much should I stress about the issues I may have caused?

what is a quick start?

thanks

No need to stress about it as it does have a 5 year 60,000 mile powertrain warranty. In the short term it may not make any noticable difference. I just trust the manufacturer to tell me the best way to do the break in considering that if the engine doesn't last or burns oil, then it will cost them money to replace it. A quick start just means stomping on the gas to take off fast.

This. Personally, I would also mask the front bumper, 1/4 of the hood and fenders, and the quarter panel and fender edges. Even if you're not worried about paint chips, at least your new Z is somewhat protected.

Well i bought her home yesterday. Didn't get any chips or scratches just lots of bugs. Now its time for me to learn to drive stick. As I was pulling out of the dealers lot i stalled it 3 times:ughdance::shakes head: Needless to say there were many eyes on me :roflpuke2:

I also made a thread in the new owners section.

Our clutches leave something to be desired. It is a numb feeling without the helper spring being replaced. Although I bought a set I never installed them as the clutch is not that hard to learn as is as it turns out.

Congratulations on the purchase of such a fine automobile.

Coming from a 350Z, I never really had a problem with the 370Z clutch, clutch feel, engagement point, etc. I actually prefer it over my cousin's S2K. I don't know, maybe I just got used to the Z transmissions.

Car sits high in the front, I would be careful when parking, the nose and the sides, and also turning .... it's hard to see at times, also the side mirrors are massive, blocks the view, so careful when you come to a stop to turn right, at times you will not see people crossing. Other than that, it's a sick car, I just bought my 2012 Touring/Sport, love the thing!

Congrats! Don't worry about stalling lol you'll stall here and there for another couple of weeks... I don't stall anymore but I have noobish rough shifting once in a while hahaha!