Touring worth the $4.5K premium over Base?
 

The Sport Package is a must option for me. But I'm torn between the Touring and Base models.

Touring:
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Pros: I love the Leather/Suede interior of the Touring. That's the main thing I want. The aluminum pedals and homelink are wants as well.

N/A: Bose, Bluetooth, power & heated seats - I don't care if it's there or not.

Cons: The price premium and worst, the added 46 lbs of weight.

So my question for those of you who went for the Touring option - do you think it was worth it and why?

Base:
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Pros: Cheaper. And lighter, which should mean slightly better performance.
Cons: Black material looks like it will show lint like crazy. No aluminum pedals! (that sucks)

For those who went for the Base, if you had to buy one again, would you stick with the Base?

I think the 46lbs isn't that bad. There is other ways of reducing the weight if you really wanted to.
I have a similar problem. For me I would rather have the sprt package but without the 19inch rims. I want to get my own after market rims and I don't car for the bose system. I think bose is over rated. I

I don't think I can ever buy an another car without the bluetooth option, it's just so damn convinient.

As for the seat warmer, she absolutely loves it considering she turns it on almost immediately upon entering the car.

Lastly, there are better speaker system than the Bose but I just like how everything's integrated onto my steering wheel/Nav screen.

Without a doubt I am going with touring option. Don't forget resale consideration as well.

I would second this opinion! People talk about how cheap '06 Boxster S's are getting but if you look closely, that is just the strippers. If you are looking for Sports Chrono, PASM (must haves, IMO) , power seats, etc, they are harder to find and you will pay a premium.
Will you get all your money back? Of course not, but you will (A) sell faster and (B) get a decent chunk of it back.
Plus the touring is very nice and the ONLY choice available in Canada.

Shane D

I guess part of it depends on your vision of the car. Do you see yourself driving hard and / or auto-x a good percentage of the time? Or do you see yourself as a daily driver type who would like the extra features?

I don't think you can go wrong either way. The heart of the car is there in both models.

Maybe Im getting youngsheimers but I thought I saw in another thread that Nissan was expecting or reporting that more people were buying the upper trim level then the lower.

I would think the same, but at the dealership last night I was told that their location has more base models on order (both orders and direct shipments) than tourings. He also said that by mid year last year it was over 50% base.
Of course this is a sales guy, but he is the manager so he does have some knowledge on the numbers.

I have been debating this as well. I think I'm leaning towards base for several reasons:
I don't talk on the phone much while driving. I am a safety guy after all. Aluminum pedals are fine, but not a big deal.
Bose would be nice if I were big into music, but I listen to talk radio most of the time, don't exactly need a bose for that. Heated seats are almost useless in phoenix. I have heated seats now, and I probably only turn them on, 10-15 days out of the year. The only thing that would make me get the touring is that I really want the nav system. I use my cell phone now, which does a fine job, but it's not easy to look at the little screen at the map and whatnot while driving.

in two words: hell yeah

yes because i want everything integrated in the nav/screen.
plus i don't really mod the interior.

I think it is a very individual thing. For me, I would not want to be without any of those features so it is with out a doubt worth it. For you, I would say no since you do not want many of the items or it would be worth it if you value the ones you want high enough.

This goes to the center of my debate. I view the car both ways, the base w/ sport is a pure sports car. The touring with sport makes it more of GT. I'm on the fence about which one I want.

I have a luxury sports sedan that serves as my daily driver. It's not going anywhere. I'm buying the Z purely as a fun car, but one that can also serve as dd when I desire.

As a dd, I want the touring package. But as a weekend toy, I don't. If I could custom order a Z, it would look like this:

Base
Sport Package (big brakes & synchro rev are musts, plus I love the look of the Rays wheels)
Leather/Suede interior - manual seats (no power, no heating)
Aluminum Pedals
Home Link
Nismo exhaust

I suppose I could just get a base w/ sport and add the pedals and homelink mirror. I could even get custom leather/suede done aftermarket. But I really love the look and feel of the factory touring interior.

Regarding resale value, over a long period of time (say 4-5 years or longer) the value of the touring will be lost IMHO. In my own experience, older cars with stripper interiors don't sell for that much less vs. fully loaded ones. But the loaded cars are easier to sell quicker that's all.

Finally the weight, 46 extra pounds is a big deal to me. If the car was 3000 lbs it wouldn't be. Although Nissan is marketing this car as lighter than the 350Z, the car mag tests have said otherwise.

I appreciate all the feedback from everyone, keep 'em coming. I'm still on the fence but leaning a little more to the touring.

For me, not worth it.

$4.5K is some nice wheels (volks) or exhaust and intake and test pipes..!

My girl got aftermarket leather/suede combo complete with embroidery for 1K, if that's what you are most interested in. And this was not cheap factory stuff. And it matched the car perfectly.

I'm getting the touring package for the ENTIRE package. Everything on the package I want. The stereo (because I never upgrade that), the seats for the leather (mandatory) and the warmers (NICE!), and the Navi/screen since I've got plans for that. I've already heard complaints about the base peddles, so the metal peddles are a plus too.

The entire touring package is useful to me.

By the way, auto dimming mirrors are NICE! I love it on my M35 and I need the powered mirrors for the radar detector.

touring all the way. bluetooth is really convenient. bose although over rated is still pretty good. and the auto dimming mirrors are needed since the car is low compared to other cars on the street.

^ Slow?! How dare you! lol

I think he might have meant, "so low."

:werd:

Get it! I bet you'll love it. I have a 350Z Track and wish I had those options back in 2003.

I've pretty much decided to go base w/ sports package and then spend the money that the touring would've cost to add Nismo performance parts. I don't really like the fabric seats, but I'll probably eventually replace those with performance seats.

I really want an all out sports car.

I know. A little light-hearted humor.

Or just wait for the nismo ;)

If you want touring and automatic you should get a G37 its bad *** too 4,500 is not worth it for me.

No I don't want an automatic. And the G37 is too heavy. I already have a luxury sports sedan as my daily driver. While I like the idea of a pure all out sports car, there's a side of me that likes the added luxury of the touring too. The leather/suede almost makes the interior look as good as the GT-R's interior IMHO.

I really think it's the added weight that bugs me the most. Porsche can have leather in their cars and still make 'em light. The power seats are useless to me. I'm going to be the only driver. I live in Hawaii, so heated seats are useless as well. Bose is nice, but I don't really need it, I drive to drive. OK, bluetooth can be useful, but again I drive to drive - not yack on the phone.

I am had the same debate between Base vs Touring. All I really wanted out of the Touring pack was the leather seat. BOSE stereo upgrade is no upgrade and I plan to rip the stock audio as soon as a dash kit is available. $4000.00 for leather seats, I dont think so.
I went base and upgraded to Sports package which has much more value.
If they included the Nav package in the Touring package, it might have swayed me. I think the touring package is a way too pricy for what you get.

I am in the same boat, leather is all I want and in the end I think it is not worth it. You can always go aftermarket and have the seats redone, and probably with better material than stock, this will be what I am going to do. Though resale value is something to think about, which is why I would get the touring.

Will $4K will cover the new seats and radio upgrade? It probably would cost me more to do upgrade. I am going with touring package since I won't be doing any interior changes.

I would, but I really don't like the extra aerodynamics on the Nismo. A little too much for my taste.

^ Cant disagree with you there.

Yea I agree with you on the nismo 370z. The aerodynamic kit they put on it can be a little cartoonish. the 350z nismo version didn't get any good praise for the looks and I would have to agree. I was at a nissan dealership and the guy said that the nismo 350z didn't sell very well. You would think nissan would of learned their lesson. I guess not!

Have we seen the official nismo 370? I know we saw the s-tune, but I thought I remember hearing that the s-tune wouldnt look like the nismo. Could be totally wrong on that though.