Test drove a 5.0 Today

Originally Posted by Zed_Man

That's about what I was expecting. No Huge thrills in the corner. Just wanted to get a good feel of her in a straight line mostly to see if I feel a big difference in a straight line vs my 370. I'm sure it won't tempt me enough to trade for my z or nothing. I know the z is a better all around car and a bigger thrill to drive. I'm sure I can still scare the hell out of him in the mustang though just like I have in the z lol.

Originally Posted by nitromt

Actually, that statement is quite false.

The Mustang has a ton of advantages on the 370z and the 370z only has a few on the Mustang.

Mustang:
-less expensive
and there's a very good reason for that. read on
-vastly improved fit and finish
yet still not up to par
-much faster at almost every type of track (look at 5.0 vs E92 M3 Motortrend comparo)
highly debatable. you can't make that claim since no one did a head to head comparison yet. besides, the m3 isn't all that fast either. it has a bit more power than the z but it's handling isn't that much better. i'd expect both the m3 and the z to be faster than the mustang on more technical tracks that emphasize handling and suspension more than engine power and linear acceleration.
-2+2 seating
doubtful if that's even a good thing in a sports car. but it does make the mustang too big for its own good
-much greater trunk/interior space
read above
-better fuel economy
relevance? if fuel economy was a concern, get a prius. most sports car owners do not buy their cars to drive like a grandma and squeeze every mpg they can get
-much cheaper to maintain: nearly all components including engine much cheaper to replace
less quality? ancient suspension design? you definitely get what you pay for
-performance: acceleration, braking, roll-on acceleration
acceleration, maybe. but with that gigantic engine, i would definitely hope that it outaccelerates the v6-powered Z. braking and cornering, nope, mustang does not exceed the z
-responds much better to basic bolt ons and mods when compared $ to $
well, it only makes 412 hp from 5 litres of displacement. a japanese or european engine that big would be already producing closer to 500 hp out of the box.

370z:
-potentially faster on a very tight track like an auto-x
-maybe slightly better interior quality but really negligible since you cannot get a Touring + Sport 370z for 2k within the price of a 5.0 6MT Coupe Premium.
maybe in your part of the world. i visited the ford website and a fully loaded gt comes up to 43.5k or so, which is just 1k less than the nissan. granted, that's before the employee pricing discount, but still. and even worse, that msrp would have gone up by a few thousands more if ford gave the car a proper rear suspension
370z has a major design flaw with engine oil temps that Nissan refuses to adequately address

Originally Posted by Pharmacist

Originally Posted by nitromt View Post
Actually, that statement is quite false.

The Mustang has a ton of advantages on the 370z and the 370z only has a few on the Mustang.

Mustang:
-less expensive
and there's a very good reason for that. read on
The Mustang simply delivers more for less. That's not something that could be said of the Z. The projected sales of the '11 Mustang GT are significantly more than the '11 370z, yet they both are in the $30-40k range.
-vastly improved fit and finish
yet still not up to par
Neither is the 370z and I've sat in both. It's a toss up in this category. For anyone that has sat in the new 5.0, they won't deny that Ford has improved far more than Nissan has.
-much faster at almost every type of track (look at 5.0 vs E92 M3 Motortrend comparo)
highly debatable. you can't make that claim since no one did a head to head comparison yet. besides, the m3 isn't all that fast either. it has a bit more power than the z but it's handling isn't that much better. i'd expect both the m3 and the z to be faster than the mustang on more technical tracks that emphasize handling and suspension more than engine power and linear acceleration.
What is "more tighter" than a MT Figure 8 test. 370Z is just aboutas fast as the 5.0 w/ Brembo. In fact, if anything the M3 is slower. 2009 Nissan 370Z - Specs and Test Data - First Test - Motor Trend and
-2+2 seating numbers don't lie. If the 370z can't out corner the Mustang by a huge margin on this specific performance category, it has zero chance on a normal track.
doubtful if that's even a good thing in a sports car. but it does make the mustang too big for its own good
-much greater trunk/interior space
read above
What does it matter? The Mustang is both more practical and faster. The only reason you want to weigh less is to be fast. But if you can't even be faster than a competitor that is more practical, then what the heck was the point?
-better fuel economy
relevance? if fuel economy was a concern, get a prius. most sports car owners do not buy their cars to drive like a grandma and squeeze every mpg they can get
Again, just one more among many of the things the Mustang is better at than the 370z.
-much cheaper to maintain: nearly all components including engine much cheaper to replace
less quality? ancient suspension design? you definitely get what you pay for
I'm pretty sure we can all agree that the 5.0 V8 is the better engine. Heck the physical engine itself weighs 40lbs less than the LS3 which by all accounts was similar in size to the VQ37HR. Isn't the VQ37HR even more expensive than either to replace?
-performance: acceleration, braking, roll-on acceleration
acceleration, maybe. but with that gigantic engine, i would definitely hope that it outaccelerates the v6-powered Z.
Again read above. The GM LS3 engine is considered extremely lightweight and similar in dimensions compared to the VQ3xHR series motors. The 5.0 Coyote is about 40lbs lighter than the LS3 engine. Seems like Nissan just simply didn't make efficient use of the physical dimension that the LS3, VQ3xHR, and 5.0 Coyote can fit in.
braking and cornering, nope, mustang does not exceed the z
Z does not exceed the Mustang either so it's a draw.
-responds much better to basic bolt ons and mods when compared $ to $
well, it only makes 412 hp from 5 litres of displacement. a japanese or european engine that big would be already producing closer to 500 hp out of the box.
Again, internal volume of an engine is a very small part of measuring performance. In fact, it's almost negligible as the LS3 and the VQ37HR occupy almost the same physical dimension. One is 6.2L and the other is 3.7L. Strangely enough the LS engine is less expensive, better on gas, produces gobs of more torque and power than the VQ37HR. No one in their right mind will argue that a VQ37HR engine is better than an LS3 in any logical category - which proves your perspective as an outdated way of thinking.

370z:
-potentially faster on a very tight track like an auto-x
-maybe slightly better interior quality but really negligible since you cannot get a Touring + Sport 370z for 2k within the price of a 5.0 6MT Coupe Premium.
maybe in your part of the world. i visited the ford website and a fully loaded gt comes up to 43.5k or so, which is just 1k less than the nissan. granted, that's before the employee pricing discount, but still. and even worse, that msrp would have gone up by a few thousands more if ford gave the car a proper rear suspension
Somehow that "improper" rear suspension that Ford has is just as good as BMWs "proper rear suspension"....

I'll post pictures for you since pictures are worth a thousand words.

USAA no haggle pricing.


Unfortunately USAA only is displaying a 370z Coupe 6MT Sport (NOT Touring) but it shows that it should register a discount of $1700 under invoice.

370z has a major design flaw with engine oil temps that Nissan refuses to adequately address
Still a major design flaw that would be mitigated by an oil cooler....something Nissan has not done yet.