It was stated well over a year ago the next gen Z will be much lighter and leaner. So expect in the 300lb reduction arena. The 2012+ Z's received a moderate cooling improvement. I expect to see cooling improvements in the next gen.
Also, if the Z gets a smaller displacement and a larger bay? Cooling will come much easier to attain. Also, if they go turbo? I'm sure there will be engineering for better cooling. The GT-R doesn't have a cooling problem so i wouldn't expect to see the next gen Z with one. I don't forsee Nissan going ror more criticism on the Z. Mr. K complained and i think Nissan listened to him.

Remember: Porsche got a complete redesign in 2013. We got DRL's woohoo!!!! Expect to see a competitive car in 2015. It's not realistic to compare last gen tech to new gen objectively.

1st gen Cayman came out in 2005, so everyone was comparing a 2009 car to a 2005?

1. They were comparing it to the 2008 which had updates in 2008,
2. Then in 2010, it went from 6 speed auto to PDK transmission.
3. The nissan to porsche redesign cycle is 3 years apart. Our redesign happens during there refresh. Actually, Porsche does things annual/2yr with some type of significance. Nissan doesn't.

For a car thats $30,000 more than the Z. Its fair to judge a 2008, cayman refresh to a 2009 Z redesign. Don't misinform to prove a borderline fanboy point.

i think one interesting thing to note from the data sheet is the noise levels between the two, funny how many people and reviewers moan and groan about the Z being noisy on the inside when the freakin cayman in their test is just as noisy and even noisier in some situations lol

Noise levels had to be the stupidest major complaint of the Z. Completely normal for a dedicated sports car platform. No offense to the sound deadening crew. To each his own, but to make it a topic in sports car reviews is insanely retarded.
Any real sports car's charm is NOT having a quiet interior. Tire roar can be a little annoying, but the engine being harsh is ridiculous. Review only Cadillac if they want quiet engines. Speaking of which, The ATS turbo has a loud azz bov/wastegate for a luxury sedan. I wouldn't complain about it but, by reviewers standards... Why aren't they bytchin' bout the loud azz ATS 2.0 Turbo?

There's definitely a double-standard in this country for JDM sports cars.

It's all about the quality of the noise, rather than the raw volume.

It has nothing to do with country of origin--if anything Japanese cars get favorable treatment in nvh commentary (s2000, the whole Lexus line). The Z just happens to have a lot of less-pleasant noises (and a terrible stock tire)

Some people can't handle raw. I like raw... Raw and Real rather than fake and synthesized.

Raw means different things to different people.

I don't mind a raw experience if the whole car is raw, but I don't want a dead silent exhaust and a ton of insulation up front alongside diff whine and tire noise.

Tire noise can be fixed. Diff whine??? I don't have that or don't hear it? And you don't drive a Z so you don't have to deal with it. Owners will tend to find it less of an issue. That's why we haven't traded.:tiphat:

I never really cared about the noise, but then again I was coming from a convertible with an exhaust that sounded like the space shuttle, that rattled like a tool chest on a shaker table.


I'm simply making the point that the NVH in the Z is unpleasant to many, which is why it's a discussion point. It's not really any louder than most comparable cars, it's just a different type of noise.

The Z noise is far from "raw." I'd recommend hopping in the roadster of your choice for that experience--you'll find the noise to correlate more closely with what the car is doing. Hell, even the Cayman manages to do a good job of providing audio feedback.

The good news is, audio quality is low on the list of most potential shoppers, and exhaust and stereo pretty quickly get things into a better place on that front.

Not so much low on peoples list, but its a simple and repairable issue. We have quality exhausts ranging from $600-$5,000+. There are at least a dozen if not more exhausts for the Z that make it sound awesome.

The Porsche has a better sound? At $61k starting.... I hope so. The Z isn't the best sounding car out there. But its overexaggerated how bad it is. It isn't even bad. Non-owners and people desperately getting into other cars for whatever reason will nit-pick these things at greater volume than needed. It is what it is.

It matters differently to everyone. There are a number of owners on this forum that have spent a lot of money trying to adjust the way the Z makes noise.

Quit trying to read in things that aren't there. I don't have an issue with the sound, I'm just explaining why others do.

OK, I will bite, but only because I'm bored without my ZdayZ fix.

Not only have you made this statement no less than four times without providing a source, the lap time deltas are comparable to a number of other tests. Whether the car was abused any differently than any other car in the test (because let's face it, none of these cars were being babied)is subject to debate, but there's certainly been no admission of such from C&D--which means it is all speculative.

I'll save you the 8 second google search and provide the post-mortem here:

Z Meets Wall: We Investigate Why the NISMO Z's Brakes Failed at Lightning Lap - Feature - Car and Driver

Verdict? Lack of air on the brakes--nothing new to anyone who's familiar with the Z. Nothing about the car having been abused. There's also no mention of the car having felt wrong, as you seem to indicate. You can also scope the original article and find the same thing rings true (although you might contend that the below description of the car indicates something was wrong:icon17:)

Lightning Lap 2009 - Car Comparison - Feature Article - Page 8


Now, back to the point I was making earlier, let's compare the Z's performance at VIR against another mag test.

Lightning lap:

Mustang GT 3:08.6
370Z : 3:12.00
EXO MR : 3:13.3
Mini Cooper John Cooper Works : 3:17.1
Volkswagen GTI : 3:19.3
Miata 3:29.3

Now, let's take a look at another test--this one with a fresh Z:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps075ee6cb.png

The Z still slots in right where you'd expect given the course change and such. You can't make this sort of stuff up! And, since I know that sometimes it is hard to compare numbers, here are the scaled track times, in visual format:

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps10357a7c.png

Blue dots are LL, red dots are scaled Grattan times.

My takeaway from these results is that if anyone was going to complain about their car's performance at LL, it should be the poor guys in Miatas...

So, I'm not convinced there is any evidence supporting the claim that the 370Z in the LL test was some sort of oddity--if you have any, I would love to see it.

Quit trying to explain every fvckin thing. :tup:

It boils down to the fact is a fixable issue that's overstated. You're saying what im saying. I'm saying its not a big deal. You're saying it is to many. Varied opinions. I think the media boosted that overstatement Go figure...
Thats my point but you gotta keep going and going and going and going. Cuz Red doesn't feel good about himself unless he's aggressively trying to prove himself right and have the last word.

How did the 2013 brake hosed and oil cooled Nismo do? All this talk about ancient history... :ughdance:

EDIT: Actually,C&D shows too many overall biases on certain brands to even hold them credible. No other mag is as one sided as C&D. I only will read the first drives & long term tests in that mag. Performance TESTS i leave to R&T and MT.