Just test driven a 350Z
11-23-2003, 01:56 PM
#31
Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 14,723
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Yeah, I got the full version of that Best Motoring show (47mins). Just trying to get it to run on my aging pc with the vid and sound in sync. The show was all about the 350Z though, so maybe it was always going to win.
However, considering that the 350Z will be bought by people who like to pose - ex-TT owners who have moved up to Salon Manager - they're not going to be maximising the extra grunt/grip/whatever on the roads. You S will still fly by 9 times out of 10 and you'll probably have the roof down and a bigger grin under your s2ki fleecy hat
However, considering that the 350Z will be bought by people who like to pose - ex-TT owners who have moved up to Salon Manager - they're not going to be maximising the extra grunt/grip/whatever on the roads. You S will still fly by 9 times out of 10 and you'll probably have the roof down and a bigger grin under your s2ki fleecy hat
03-08-2004, 06:58 AM
#34
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Basingstoke
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I test drove the S and the Z back to back last Friday morning and had quite a good go in each.
I decided to go with the S. Bear in mind that I'm coming from previously owning (jointly) a TT225 and a TVR S2.
This is my review of the Z copied from http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.a...=71&t=84532&h=0
well then.. the 350Z. The car I drove has the GT pack - leather, uprated stereo etc.
It's a lot of car for slightly less money than the S2000. There's much more interior storage space in the Z. The boot capacity is probably about the same - maybe slightly larger. I don't like the fact that you can see into the boot though.
It's an easier car to get in and out of than the S2k. Electric seats allow you to find a suitable driving position with ease, but in the absence of a memory feature, I don't find this facility particularly useful - especially since the motors probably add about 30kg to the car.
With 280PS and a 6 speed box I guess I was expecting Impreza P1 type performance in a straight line. I didn't get it. The engine is more flexible than the VTEC, obviously, and revs without complaint to 6.5k. It seemed to have no no more welly than our TVR S between 2k and 4.5krpm. Incidentally, the TVR S and this car have about the same power to weight ratio +/-5bhp/tonne. That 1550Kg dry weight is quite obvious when you drive the car.
It grips well, though, and does pull reasonably strongly through the gears. I got the feeling that the car would tend to understeer and you'd not be able to correct on the throttle unless you were in the 4.5krpm+ range. Also I got the feeling that you'd not want to turn off the traction control on the roads, as with those 18" wheels and Bridgestone tyres, actually losing the Abrams 350Z would be an unavoidable object lesson in the intertia of high-speed bodies.
It's just not lightning fast and does, in fact, need that supercharger, IMO. Or better still, lengthen the stroke - change the crank, conrods and pistons - and upgrade the valve train to allow it do deliver it's power right up to 8000rpm. Then it'd be a monster. But I don't fancy paying 10k for that work either.
The steering is heavy, like an Audi. It communicates more than the TT ever did, but it's marginal and more than anything else, it communicates how heavy this car is, and how unyielding the g-string rubber on the tyres is.
Settling down at 85mph with the cruise control on, there's time to survey the cabin. It's full of vain little details. Z motifs and brushed aluminium that'll never look the same again once it's had a splash of coke and some fag ash on it. Maybe it was an illusion, btw but it looked to me like the unfurling cup holder was only designed to accomodate red-bull. Perhaps to keep the pilot awake and his eyes away from the half dozen sparkly binnacles adorning the dash.
I hate to sound like a luddite but these are mere frippery - they give away telemetric detail that is simply irrelevant in a car made by Nissan. Who, other than a TVR owner or a race car driver, needs constant visual reassurance that his oil pump hasn't failed yet?
The steering wheel is just too retro for me - the switches across the diameter for cruise control etc really are left over parts from a 240Z. Dreadful plasticky things.
The Bose 6CD audio system included with the GT pack is supported by a subwoofer and a several million watt amplifier. The dash mounted sequential-loading CD changer really is quite clever.
The stock wheels are a bit gay and Nissan want a grand to upgrade them - which takes the piss if you ask me since it's another set of 18s with the same tyres. I figured I could buy a second set of wheels plus tyres for trackdays with that
I decided to go with the S. Bear in mind that I'm coming from previously owning (jointly) a TT225 and a TVR S2.
This is my review of the Z copied from http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.a...=71&t=84532&h=0
well then.. the 350Z. The car I drove has the GT pack - leather, uprated stereo etc.
It's a lot of car for slightly less money than the S2000. There's much more interior storage space in the Z. The boot capacity is probably about the same - maybe slightly larger. I don't like the fact that you can see into the boot though.
It's an easier car to get in and out of than the S2k. Electric seats allow you to find a suitable driving position with ease, but in the absence of a memory feature, I don't find this facility particularly useful - especially since the motors probably add about 30kg to the car.
With 280PS and a 6 speed box I guess I was expecting Impreza P1 type performance in a straight line. I didn't get it. The engine is more flexible than the VTEC, obviously, and revs without complaint to 6.5k. It seemed to have no no more welly than our TVR S between 2k and 4.5krpm. Incidentally, the TVR S and this car have about the same power to weight ratio +/-5bhp/tonne. That 1550Kg dry weight is quite obvious when you drive the car.
It grips well, though, and does pull reasonably strongly through the gears. I got the feeling that the car would tend to understeer and you'd not be able to correct on the throttle unless you were in the 4.5krpm+ range. Also I got the feeling that you'd not want to turn off the traction control on the roads, as with those 18" wheels and Bridgestone tyres, actually losing the Abrams 350Z would be an unavoidable object lesson in the intertia of high-speed bodies.
It's just not lightning fast and does, in fact, need that supercharger, IMO. Or better still, lengthen the stroke - change the crank, conrods and pistons - and upgrade the valve train to allow it do deliver it's power right up to 8000rpm. Then it'd be a monster. But I don't fancy paying 10k for that work either.
The steering is heavy, like an Audi. It communicates more than the TT ever did, but it's marginal and more than anything else, it communicates how heavy this car is, and how unyielding the g-string rubber on the tyres is.
Settling down at 85mph with the cruise control on, there's time to survey the cabin. It's full of vain little details. Z motifs and brushed aluminium that'll never look the same again once it's had a splash of coke and some fag ash on it. Maybe it was an illusion, btw but it looked to me like the unfurling cup holder was only designed to accomodate red-bull. Perhaps to keep the pilot awake and his eyes away from the half dozen sparkly binnacles adorning the dash.
I hate to sound like a luddite but these are mere frippery - they give away telemetric detail that is simply irrelevant in a car made by Nissan. Who, other than a TVR owner or a race car driver, needs constant visual reassurance that his oil pump hasn't failed yet?
The steering wheel is just too retro for me - the switches across the diameter for cruise control etc really are left over parts from a 240Z. Dreadful plasticky things.
The Bose 6CD audio system included with the GT pack is supported by a subwoofer and a several million watt amplifier. The dash mounted sequential-loading CD changer really is quite clever.
The stock wheels are a bit gay and Nissan want a grand to upgrade them - which takes the piss if you ask me since it's another set of 18s with the same tyres. I figured I could buy a second set of wheels plus tyres for trackdays with that
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post