SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

the wonders of the VQ35DE... nissan sure makes sexy sounding motors.

Mikeluvs8

the moranos and qx56 have that exhaust tone too

Sephiroth

and the FX

alfy28

is that a nismo version? if so , im looking at yur sig i show no signes of any suspension any sorts. but besides that pretty cool looking car.

Red Devil

Yeah, the weight turns me off the car also...

dmp

wha? You're looking at MY sig and see no signs of suspension of any sorts? Wtf does my car's suspension have to do w/ the car I drove?

toxin440

I don't hate Z's I think they are one really cool car, I was looking at one seriously before I bought my 8.

The problems I had with it was the fact that the suspension is torture, it's a little too heavy for my taste, its only a 2 seater with not much space for storage stuff, its a little "TOO" popular for me if that makes sense, the look of the car is great but doesnt stack up to the look of the RX8.

One girl ive known for a few years in college that I still talks to creams her panties for a Z and has plans to buy one after grad school. Which is cool, but the one thing ive seen around here is a lot of "chicks" driving them. I know its not a chick car by any means but I like the fact that my rx8 stands out, is unique and "rare" on the road.

It's funny the stereotypes I generally see about cars: the 40 year old bald guy in a new shiny vette (probably with a tiny *****), the girl in the cheapo new mustang V6 that daddy bought her that thinks she's badass, and of course the little teeny-bopper in the Toyota Celica or Mitsu Eclipse. IMO the Z is in two categories seemingly: the badass car category and a little bit of the chick car category. (just a little bit)

just my $0.02

playdoh43

all this complaints about the weight...

I dont know... RX8 starts a tad over 3000lb....
sport compact car mag even listed the curb weight at 3197lb... for 2003 and 3212 for 2005..
thats only 100-150 lb heavier than the RX8... its really not that much heavier... it seems like some people are way over exagerating the weight difference between the two cars...
they are both pretty light IMO...

http://www.automotive.com/2005/12/ni...ons/index.html
http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/fe...3_nissan_350z/

GulfCoast

Nissan puts great engines in their cars. A guy in my office who owns a Nissan -- not the Z -- says that he loves Nissan engines, but that the "fit and finish" (in general, the overall quality) of Nissans isn't up to par. Also, the interior of the G35 has taken a lot of hits the last few years from critics, but I think it's been upgraded and will be upgraded further in the newest iteration.

dmp

As if the interior of the RX8 is good? It creaks and rattles like rocks in an empty pop can.

I think the interior of the rx8 'looks' cooler...but not by much.

fwiw, my rx8 tips the scales at a whopping 3044lbs.

alfy28

k in your post you said it felt more sporty. Now what did you mean by more SPorty?(exact quote The 350Z is more 'serious' - more sporting) because when i test drove a 350z it felt heavy and less sporty to me. unless you mean push the gas pedal down felt on a straigth way felt more sporty or being at higher rpms with the engine very loud is more sporty. if so then then yah i will disagree with yah. to me sporty is how the car reacts to me.

now to answer your quote about your suspension. well the nismo is suspension has been well tuned. looking at your sig shows no signs of suspension job done. so what im getting at is this, its hard to compare a car that is tuned suspension wise to a car that has not been. And i hope the Nismo version feels sporty . its like me comparing my car to a suv and came back here to post about saying well the 8 sure felt more sporty then the suv .

now the car you posted looks sweet.

HCTR154

That's a good point. Last year, I was test driving pickups and drove a new Nissan Titan pickup with the 5.4 liter engine. Man, that truck was VERY powerful! Nissan rates that engine at 305 hp, but it felt much stronger than the 5.7 hemi(rated at 355 hp I believe) that Dodge is putting in Rams these days. Ultimately, the soaring price of gas made me decide against a pickup, but that Titan has some gonads!

Moostafa29

FULLY loaded, thats probably accurate. But the base model is much lighter than that. I think someone weighed theirs at 2880lbs.

playdoh43

i was under the assumption that curb weight refer to the weight of a car with the base stuff, no options. from magazines and sites its always somewhere between 3000-3100 for the rx8.

dmp

I can't believe my car, with NO options other than Xenons and Appearance package, weighs nearly 200lbs more than a base rx8.

dmp

By "sporting" I mean tighter. The car felt more responsive, both in acceleration and in turning. I felt a bit like it had a manual steering rack. Turned a bit slower perhaps, but I felt VERY connected to the road - that's a good thing. The car bounced more over bumps. Just felt more track-oriented.

It's EASY to compare that Z with my car because I did. Really, it's nothing more than getting in his car - which is stock - and then contrasting HIS car to MY car - mods or not. It's a run-what-ya-brung comparison. This wasn't a 'shootout' and I honestly doubt his car would be quicker around some tracks than mine. Other tracks? I'm sure the Z would be untouchable by any N/A street-tired Rx8...all things being equal (which they aren't...ever)

Indeed - his car is fantastic in almost every respect.

Nopstnz

I do love that car.

alfy28

k sorry dmp, i thought it was a nismo version of the 350z. if it is nismo 350z version it should feel tighter compared to your car. because nismo version suspension is well tuned. and i waht i meant about its hard to compare the 2 was due to how they are set up suspension wise. sorry english is my second languag so its hard for me to try to xplain what i really wan to say. but yah good post about the 350z. /salute

Design1stCode2nd

If the 350z had two more doors and back seats I would consider it. Beautiful looking car IMO.

GulfCoast

It's the Titan my colleague has. He loves it, but admits to quality issues with the interior. He loves its power, though.

He had an accident not long ago: someone rear-ended him at a fairly high rate of speed while he was stopped. The other car slid underneath his behemoth and didn't do much damage under the circumstances.

SayNoToPistons

iTrader: (8)

no you got it wrong.. the Murano is somewhat silent and you cant really hear the VQ35 through the cvt and the different exhuast. the QX56 is a v8 so it doesnt sound like the tongue rolling vq35. it sounds like a V8... kinda like a LS1.. its the FX35 and G35s/c youre thinking of.

playdoh43

also, FX is built on the G35 FM RWD platform while Murano is based on the Altima platform

9291150

Biggest thing I can't get around on the 350, the sitting in a plastic bathtub feeling with the window sills up around your ears.

Otherwise, nice car, but only car in the world that looks way better with a wing.

GotBass

I have said it before - Ugliest door handles ever attached to a production car.

Otherwise I think the car looks great. Daytona blue. But If I got one I would shave those handles.

LionZoo

I'm sorry, but I just can't get excited over the 350Z. The styling looks somewhat bloated, though from some angles it looks pretty nice. Then again, the RX-8 is very bloated in profile too. However, it's the mechanical bits that really get to me. The car is unreasonably heavy for a 2 seater (yes I know that's the function of using the FM platform). I'm pretty sure my (base) RX-8's curb weight is below 3000 pounds , which puts the Z about 300-400 pounds heavier according to my 350Z brochure. I do like how Nissan lists the curb weights for each trim level of their car, rather than just one number like Mazda does (I'm pretty sure the quoted weight for the RX-8 is either a Touring or Grand Touring, probably a Grand Touring, does anyone know the sales spread of RX-8 trim levels?). Also, I really think the VQ sounds like flatulence and not the glorious melody everyone else seems to think it is. As Jeremy Clarkson says, it is just a sound. Then again I love the sound of high rpm screamer engines and not torque monsters. I do like Daytona Blue though, I think that's a gorgeous color.

For my money, I'd pass on the 350Z and seerch underneath my couch for the extra change to buy a S2000 with hardtop. I love the S2000.