Since I've never seen a 370Z, we went to the local Nissan dealer to have a look. I really dislike salesmen. I told them up-front that I wasn't there to buy a car, but they still do their scripts to try and get you to buy one anyway. It's a very different experience at a Porsche or BMW dealer. They're much more casual.
Anyway.. I got a chance to check out the car, and I like it a lot. The Z sort of grabs you when you get in, and it feels like you wear the car instead of just sitting in it. It's quite a bit different than the 350Z, more power, it's shorter, and the interior is much nicer. The 350 has tons and tons of cheap looking plastic, but the 370 has that almost rubber feeling plastic. It just looks fantastic sitting inside the car. I'm used to driving small cars, but it felt really small.
I didn't drive one as the salesman offered, because I knew that would expose me to a much harder sales pitch. We did see a GTR and I about nutted instantly. It looks much different in person than looking at the pictures. It's just stunning.
So.. the Cayman is out, leaving just the Z, or if I really want to be insane, the GTR. The Z is the sensible car (as sensible as a 332hp sports car can be), but life shouldn't always be about being sensible.
/adding
bone stock;
Car and Driver got this with the Automatic....
0-60 in 4.6
1/4 mile in 13.1 @ 108 MPH.
So umm.. the 6mt does 60 in ~4.9. It's pretty amazing the way the newest generation of auto transmissions are faster than manuals. I just can't see myself driving that kind of car and pushing buttons on the steering wheel to shift. It's just not right. I don't get why people would obsses over three tenths of a second, or they should be buying something else for straight line drag racing.
I checked online and there are retailers selling the Nismo body kit.. the 4 piece for something like 2k. That's not too bad.
7 comments:
The Cayman looks funny anyway.
I like the Cayman's looks. It's a sweet car imo, but it's a horrible value for the dollar. So many things that are standard on the Z and GTR are expensive options on the Porsche. There's really very few options to select on the Nissan once you pick the trim you want. Once you add all the needed things onto the Cayman, it'll be pushing 80k. Just not worth the 1/10 a second off the 0-60 IMO.
The Cayman is technically a pretty lazy piece of design work (actually make that every Porsche...). They essentially took a boxter and bolted the roof from a 911 on it.
I'm actually a bigger fan of the older styling on the 350 over the 370, at least when it comes to the head and tail lights (not a fan of the upsidown Federation logos). However yeah the 370 definately drives better from what i've read/heard and the interior is alot nicer.
Ya, it shares some parts to gain some economies of scale. I suppose Porsche could have just used 911 pieces and tuned it down a bit instead. It is different in some fundamental ways from the Boxter. I think it's quite a nice car, and it's performance quite a bit more than a Boxster. Only a skilled driver would be able to tell the difference between a Cayman and a Carerra.
I'm just not going to contribute to what is the highest mark-up in the automotive industry. Porsche is the most profitable auto company in the world for a reason.
Styling is always subjective, but I love the lines of the 370. It's one of those cars that looks like it's going 100mph sitting still. It's much nicer with the shorter wheelbase and the sort of wide beefy look it has.
I've looked at a Charger, a Mustang GT, and a Camero, but they're all bloated top heavy cars. The 370 suits me.
In reality, I'm not a very materialistic person. The only posessions I care about are the car, the tv, and computer. Everything else is just fluff.
Oh.. and I watched the Aussie Top Gear review of the 370, and he seemed to like it quite a lot.
Jesus christ.. the Z in Australia is "nearly 70,000" according to the Top Gear guy. That's $61,000 US.. coming close to double the cost.
Holy fuck, are you guys boned that hard on everything?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXrFRE0SAcc
Yep pretty much, localised costs for everything here is significantly higher regardless of exchange rates, additionally you have to pay higher taxes on luxury items.
Retail prices on video games is a good example. Asking price for your average new release in the US is $59.95 USD, here its $110-$120 AUD. We had some serious inflation problems in the early 90's which have had some rather lame lasting effects. It's usually a good chunk cheaper to purchase stuff from overseas online retailers and have it shipped over.
Home Theatre gear is another good example if you want to do a price comparison.
Yow.. that's pretty harsh.
Post a Comment