[Owen]

Originally Posted by Biro

To be fair, you can't say you're not biased towards all things Bavarian

Absolutely I can. I've been on this forum defending many marques, the only time I passionately defend Bavarian products is when idiots post FUD as fact. I have a passion for anything well engineered, whether it's BMW, Audi, Lexus, Mercedes, and have the utmost respect for cars that do things cleverly - Smart cars, the Ariel Atom, the original Mini, the S-Max, etc. So I'll thank you not to make assumptions about my interest in cars.

Originally Posted by Jimbling

care to elaborate?

Sure. The engine feels like it can overpower the chassis, and at no point (In comparisson to a TT 220Bhp Quattro, a Z4M Coupé, and a SC430) do you feel fully in control of it. It feels like the car is actually flexing. Visbility is poor. The plastics are cheap and nasty, the switchgear in the 1 year old car I was driving had already failed, and some of the inscriptions on the controls had started to rub off. The Leather after 1 year was stretched and mishapen. Even a little detail like the wheel arches ... they're practically the same width (If not wider) than the wing mirrors - letting an unsuspecting owner scrape his wing whilst trying to squeeze into a small place. One of the gas lifts on the rear door had given up, and the other was about to go out in sympathy.

Originally Posted by Biro

in what circumstances have you tested the 350Z?

At Rockingham Speedway in the UK. We also had a TT, an SC430, an SLK320. Every single person there agreed that the 350z was the weak link.

Originally Posted by Biro

Are you bearing in mind that the high powered BMW's have an excellent traction control system?

I'm not understanding what you're asking ... are you saying it's okay for the Nissan to be ropey, because the Nissan Engineers can't build a traction system that's up for the task? That's just a cop out IMHO.

[jimbling]

Originally Posted by ned78

Absolutely I can. I've been on this forum defending many marques, the only time I passionately defend Bavarian products is when idiots post FUD as fact. I have a passion for anything well engineered, whether it's BMW, Audi, Lexus, Mercedes, and have the utmost respect for cars that do things cleverly - Smart cars, the Ariel Atom, the original Mini, the S-Max, etc. So I'll thank you not to make assumptions about my interest in cars.



Sure. The engine feels like it can overpowers the chassis, and at no point (In comparisson to a TT 220Bhp Quattro, a Z4M Coupé, and a SC430) do you feel fully in control of it. It feels like the car is actually flexing. Visbility is poor. The plastics are cheap and nasty, the switchgear in the 1 year old car I was driving had already failed, and some of the inscriptions on the controls had started to rub off. The Leather after 1 year was stretched and mishapen. Even a little detail like the wheel arches ... they're practically the same width (If not wider) than the wing mirrors - letting an unsuspecting owner scrape his wing whilst trying to squeeze into a small place. One of the gas lifts on the rear door had given up, and the other was about to go out in sympathy.



At Rockingham Speedway in the UK. We also had a TT, an SC430, an SLK320. Every single person there agreed that the 350z was the weak link.



I'm not understanding what you're asking ... are you saying it's okay for the Nissan to be ropey, because the Nissan Engineers can't build a traction system that's up for the task? That's just a cop out IMHO.

Damn You, your turning me off the idea


lol, no seriously thanks for the info.

[Owen]

Originally Posted by jimbling

Damn You, your turning me off the idea

Whoah whoah whoah, my opinion is just that. An opinion. Go drive the thing yourself. Don't be a bit swayed by what I, or anyone else has to say on boards. Drive it, and judge it yourself by driving other cars too. Then examine the depreciation in relation to other cars. Only when you've done all that will you be able to say you truly have the facts.

[jimbling]

Originally Posted by ned78

Whoah whoah whoah, my opinion is just that. An opinion.

lol... I was only joking mate. I know. I'm looking around at a few other options as well. Ill probably take it for a test drive tomorrow sometime and get a feel for it.

What other options do people think I should be entertaining?

Other options: (if I go down the road of sport coupe)
Z4 - 03/04 - prefer the look of the 350Z, but this would be a safer bet money wise.
TT - 02/03 - Not too gone on these anymore, just too many of them around.
Lotus Elise - 98/99 - Another car I'd never really thought of, but you can get one reasonably enough i.e. theres a 98 for 16k. Obviously I would have to keep two cars with this one.

Anything else I should consider here?

Options: (If I go down the road of saloon sport car)
Upgrade my own - 06 Octavia vRS (the new model).
Audi A4 - 03/04
BMW M3 - Dont think I can get one for the money really - not with reasonable mileage.
theres loads in this range really... anyone else feel pretty strongly about a particular car in this range?

[TheBazman]

Originally Posted by jimbling

Thanks for the advice mate. Out of interest, what are you driving now?

The car is for sale for 28k. I reckon I could get it for 26k. The closest european version is 34k.

I am driving an 06 520d m-sport - had to go this route for practicality and diesel for the long commute

There have been quite a few opinions above both good and bad - if you go to test drive I think that will make up your mind either way - as regards quality of the interior - some people have issues with the plastic etc - again I thought it was fine - you will get better interiors but on more expensive marques. I also got the opportunity to drive one on a track in the UK ( a little more aggressively than I did my own ) pic quality a bit crap

[podgee]

Originally Posted by jimbling

Damn You, your turning me off the idea


lol, no seriously thanks for the info.

Jimbling,

Its a serious car. Have had one since 04 and have put up about 60k miles on it. Only problem being a CD player had to be replaced as it skipped on CDs.

Spec on the advert looks fine - nothing obviously missing. Would however wonder what a tiptronic would be like as opposed to manual (mine's manual as indeed I think all Irish cars are - could be wrong on this though).

It's as cheap as chips to service (main dealer) - last service was about €200. As regards the 'engineering' - I can't comment other than to say it's the nicest, best handling machine I've had in the last 20 years. Put the foot down in any gear and it grunts and moves - quickly - very quickly in fact. Put the foot down on a roundabout and it'll briefly bite with a bit of toe out to remind you its rear wheel drive, then the traction kicks in and all is right in the world again! I'd bet my bottom dollar that the 'briefly bite' bit, is deliberately tuned into the setup.

Turn the traction off, and it's a wolf. You need to open a few shirt buttons, stick out your hairy chest and show that medallion. It's a real man's car !


Judging by the prices on CBG and Carzone, second hand values are pretty strong. There is few enough of them on the road which helps.

Anyhow that's my two cents worth.

Good Luck

[jimbling]

Originally Posted by podgee

Jimbling,

Its a serious car. Have had one since 04 and have put up about 60k miles on it. Only problem being a CD player had to be replaced as it skipped on CDs.

Spec on the advert looks fine - nothing obviously missing. Would however wonder what a tiptronic would be like as opposed to manual (mine's manual as indeed I think all Irish cars are - could be wrong on this though).

It's as cheap as chips to service (main dealer) - last service was about €200. As regards the 'engineering' - I can't comment other than to say it's the nicest, best handling machine I've had in the last 20 years. Put the foot down in any gear and it grunts and moves - quickly - very quickly in fact. Put the foot down on a roundabout and it'll briefly bite with a bit of toe out to remind you its rear wheel drive, then the traction kicks in and all is right in the world again! I'd bet my bottom dollar that the 'briefly bite' bit, is deliberately tuned into the setup.

Turn the traction off, and it's a wolf. You need to open a few shirt buttons, stick out your hairy chest and show that medallion. It's a real man's car !


Judging by the prices on CBG and Carzone, second hand values are pretty strong. There is few enough of them on the road which helps.

Anyhow that's my two cents worth.

Good Luck

thanks for the info. Ill hopefully be taking it for a drive over the weekend so will get the feel of the tiptronic... not sure about that either.

I think ill have to give a nissan dealer a ring too, I'm not sure if they will deal with the Jap import...anyone know if that would usually be a problem with jap cars?

[Gatster]

Mazda RX-8? Don't know if anyone mentioned it, seems like an alternative...?

[Biro]

Originally Posted by ned78

Absolutely I can. I've been on this forum defending many marques, the only time I passionately defend Bavarian products is when idiots post FUD as fact. I have a passion for anything well engineered, whether it's BMW, Audi, Lexus, Mercedes, and have the utmost respect for cars that do things cleverly - Smart cars, the Ariel Atom, the original Mini, the S-Max, etc. So I'll thank you not to make assumptions about my interest in cars.

Thats a fair statement, but I seem to recall you defending the 1-series as a good value car, which I strongly disagree with, but then again maybe you were just saying it's a good car rather than good value, I can't be bothered looking it up, cause I'm not trying to argue.

Originally Posted by ned78

I'm not understanding what you're asking ... are you saying it's okay for the Nissan to be ropey, because the Nissan Engineers can't build a traction system that's up for the task? That's just a cop out IMHO.

It's not a statement as a cop out, it's basically meant to indicate that your driving skills may be whats lacking if you find a 350Z too much power for the chassis. A BMW TC system will iron out the lack of driver control, whereas Nissan may not have bothered assuming a full enthusiast purchasing their car. And if you think that Nissan engineers can't build a good TC system, their own skyline kicks most BMW's with far more power's ass round a good tight track.
I haven't driven one, so I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just surprised that you felt flexing in the chassis in a car that has been praised by plenty of journalists for it's handling. Was it a hard top one you were driving? Flexing in any coupe chassis now-a-days is unheard of. And compared to say an SC430, a comfort machine, then maybe the Nissan was just letting you know of the road underneath instead of insulating you from it like the others would be likely to do.

[ronoc]

Originally Posted by Biro

Thats a fair statement, but I seem to recall you defending the 1-series as a good value car, which I strongly disagree with, but then again maybe you were just saying it's a good car rather than good value, I can't be bothered looking it up, cause I'm not trying to argue.


It's not a statement as a cop out, it's basically meant to indicate that your driving skills may be whats lacking if you find a 350Z too much power for the chassis. A BMW TC system will iron out the lack of driver control, whereas Nissan may not have bothered assuming a full enthusiast purchasing their car. And if you think that Nissan engineers can't build a good TC system, their own skyline kicks most BMW's with far more power's ass round a good tight track.
I haven't driven one, so I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just surprised that you felt flexing in the chassis in a car that has been praised by plenty of journalists for it's handling. Was it a hard top one you were driving? Flexing in any coupe chassis now-a-days is unheard of. And compared to say an SC430, a comfort machine, then maybe the Nissan was just letting you know of the road underneath instead of insulating you from it like the others would be likely to do.

TC is only going to help a novice driver with laptimes. TC isn't what gets the skyline round a track faster either, that would be its superior 4WD traction. Its better able to put all its power on the road. The Electronic Limited slip diff plays a big part in this.

[Owen]

Originally Posted by Biro

Thats a fair statement, but I seem to recall you defending the 1-series as a good value car, which I strongly disagree with, but then again maybe you were just saying it's a good car rather than good value, I can't be bothered looking it up, cause I'm not trying to argue.

Belt away, look it up. AFAIR, I never defended the 1 Series.

Originally Posted by Biro

It's not a statement as a cop out, it's basically meant to indicate that your driving skills may be whats lacking if you find a 350Z too much power for the chassis.

Funnily enough, and although this comes up over and over again, I do actually attend a lot of driving courses each year with work, both on track and off.

[colly10]

Originally Posted by ronoc

Why does this always come up with high performance cars??

Its a performance coupe not a diesel toyota, there certainly is a market for these cars.

Not really, most people under 25 won't get insured on one and some over 25 wouldn't be willing to pay insurance/tax etc... Then you have alot of people who rather import performance cars themselves rather than buy here and theres also a fair few that won't spend that kind of money on a car (they'll buy an older model with similar power) so theres a relativity small market.