2009 Nissan 370Z: What's It Like to Live With?
Read the latest updates in our long-term road test of the 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring as our editors live with this car for a year.
What do you want to know about?
- Introduction
- SynchroRev Match Making Things Too Easy?
- A Gauge Cluster Worth Copying
- You Write the Caption
- Our Favorite Caption Two
- Comfort Takes a Back Seat to Driver Involvement
- Small Touches Make It Survivable as a Daily Driver
- 2009 Nissan 370Z vs. 2010 Ford Mustang GT
- Seven Hours in the Driver Seat and I'm Still OK
- Track Tested!
- A Real GT When You Want It to Be
- Guess What? I Can't See You.
- The Decade The Affordable Automotive Music Died
- Facing Off Against the 2010 Mustang
- All-Star Wheel and Tire Sizing
- More Braces Than a Junior Prom
- Not Quite Awesome Enough
- Gear indicated
- No ZZZZs Here
- Taking it on the Chin
- Open Thread Two
- View From the Driver's Seat
- A C.O.W. Twofer
- Oil Cooler Install and First Service
- Suspension Walkaround
- Where Have You Gone, Yutaka Katayama?
- How To Avoid Traffic
- Really Smooth Downshifts
- Keeping Cool on a Hot Day
- Racy
- How Do You Turn on the A/C?
- Numbers, Schmumbers
- Coming Apart at the Sills
- Stink Eye Blind Spot
- Wrong Fuel Gauge
- Seats Done Right
- Is Synchro RevMatch the Way of the Future?
- Brakes and Blips and Revs, Oh My!
- Not for Touring
- So, What Do You Think About It?
- The Stig Is Our Co-Pilot
- Adding Oil
- Too Small Inside. Or Is It?
- 7,500 Mile Service
- The Cheese Stands Alone
- Swoopy Design...Like a Bad '70s Hot Wheels Car
- IL Readers' Most Wanted
- What's the problem?
- Transformers
- Non-Syncro TimeMatch
- It's Not The Ride
- Truckin'
- Priorities, Guys, Priorities!
- Baby's Got Bass, Courtesy of Bose
- Fillet of Simulated Suede
- Training Wheels For Rev-Matchers
- Stuck in Gear
- Transmission Replacement
- Transmission Replaced
- New Clutch Break-in
- iPod Interface Video
- iPod Integration Sore Point
- There's a Zit on My Fascia!
- The 10,000 Mile Post
- The Opening
- DIY Brake Pad and Rotor Change, Part 1
- DIY Brake Pad and Rotor Change, Part 2
- Also a Liar
- Tire Noise
- Pitfalls of Street Parking
- Evening Drive
- Teen Boys and Hot Women
- The Conundrum
- The Dipstick Lover's Sports Car
- Damage Update
- Where is My Rear Wiper?
- Clutch Pedal Problem
- Easy on the Elbows
- Happy Birthday Mr. K
- Trunk Review Lite
- Can I Buy a Vowel?
- A Man's Sports Car
- Blood, Sweat and Oil
- Not Enough Junk In That Trunk
- Which Would You Choose?
- If It's Too Loud, You're Too Young
- Reprise
- A Relief To Drive
- Open Thread
- Pretty Pictures Edition
- Seat controls-the Good, the Bad...
- Unintended Activation
- SynchroRev Match Makes Editor Lazy
- Looking Back at its Inspiration
- All Wet
- It's a sexy sportscar
- Would You Keep Track of Its MPG?
- Gas Station Engineering
- Wondering What It Can Haul?
- The Sticky-Icky
- How To Annoy a Perfectionist
- Sweet Sixteen
- Better Than A Hot Hatch?
- It's No Honda Insight...
- You Write the Caption Two
- Our Favorite Caption
- Cement Truck Hell
- 15,000-mile Service
- This Car Doesn't Know Me
- Wraparound Look
- Easy
- Hits the Spot, But I Want the Roadster
- Go Ahead, Name a Better V6 in This Price Range
- Open Thread
- Noise
- Sound
- Nice Feature
- Nice Touch That's Holding Up Well
- NFS vs. GT5 vs. FM3
- Ten Things I Like About You
- More Than Expected
- Sound > Noise
- Bumped
- Wrap-Up
Introduction
It's Edmunds' party for the all-new 2009 Nissan 370Z and Randy Rodriguez is walking around like he owns the place. It's not only because he owns one of the baddest Nissan 240Zs at this event. It's not even because his 240Z — one in a long line, because he's owned a Nissan Z-car as long as he's had a driver license — is painted in a color previously seen only on a Nissan showcar. No, Randy Rodriguez is walking around like he owns the place because as the designer of the concept car that spawned the production 2009 Nissan 370Z, he might have saved the Z-car (not to mention sports cars as we know and like them) from irrelevancy.
The weight of the world is upon the modern automobile. With innumerable laws, regulations, standards and specifications to meet, it's no wonder that cars today are getting bigger, heavier, duller and blander. But not the 2009 Nissan 370Z. Compared to the 350Z it replaces, the new Z is shorter, wider, lighter and powered by a new 332-horsepower, 3.7-liter V6 with variable valve timing and lift that's more powerful, too. It's a serious car, not just a stylish one.
It all sounds (and looks) great on paper, but a 12-month long-term road test here at Edmunds will validate (or invalidate) what our bar-napkin calculations hypothesize.
What We Got
When we began our talks with Nissan for the acquisition of a 2009 370Z for a long-term road test, pricing and specifications hadn't been released. We wanted a base car with the Sport package and the Technology/Navigation package. Turns out that such a combination doesn't exist. We could choose the base model car with the Sport package and get cloth-upholstered seats and a vacant cubby-hole in the dash, or we could have the Touring model with heated, leather-upholstered seats, a Bose audio system and Bluetooth, which offers the Navigation package as a $1,850 option.
While we debated our preferences for interior trim, there was no debate over the Sport package. It's a $3,000 option that we had to have. The $3 grand goes toward a set of slick-looking, lightweight, forged-aluminum 19-inch Rays wheels wrapped in wide Bridgestone Potenza tires, plus big brakes (14-inch rotors in front; 13.8-inch rotors in the rear) with four-piston calipers. On the driveline side, the Sport package adds a viscous-type limited-slip rear differential, while cars with the six-speed manual transmission like this one also include Nissan's new SynchroRev Match.
SynchroRev Match is Nissan's innovative feature that makes a manual transmission easier to use for the average driver. When we got our hands on one, Engineering Editor Jason Kavanagh took us through a detailed overview. "SynchroRev Match," he says, "is a feature that automatically 'blips' the throttle when the driver initiates a downshift in manual-transmission-equipped 370s. If you depress the clutch, lift off the throttle and move the gearchange lever to a lower gear, SynchroRev Match zips the engine up to precisely the right speed for that gear.
"The result? Perfectly smooth rev-matched downshifts every single time, and drivers that look like heroes." It's a clever idea that's so useful for everyone that we're surprised it hasn't appeared sooner.
Base or Touring, all 2009 Nissan 370Zs have the same engine, the 332-hp VQ37VHR, a DOHC 3.7-liter V6. Nissan's VVEL (variable valve event and lift) is similar to BMW's Valvetronic, one more strategy to control the volume of fuel that flows in and out of the combustion chambers and thus combines good power with good air emissions.
The new 3.7-liter V6 also produces 270 pound-feet of torque at 5,200 rpm, a number substantial enough that it helps get the Z-car out of the hole quickly enough to reach the quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds at 104.8 mph.
Even though we think more people will buy the Base model, the Technology package won us over just because we can't do without a navigation system. Those buyers interested in the Base car can still relate, while those looking for more information on the full kit won't be lost.
And so our new long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z wears a sticker price of $40,320.
Why We Got It
Like you have to ask?
With its wide, arched fender flares, low stance and menacing grimace, the 370Z is more pony car than pocket rocket. The new 2010 Ford Mustang is on the horizon and the new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro isn't far behind, and the Z-car will put their performance into perspective. Affordable sports cars have been around forever, but they've never been this good. They've never been this fast. And they've certainly never had this level of refinement.
The 370Z represents one of the finest examples of bang-for-your-buck you can find at any car dealership (even if we did load up ours with some non-performance goodies), and we'll see if "good for the price" makes it as compelling both against pony cars at the low end of the price spectrum and against pure sports cars like the Porsche Cayman at the high end.
Is It Refined Enough?
For 12 months and 20,000 miles, we'll be blogging about the daily ins and outs of the new 2009 Nissan 370Z. The VQ37's refinement has been in question since its debut, so how will we feel about it after a year? The aggressive suspension calibration and hyper-sticky tires that help the 370Z nail our slalom test at nearly 70 mph are certainly fun for freeway off-ramps, but will the Z-car prove to be a tolerable ride the rest of the way to work? And the last Nissan with a clutch that we drove for a long-term road test — the 2007 Infiniti G35S — was frequently ignored because of its awkward, grabby clutch action. Will the Z-car be friendly enough for daily use? Moreover, how will the Z-car's appeal shake out when our long-term garage now holds not just two examples of the 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution but also the 2009 Nissan GT-R?
Stay tuned to the long-term road test blog and let us know what you think.
Current Odometer: 1,410
Best Fuel Economy: 18.5 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 14.7 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 16.1 mpg
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.
Ever since I learned to drive stick I've been trying to figure out how to master the heel-toe downshift. I've practiced on every manual-shift car I get in, have asked many an editor to teach me and even got Edmunds Senior Automotive Editor Brent Romans to make a video running through the steps. But I can NEVER get it. When to blip? When to brake? When to move my foot off the clutch? Is my foot too small? I know, I overthink things.
But then we got the 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring in our fleet. Another editor suggested I give it a go since it has the very nifty SynchroRev Match feature that blips the throttle for you when you downshift. "You'll be able to hear when you should get the revs up," he said.
So lucky me had the Z this weekend. It's much easier to manage than our old Z which felt like its clutch pedal was a foot off the floor. In any case, sure enough when I downshift, the car automatically blips the throttle for me, making for a smooth transition to a lower gear. Neat! At first I loved it. I felt like a superhero racecar driver...but then I realized that since it does the job for me, I can never practice and can therefore never master that elusive skill.
Sure, there's an off button for SynchroRev Match but 1) with that technology readily available, will the Average Joe still be willing to suffer through the annoyingly awkward stages of the learning process to master the heel-toe downshift? And 2) where is the off button?
So the trip computer in the new 370Z is a little funky and those auxiliary gauges on the dash can be hard to see sometimes, but would you look at that tachometer?
I mean, that's how a tach in a sportscar is done. Big, clear and right in the middle. It seems so easy, yet all too often designers try to get cute and start shoving it off to the side in the name of symmetry. Stop it already, just copy this setup and call it a day.
Just take a look at the dials from Jacob's post below. Not bad for a sedan, but how much better are the Z's?
Deputy Caroline took this picture of the Nissan 370Z looking like the Cube is a growth on its nose.
I offer up "Dude, you made it come out my nose."
I'm sure you can beat that.
We'll post our favorite caption Friday at 4PM (Pacific Time).
Thanks to vacagrande for this week's favorite caption.
Others that made us laugh:
I should've never slept with that pathfinder (cx7lover)
He's my brother from another mother (louiswei)
It's not a tumor! (gooney911) and It's naht a toumah! (Murtman)
Do these wheels make my butt look big? (shladney)
Extra, Extra - Nissan engineers discover the wind-tunnel! (Before and after shots). (bizz1)
Z: Hey, Lil' Man...You're in my space. (johnnyr3)
And you can always get me with a Star Wars reference:
Cube, I am your father (gooney911)
What was your favorite?
My first real seat time in a 370Z came several months ago when we did our initial road test. I loved it and said so in my second opinion. Now that I've had a little bit more time behind the wheel, however, I'm starting to realize that as a daily driver, the 370Z might not be my first choice.
It's not the power, the ride quality or the funky gas gauge either. It's the interior room, or lack thereof. I just don't fit in the thing. Now granted, at 6'2" I'm a little taller than average, but still the 370Z feels tight even when you're properly adjusted with plenty of foot room.
It's a good setup when you're ripping a tight road, but getting into it after work with a computer case and gym bag in hand, the Z fills up real quick. Add to that a low seating position and tight shoulder room and the 370Z just doesn't give you much room to relax.
Is it enough to make me not buy it? No, it's still too fast in a straight line and too sticky in the turns for that, but it would be enough to make me reconsider some of its competitors like the new Mustang or Genesis Coupe. Those cars don't match up dynamically to the Z, but they are a little more comfortable.
I put close to 400 miles on our 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring over the weekend. Although it started with a few turns on Glendora Mountain Road , the rest of it was nearly all freeway. After all that, I am in agreement with Ed that the Z is pretty amazing through corners but not the most livable daily driver in this price range.
Ride quality is pretty good in the 370Z, even with the forged 19-inch RAYS wheels and Bridgestone Potenza RE050As (P245/40R19s in front and P275/35R19s in the back), but road noise is high. On several occasions, I instinctively reached for the volume dial when my boyfriend started to say something, only to realize that I was trying to turn the car down rather than the stereo.
Similarly, the seats are well-shaped for my 5-foot-10 frame and proved comfortable for 2-hour stints. Yet, there's no question that the 370Z's smaller size (compared to the 350Z) affects the seating position. The dash is right up in your face, and with no telescoping steering wheel, there's no escape.
Still, there are a number of details on the 2009 370Z that helped me overlook its compromises. For one, its size. At 167.1 inches long, it's almost 3 inches shorter than the 350Z. It feels compact from behind the wheel and it fits in small street parking spots. (Please note that I would never park it like this overnight — just for 30 minutes while at the farmers market.)
Another touch I like are the shelves behind the seats. The 350Z had a small, closable cubby back here, but I never found it very useful. Not so with these shelves. They're lined in felt and have a raised lip around their perimeter, so you can actually place something here with some assurance that it will stay put around cloverleaf entrance ramps.
Naturally, I put my purse on the shelf behind the driver seat, but the other shelf kept these dim sum leftovers from liberating themselves in the footwells.
That's our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring during a head-to-head comparison test with Ford's new and improved 2010 Mustang GT Premium complete with the optional Track Package. It was a fun test between two very capable 300+ hp, rear-wheel drive performance coupes. They even cost about the same if you're careful with the Z's options list.
We tested them on the track and on the street, and we hit more than one mountain road. We even shot video, which I happen to think is worth watch twice.
I won't spoil the outcome of this battle for you here, but I'm curious, which would you choose?
Comparison test: 2009 Nissan 370Z vs. 2010 Ford Mustang GT
I had to drive to the distant suburbs of Phoenix today in our 2009 Nissan 370Z. The trip started out in the usual fashion — I left late and felt rushed getting to a 6:30 p.m. dinner (made it in plenty of time, though). The navigation system didn't help matters by continually suggesting that I drive down to San Diego and use Interstate 8. See here, Nav Lady, I only use I-10 when I go to Phoenix. Finally, in Blythe, CA, she relented and we went on to Maricopa without incident.
The big surprise of the day was the 370Z's seat comfort. I sat in the driver seat for 7 hours and did not get kinked up, much less sore — a real feat for a Type A person like myself. It's interesting, really. These seats have a decent amount of adjustments, and the upholstery grips well through turns, but still, for this kind of money, it seems like there should be Recaros.
Still, 7 hours of comfort cannot be denied. I didn't even use cruise control.
By now you've all read our 2010 Ford Mustang Vs. 2009 Nissan 370Z comparison test. At the end of the day, the newly refreshed Mustang (a darn good car) put up a strong fight but ultimately fell to the sharper, more focused, better looking (yes, better looking) — but less functional Z car.
Before that test was ever conceived, we subjected our Long-Term 370Z to the usual set of performance tests. Follow the jump for full results.
Vehicle: 2009 Nissan 370z Touring 6MT
Odometer: 995
Date: 02/03/09
Driver: Josh Jacquot
Price: $40,320
Specifications:
Drive Type: Rear Wheel Drive
Transmission Type: 6-speed manual
Engine Type: 60-degree V6
Displacement (cc / cu-in): 3,696cc (226 cu-in)
Redline (rpm): 7,500
horsepower (hp @ rpm): 332 @ 7000
Torque (lb-ft @ rpm): 270 @ 5200
Brake Type (front): 14.0-by-1.26-inch ventilated discs with fixed 4-piston calipers
Brake Type (rear): 13.8-by-0.79-inch ventilated disc with 2-piston calipers
Steering System: Speed-proportional power steering
Suspension Type (front): Double wishbone
Suspension Type (rear): Multilink
Tire Size (front): P245/40R19 94W
Tire Size (rear): P275/35R19 96W
Tire Brand: Bridgestone
Tire Model: Potenza RE050A
Tire Type: Summer
Wheel Size: 19-by-9 inches front — 19-by-10 inches rear
Wheel Material (front/rear): Aluminum alloy
As tested Curb Weight (lb): 3,381
Test Results:
0 - 30 (sec): 2.1
0 - 45 (sec): 3.5
0 - 60 (sec): 5.3 (5.8 with traction control enabled)
0 - 75 (sec): 7.8
1/4 Mile (sec @ mph): 13.6 @ 103.2 (14.0 @ 101.0 with traction control enabled)
0-60 with 1-ft Rollout (sec): 5.1 (5.6 with traction control enabled)
30 - 0 (ft): 25
60 - 0 (ft): 105
Braking Rating: Very Good
Slalom (mph): 70.4 (67.1 with traction control enabled)
Skid Pad Lateral acceleration (g): 0.93 ( .89 with traction control enabled)
Handling Rating: Excellent
Db @ Idle: 49.2
Db @ Full Throttle: 82.7
Db @ 70 mph Cruise: 70.3
Acceleration Comments: 370 Z seems to like wheel spin off the line — and it's required to keep from bogging engine. We found at least 5,000 rpm works best. Get the clutch out quick or it will sink. Tranny still resists fast shifts, especially 1-2.
Braking Comments: Very good distance and pedal feel, but scored rotors aren't good. See below for details.
Handling Comments: (Skid pad) Limits are high but understeer is heavy as they approach. Coaxing the Z into tail-out goodness isn't as easy as I'd like. (Slalom) Superb grip & predictability make the 370 reassuring in fast transitions. It's shorter wheelbase, however, makes it slightly more spin happy than I remember from the 350Z. Overall, however, I prefer the new nimbleness.
Let's take a minute to talk gauged brakes, shall we?
�
This is a picture of the front rotor of our Nissan 370z after brake testing. The car had 1,000 hard miles on it, but still, after the first two stops of 130+ feet, we knew that they were not bed-in enough for testing and began that process. The bedding-in process, according to our Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh, "establishes a useful "transfer layer" of pad material onto the rotor, and should be done on any high-performance braking systems. It works like this — you perform several (ten or so) moderate stops in rapid succession, starting from ~60 mph to ~10 mph, then let them cool." The first stops we did combined with a shortened bed-in process resulted in some screaming hot (that's a technical term) pads which became abrasive and scored the rotors. Despite the looks, the pedal feels fine and the car came to a stop from 60 in only 105 feet.
My 36-hour, 900-mile Arizona road trip in our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring ended around 11:30 last night. Although I never had a chance to explore any interesting back roads with the Z, I am surprised by how much I still like it after hours on interstates and numbing desert highways.
Ride comfort is a big reason, because our sport-package 370Z is compliant to a level I never would have believed before this trip. This is not a compromised sport coupe. It's one I could live with everyday.
I've really warmed to the driving position, too. Although I previously complained that the new-gen car's shortened wheelbase has the dash up in your face, the setup turned out to be fine on my trip. I was comfortable behind the wheel, even though it doesn't telescope, and I liked how I was in finger's reach of the nav, audio and climate controls.
Average fuel economy for the trip was over 21 mpg, and I don't deserve any credit for driving conservatively on I-10. Instead, I chalk it up to the 18 speed cameras I passed in greater Phoenix (even without a front plate, I was careful) and low speed limits in the Maricopa area.
I checked the oil around 3,300 miles (on a level surface after letting the car sit 15 minutes) and it registered below the low mark on the dipstick. I bought a quart of 5W30 and added it in stages, but ultimately, the 370Z needed the whole thing. Given that the oil also looks dirty, the car will likely be getting an oil change soon. No surprise that it needs one, really. We've driven the Z hard.
Before spending the last thousand miles with our 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring, I'd thought that anyone who wanted parking sensors or a back-up camera on a sportscar had issues with spatial relations and parking in general. That might still be true, but I'll tell you this: After two weeks with our Z car, I'm still terrible at judging the rearward view.
This is exactly what I see when I'm belted into the driver seat and turn my head to look back. If there's someone in the passenger seat, that useless rear quarter window is blocked. In a crowded parking lot, my only strategy is to start backing up verrry slowly and hope that I see cross traffic before it's too late.
I actually haven't had any close calls in our 370Z, but if bumper sensors or a camera were optional on this car, I'd swallow my pride and order them.
Brace yourselves for the latest Long-Term Blog textcast, in which we tackle sausage, sportbikes, and the demise of the affordable sporting engine note.
Sadlier: So where's your $30k going. Base 370Z? Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track? 128i? Mustang GT?
Sadlier: Subaru Tribeca?
Magrath: 370Z. The Mustang's better than expected by a lot but I just don't like it. The seating position is too high and I think it looks dumb. The 128 is lame. I would constantly kick myself for not getting the turbo motor.
Magrath: Genesis Coupe is interesting but I don't like being in it. Great to drive but the steering wheel is lousy, the Infinity stereo's lousy and I think the car is ugly.
Sadlier: Huh. The Genesis Coupe's looks have actually grown on me. Plus the doors slam shut like my old prison cell — very similar to our M3. I seriously think Hyundai benchmarked those doors.
Sadlier: The problem with the Genesis is that the 128i basically matches its acceleration numbers, and it's more refined. I think I would grit my teeth and go with the 128i, horrendous ugliness notwithstanding. With apologies to the Tribeca.
Sadlier: ...unless a cold-air intake or something could fix the Z's gnarly engine note ("the coarse sounds and vibration of this V6 mean you have to grit your teeth and force yourself to keep the throttle floored past 6,000 rpm" — Engineering Editor Kavanagh), in which case, absolutely, sign me up.
Magrath: You'd pick the ugliness of the 128 over the engine note of the Z? I can understand picking it because of the Z's horrible road noise, but not because of the engine sound. You'd also be stuck with a back seat. I like that the Z doesn't give a backseat. The option of four seats just makes people think it's okay to ask for rides.
Sadlier: Yeah, backseats are overrated. Except that they're really useful. But you know, as far as the engine note goes, I tend to think that if an engine sounds like the Z's, it's because the engine team just couldn't be bothered to fix it. And I want my car's engineers to care about how my engine sounds.
Magrath: You know all they'd do is add a tumor-like snorkus to the intake, a la the F-150 — which has 4!
Sadlier: Four?!
Sadlier: Well, shoot, if that does the trick, then snorkus away. The snorkus makes the GTI's 2.0T sound good, and that's fine with me. The motor doesn't have to be authentically refined. I'm willing to be tricked.
Magrath: The Z's engine sounds like intake and valves going all crazy, that's what machines sound like.
Sadlier: I disagree. Some engines are just thoroughbreds. They can't help but sound good. Which, by the way, is why mentioning the Z in the same breath as the Porsche Cayman is absurd.
Magrath: And why pitting anything bang-for-the-buck-oriented against anything pure-performance-oriented is absurd. It's lose-lose. Want to compare Wal-Mart knives to Shun Elite? They both cut stuff. Go for it! Artisan-made Italian salumi to that tube of sausage you can buy at the deli for 48 cents a bucket? Sure!
Sadlier: Exactly. I mean, I can't say I was thinking specifically about preserved meats, but, yes.
Magrath: There will be people who get it, and then there will be people who say that the lower-priced item is good enough and the other is a waste of money. So it goes.
Sadlier: But you know, even cheaper sports/sporty cars used to sound pretty damn good sometimes. With the notable exception of the V8-powered Mustang/Challenger/Camaro trio, why do they mostly sound like crap these days?
Sadlier: Take that 1990 Miata we have downstairs [a special loaner from Mazda's garage]. I remember reading that the engineers painstakingly tuned the sound until they had just the right sporty roadster character. Fast-forward to 20 years later, and what have we got?
Sadlier: The 370Z, which sounds like a bear whose hibernation was rudely disturbed (as opposed to the old VQ V6s, the 3.0-liter versions, which had a classic turbine-like smoothness).
Sadlier: The Genesis Coupe 2.0T, which, like its Evo/Ralliart/Lancer 2.0 engine-mates, sounds like a vacuum cleaner.
Sadlier : Even Honda's ostensibly sporty VTEC fours don't sound good anymore. Civic Si is one of the better-sounding sporty things currently, and it's a distant echo of the old Integra GSR. TSX, totally boring, forget it — the '95 Accord EX 5MT sounded ten times better. Only the S2000 has that cool sound I'm talking about.
Sadlier : The '00s: the decade the affordable non-V8 automotive music died.
Magrath : But hiring engineers to tune a specific sound can't be cheap, and in the current automotive climate, short of exotics, what's the point?
Magrath : If you're in the market for a new car, the engine note isn't going to be a deal breaker. It may be a footnote in stories you tell later on, "aww, my old GSR sounded so much better...," but that story will always end with the classic going away and a new car, better in every measurable way, replacing it.
Sadlier : Well, call me a Luddite (it's been done before ), but with the Genesis Coupe 2.0T/Evo/etc., I think the engine note is a total dealbreaker. It quite literally sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Likewise the 370Z — the hibernating bear analogy is accurate, I'm afraid. They just don't sound like sports cars. Period.
Magrath : The 2.0T in the Genesis does sound pretty pathetic.
Sadlier : Put it this way. Imagine if a sportbike sounded like that. Dealbreaker, right? Why shouldn't we hold sporty cars to the same standard?
Magrath : Because sportbikes appeal to one person: the sportbike rider. And even those have been tuned down to acceptable levels lately — show me 10 bikes and I'll show you 9 aftermarket mufflers.
Sadlier : On the contrary, I think the sportbike sound appeals to anyone who likes going fast in things with wheels. There's no mistaking that sound for anything other than an engine that's designed to take you places really quickly. Whenever I hear one, it's like an instant gateway to a daydream about fast driving.
Sadlier : And when I hear the 370Z, I think of an angry bear.
Magrath : But a daydream is a far cry from a purchase.
Sadlier : True, I don't want to die, hence I don't buy sportbikes. But still, if I were designing an affordable sporty car, you know, I think there's a real opening in the market here. Give it a spine-tingling engine note, one that says "I am fast and special" to you and whoever's along for the ride, and that can only help its cause. Affordable non-V8 cars just don't have that anymore.
Sadlier : Though in fact they are (in the Z's case at least, and the Evo's) very fast and pretty special.
Magrath : But most buyers don't want to hear ANY engine noise — even ones who buy sports or sporty cars just want the looks and the concept of fast. They'll never push it. Engineers are tailoring cars to the lowest common acceptability levels and if a car is going to be full of dynamat anyway, why bother tuning the engine?
Sadlier : In the Z's case, they didn't dynamat jack squat. Though they should've at least covered the firewall with it so we wouldn't have to listen to that racket. That's what makes the G37 tolerable — they put a bunch more sound-deadening material on the firewall.
Magrath : One man's high tech and spine tingling is another fella's buzzy and strained. Who do you appease with your fancy engine note? The ricer crowd who thinks shrill is cool? The pushrod dudes who like the sound of stalling? Take the last gen G35 — the engine note was lackluster, but they tuned the exhaust to sound like the future and people loved it or hated it. No in-between.
Magrath : Hate = no sale. Ambivalence = possible sale.
Sadlier : Nah, I think it's a win-win proposition. Spend a few extra bucks and turn the vacuum cleaner or the angry bear into a special-sounding machine. You'll impress people who are eager to dismiss the car as "just a Hyundai" (in the GC's case) or cheap sausage (the Z).
Sadlier : And as for those who couldn't care less, well, I'm sure they won't mind driving a sporting car that actually sounds like one.
Sadlier : Follow Porsche's example — or BMW's, or Honda's with the old VTEC cars, or Nissan in the 3.0-liter VQ days, etc. — and lead the way. Flaunt your aural excellence. Set yourself apart.
Sadlier : Build it and they will come, Magrath.
Sadlier : A guy who built a baseball diamond in a cornfield said that.
The Inside Line crew's 370Z vs. Mustang GT comparo gave the win to the Nissan, but the Edmunds.com editors performed their own brief evaluation in the spirit of a high school debate. Which middleweight triumphs? That's for you to decide. Check it out here.
You may not have noticed, but our sport-package-equipped 2009 Nissan 370Z has got some serious wheel and brake hardware. The forged alloy wheels measure 19x9 up front and 19x10 at the rear. The corresponding tire sizes are 245/40R19 and 275/35R19s. This is on a sub-3,400-pound car with 332 horsepower, mind you.
For comparison, BMW's expired Z4M coupe, a car with a similar size/weight/power, rolled on 18x8s up front, 18x9s in the rear and 225/45R18 tires up front and 255/40R18s in back. Even the base Corvette (18s up front and 19s in back) has 245-width tires in front and 285s in back.
The Z's braking performance during testing was a little controversial, but in terms of specs — 14-inch rotors up front with four-piston calipers — there's nothing to complain about.
When it's standing still, the 370Z really looks the part thanks to those 19s, big brakes and wide tires. And with an as-tested 70.4 mph slalom speed and 0.93 g on the skidpad, it's got the numbers to back it up.
I love the way our 2009 Nissan 370Z handles so crisply, yet its ride quality is still relatively supple. Credit is certainly due to the car's stiff body structure, which Nissan says allowed it to tune the suspension to be more compliant. Just about everywhere you look, our 370Z has bracing. Under the hood? There's a suspension tower brace that spans the engine bay width and connects to the firewall. Open a door and you'll see the thick beam behind the seats. Nissan wasn't messing around.
As you have perhaps noticed, the 370Z lacks the 350Z's infamous exposed rear structural brace. I remember reading that Nissan had "inverted" it. I was curious to see where it went, so I went looking.
I removed the rear carpet and cover. If there's an inverted structural crossmember here, I didn't see it. Perhaps it's considered the raised part of the body structure ahead of the spare tire that spans the width of the rear suspension towers?
By the way, you can see that this is where the spare tire is located. The subwoofer for the Bose audio system is also here, nestled into the wheel. I unscrewed the securing clamp and lifted the subwoofer; I'd guess it weighs about 10 to 15 pounds.
Compared to the 350Z, Nissan's 370Z press release claims that there's "a new front suspension cradle to reduce front body lateral bending," new "rear structural reinforcements" and "an underbody "V-bar" to help reduce rear lateral bending." I peeked underneath the rear of the car and did see what appears to be the additional structural bracing, including the "V-bar." It'd be interesting to get our car up on a lift at some point to see this stuff in more detail. Or maybe not, if standing underneath a car looking at nondescript metal bits isn't your thing.
Anyway, I'm continuing to enjoy the Jack-be-nimble handling characteristics of our 370Z.
Our 2009 Nissan 370Z has satellite radio, and when I'm driving I'll occasionally listen to radio Faction's afternoon DJ, Jason Ellis. Jason has this ongoing theme where callers recount their feats of awesomeness and he then judges them on whether or not they are admitted into a nirvana-like "awesome world."
I mention this because our Nissan 370Z would be an excellent candidate for Brent's Sports Car Awesome World. It's got tidy dimensions, great handling, a quality interior, impressive as-tested numbers and, to my eyes at least, a good-looking exterior. But there's one thing that's going to hold it back from gaining entry.
The not-so-awesome thing: the V6 engine. Now, this is a capable engine that's surprisingly torquey and tractable. And there's certainly nothing wrong with having 332 hp on tap nor a 0-60-mph time in the low 5-second range. But this latest 3.7-liter version makes the 370Z a Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz — it has no heart.
The V6's coarseness and vibration at anything past 5,000 rpm are just plain bad. Really, when you're hard on it, that last 1,500 rpm to redline is not enjoyable all. (And this is the part that's supposed to be the most exhilarating for a small-displacement sports car!) Meanwhile, there's no aural passion whatsoever. Sadlier described as sounding like a bear — err, OK, maybe. The engine note is OK when you fire it up but then it's all downhill from there. There's this distracting engine whine at lower rpm and none of the characteristic 350Z exhaust warble heard from either inside or outside the car.
I wish I had video for you, but I don't. But I found this video clip on YouTube of a 370Z with an aftermarket exhaust. There might be hope for disgruntled 370Z owners.
As it stands, though, the larger V6 is the one thing I think Nissan flubbed. Make the new Z's engine exciting to rev and listen to, and the car gets into Brent's Sports Car Awesome World.
I used to have a sportbike or two a while back. Riding on more than one occasion, I wouldn't know what gear I was in — I wished for a gear indicator display. Well, today, several sportbikes have such a feature.
And it's especially nice on a motorbike because of the sequential 6-speed gearbox, the close ratios, and the extremely flexible engine. If you weren't paying close attention, it would be easy to forget where you were, particularly in the middle of the gearbox (3,4,5).
The car where this gear indicator display would come in handy is the BMW 135, because it too has a close ratio 6-speed manual gearbox (but non-sequential) and an extremely flexible engine. Several times I've lost track of what gear I was in.
The 370Z on the other hand, has nicely spaced ratios and, although the engine can rev, I can't imagine it being called motorbike-like — it doesn't zing up. You get a lot of feedback from the engine and exhaust note, too.
So do you need the gear indicator on the 370Z? Well, it's nice to have, and doesn't take up almost any space in the meters at the bottom of the tacho. It's not like it's a head-up display that is blocking your view or something. And it shows you if you got the occasionally hard to get reverse.
Next to the gear indicator is a display showing if the Syncrorev match system is on or not (JK said it remembers last position selected.) Which is nice.
But I guess this won't matter in the future, anyway, when the New World Order in Washington forces us to all drive hybrid/electric/fuel cell vehicles with CVTs.
We sure had fun when we put the 2009 Nissan 370Z against the new Mustang GT.
Pricewise, the cars were pretty evenly matched. And both hit 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and run the quarter in 13.5 seconds.
But there was a definite victor. And that winner, my friends, is the Car of the Week.
With less than 5,000 miles on the odometer, our long-term Nissan 370Z has already taken it on the chin. Repeatedly.
Good news is that the lower plastic chin guard is doing its job. Despite the fact that the plastic is starting to look shredded at the corners, there's no damage to the Z's Brilliant Silver paint.
We knew when we threw a reveal party for the all-new Nissan 370Z prior to the Los Angeles Show that there would be a lot of excitement around this car.
Now is your chance to ask us whatever you want to know about the new Z.
Have you driven one? Write your review in the comments section.
Sportscars usually get a bad rap for poor visibility. It's the price you pay for a car that looks cool, but the complaints pour in anyway.
The 370Z is not immune. It has a low seating position and a shallow greenhouse, but as you can see here visibility isn't all that bad. Rearward blind spots are the biggest issue here. A good adjustment of the mirrors is all it takes to cure that issue though.
There's not much you can do about the small rear window, other than be careful of course. I don't find it particularly troublesome personally. The Challenger suffers from the same problem and all it takes is a little extra caution when changing lanes and backing up. Seems like a small price to pay for a stylish design.
Today history was made in our 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring: it turned 5,000 miles old during its tenure as our Car of the Week.
But wait, there's more. Can you guess where it happened?
Hint 1: The person represented by the place took the world stage in 1969 — the same year the original Z-car came to America.
Hints 2 and 3 are the photos that appear after the jump. Can you find the significance of each?
Back in November we ran our first Full Test of a 2009 Nissan 370Z. That test car was a short term loan, it was red, and, unlike our long-term test car, it wore aftermarket, Nissan developed oil and differential coolers. During extreme usage, especially track use, oil gets hot. If the VQ in our 370Z senses things getting too hot — which can happen in as little as 10 minutes — it sends the car into limp-home mode limiting revs to only 5,500. Limiting this car to 5,500 is like limiting Barry Bonds to bunting, we've never experienced limp-home mode, but we never want to. "If you plan on doing any track driving" our contact at Nissan said, "you'll need one."
So we made some calls and got one and had it installed by Nissan of Santa Monica while the car was in for its 3,750-mile service.
Follow the jump for the full shake-down.
The unit we got was recommended by Nissan as it was designed for the 370Z by Nissan Motorsports. This is not the upcoming NISMO unit, nor will you be able to buy one or have it installed from your local Nissan dealership. The cost of the kit you see here is $780.
Installation was handled by Nissan of Santa Monica working closely with Nissan's North American operations and took about 4-hours at a labor rate of $115/hr. That's $460 for labor and $780 in parts. Total cost for oil cooler and install: $1,240.
Overheating oil was a problem on the last generation Z, too, so this isn't much of a surprise. One of the by-products of bigger power and bigger displacement is bigger heat production. Plus, this new car is stupid fast and with that SynchroRev Match system we're bouncing the revs all over the place. $1,240 might be a hard pill to swallow, but have you priced a new 3.7-liter VQ? We haven't and don't want to.
The 370Z, on the premium maintenance schedule, requires an oil change — which already had to be drained to install the cooler — and a new oil filter. They inspect a bunch of other stuff, too, but it's little more than an oil change. Our service advisor at Nissan of Santa Monica remembered us fondly from our recent $2,009.67 GT-R service. He gave us a hand-out on this one, told us to bring the GT-R in again soon and comped the 370's 3,750-mile service cost.
So now we've got new oil and a new oil cooler...which way's the race track?
The suspension on our 2009 Nissan 370Z is pretty straightforward. It's got upper and lower control arms and a coil-over shock.
Here you can see what is called a high-mount upper arm. The hub carrier (aluminum here) is huge, and it stretches upwards to locate the upper ball joint high in the fender well. This provides a very large moment arm to counteract side loads generated while cornering. And a large moment arm reduces the forces seen at the upper ball joint. In turn, the upper arm and the body attachment points won't see high loads either, so they can be lighter and stronger.
You can also see how the upper arm slopes down dramatically to the rear. This is called anti-dive geometry, and depending on the angle it can reduce or eliminate brake dive. It would seem that instantaneous caster would increase as the loaded side's upper ball joint moves back during cornering, and that should increase self-aligning forces and generate feedback in turns. But none of the textbooks I own delves into that aspect
Some might call this a double-wishbone front suspension, because it has a one-piece lower arm, too. But a wishbone is either A- or Y-shaped, and this one is L-shaped. It's better to describe this as double control arm suspension.
You can also see that, once again, a forward caliper placement results from a rear-mounted steering rack.
The stabilizer bar link and spring/shock assys (center) mount some ways in from the lower ball joint (left), so neither are 100% efficient. It looks like a 0.65 motion ratio or thereabouts.
But there is something unique going on here. The upper stabilizer link end and the and the lower shock mount bolt to the lower control arm in the same place with a shared bolt.
Moving on to the rear, we can see that this is a multilink design.
Multilink is a catch-all designation that applies when you don't use double control arms or a strut. But links can only hold tension and compression along their axis, so you need many (multi-) of them to orient the wheel.
The 370Z has an upper y-shaped control arm and three links. You can see one of them sprouting behind the brake caliper.
You can aslo see ventilated rear brake rotors and a 2-piston fixed brake caliper. The stabilizer bar is buried deep in the background of the picture, it's end-link attaching about halfway along the upper arm. The twin-tube shock absorber mounts directly to a protrusion of the hub carrier (aka knuckle or upright) for a 1:1 motion ratio.
Here you can see two of the lower links, a black steel one and an aluminum one that has been bloated to double as a lower spring mount.
For fun, I weighed the wheel and tire assemblies and made a few notes while they were off.
Front: 51.5 lbs 19x9 47 mm offset*
Rear: 57.5 lbs 19x10 30 mm offset*
5 x 114.3 mm (4.5 in) bolt circle.
Mind you, these are Rays Forged aluminum wheels, so the wheels themselves shouldn't be overweight. The wheels and tires are simply 19-inch monsters and they're super wide. There's a lot of material here.
Here he is, and you'll find him in every Z-car.
Yutaka Katayama is the reason the Z-car exists. It was his idea and he made it happen. Nissan started the whole sports car thing from Japan in the mid-1960s, and the 1970 Datsun 240Z put both Nissan and the Japanese car industry on the map. Since then, other Japanese car companies have entered the sports car business, but soon or later, they all quit. Acura, Honda, Isuzu, Toyota — they all quit. Even Nissan tried to quit. But the spirit of Yutaka Katayama always reminds Nissan that it's mean to be more than just another car company from Japan, and then the Z-car bubbles up to the surface again.
And now the spirit of the Z-car could save Nissan and the car industry again.
Fifty years ago, there were two strong personalities at Nissan, a sales guy and an advertising guy. Katayama was the advertising guy, a brilliant yet sensitive guy who liked British sports cars and occasionally pursued the traditional Japanese cultural pursuits of flying kites, painting landscapes, and, you know, talking to trees. Needless to say, the sales guy soon had him exiled to America, where he hoped his rival would disappear from view.
Instead Katayama built Datsun (as the Nissan franchise in America then was called) into a sales powerhouse, personally canvassing every town in America and turning used-car dealers and lawnmower repair shops into Datsun franchises. He made Datsun the most important Japanese brand in America, a signature of quality and innovation instead of cheap imitation. For his trouble, the sales guy chased him out of the U.S. company by the late 1970s and put his people in charge. Datsun quickly lost its lead in the sales race to Toyota and became a follower, not a leader.
But as times grew tough for Nissan, the spirit of Mr. K always brought it back from the brink. The 1990 300ZX Z32 was the lead vehicle in a new corporate initiative in vehicle dynamics, a real GT car instead of the Thunderbird clone that the previous generation Z-car had become. When poor sales of sports cars thoughout the car industry led to the Z-car's demise in the U.S. in 1996, a Z-car concept came to the surface again in 1999. And when the 350Z was revived in 2002, it symbolized the Nissan's resurgence with new financial backing from Renault.
And every time, Yutaka Katayama was called out of retirement and asked to provide his blessing. He even became the focus of a notable advertising campaign from which these pictures are taken.
The Z is still the coolest car at Nissan, GT-R notwithstanding. In fact, the new GT-R actually started as a Z-car made serious, a kind of Porsche 911 GT3, until the present, all-wheel-drive big car prevailed in planning sessions. Everyone at Nissan still wants to work on the Z-car project simply because it's always been a car that aspires to greatness.
Unfortunately Mr. K, who turned 100(!) on February 19, isn't really part of the process any longer. Incensed that Nissan uprooted itself from the headquarters he built in Los Angeles for a new corporate culture in Nashville, he's once again in a kind of exile. But as Nissan fumbles once again for a new identity in America, it's clear that it needs him back simply to remind itself that there's more to making cars than slashing costs, playing three-card-monte with a fistful of car badges and one or two platforms, and hunkering down in the bunker with the accountants while the war for the future of the automobile takes place all around you.
In fact, the whole American car industry could stand a little Mr. K. A little aspiration, a little sense of striving for excellence, and a little feel for the emotion with which Americans regard the automobile would go a long way toward making us all face the four-wheel future with more confidence.
Mr. K knew from the start that that the automobile has the power to transform the future. He saw it happen in Japan as he grew with his country through the 20th Century (he is 100 years old, after all). And anyone who has ever heard him speak knows that Yutaka Katayama understands that the automobile is a gift of personal mobility that can make our lives better, not worse. So maybe we should quit apologizing for the car and just get on with the business of making the future.
Where have you gone, Yutaka Katayama?
A lonely nation turns its eyes to you.
I'm obsessed with constantly checking traffic on Google Maps so I love it when cars have navs that show you what's happening on the freeways. Our 2009 Nissan 370Z has one such nav which shows if traffic is flowing, slow or stopped according to whether there's a green, yellow or red line. But one detail that stands out to me is the Sigalerts of actual accidents, as depicted by an icon of an upside down car accompanied by a quick detail of the situation.
BTW, here's a shot of the nav screen at night. Notice how clear the layout is. And you gotta love that day/night button.
I wanted to do a video where you could hear what our 2009 Nissan 370Z sounds like when it matches revs on its own but instead I got a video with a lot of road noise, something clicking against my camera and a quiet engine.Sorry! But at least you can see how smoothly it transitions between each gear with the SynchroRev Match. And, yeah, no hooliganism here. Just me pulling to a stop. Woo. And, looks like I need to clean my camera lens.
This weekend was a scorcher with temperatures in the mid to high 80s and that was just at 10 in the morning! So when I had gone out to brunch and parked our 2009 Nissan 370Z in the hot midday sun, I was dreading slipping back into its darkly swathed cabin.
Before I got in, I even opened both doors to get a nice cross breeze going and then sunk into the seat with a premature "Ow!" but there was no need. The faux suede was, as expected, comfortable but the leather on the sides was only just warm against my bare skin. The amazing part was the cabin itself was only warm as well as opposed to the searing heat that I had initially expected. And all that dark gray on the dash? I could actually rest my hand on it without suffering any burns.
Is this special technology? I know BMW has technology to keep its leather 20 degrees cooler than usual leather but I couldn't find any mention of something like this on the Nissan site. Another editor supposed it was the tinted glass that helped filter out the infrared light but whatever it was I was grateful.
And I also loved how quickly the air-conditioner cooled down the warm cabin. Really made the hot days bearable.
By the way, here's how we enjoyed the beautiful weather this weekend: a leisurely cruise in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Our long term 2009 Nissan 370Z is quite racy.
Details that contribute to this feeling are the oil pressure and voltmeter gauges (along with a digital clock) on top on the dash, just like old-school race cars.
The Z also has well-styled vertical outer door handle with smart entry. The handle is slightly awkward to use. Below are pics of two different strategies you could use to open the door, and both of them are slightly clumsy. But it's not enough of a problem to negate the sexy looks of it.
Speaking of sexy, I think the back end view is the best angle of this car. Look at those wide, muscular fender flares covering the massive 275/35WR19 rear tires.
Compliments to Nissan for continuing to make a sexy, affordable, true sports car, when others have given up.
A couple of weeks ago when we had a bout of hot weather in L.A., I praised our 2009 Nissan 370Z's dark interior for miraculously remaining cool despite the car's being left outside during the hottest part of the day. I forgot to mention, however, that at first glance I couldn't find out how to turn on the A/C to further cool things down.
I mean, looking at the above picture (taken from my POV in the driver seat), can you find the air-conditioner button? Of course I'm only addressing those who aren't Nissan car owners.
Yup, there it is. Under the fan button. Of course from the driver's POV that script is concealed by the protruding button itself.
Naturally, this won't be an issue to actual owners of this car. But maybe this is a good way to keep "friends" from wanting to borrow your Z this summer. "Sorry, it doesn't have an A/C. You can look for yourself."
Whenever I drive our long-term 370Z, I'm led to an overwhelming question:
Why don't I want this car?
I should. I'm smack dab in the middle of the target demographic. Twentysomething guy, likes speed, cares about handling, doesn't care about practicality. But the Z turns me off every time. It makes me think of all the cars I'd rather have at this general price point. S2000. 1 Series. 328i. Genesis Coupe 3.8 Track. G37. RX-8 (and I don't even like the styling). Camaro SS (and I haven't even driven it yet).
Yes, the Z will mop the test track with most of the above, but I don't care. Cars are about more than just the numbers, and that's where the Z falls short. The quality of its interior materials is extraordinary (better than the G37, I'd say), and its ride is surprisingly supple, but road noise is raucous even at moderate speeds. The 3.7-liter V6 makes big power, but it sounds like a Frontier on steroids — it's so loud and thrashy above 5,000 rpm that I keep it out of that range unless absolutely necessary, which is something that should never be said about a sports car. The tires have mondo grip, and body roll is barely perceptible, but the Z feels big and burly in the twisties, more fullback than wide receiver.
So what if it performs like a champ on track day? Sports cars should make me want to take the long way home. This one doesn't.
I tripped my way into the 370Z last night after getting my foot caught on some loose plastic door sill trim. Upon further inspection, I realized that almost all the trim pieces that cover the bottom of the door sill are loose. Disappointing to say the least, especially given the fact that our 370Z doesn't even have 6,000 miles on the clock.
Well, over the weekend my fears were realized. No, a cat wasn't squashed, but when I was slowly backing out of a space at 7-11 a dude slapped the side of my car and gave me the finger through the passenger window. He was walking up to the store directly in my blind spot, I never saw him.
The next day I was backing out of a spot super slow, nervous I was going to get another finger of vengeance. My windows were down, leaning out when I could, looking through the windows, in my mirrors, just trying to get the best look around my car as possible. As my passenger side window cleared the rows, there stood a lady with a stroller giving me the stink eye.
%^$&#!!
There are different ways to do things, then there are incorrect ways to do things.
Today, I ink up my WRONG stamp for the 370Z's fuel gauge, which consists of 16 little lights that go out to indicate its running low on dino swill. I don't like digital fuel gauges and this is one of the worst, since it becomes difficult to read when directly in the sun. This entire digital unit looks like what the 80s thought the future would look like. Or a Borg eye implant. Or that Simpsons episode when Lisa gets married in England and Big Ben's face has been replaced in the future with a digital clock blinking 12.
Sorry Nissan, you are incorrect, and with apologies to Depeche Mode, WRONG.
Nissan has at least one thing figured out with the new 370Z — the seats. Notice that their center sections are fabric — synthetic suede, actually. I had a chance to drive our long-term car on a track last week and, despite the fact that the seats don't fit me perfectly (none do), I wasn't flopping all over and trying to hold myself in place. This is because the "leather" seats which come with the Touring Package actually have fabric on the seat bottom and backrest. On full-leather seats I would have struggled against physics.
Also, see that center bolster between where the driver's legs would be? That's a gimmick. Worse yest, it's a legacy gimmick from the last Z which does nothing. Nissan should do away with it. Otherwise, this is a good setup for hard driving with ample adjustability and good driver retention.
Every once in a while an automotive technology will come along that has me yearning for it to trickle down into other cars. Sometimes it's a small thing (satellite radio) and other times it's a game changer like the Synchro RevMatch manual transmission found in our long-term Nissan 370Z.
The ease of making rev-matched downshifts differs based on pedal placement, throttle tip-in, driver's foot size, position of the moon, familiarity with the car, and of course, driver skill. I don't claim to be a heal-toeing maestro, but I find our M3 and Mini Cooper S to be incredibly easy ... the Challenger not so much.
But none of that matters in the Zed (which is spelled as such for my fellow Canadians out there). Once I got beyond the initial trepidation of dropping the clutch without matching revs, I found myself downshifting a lot more. At traffic lights, I'll go down through the gears just for the hell of it rather than coasting in whatever gear I was in. Sure, there could be a "lost art" element to this new technology, but I think it makes shifting your own gears more fun.
Now if only it was attached to a more pleasant engine. So here's hoping that the remaining purveyors of manual transmissions develop their own Synchro RevMatch. As Howard Hughes said 1,988 times at the end of The Aviator, "it's the way of the future."
In a fortuitous twist of fate, I scored the keys to out 370Z last night, and in the brief time I spent behind the wheel I have some observations as well as a simple maintenance issue.
Brakes:
Accelerating off the line with a bit more aggression than needed, I noticed that the "BRAKE" light appeared in the left instrument pod, then disappeared a few seconds after feathering the throttle. This was repeatable at every green light I encountered. Fortunately, I've come across this before in one of my own rides (when pulling serious lateral G's instead of longitudinal, though). My diagnosis: slightly low brake fluid level.
Another issue that caught my eye was the "VDC OFF" light remained lit during my morning commute. The VDC relies on the brake system to maintain stability, so I'm assuming this is related to the low brake fluid level. The light went away after I shut-down and restarted the engine (maybe it's powered by Microsoft?).
Pop the hood, find the brake fluid resevoir, and there's it is — the level's right between the high and low marks. I'll bring this to the attention of the Mikes and hopefully this is the actual culprit of the intermittent BRAKE light.
Blips and Revs:
I've spent the better part of the last decade honing my heel-toe downshift craft, and, I can confidently say, "Yeah, I've mastered it." I'm also fairly proficient at traditional, and more complicated double-clutch downshifts in vintage racecars. With that self-aggrandizement out of the way (bow down to the master of soon-to-be obsolete skills!), I am completely enamoured with the Z's Synchro RevMatch system.
I challenged myself to do it better and failed. **sigh** I've been replaced by a machine...but wait, something's not adding up here. A good heel-toe downshift requires a strong throttle blip that shoots the tach past the point of the matched revs of the next lowest gear. The clutch isn't re-engaged until after the revs begin to fall.
Here's what I discovered about the Z that makes me feel better about being beat by a computer: With the Synchro RevMatch off, I executed the typical heel-toe and noticed that the revs didn't fall as quickly as I'd expected. Using my normal downshift tempo, I was dumping the clutch while the revs were too high. So the solution was to pause before clutch re-engagement (not at all racy), or attempt to blip precisely to where the revs are in the next lowest gear (difficult, but not impossible).
I now contend that Synchro RevMatch is necessary in the Z because of the drivetrain's inability to affect a proper heel-toe downshift without the aid of a computer. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it, anyways.
Had some business over the Memorial Day weekend with motorsport photographer Jesse Alexander at his studio up in Carpenteria and it turned out the 2009 Nissan 370Z was my ride of choice.
We looked over some pictures he'd taken of the very Mercedes-Benz 300 SL that won the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans. After its racing days were done, it was rebodied as a street car and Alexander drove it on the street in Europe as he drove to racing circuit to racing circuit, taking some now-famous pictures of racing.
Not a bad way to spend a morning, especially as we ate lunch down the street at Sly's. James Sly is pretty famous in his own right, a French-trained chef who cooked for a CART Indy-car team during the days of glamorous hospitality at the Indy 500 in the early 1990s. At the same time, he also wrote pretty insightful stuff as the technical editor of a small magazine devoted to European cars. Now his steakhouse in Carpenteria is where everybody in Santa Barbara who knows anything about cars comes to eat. Some of Jesse Alexander's most famous images hang on the walls.
But for all this stroking around with notable ex-racing guys, the 370Z didn't prove to be the right ride. Sure, I really get the Z-car and even spent Saturday morning looking at the Nissan 350Z that Steve Mitchell drives in the Redline Time Attack series, a high-tech piece with a 580-hp Cosworth-built Nissan V6 that's probably the fastest Z-car in America. But the 370Z proved to be just terrible on the freeway to Santa Barbara. About 90 minutes of driving at a time proved to be as much as I could stand.
It's the tire roar. It's bad enough when you're driving on asphalt, but the grooved concrete of freeways in Southern California really makes this car a penalty box on any kind of real trip. And it's not the tires themselves; it's the lack of acoustic refinement from the car. It makes the 370Z seem like a cross between a dump truck and a National Guard Humvee. As near as I can remember it, the 350Z was a whisper-quiet limousine in comparison.
I sometimes find my truest opinion comes forth when I have to quickly answer the question "so, what do you think about it?" There's no chance to be wishy washy or be swayed by nit-picks (wrong fuel gauge) or pet likes (the excellent iPod interface). Oh, and try explaining Synchro RevMatch to a neophyte in 10 words or less.
Such a situation happened this weekend at a barbecue in Griffith Park when a fellow attendee asked (after first pondering what I was doing taking a picture of my car), "So, what do you think about it?"
"It's really rough. Rough ride, loud, the clutch and shifter are stiff. You have to really manhandle the thing. When you're driving aggressively, it's great, so if you do a lot of weekend driving or maybe a track day, go for it. But I don't think many people would want to drive it every day. It would get old. I'd rather have a BMW 1 Series or maybe a Hyundai Genesis. Looks cool, though."
Hmm, so that's how I feel.
Our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z got a new key fob today. Thought you might like to see it.
This morning I drove our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z about 40 miles south of our Santa Monica office to visit MD Automotive in Westminster. MD is where we do all of our dyno testing and we had a couple of supercharged toys to test this morning.
Anyway, when you're testing cars there's always plenty of standing around waiting, so I decided to check the Z's oil level. And guess what?
It was low. So I poured the majority of a quart of 5W-30 (Yes, I checked the manual.).
Total cost? $212. (The oil was just a few bucks, but I spilled some of it on a very expensive shirt.)
Before this week I've only driven our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z (or any 370Z) for short bursts. One night at the most. No drive longer than 30 or 40 minutes.
And my impression has been; great car but too cramped inside. Reminded me of the third generation Mazda RX-7. Loved driving it, but the feeling of claustrophobia was just too much.
Now I know better. I just spent the bulk of this week in our Z, three days, three nights and several hundred miles of driving. And my impression has changed.
The 370Z isn't too small inside. After a couple of days I acclimated to the Z's interior dimensions and sight lines. The feeling of being stuck in an elevator with a dozen folks washed away and I really began to enjoy the car.
Don't misunderstand, it still doesn't feel as large inside as the bigger 350Z, but it is not longer a deal breaker for me.
I also realized that the black interior of our test car must contribute to that cave feeling. I'll bet a 370Z with a lighter interior feels right from day one.
(The photo really has nothing to do with this blog, I just liked it.)
Last Friday I surprised our local Nissan dealership, Nissan of Santa Monica, by showing up with our 2009 370z. It was about due for an oil change (couple of hundred miles early if you must know), and that broken door sill panel was really bothering me.
The car was ready only a couple of hours after we'd dropped it off. This service was expected to run about $90, that includes the oil change and a bunch of inspections, but came up slightly short at $78.04.
Parts for the broken bits were not in stock and are on order.
The only surprise came at the end. Our service advisor let us know that the brake pads are low and will need to be replaced. Remember back when we first tested this car? When the brakes cooked on only two stops and scored the rotors? Well that's likely a factor in such short pad life. Also a factor is this car's speed, weight and attitude. It gets run pretty hard and the brakes get used harder than do, say, the brakes in the Focus. Pads are about $80 and we're thinking of saving a couple bucks and doing this one ourselves.
Since I'm low man on the totem pole when it comes to the long-term car clipboard, chances are that I'll usually end up with the Smart or the Jetta TDI. Not complaining but it's just funny to see what consistently gets passed over by the editors.
But I've noticed that our 2009 Nissan 370Z has joined the other two at the bottom of the barrel more often. And last night, it was the only car left on the list. Meaning, someone actually picked the Smart Fortwo over the Z. Wuuut?
Curious why this happened, I first asked someone at the top of the list why he skipped over the Z. "I saw the GT-R and the Z and I took the GT-R," said Karl Brauer matter-of-factly. OK, well maybe a fellow low man would be the person to ask. So I asked Automotive Content Editor Warren Clarke who is two above me on the list and who actually picked the Smart.
"I don't like its visibility and it's hard to get out of," he said of the Z. "It's a good-looking car and if I was doing something tonight where I needed a good-looking car I would have picked it. But I'm just going to the grocery store. So I don't want to have to worry about backing out of a space and not being able to see [in a crowded parking lot]."
Other editors, most with longer commutes, have said that they don't like its harsh ride for their everyday needs.
As for me, I like fast cars so yay.
I took a good long look at our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z over the past weekend and realized something: the car's body lines simply don't work for me.
The problem is more subtle than overt, and it's really only noticeable on profile or rear three-quarter angles, but the swoopy hind quarters, combined with the exaggereted taillight design, looks like something out of my 1970s era Hot Wheels collection. Among my cars is a chrome (literally chrome) Porsche 911 with varying floral print designs going over the hood and roof. Maybe it's the 370Z's vague 911-esque shape, plus its silver color, that furthers the effect, but when I look at the swoops and sweeps of its body I can't avoid thinking of that toy car.
And yes, I did think that Hot Wheels toy was cool...when I was 7.
We just published the results of our Readers Most Wanted Awards and the 2009 Nissan 370Z and 2009 Nissan GT-R cleaned up, winning two categories each. That means these two cars took four of the 15 awards.
The BMW 128i also grabbed a spot on the list, which essentially means three cars in our long-term fleet are favorites of our readers. Plus, several recent long-term blog alums took honors. Readers also voted big time for the Honda Accord, BMW X5, Toyota Tundra, Ford Mustang and BMW 3-Series.
You know, sometimes we take flack for this blog not having cars our readers are interested in. Um, hello.
It's true — our long term Nissan 370Z sits near the bottom of the pile in terms of desirabilty here. It is frequently one of the last test cars chosen and more than once sat unloved at night 'til the next morning. It occupies the same metaphorical space as... the Smart?! What's the problem? These items, I believe:
1. The ride is hard
2. The interior is small
3. The clutch and shifter aren't the greatest
4. It seats only 2
I refute these issues with:
1. It's a sports car
2. It's a sports car
3. True (but both aren't as bad as our LT Audi S5)
4. It's a sports car
One must make certain sacrifices when owning a sports car, but the benefits outweigh these.
The 370Z possesses great, quick handling, excellent steering feel, and a decent powertrain. And although I'm not in love with the exhaust note, it's OK.
It's the only true sports car in our long term fleet. (I consider the GT-R a GT; the name is GT-R.)
The big problem for the most of the people here is the seating capacity. Most of our staffers have friends or family to accommodate, and a 2-seater won't cut it for them.
For me, it's really fun to drive, and becomes even more enjoyable when you push it hard. It's in the top 5 in fun-to-drive for our long term fleet. The sedans, even the Evos, don't compare.
I was even going to sign it out for this weekend. But I may have to cart some people around...
Oh, nevermind.
Nissan has made a big effort to improve the apparent quality of the Z-car's interior, adding a lot more architectural elements, upgrading the quality of the upholstery and trim, increasing the number of features, and multiplying the number of storage areas.
The trouble is, there's just too much going on here for me. Instead of operational efficiency, what we have here is aggressive conceptual complexity. It's like watching Transformers from the front row.
For all the justifiable criticism leveled at the interior of the 2003 Nissan 350Z, I think I prefer this treatment. Sure, the doors are trimmed by featureless expanses of black plastic, but the presentation of the key elements is far better, even though the basic architecture is clearly similar to the 370Z. The 350Z's three instrument dials on the top of the dash were a real design breakthrough at the time, and I still prefer their use of multi-function electronics (including tire pressure and lap times) to the all-inclusive multi-function readout on the left side of the 370Z's dash, which manages to make even fuel level a mystery.
Sometimes good design is about utility, not just stylistic excess. Given the choice between the GT-R execution of the 370Z and the plainness of the original 350Z, I pick the 350Z.
As with my colleague Mr. Takahashi, I enjoy rev-matching on my own, but like him still have to admit that the Z's Syncro RevMatch is pretty cool.
But if Nissan can offer this ground-breaking technology, why don't they have what I'll call Syncro TimeMatch? I'm talking about the two time displays (a stand-alone clock in the upper pod and one in the nav/audio screen) that aren't matched. I've seen other cars with redundant time displays (VW and Audi come to mind) that are synchronized so this strikes me as rather odd here. And yes, I adjusted the clock after I posted this gripe...
So we've been trying to figure out recently why our 2009 Nissan 370Z doesn't get more editorial love, and I keep hearing negative comments about the ride. "Rough." "Hard." "[Insert lewd comment here]." With due respect to my perhaps prematurely geriatric colleagues, I beg to differ. This Z has got one of the most supple sports-car rides I've ever experienced.
I aimed the Z at every rut and pothole in sight on my way to work this morning, and I failed to elicit anything I'd call "impact harshness." The Z's ride is firm, taut, controlled...but rough? Hard? No way. There's a BMW-like refinement in the way this car traverses broken pavement. In fact, I'd say it's more BMW-like in this respect than our 135i — a car that no one (well, other than me) has ever spurned on account of its harsh ride. As for the Evo MR, which has no shortage of suitors in these parts, the Z rides like a Lexus by comparison.
The Z's got issues, yes. The ride isn't one of them.
During my time in our 370Z, it managed to do nothing but confuse me. I thought liking this thing would be a slam dunk. You see, I like coupes. I like sitting low. I like sports cars. I like the way this car rides. I like the stereo. I even like the way this car looks.
But...
...for some reason, I just wasn't getting it. I knew what I liked about the Z, but I couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like. Then, with great relief, I figured it out.
I'd rather have the truck in which this drive-train belongs; the Nissan Frontier.
"Put in a CD with the engine soundtrack of a 'Vette," Romans advised me Thursday afternoon as I headed off on a camping trip to Big Sur. "And bring earplugs for the road noise."
In a characteristically pithy 18 words, our sage Senior Automotive Editor had summed up everything that's seriously wrong with the 2009 Nissan 370Z.
All this car needed was for someone with clout to swoop in during product testing and say, "Hey! Priorities, guys, priorities! This is a sports car, so why doesn't it sound like one? And it's all well and good that the interior is nicer than a G37's, but why does it have more road noise than an '87 Pathfinder?!"
If Nissan takes care of these two issues, I want one. Because after 800 miles in the Z this weekend, I've realized that I'm on board with pretty much everything else.
Note the qualifying phrase "pretty much." The Z does have a few other foibles that are worth mentioning. To wit: the Bose stereo is unimpressive with a CD and downright awful with an iPod, the shifter grinds too easily on quick 1-2 upshifts and 3-2 downshifts, and while I still say the Z's suspension is supple by sports-car standards, the short wheelbase and minimal suspension travel conspired to beat me up a bit over the 5 Freeway's rapid-fire expansion joints — so I can understand why there have been some complaints about the ride.
But the rest of this car is so good, so thoughtfully designed and expertly executed, that I don't really care.
Steering: wired-to-your-brain responsive at all speeds, yet confident and composed on the highway.
Body motions: tightly controlled, but with just enough roll that you can feel the car take a reassuring set as it rockets out of corners.
Engine: awesome V8-like tractability at low rpm. Reminds me a lot of the e46 M3's similarly powerful inline-6, actually, except with some extra bottom end and a little less high-rpm kick (or maybe it's just that the Bimmer sounds a whole lot better up there).
Interior : this deserves its own post, but in a nutshell, the attention to detail in the Z's cabin is simply remarkable for a sports car at this price point, from the stitching running through the center stack and console to the soft-touch dash, signature knee-pads and suede-like padded armrests.
Styling: I still don't dig the jagged headlights and the gaping maw, but this is hands-down one of the most interestingly styled cars on the road.
Moral of the 370Z's first year of production? Fix the engine note and Dynamat the hell out of the floor and wheel wells, and all that "budget Cayman S" noise will start to make a lot of sense.
Bose is every car stereo snob's favorite whipping boy, but the folks on The Mountain in Massachusetts do know a thing or two about getting great sound in a vehicle. Like squeezing big bass into our tiny LT 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring.
I was wondering where all that low end in my test tracks was coming from, and figured it wasn't being produced by the 6x9-inch door speakers, even though the system did have a good up-front bass feel — something that even the best aftermarket audio system designers struggle to achieve.
My ears led me to the hatch, where I lifted two layers of trim to find a 7.7-liter enclosure sitting on top of the spare tire that contains a pair of 4.5-inch subwoofers. I'd seen such applications in the aftermarket years ago — although usually with the spare tire tossed to make space for bass — but can't recall one in an OEM setup.
Cheers to Bose for adding some bump to the rump of the 370Z. And to Nissan for making it standard equipment.
I like this padded, simulated suede insert that Nissan has applied to each door panel of our 2009 370Z Touring. I'll rest my elbow here at traffic lights or while cruising in 6th on the highway. It's the kind of thoughtful touch that was lacking in the 350Z cockpit. It's also the kind of subtle touch that makes the 370Z seem more plausible as a daily driver.
I would like this insert even more, though, if I was the only one who drove our 370Z. See, I'm neat and tidy. Other editors on our staff? Not so much. And already the suede is showing some light wear right around the door pull.
Perhaps it would have been better not to continue the simulated suede around the handle. But I suspect that might not sit well with the Nissan designer who envisioned this fillet of suede as much as an art form as it is an armrest... notice it has the same ovoid shape as the door release assembly in the upper right.
There have been some concerns expressed in this space that the 2009 Nissan 370Z's Synchro RevMatch feature is going to make our already lazy driving public even lazier. Maybe so. For one thing, it seems Nissan wants to discourage people from turning it off — deactivation requires holding the button for a few seconds, while activation is instantaneous.
But if you want to learn how to match revs on downshifts, the Z's driver seat is the best place in the world to be.
Synchro RevMatch, you'll recall, is Nissan's trick new automatic rev-matching technology. Bang down a gear without touching the accelerator and it'll reward your clumsiness with a perfectly timed throttle blip, making what should have been a concussive transition as smooth as a (Copy Editor Extraordinaire) Doug Lloyd piano riff.
In the process, it teaches you exactly what you need to do to match revs: jab the throttle while changing gears before letting out the clutch. Synchro RevMatch will model this for you without fail until you're ready to go it alone. If you get confused, just turn the feature back on for a minute. Yes, that's what's supposed to happen. Now turn it off and try again.
I prefer to match my own revs in the Z, but as a training aid, Synchro RevMatch is fantastic.
"Is that a new one?" the lady standing on the sidewalk asked me through the window as I was holding the clutch in with one foot, other foot hovering over the brake, and trying to reverse the car into a parking spot...while three guys pushed it from its front end. "Yes," I replied. "Oh dear," the lady said. Yeah, our 2009 Nissan 370Z broke.
We were just about to pull into a driveway for a nice Sunday breakfast at a Redondo Beach diner and wanted to make sure we didn't hit the curb of the parking lot ramp so reversed and then tried to put it in 1st gear. That's when the shifter decided that it didn't want to budge. We tried letting the car roll forward a bit to see if it would work then and we tried putting it in any gear. Still nothing. The shifter was stuck in the middle and couldn't be moved at all...except a little side to side.
Apparently the car is stuck in a gear even though the digital readout says it's in neutral because when we gently ease our foot off the clutch it stalls the car. So the Z was undrivable and we had to call AAA.
Since a flat-bed truck wasn't available, they sent in a guy with a dolly that would lift up the car's front end. We checked under the car to make sure everything was kosher and saw that if anything the exhaust would suffer a minor scuffing.
After 15 miles of towing, the car was A-OK. We dropped it off at Santa Monica Nissan and on the envelope that we had to leave our key in, we wrote "Car stuck in gear" as the issue that needed to be addressed.
We'll keep you posted.
Last time we posted on our 2009 Nissan 370, it was on a tow truck entering the gates of Santa Monica Nissanwith a stuck transmission. Caroline hinted that she thought it was stuck in a gear, she was correct; it was stuck in third with no remedy. Well, Nissan SM called me Monday morning with good news: the issue was not our fault and would be covered under warranty. There was also some bad news: The transmission would need to be replaced (dealers rarely open transmissions, it's just not cost effective) and a replacement would not be available until Thursday.
We'll post more news if we get any, but for now, follow the jump for some pictures thanks to Photo Editor Kurt Niebuhr
9 days after the initial failure, our 2009 Nissan 370z is back in service with a new transmission and a new clutch. There was no charge as there was no evidence of abnormal abuse. It is a sports car, remember.
While there, we had them replace the kick panel that had been kicked off. Again, this was covered under warranty.
I decided not to let this opportunity go to waste, so I picked up — and paid $264.04 for — a new set of front brake pads and rotors to replace our worn and scarred ones. Look for the blog post of Dan and I replacing them.
New transmission. Check. New clutch. Check. Our service technician handed over the keys to our 2009 Nissan 370Z and bid us farewell. Three steps to the car we glanced over our shoulder, "Any sort of break-in procedure we should follow?"
"Nothing. Just don't do what you did to break it the last time," he warned.
"Okay. Don't use reverse. Got it," we replied half-joking. But the idea didn't sit well with us. At the very least we decided to keep it mellow for awhile. Minimal clutch slippage. But no clutch dumps either. Nice, clean shifts. So we spent the past 300-plus miles essentially breaking-in the clutch. 90-percent of this took place on the traffic riddled freeways of LA at stop-and-go paces. Feels good to us.
There are different schools of thought on clutch break-in. Baby it for 300 miles. No, make it 1,000 miles. Clutch break-in is nonsense. Drive it like you stole it. Whatever my mechanic tells me to do. Where do you stand?
The 370Z features the same iPod interface found in all Nissans and Infinitis that feature its current navigation system. This is my favorite iPod interface — yes, including Sync. Here's how it works.
JRiz recently gushed about how bitchin' the iPod integration is in our 2009 Nissan 370Z, and I agree with everything he said. Our 2009 Infiniti FX50 has the exact same interface, and our 2009 Nissan GT-R is 95% the same save for a smaller, off-center control wheel.
But all of them have an annoying flaw that only creeps into the picture when you are listening to your iPod when a bluetooth call comes in through your paired phone. And I always pair my Bluetooth phone to the cars I drive whenever I can, so the following happens to me a lot.
The iPod doesn't automatically pause when a handsfree call comes in. What's more, there's no way I can find to switch back to the iPod screen (where the touch screen pause control resides) while a call is ongoing. All I can do is manually rewind my program to where it was (if I can find it) once the call ends.
It's no big deal if the call is short and I'm listening to music I've heard a bazillion times before. But it's annoying as heck when listening to an audiobook, podcast or anything else that needs to be followed word for word. I listen to podcasts about 75% of the time these days so I run into this a lot in these NIssan family vehicles.
It doesn't have to be this way. Other cars do the auto-pause thingy when calls come in. Still others allow access to the audio screen's pause control or let you switch to FM or AM (a trick that forces an iPod pause) mid-call. None of this works here. Of course if any longtime owners know of a workaround, I'm all ears. The manual's certainly no help, as it treats Bluetooth and iPod as two entirely seperate systems.
PS: The white card is there to obscure Mike's phone number. Sorry girls.
There's a zit on the front bumper of the 2009 Nissan 370Z. Fortunately, and totally unlike real acne, it can only be seen in the near dark, with low-level light striking it at just the right angle.
In fact I've never seen it in daylight, including the time I shot this front 3/4 image not two days earlier. Heck, it's hard to see now, in the parking garage.
And I can find no misalignment, scuffs, paint scratches or other evidence to suggest this bump was the result of a bump on the bumper. Maybe someone sat on it while it was parked somewhere. I wish I knew how the parts fit together in there.
Holy Deja Vu, Batman. Seems like I already made a milestone post on our 2009 Nissan 370Z, didn't I?
Yes, it's true. I was in the car at 5,000 miles, too. Now, I don't drive this (or any other single car in the LT fleet) that regularly. You ever sit down to watch a TV show you haven't seen in 4 months, only to discover it's the same episode you saw the last itme? This is kinda like that.
On a lighter note, Mike and I changed the front brake pads and rotors on this very car last night. Before you go blaming the car, we have to 'fess up by saying we think it's our fault. We're pretty sure we took the car to the track for testing too soon when the car was new and heat-cycled them too mercilessly. We made them stink and came home with heavily scored rotors, a mistake that shortened their life.
A full DIY blog on how to change pads and rotors on one of these will come in a couple of days. Stay tuned. In the meantime, here's a teaser that shows how close to the ragged edge with took these pads.
This pad wear indicator must have just started rubbing that very day, because I never once heard so much as a peep and the rotor didn't have any new scratches where this would have made contact.
On the other hand, this one pad was the only one out of four front brake pads that had a pad wear indicator, and it came out of the passenger side of the car. Odd, until it dawns on you that that would be the driver's side in Japan. You kind of want the driver to actually hear this thing, guys.
Maybe it doesn't much matter which side it's on — I hadn't really thought of that before now. From the looks of it I'm sure it would have started making a racket my entire block would've heard in another couple of days. Apparently we timed it perfectly without really trying.
Last time we explored the trunk of our 2009 Nissan 370Z, we'd pulled out the subwoofer tub and let you know that there were a pair of 4.5" subwoofers mounted somewhere therein. But who likes to be told when they can be shown?
The top is held on with Phillips-head screws and takes about a minute to remove. Less if you use a drill. The drivers are mounted face-up in what appears to be a ported (or bass reflex) box and not some silly isobaric design. But that's not 100% certain. (See this link for more information on what we're about to go over.)
See, the top is held on with screws and no manner of seal, but there are something like 12 of them and it's a very tight fit. Now, if this is tight enough — air tight — then we're looking at a dual-reflex enclosure and not a ported one. The odds on this aren't strong, but Bose is tricky
I've got a call into Bose to see if there's any funny business here, but for now let's just assume that it's a standard bit of kit in a really well done package.
We've already hinted that we changed the front brakes and rotors on our 2009 Nissan 370Z. The following shows you what we did. But why did we do it ourselves? a) it's easy, b) we like the whole DIY thing, and; c) it saves money.
We're using factory parts because this isn't a project car, and generally we want to test our long-term cars in their as-built condition. But the process is much the same with any other pads you choose to use.
Did I mention it's easy? It is. If you have the tools, it almost takes more time to read this than to actually do it.
Don't have a 2009 NIssan 370Z? Not to worry. A lot of this will apply, in general terms at least, to other brands of cars that have 4-piston fixed calipers and hat-style rotors.
There are too many pictures for one post, so I'm breaking this into a pad change (part 1) and a rotor change (part 2). In reality, the rotor change happens in the middle of the whole process, but I'll call that out when we get there.
Our story starts just after we've jacked the car, put the front end on jack stands, chocked the rear wheels and removed the front wheels.
Step one consists picking a side to start on and turning the steering as far as it will go in the direction that makes the caliper face out.
The 370Z is particulary simple because of the open design of its fixed-piston calipers. There are no bolts to remove, and at no time do you get close to any hydraulic fittings.
I'm pointing to a little cotter clip that keeps the pad retaining pins in place. The pin isn't threaded in — the screwdriver is simply there to rotate the pin so the clip faces our where I can grab it.
There isn't much tension on the clip, so I can easily pull it out with the point of my screwdriver. Needle nose pliers work well if the clips are tighter.
Once the clip is removed, the pin pushes stright out with a little help from my screwdriver. I'm also using my thumb to relieve tension on the broad anti-rattle spring by pressing on its central finger. Don't push hard enough to permanently bend it, however, because this part is re-used.
The two slender pad pins are the only things holding the spring in place, so it will fall out as soon as the last pin is clear.
With the pins gone, the only thing holding the pads in place is the tight clearance between the rotor, pad and pistons. The clearance opens up as the pistons retract when I pull the pad ears away from the rotor with my thumbs. It takes a few seconds of steady pressure because I'm essentially pushing hydraulic fluid backwards through the system, but I only have to move it the thickness of two or three business cards to create enough space for the pads to come out.
Both pads are out. But don't throw them away just yet. They still have a role to play.
NOTE: This is the point where those who want to do a rotor change should skip to Part 2 . Come back when you're done to see how the pads go back in. We'll still be here.
Meanwhile, if a pad change is all you want, read on...
If it looks like I've backed-up a half step, you're right. I don't have (and have never yet needed) a specialized brake pad retraction tool, but I don't do 6 or 8 of these a day, either. On the 370Z, at least, careful use of the old worn pads themselves does the trick.
On the left I've re-inserted the old pad just far enough to keep the pistons on that side form moving out as I compress the ones on the side I'm working. On the right, I've turned the other old pad 90 degrees and I'm using it to gently pry the two pistons on that side back into the caliper.
I have to be careful that the piston's rubber gaskets don't get pinched or torn in the process as I pry them back home. And I have to make sure I'm pushing both pistons in unison. Pushing one by itself will simply pop the other one out — a disaster. I keep an eye on things and go slowly. .
In doing this, brake fluid is being pushed back into the master cylinder. If it's full already, it will overflow if you don't keep an eye on it. One benefit of doing one side at a time like this is that only half the caliper's volume of fluid goes into the resevoir at a time, and everything happens more slowly.
The difference between the thickness of the new and old pads is the amount of clearance I have to create when retracting the pistons.
I need to keep an eye peeled here as I retract each pair of pistons because this is where that surplus fluid goes. Our dealer refilled this reservior during our last visit, so it started out full and we ended up having to suck some out a couple of times during the process. An old turkey baster works fine.
Always keep the cap on the reservoir as much as possible between checks, because brake fluid absorbs moisture.
I'm doing one pad at a time, so the other old pad is still in the caliper while I change the first one. The new pads came with a graphite silencing/lubricating compound, and it goes between the backing plate (the hard steel backing of the new pad) and the shim. There's just enough lube to do a full set of 4 front brake pads, but a little goes a long way. This isn't your kids peanut butter sandwich.
Doing a single pad at a time also makes it easier to match up the shims correctly as I transfer them from old to new, and it also makes it easier to ensure the pad wear indicator (gold clip) gets put in on the correct side. Just match everything up and you're good.
Don't forget a dab of grease on the pad ends. The four corners of the backing plate do make contact with the inside of the caliper body the whole time they're in there.
New pad 1 is going in and old pad 2 is still functioning as a spacer on the other side. As soon as new pad 1 is seated, it becomes the spacer and I repeat the whole process with old pad 2. That includes retraction, watching the fluid lever (and sucking some out, etc.) and the shim and lubricant steps.
I've skipped ahead to the point where both new pads are in. The broad anti-rattle spring goes back in place as I push the first pin back through it to the hole on the other side.
Just like the diasassembly phase, I need to push the tab right here (yellow) to temporarily relieve the tension as I push the second pin through. I musn't push hard enough to permanently bend it because the tension needs to be there for the anti-rattle spring to do its job.
The phillips head on the 370Z's pad pins serves no other purpose than to allow easy positioning of the retaining clip hole. It should face straight out, like this.
The retaining clips (new ones came with the new pads) go in easily when things are properly aligned.
And that's pretty much it. One down, one to go. I repeat the whole process on the other side of the car, put the wheels back on (and torque them) and take it out for some break-in driving.
I live in an area where I can get away from traffic, and I do several firm 60 to 20 mph "stops" on an open stretch, allowing a minute or two of cool-down time in between. After a half-dozen of these, I begin driving normally up and down the hills in my neighborhood. The brakes feel as good as they ever have and there's no noise or vibration. I call it good.
Bed-in procedures vary greatly depending on the type of pad (factory or track), whether or not you replaced or refaced rotors at the same time, and with the type of driving you'll be doing (street or track). Generally speaking, the procedure is more critical and specific when exotic pads and track driving is in your future and it's less critical with factory pads and regular street use. Many new cars roll off the assembly line with no bed-in whatsoever, in fact.
If you bought a high-performance pad that's intended for track use, make sure you read and follow the specific bed-procedure the pad-maker recommends.
Midway through Part 1, we finished removing our 2009 Nissan 370Z's front brake pads and diverted you here. Now it's time to take the caliper off so we can get at the rotor. There's one simple rule associated with taking a caliper off for this purpose: don't break open any hydraulic lines!
In order to ensure that doesn't happen, the first thing to do is locate the rubber brake hoses and the hard brake lines and make a game plan. This is the first time I've worked on a 370Z, so we're learning this together.
Look what we have here. This is going to take some care, because a hard steel (and mercilessly controrted) brake line wends its way from the caliper on the left to the junction block on the right (white) where the rubber brake line joins in.
The rubber brake hose bolts to something rigid at either end (white) but we don't have to remove either of these bolts. And we can just barely see where the hard brake line from the caliper comes in (yellow). But we don't want to crack this open either.
The yellow arrows show the hard brake line we don't want to crack open, but it will have to be free to move as a unit if the caliper is to slip up and off the rotor. The big black bracket (blue) is the key. It holds a clamp for this hard line and, on the other side, the junction block for the rubber hose.
All three green bolts will have to come out.
They all have 12mm heads. It takes less than a minute.
That's the ABS wire. It slips out of its slotted perch with minimal effort.
That done, it's time to remove the two caliper mounting bolts (yellow). The whole caliper comes off in one piece, so the bolts you want are the ones that bind it to the hub carrier/knuckle. Don't even think of loosening any of the bolts that actually hold the caliper itself together.
The upper caliper mounting bolt required us to bend the hard steel line just a little to get the socket on. A little tweak between friends is OK. Just don't be tempted to take the line off.
Both bolts are now loose. As soon as this top one comes out I have to be ready to support the weight of the caliper (it's not heavy). Then, with the hose bracket already loosened, I can gently lift it up and off the rotor. I have to go slowly and shepard the brake line along with it, taking care to keep it from getting hung up and bent.
This is where a helper comes in handy — two hands aren't quite enough. I need to hang the caliper close to where it was because the brake lines don't move that much. I like to hang it from the spring or upper control arm via zip ties that are chained together. A bent coat hanger works, too.
Whatever you use, don't drop the caliper. I'm hanging it by looping a zip tie through the uppermost bolt hole that was just vacated when I removed the mounting bolt.
The caliper is now�clear of the rotor and secure. Time to get that rotor off of there.
The sixth bolt has almost no purpose, but it has to come out. Some cars use a countersunk Phillips screw that actually holds the rotor in place when the lug nuts are off, but that's not the case here — it doesn't actually thread into the hub behind it.
Here you're supposed to be able to remove the long spacer, put the bolt back in and tighten it again to jack the rotor off it's seat. But there is way too much rust for that, and all you'll do is mushroom the bolt and create problems. Just take the bolt out and move on because there is another way, and it involves a hammer.
My handy 2x4 scrap allows me to whack the bejeebus out of the rotor without damaging it. I spin the rotor every couple of whacks to distribute the love. It took quite a few blows to break the rusty bond loose in this case.
Success! You can see where the reluctant rust resides.
The new rotors came boxed, bagged and coated with a gloppy perservative to keep them from rusting.
A liitle WD-40 and a few paper towels takes care of the preservative. But there is no way to get all of the goo out from between the rotor vents, so we expect the brakes to smoke and stink a little over the first few miles until it burns off.
I was curious. 30.5 pounds for a rotor alone was more than expected.
The rotor slips on easily, as its pristine center hole isn't corroded. I install two lug nuts to hold it firm against the hub while the job goes on.
The rotor bolt and its spacer go back on first, but I still think they're useless. But the system expects their mass to be there, so I'm reluctant to simply leave them off. Next, the caliper's zip ties are cut, then the caliper and brake lines are carfully repositioned and the caliper's two large mounting bolts are re-installed...
...and then torqued. Our sources at Nissan told us that 98 lb-ft is the magic number.
After that, the three bracket mounting bolts are re-installed and the ABS wire is slipped back into its slot.
And that's pretty much it for the rotor installation. It's time to put the new pads in. Head back to part 1 to see how it all tuns out.
Like our Nissan GT-R, our 2009 Nissan 370Z is a liar.
Friday morning I skipped work and headed out of town in our 2009 Nissan 370Z. More specifically, I headed to Death Valley (more on that later) to soak up some sun and sand without any of that pesky water that's always mucking up my beach visits. I also wanted to check out Devil's Hole and try to see one of the rarest fish in the world, The Devil's Hole Pupfish. (I know, I'm an exciting guy. But if you're looking for pupfish pictures look elsewhere, I got distracted by vehicular exploration and never made it to the Hole.) But before any of this could happen, I had to get some gas.
When I filled up at 10,143 miles, the distance to empty meter struck me as striking: 380 miles to empty? The record in the fuel log stood at 355 miles on a single tank and that was a triumph I had heard about for days afterwards. But 380, with me behind the wheel...that, friends, would be a story for the ages.
Of course, 15 minutes after filling up, I'd changed the screen to distance traveled and time elapsed and forgot about the whole "Prince of Miles" title that I would claim upon my return. Cest la vie.
Death Valley came and passed. So did Las Vegas. And then, in Jean, Nevada a mysterious light appeared. Turns out cars need gas pretty frequently. Especially when you're doing hundreds of miles. How many hundreds of miles?
Jump, jump!
417. I believe a hearty 'BAM!' is in order here. And let's also consider: This was in Death Valley — it's hot. I was in a 370Z — it's fast. I interpret passing zones as mandatory. I took about a 5-mile detour on a gravel road where I realized that the 370's damping is much better when going very fast in second gear. Las Vegas traffic sucks.
So while 417 is good, I don't think the record will stand forever, considering: I averaged 22.9 mpg. Our record MPG for the 370z is 24mpg. I put 18.224 gallons in the tank, the 370 can hold 19 — there was a solid 3/4 gallon left to burn. But until that day comes, I win!
I don't remember the tire noise from our Nissan 370Z being so loud the last time I drove it. It's obnoxious. My ears were bleeding before I could crank the radio loud enough to drown out the tire drone. But the new brakes stop great.
Pitfalls of Street Parking
I parked our 370Z on the street just up from place on Friday night. I don't have off street parking at my place.
I had some laundry to do on Sunday afternoon, so I walked down the street to the car and popped the hatch. To my horror I saw these scratches on the rear rear bumper:
The car parked behind me didn't have any silver paint on it's front bumper so it could have been violated by any number of cars in the last 36 hours. Nobody left a note saying they're sorry or I'll pay for the damage to your car. To you, mystery parallel parking villian, I say:
"I CURSE YOUR MOTHER'S NAME! I WILL KICK YOUR DOG! MAY YOUR BUMPERS FALL OFF AND YOUR TIRES BE FLAT!"
Now I know how it feels to live in Chicago, New York or Boston as a car owner. There ain't a pretty bumper in any of those cities.
It's Saturday evening. You've gone outside to retrieve the cell phone that you left in your car earlier in the day. The sun is setting in the manner pictured above. Heck with the movie you were about to watch — a windows-down/revs-up drive is calling out to you.
Are you: A) Happy that you chose to have the long-term Nissan 370Z at your disposal for the weekend; or B) Bummed because you brought home the long-term Ford Flex to schlep the kids around instead?
"That's the new Z, isn't it?"
I had just parked our 2009 Nissan 370Z outside of Subway to pick up lunch. A couple of teenage boys with skateboards were standing outside. The one with the Tapout t-shirt and the moppy hair continued: "It looks cool. How fast does it go?" My brain fizzled on that one. "Oh, about 160," I said. (I really had no idea at the time; in fact, I had to look it up. Top speed is electronically limited to 155 mph.) "Cool," teen boy said.
It seems like more people are noticing our 370Z now than back when I was driving it five months ago. I'm not sure why this is. But just last week, I was fuelling up the Z at a gas station when this quite attractive 30-ish blonde woman came up to me and started asking about the Z. She was into cars (had a previous-gen BMW 540i at the station) and wanted to know more about what I thought of the new Z. It was very much a "this really can't be happening" moment.
Later that day I lamented to my co-worker Bryn MacKinnon about why this never happened to me when I was 18. She reminded me that: A) I didn't own a 370Z in high school, and B) I had a mullet.
Our 2009 Nissan 370Z leaves me perplexed. On one hand, I love what it represents: a great handling, rear-wheel-drive sports car with 300-plus horsepower and a price tag that starts around $30,000. I owned a couple Honda CRXs back in the day, and to me the Z represents that same level of elemental two-seat fun, just on a more grown-up level. It should be a car that I lust after.
The problem is that I don't.
The unrefined vibrations and noises that creep into the cabin past 5,000 rpm sour my mood every time. We sometimes bandy about the term "deal breaker" to refer to a car's fault that's so significant that it alone could cause a person not to buy that car. The 3.7-liter V6's NVH would qualify for me.
Putting myself in Nissan's shoes, I'm not sure what else the company could have done with the 370Z redesign. Marketing probably dictated more horsepower. Cost concerns probably ruled out anything like a turbocharged V6. So that leaves you with ... yep, a big-displacement V6. That's a conundrum for you.
I remember reading a first-look story a while back about the current BMW M3. In it, BMW said it felt that it had taken the previous straight-6 (S54) design as far as it could. A V8 was the only way forward. I guess BMW was fortunate enough that there was enough of a price cushion to go that direction.
I give Nissan a lot of credit for maintaining the Z heritage. The 370 is a really good car. It just deserves a better engine.
Rejoice dipstick lovers, the Nissan 370Z has one. And it's even well placed for easy access. It's that yellow thing for those of you out there that own a brand new BMW and have never seen a dipstick before. It's for checking your engine's oil level. Yes, manually.
Notice "Oil Level" is not on the menu. In the 370Z a man checks his oil the old fashioned way.
We reported a few weeks ago that our Nissan 370Z was clipped by a parallel parker with perpendicular depth perception. A hectic schedule meant we had to live with these blemishes for several weeks. But no longer. We made an appointment at our local body shop and soon the Z will be looking good as new.
Little scuffs like this are a fact of life. It isn't uncommon for folks to wait months before repairing similar damage to their cars. Others never repair body damage.
Now, thanks to the anonymity of the internet it's your chance to confess. Are you the driver that must always have a pristine ride? Or are you the driver that considers cosmetic details trivial, allowing dings and dents to multiply unchecked?
Woke to a wet Z this morning. Spend 37 seconds looking for the controls for the rear wiper. Realized the car doesn't have one. Stopped pulling on the stalk. Activated the rear defroster. Drove to work with a wet Z.
I realize the Nissan 370Z weighs more than enough, but I like a rear wiper on hatchbacks, especially hatchbacks with such radically raked backlights. It wasn't a hatch of course, but I once owned an Evo with a rear wiper, it was a great feature to have.
What do you think?
The clutch pedal in our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z has developed a notch (not quite a clunk), or maybe it's a hitch, in the first inch or so of its travel. You feel it almost immediately every time you depress the pedal. Not good.
We'll keep you posted.
The cabin in the Z is tight and pretty low to the ground. As a result, I usually kind of tumble into it right-elbow-first, using the center armrest for support. It helps that this armrest is nicely padded (though it's hard to discern that from this photo); this makes it a rather comfy place to lean into when entering the coupe.
As Erin mentioned in a previous post, the Z also has some thoughtful soft-touch fabric panels around the interior door handles. The cabin's so close, I usually find myself using my left elbow to nudge the driver door open when exiting, so the faux suede was definitely a good idea. Both the armrest and the fabric panels go a long way toward making the Z's cabin a pleasant place to be.
Today (Sept. 15th) Mr. Yutaka Katayama, the father of the Nissan Z-car, turns 100 years old. Above is a photo from the Datsun Heritage Museum of Mr. K celebrating in Japan with his long time friend Peter Brock (Yes, the Peter Brock of Cobra Daytona and BRE fame.)
Happy Birthday Mr. K. And thanks.
The 370Z served airport duty the last two days, allowing me to see how this sports car handled my admittedly light luggage requirements. However, you can see by this picture where the old 350Z's giant structural cross brace would've intruded upon the trunk. These bags probably would've been fine back there, but a pair of standard roller suitcases would've been questionable.
Also, note the 370's cargo cover that hides away your valuables from would-be car burglars (as well as preventing trunk contents from reflecting in the window). I'm pretty confident the old car did not offer such a cover as the brace would have impeded it. That brace was also known for casting a pretty nasty reflection in the rear window, which is obviously no longer there.
I didn't exactly throw the Queen's steamer trunk at it, but 370Z handled my modest cargo needs.
Whenever a song plays on the radio whose title is too long to fit in the miserly text space on the Z's display screen, I find myself wishing I could buy a letter. Manufacturers of far cheaper cars than the Z have managed to solve the riddle of how to come up with a way to display even longer song titles on their screens, so it feels like Nissan/Infiniti is a bit behind the curve.
Otherwise, I love the audio interface. It's easy to use and iPod integration is outstanding.
I just spent the better part of a week living in our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z. I drove it about 500 miles including many trips to home and office, a blast down to Anahiem (about 50 miles) to watch my Yankees spank the Angels, a business meeting and informal dive bar visit in Newport Beach and a 100+ mile run out to Willow Springs Raceway in the garden spot that is Rosamond, California.
This is a fantastic car. Don't let others convince you it's too loud and too rough. This is a sports car, a man's sports car, and after driving it those 500 miles this week I'm convinced that the 370Z is just right how it is. If the NVH levels aren't to your liking, dig around in your purse a pull out some ear plugs, but don't ask Nissan to neuter one of the final remaining sports cars that is actually tuned for the male of the species.
Beyond those elevated testoterone levels I want to thank Nissan's braintrust for giving the Z a comfortable seat, a fine driving position and a navigation system that doesn't take a degree from MIT to figure out.
This is a good car. A fun car. It feels like it was designed and engineered by enthusiasts for enthusiasts. And I can't think of a higher compliment than that.
This morning our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z drank an entire quart of 5W-30. Total cost: $3.59.
Not Enough Junk In That Trunk
I signed up for the Z this past weekend, but as always my weekend plans changed. Originally it was going to be a stay at home weekend, but not I was now going to meet up with some friends and have a little fun this weekend in the great outdoors. I had what I thought was a good car to drive, but when it came down to business, I couldn't get all my stuff into the cargo area.
I didn't have a lot of stuff to take, but the narrow and constricted space made it so I'd have to make my friend ride shotgun with my larger gear bag. I thought about it for a few minutes, then parked the Z and took my Mazda3 Hatchback instead. It had more space and the fold down, un-constricted space meant my bag fit with ease.
I'd choose the Z. It's quicker, more comfortable and much easier to drive at the limit. It also has something called torque. Sorry S2000 heads, but the 370Z puts you on the trailer.
Which would you choose?
Our 2009 Nissan 370Z gets passed over on the sign out sheet much more often than you'd think. It's frankly hard to fathom until you start listening to the younger editors on staff.
"It's too loud," they say. "There's lots of road noise. I can hardly hear my iPod."
Cry me a freakin' river.
a) This is a sports car. b) Do you not remember the noisiness that was the 240Z, the original RX7 or the Porsche 944 S2 Turbo? Of course you don't.
You've obviously had it too soft growing up in car seats in the back of mommy's Camry.
Besides, this car is plenty quiet compared to sports cars of old, and it hauls more ass, stops with much more authority and steers with much more precision than it's ancestors. As a bonus, it also has SyncroRev Match (to either help you learn to heel-and-toe properly or rid yourself of the need to learn) and, of course, a very good iPod connection.
You want more quiet? Fine. We'll simply add some more mass dampers and more sound-deadening materials. Want less road noise? Fine. We'll fit skinnier tires with softer sidewalls and a quiet tread pattern. And let's soften those pesky suspension bushings while we're at it.
So what if it gains weight and loses agility? Who cares if the steering goes all wonky and grip levels decrease? At least you'll be able to hear the Lady GaGa and Kanye West tracks from your favorites list.
Look, do you want a sports car or not? Be honest. If you don't, fine. Look elsewhere. Pick something with four doors and a backseat.
But let's not put the Nissan engineers and product planners on high alert to dumb down the 2009 Nissan 370Z. Some of us like it just the way it is.
Our 2009 Nissan 370Z doesn't get the proper respect it deserves.
It seems to get passed over on our list of who drives what home. But it's not that we don't like the car. Sometimes, other vehicles suit our needs at the moment. There are kids to be carted, furniture to haul, passengers to squeeze into a back seat, left calves to be rested.
So, don't think it's not that we don't appreciate our Z. We do.
And that's why we're giving it another shot as Car of the Week.
A Relief To Drive
I flew up to San Jose this weekend, rented a 14ft Uhaul truck, loaded it up with stuff my girlfriend's stuff her aunt didn't want to store for her anymore and drove the 400 miles south to my lady's house. I was pretty exhausted by the time I got there.
I'm sure most of you have driven a big rental truck at some point in your life. They're smelly, bouncy, uncomfortable, loud and usually laden with hidden trash/cigarette butts. Not to mention these things are massive. After the seven hours I spent in it, I was ready to get the hell out of it.
I dropped off the rental and got into our long term Z. My god, the difference. I went went from hating to drive, to absolutely loving it. The Z was everything the Uhaul was not. I especially loved the seats. Conforming, supportive, and not bouncy!
I loved the Z so much I took it for an extended spin. Yeah, I'd been driving all day, but it was nice to have something that made driving fun.
What do you want to know about the 2009 Nissan 370Z?
Have you driven one? Write a review in the comments section.
Any details you want us to take a picture of? Let us know.
And the Ugly? Not with our long-term 370Z. Almost everything's good-looking, inside and out.
But the seat controls are both good and bad.
I love the power fore-aft and seatback rake controls on the bottom cushion right-side bolster (that are on most Nissans.)
Not only are they easy to access in the tight sportscar confines of our Z, but they also clean up the inner door panel (if instead Nissan decided to put them there due to the tight clearance between the door and seat.)
If you're not used to them, the seat bolster-mounted switches are slightly difficult to find at first, but after that they're quite convenient.
Why don't more carmakers copy that switch location?
And the bad?
The two knobs on the side of the seat are used to manually raise and lower the front and rear parts of the bottom cushion.
Sometimes, you have to lift yourself out of the seat slightly to raise the back portion.
I suppose because of no additional motor, those knobs may reduce this sportscar's mass...
Not a fan.
What you see here is the Enter button on the steering wheel of our 2009 Nissan 370. This up-down rocker button scrolls through menus on the dash-mounted screen and, most importantly, in conjunction with that out-of-focus button slightly below and slightly behind the Enter button, controls my iPod.
Normally I have the screen (not pictured) at the ready for when I'm bored with the current song. This means I only have to tap that little switch to advance/repeat. It works great 99% of the time. Trouble is, the Enter button is not flush, or better yet, below the face of, the steering wheel. So what happens is almost every time I turn the wheel more than 10-degrees and no matter how I do it, my palm trips the button and my song is changed.
I've put thousands of miles on the 2009 370Z and this is one of those little issues that I just can't find a good workaround for. The only thing I've ever had so many unintended button presses with was the silly mouse-thing on the Lexus 250h
If it were my car I'd cut it down about 1/2 an inch and call it a day.
Ever since I drove our Nissan 370Z extensively back in August, the following thought pops into my head when I get into a different manual-transmission car: "Wait, you mean I have to heel-toe downshift to match revs? Well that sucks."
I didn't think this was going to be the case when I first drove our Z. "SynchroRev Match is just a novelty," I figured, and I even turned it off and matched revs the old-timey way.
But whether due to laziness or appreciation on how well it works (or both), SRM is now on all the time when I drive the Z. It matches engine rpm to wheel speed perfectly for every downshift (can't say that about my own heel-toe downshifts) and I still get the tactile pleasure of working the clutch and shifter, which is something I don't get from the GT-R's automated dual-clutch manual gearbox.
One of the strong points of the 370Z is its styling, which manages to pay homage to the original, first-generation Datsun 240Z/260Z/280Z without looking contrived. The long, aerodynamic nose with single headlights that wrap around the corners, the fastback roofline, the kicked-up beltline and the side window shapes all harken back to the clean, classic sports car look of the original. Yet there are modern touches, such as the aggressively-flared wheelwells and free-form headlights. But if I had to pick one over the other purely based on styling, however, I'd have to go with the sleeker and cleaner original.
Between that first Z car and the current one, Nissan's sports car has gone through many iterations. If you want to brush up on your Z car history, we've got it all right here.
Scene: Ontario, California airport parking lot, 9:28 pm, a rainy night, coming back from business trip.
Motivation: Flight was late, sat next to whiny lap-child for the last two hours, airport burrito not sitting well, had to walk 1/4-mile in the drizzle with no hat or umbrella because the parking lot shuttle is AWOL, your own kids are going to be asleep if you don't get home soon.
Action: With rain coming down a little harder now, use unlock button on key fob as you approach car. Once there, press hatch release button hidden under that lip above the license plate. Hatch pops up a quarter-inch, but does not release. Close hatch and try again. Repeat ten times. Swear through clenched teeth. Something about a mother...
Action (continued): Discover by accident that the small round button on the left will trigger a master lock or unlock of the entire car. Feel bad for swearing before. Try the lock/unlock trick a few times to confirm discovery.
The good karma generated my the resulting easing of the mind (or perhaps the cycling of the lock mechanism) causes larger rectangular hatch release button to work this time. The rain tapers off, too.
Load luggage. Drive home. Problem does not repeat at the other end under starry skies. Unload luggage. Kiss wife. Tuck kids in bed.
*credits roll, music swells*
<record scratch>
Epilogue: Days later, hatch-release problem happens one try out of ten. Not repeatable or predictable. Remind self to notify dealer on next service visit. Swear soundlessly. Something about a piece of something...
I was reminded again this past weekend that our long-term 2009 Nissan 370Z is a helluva sexy sportscar.
When I left the office Friday night it was already dark. As I left the parking garage I was greeted with a view similar to the above pic. The instruments are bathed in an orange-reddish light — if it's too bright for you, turn it down with the rheostat.
The ambience is quite attractive — and sexy (except for the Atari-inspired clock and fuel gauge.)
Adding to this feeling is that the car is low and that you're also sitting low — damn near on the deck. As you accelerate and watch the HID lamps cast their eerie pattern, you feel like you're flying a UFO through traffic.
Is the BMW 135 a better all-around performer? Yup.
But all it takes is a night drive at speed in the 370Z to remind you that this isn't yet another two-door sedan.
Is it just me or is this a weird feature for our 2009 Nissan 370Z, a sport coupe with 332 horsepower and a 3.7-liter V6, to have?
I don't think anyone on our staff pays attention to it. When I drove our Z this weekend, all I noticed about this mpg bar is that when I took my foot off the throttle, the bar went up to 60. Ooh. But when I'm passing cars or zooming up a freeway on-ramp, fuel economy is not really a concern. Then again, it's not my car. Is it different for you owners out there?
The guy I know who owns a gas station admits that he's an idiot. In a misguided attempt to represent what he sells, he put a set of gas station tires on his 1997 Jaguar XK8 convertible. They wear like iron (apparently no one who buys gas station tires ever thinks about braking distances or wet weather traction), but they're so noisy that he can't stand to drive the car for more than 45 minutes. He feels like a fool for cheaping out and saving a few dollars.
The Nissan 370Z gives me the same feeling. Every time the tire roar gets so overwhelming that the radio volume needs to go up to maximum, I think about the Nissan engineers cheaping out on the acoustic insulation for the cabin air extractors. Such a little thing that you'd never think any individual driver would notice and yet a huge cost savings spread over a lifetime of production. Seems like it's worth saving $5, doesn't it? And of course it ends up undercutting the whole driving experience.
A fix has already come down the production line we understand, but it's little compromises like this that always worry me about the long-term effect that the Renault way of doing business will have on the Nissan way of engineering. I don't want a generation of automobiles designed for people who buy their tires at gas stations.
...but only two boxes worth. Our family has a "subscription" to a local farm for our weekly produce and yesterday was the day. Turns out it's a good thing we only get one box of fruit and one box of vegies because that's all that would fit in the back of the 370Z.
The Sticky-Icky
I've driven our 370Z a bunch of times and I like it quite a bit. Besides the blind spots when trying to back out of spaces, I think this thing is an absolute blast to drive.
Random weekend errands are made fun. Gotta go over to Home Depot for some JB Weld? Awesome. Pick up some pickling spice from the grocery store? Perfect. Go across town to see an open house? Even better. Good acceleration, auto-blip shift and an all around fun package make this thing a great little weekend car, provided you don't need the cargo room.
The only thing that annoyed me about this car was actually using it's cargo area. The pressure hatch release button in the back doesn't always seem to release. There were a few times I had to press it multiple time to get it to let go completely. Once I had to shove the hatch back down to get it to release with another press of the button. Honestly in the grand scheme of things, not that big of a deal but annoying none the less.
The next time I get the keys I got to make sure I make good use of it. I think a good drive up the coast along Highway 1 would be a great idea.
I know JDP already mentioned in a previous post how for some reason our 2009 Nissan 370Z has two different clocks that aren't even synced up but he didn't mention what a PITA it is figure out how to set the one on the dash on your own. It's just not as clear as the nav's clock which you can change through its screen. You'd think buttons for the dash clock would be located near it. But nope. So, oh noes, I had to go to the manual. Fortunately, though, once it's figured out, no big deal.
However, it IS a big deal trying to get the two clocks to display the same time. I guess you could time it by waiting til the other clock clicks on to the next minute before setting the clock but it will never be exact. And that's why it's irritating. If they weren't so close to each other it wouldn't be so annoying. As a previous commenter had suggested you could set the extra clock to reflect that of another time zone, Nurburgring perhaps. But still. This would bug me.
There are few better cars in our long-term fleet to romp through coastal regions and long winding roads than the Nissan 370Z. Not only does the Z make all the right sounds, but a blip of the throttle provides an immediate rush from its 332-horsepower V6 engine.
Is it a practical everyday car for a family of three? No. But, with so many cars providing all the comforts of an oversized chaise lounge, it's nice to return to the seat of a car that's proud of what it's supposed to be.
Happy sweet 16(k).
Had an unusually interesting selection of cars to choose from last night: Challenger, FX50, and 370Z. I went with the Z — not because it's my favorite of the bunch (I'll give it a tie for second with the FX), but because I wanted something that would fit in my parking space. The Z's compact size is something I always appreciate when I'm driving it. Seems like every car these days has a growth spurt with each redesign; thank you, Nissan, for making this thing 2.6 inches shorter than its 350Z predecessor.
But there are other pint-sized performance cars out there. Riswick and I spent some time in our long-term Mazdaspeed 3 and VW's new GTI yesterday, and I was struck by how appealing these sport compacts have become. For $25k, you can take your pick: superior refinement and rear passenger room (GTI), or fully caffeinated performance (MS3). Either way, you've got four doors, a bunch of cargo space, and enough character to keep all but maximally hardcore enthusiasts entertained. No, they'll never have rear-wheel drive, but in other respects, the latest hot hatches are really nipping at the heels of dedicated sports cars like the Z. They're considerably easier on your bank account, too.
...and that's OK by me. After spending nearly the entire holiday weekend slugging around in our long-term Honda Insight, I was forced to trade cars on Sunday afternoon following the Chevrolet Volt drive at Dodger Stadium.
Engineering Editor Extraordinare Jay Kavanagh needed to get some seat time in the Insight to help him clarify his Volt experience before penning his First Drive impressions, and since Jay arrived at the stadium in the Nissan 370Z, we swapped cars in Parking Lot 1 before heading out of the ballpark.
I've never been a huge fan of the Z, but boy, after driving the Insight for four days, I welcomed every single horse in the coupe's V6 stable.
Vehicle Testing Manager Mike Schmidt took this shot of our Z car on his way to school.
We suggest: "We're Hooked"
I know you can do better. So, drop us a line in the comments section. Heh.
We'll post our favorite this afternoon.
Thanks to ergsum for this week's favorite. He sure was on fire.
These are the others that hooked us:
Fishtailing in the 370Z! (ergsum)
There are two fish in this picture, but only one requires a license. (lowmilelude)
We threw a rod in the 370Z! (ergsum)
The 370Z ran the Salmon at 69.8 mph. (ergsum)
Smoked Salmon and the Bandit (ergsum)
Caught in 60 Seconds (ergsum)
The Fishbowl Rally (ergsum)
Anti-Lox brakes are standard on the 370Z. (ergsum)
Faster than a speeding Mullet! (ergsum) (Gotta love a two-time entry)
Thy rod and thy staff; they comfort Z... (mrryte)
Nissan 370Z - It kicks bass. (robert4380)
Come see our sports cars and our master baiters! (vt8919)
What was your favorite?
This is how it goes.
Was thinking about what to choose for a dash to San Francisco this weekend. And I like the Z-car. Seating position, ride quality, good navigation, satellite radio. And there'd be a good trip across the Coast Range at Coalinga and then a drive in the Santa Cruz mountains on Skyline and then down Page Mill when I get there, which is the whole reason for taking the Z-car in the first place.
Then I thought about the sound of those tires filling the cabin on the trip up Interstate 5. Like being 50 feet from a cement truck for five hours. So decided not to go at all.
As much as we all like to pound our chest about sporting automobiles and posture about purity, even a sports car has to also be a car. It has to be able to take you where the roads are good, anyway. And in times where financial resources are spread thin, we're all going to find ourselves forced into appreciating cars with multi-dimensional personalities.
Ironically the 370Z has been designed to be a better car, not just a better sports car. But it shows you just how crucial even the small things can be, as who would expect that an oversight in the acoustic properties of the interior would play such an important role in this car's personality?
We dropped our 2009 Nissan 370Z at Santa Monica Nissan for its 15,000-mile scheduled service. Edmunds Maintenance Guide prepared us for fees near $150. And sure enough, our bill for the oil change and various inspections came to $147.85. Meanwhile, parts were ordered to address a reluctant-to-open rear hatch. We expect those to arrive in a couple of weeks.
Total Cost: $147.85
Days Out of Service: None
Maybe I've been whining too much about tire noise, because the Z-car has decided it doesn't want to know me anymore. Seems like the intelligent key is running out of juice, so now you have to actually pull out the key from your pocket and trigger the unlock button to get inside and then insert the key into its dash slot for the ignition to work.
This is hardly a big deal (except for our local Nissan dealership's apparent reluctance to change the battery or replace the key, about which more later), but it does suddenly remind you of all the reasons why smart keys have become so widespread.
With a smart key, the doors open for you as if an electronic valet were waiting (well, you have to click a small button on the Z-car's door latch), and then the car starts with just the push of a button. But more important, you can carry your key somewhere other than a pocket, and that's a good thing when you're wearing something with either no pockets (a summer beach day) or too many pockets (a winter ski day). And no more fumbling in the driver seat while you're going through your pockets to find the key. It's the end of being rumpled, actually. And that's a good thing whether you're a guy who goes to work with an 18-pound equipment belt or a $2,000 English suit.
I used to dismiss smart keys as a ridiculous affectation but I'm a convert now. Only trouble is, I keep forgetting where they are and then run them through the laundry. Not this one, but done it with a couple of BMW keys. They're designed for that, you think?
We just had the new Lotus Evora in our lot (more on that in coming weeks), and the greenhouse had a wonderful wraparound look - almost like a private jet. It was really due to the exaggerated curve of the windshield and the shape of the side glass, but the A-pillar was also blacked out. I hopped from the diminutive Lotus into our long-term Z and it got me thinking, "would that treatment work on the Z?" In the image above, you'll see it switch back and forth. It's really subtle, but I think it works. Photo credit to the talented Mr. Sadlier.
When we configured our 2009 Nissan 370Z car for the long-term fleet, we made sure to get the sport package and a manual transmission.
We also wanted to test out Nissan's new SynchroRev Match, which makes driving a manual transmission car even easier. This feature automatically blips the throttle when a downshift is initiated. It basically performs a smooth heel-toe downshift for you.
Easy and fun.
For explanation for SynchroRev Match, read this Straightline post from our Engineering Editor Jay Kavanagh.
Let's give our Nissan Z another chance at Car of the Week.
Our long-term Nissan 370Z was just what I needed over the long holiday weekend: fun. And it has four times the range of our Mini E. Literally. I got 360 miles on a tank.
If you have the time, energy and enthusiasm to appreciate the Z coupe, this is a neat car. Every drive is exciting in the 370Z. The steering is quick. The suspension is stiff. The car's responses to input feel immediate. And when the six-speed gearbox is in proper working order, it's fun to shift. I like the almost leaden weighting of the shifter through the gates, along with the precise clutch takeup. And honestly, the 3.7-liter V6 is fine, too, even with its strained character at high rpm. It has a lusty sound at startup and at low rpm. And I can't think of another V6 in this price range that matches its torque response.
But for myself I'd take the 370Z roadster. And I mean it. I'd like to own a Z roadster. Because (1) the handling is 98 percent as sharp; and (2) the ride is quieter because there's a full bulkhead. Yes, this a backdoor slam on hatchbacks, because, well, with that open cargo area, they can be noisy.
I'll grant you this: The 332-horsepower 3.7-liter V6 in our 2009 Nissan 370Z serenades you with all kinds of noise and vibration when you ride close to its 7,500-rpm redline.
But I would still take this V6 over almost every other six-cylinder in this price range, because like it or lump it, the VQ-series V6 is athletic. There's enough torque to get the car out of the hole in a hurry and power builds noticeably as you work up to higher engine speeds. This engine isn't about having a nice-and-easy flat torque band; you're building up to something.
I just can't get excited about the 306-hp 3.8-liter V6 in the Hyundai Genesis Coupe and the 304-hp 3.6-liter V6 in the Chevrolet Camaro. They sound pretty good. They have nice, flat torque bands. But there's no athleticism in the way they rev, and if you're driving a car with two doors, why scrimp on that?
Of course, the twin-turbocharged, direct-injected, 3.0-liter inline-6 in the BMW 135i gives me pause. It has that perfectly flat, boring torque curve I've railed against, but it's so powerful and so smooth, and I so can't be blamed for liking it...
And maybe there's an opportunity here for the 2011 Mustang and its 305-hp 3.7-liter V6 if it can combine genuine performance character with a little refinement than our Z's brutish V6.
What do you want to know about the 2009 Nissan 370Z?
Have you driven one, been in one, seen any on the road? Any pictures or video you especially want to see?
Write you questions, reviews and requests in the comments section.
I've asked a few people on staff what they think about the noise levels in the Nissan 370Z. We all pretty much agree that there is entirely too much road noise.
There is also a lot of engine noise, but that is actually quite lovely. The road noise, however, is a bit much. (I'm not sure why I'm writing like a Brit today with the "lovely" "quite" and " a bit" but go with me.)
When you have such a stiff suspension on a car like the Z, there is bound to be some noise. The road, tires, chassis, all contribute to this cacophony. When you don't have music on to drown it out, it's really really loud. I thought my Acura Integra let the road bleed in, but this is much more.
With that said, this is an extremely fun car to drive. The price you pay is the noise. But this is also supposed to be a car you can drive on a daily basis. And let's face it, how many times during your commute do you get to kick it out? Maybe when you scoot up an on-ramp or find a short stretch of open road. We're usually stuck in traffic or driving surface streets. Unless you are on a perfectly paved surface, you're gonna get the noise.
How do you feel about a noisy car? Does the fun factor outweigh the annoyance?
Here is what it sounds like when you start the Z:
I like this. Our 2009 Nissan 370Z displays the gear you have selected. It shows up right in front of you on the dash.
Have you ever had that moment when you're parked head-to-head with another car in a parking lot and that car is only an inch from your front bumper? You put the car in reverse but it's a tricky shifter and you're pretty sure you're in reverse. Wouldn't it be nice to have that reassurance right there in front of you?
Maybe this wouldn't happen on your every day car that you are so familiar with. But when you jump in and out of cars as often as we do, it's a nice feature.
Can you think of any other manual transmission cars that have this display?
I have to agree with Erin Riches on this one, the suede trim on the 370Z is pretty cool for a car in this price range. Not that the 370Z is inexpensive by any means, but most manufacturers save the suede/Alcantara stuff for their top-end models. Odd that that GT-R's interior was covered in it.
But anyway, it's something I notice every time I get in the 370 which goes to show how even the small trim details can make a big difference when they're done right. I'd love to swap the big pieces of plastic on the doors of our Camaro with trim like this, it would makes a world of difference.
What the hell is taking so long for Gran Turismo 5 to come out? They built Rome faster. Like you, I was hoping for Santa to bring me a copy, but no, now Sony says it'll be summer before the fun begins.
Meanwhile, I've been playing a lot of Need For Speed. Yeah, I know. It's a game for wanks. It's arcade-y. Not realistic enough. But it's fun and Kevin Smith our Editorial Director is heavy into Forza 3 so I keep from playing it for political reasons that I really shouldn't go into here. Plus, I can drive a silver 2009 Nissan 370Z just like our long-term car on nights when I've gotten home in some other, maybe, less interesting ride.
Not that the 370Z is exclusive to NFS. The GT5 North American "Time Trial Challenge" competition involves playing through a demo that has you race a Nissan 370Z on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
You drive the course in two time trial events, aiming for the best combined lap time. And if you're really good, you could be the one U.S. resident or the one Canadian resident (one of each) to win VIP packages to the 2010 Indy 500. Check out this demo video, then tell me which game you're into: GT5 or NFS or FM3. Or, do you prefer to go out and actually drive real cars?
1. seating position allows me to press the clutch all the way in without sitting too close to the steering wheel
2. shifter fits nicely in my hand
3. heated seats are always a plus
4. faux suede trim warms up the look of the interior
5. exterior and interior door handles are interesting
6. engine note sounds scrumptious (road noise doesn't bother me that much)
7. gear display is reassuring
8. sharp tail lights
9. grippy steering wheel
10. the way it takes a curve
Photos below are enlargable.
Cheerios are no longer considered a balanced meal after a full week of eating them breakfast, lunch and dinner. This discovery led me to the grocery store in our 2009 Nissan 370Z last weekend.
I was skeptical that the rear cargo area was deep enough to hold my bountiful feast. But there was more room than I expected. See for yourself. Even loaded with my grocery purchase, there is still at least 9 Cheerios boxes and 2 gallons of milk worth of space remaining. I'm impressed.
Good grief this car is noisy. I know we keep going on about it, but there's really not much else to dislike about this car - but it's damn near a deal breaker.
The solution? Loud music. Really, really loud music.
The stereo can handle it (pretty well I might add) and if you can too, the buzzing and relentless noise this car generates is drowned out and all you're left with is the experience you expected to have in first place. I actually drove this thing way better once I stopped being so distracted by all the racket it makes.
Above is a taste of what the road that I live on looks like. That stretch of tarmac shown looks gnarly, but you don't get a sense of how epically bad it is until you've driven it in the Z. It's like getting punched in the chin by Mike Tyson and watching Shrek Forever After in 3-D, both at the same time. After getting my bones jolted from their sockets during my first few passes, I learned to take it real slow over that patch. Like, barely moving slow.
Otherwise, the Z was a blast. Exceptionally controlled, with superb handling. Just watch out for the rough spots.
Wrap-Up
It was a big deal when the Z-car came back from the dead in 2002.
The Z-car has been one of the great constants of the American road since 1970, when it single-handedly grabbed us all by the lapels and made us take Japanese cars seriously. When the recession of the early 1990s took its toll on sports car sales, Nissan couldn't make a business case for the Z-car anymore and ended the Z-car's presence in the U.S. in 1996 with a giant, full-throttle, multimedia sendoff on an outdoor stage at the Petersen Automotive Museum. It seemed like the end of a dream. Somewhere, Yutaka Katayama was weeping.
So we all celebrated when the 2002 Nissan 350Z appeared. Just as with the original Z, it signaled a sudden resurgence in Nissan's fortunes, not to mention those of the Japanese carmakers in general. And just as before, the Z-car quickly established itself as a real sports car that real people drive in the real world.
So with the appearance of the 2009 Nissan 370Z, we were practically at the factory door, waiting for the first one. While cars today are getting bigger, heavier, duller and blander, the Nissan 370Z remains true to the whole sports car deal. It's shorter, wider, lighter and powered by a 332-horsepower 3.7-liter V6 with variable valve timing and lift. It's a serious car, not just a stylish one.
When a new Z-car appears, it means something.
Why We Got It
By the time the 2009 model year rolled around, we were ready for a new Z-car. Ajay Panchal's geometric theme for the fifth-generation Z-car's bodywork had become a little familiar, and the interior's drama continued to be undercut by all that plastic. Even the VQ-Series 3.5-liter V6 now seemed a bit breathless.
The 2009 Nissan 370Z looked good to us. The styling work done by Nissan Design America's Randy Rodriguez had the same aggressive spirit as the Nissan GT-R and yet also recalled the original 240Z. The interior had the look of luxury instead of cost-effectiveness, including leather and suede trim, the Nissan navigation system that we like so much, and even iPod integration. Then there was the magic in Nissan's trick no-need-to-heel-and-toe technology for the manual transmission, SynchroRev Match. Plus the VQ-Series engine had 3.7 liters of displacement and a rev-happy nature, so we assumed it had become smoother as well as more powerful and fuel-efficient.
So with a new engine, more power, class-leading interior refinement and a crazy technological aid to help us optimize our driving skills, we eagerly made room in the garage for a 2009 Nissan 370Z Touring with the Sport package and navigation. The MRSP came to $40,320.
We assumed that we'd embrace this high-performance dream car even in a world of stop-and-go traffic, concrete freeways and potholes. And freeway hop, don't forget that. Plus noisy rain grooves in the concrete. Did we mention freeways? Well, you know what they say about assumptions.
Durability
You know the goal of a long-term road test: 20,000 miles.
We keep tabs on our long-term cars throughout the year, making sure they are on track for 20,000 miles when it's time to tear off the 12th page of the calendar. Yet even with rigorous attention and some last-minute road-tripping, we just couldn't do it. This 2009 Nissan 370Z left our offices with 18,755 miles on the odometer, a full 1,245 miles shy of our goal.
So what went wrong? We were certainly taken with the new interior, including the door inserts, cool gear-indicator display, supportive seats and Bose stereo with great iPod integration.
Well, how about road noise? As Executive Editor Michael Jordan noted, "About 90 minutes of driving at a time proved to be as much as I could stand. It's the tire roar. It's bad enough when you're driving on asphalt, but the grooved concrete of freeways in Southern California really makes this car a penalty box on any kind of real trip. And it's not the tires themselves; it's the lack of acoustic refinement from the car. It makes the 2009 Nissan 370Z seem like a cross between a dump truck and a National Guard Humvee. As near as I can remember it, the 350Z was a whisper-quiet limousine in comparison."
And another editor said, "This is a sports car, so why doesn't it sound like one? And it's all well and good that the interior is nicer than a G37's, but why does it have more road noise than an '87 Pathfinder?!" Added Vehicle Testing Manager Mike Schmidt, "I don't remember the tire noise from our Nissan 370Z being so loud the last time I drove it. It's obnoxious. My ears were bleeding before I could crank the radio loud enough to drown out the tire drone."
And then again from that first guy, "And I like the Z-car. Seating position, ride quality, good navigation, satellite radio. And there'd be a good trip across the Coast Range at Coalinga and then a drive in the Santa Cruz mountains on Skyline and then down Page Mill when I get there, which is the whole reason for taking the Z-car in the first place. Then I thought about the sound of those tires filling the cabin on the trip up Interstate 5. Like being 50 feet from a cement truck for five hours. So I decided not to go at all."
Think we're just being whiny? We're not. The tire noise, apparently, comes from less-than-ideal cabin-air extractors, and a fix for the problem is in the pipeline. Future 370Z owners, you're welcome.
But even when that's fixed, there is still the issue of engine noise: "The 3.7-liter V6 makes big power, but it sounds like a Frontier on steroids." And then there was this: "Good grief this car is noisy. I know we keep going on about it, but there's really not much else to dislike about this car — but it's damn near a deal-breaker. The solution? Loud music. Really, really loud music."
Of course, there were some holdouts who talked a great game about the Z-car's freeway persona, but when push came to shove, they ultimately passed on road-tripping the Z with any frequency. Still, they put in their comments: "Do you not remember the noisiness that was the 240Z, the original RX-7 or the Porsche 944 S2 Turbo? Of course you don't.... But let's not put the Nissan engineers and product planners on high alert to dumb down the 2009 Nissan 370Z. Some of us like it just the way it is." Another said, "This is a fantastic car. Don't let others convince you it's too loud and too rough. This is a sports car, a man's sports car, and after driving it those 500 miles this week I'm convinced that the 370Z is just right how it is. If the NVH levels aren't to your liking, dig around in your purse and pull out some ear plugs, but don't ask Nissan to neuter one of the final remaining sports cars that is actually tuned for the male of the species."
No matter which side of the acoustic question our editors took, it's fair to say that we were all surprised that the 370Z spent 13 days out of service, nine of them devoted to replacing a broken transmission (including the clutch) after it got stuck in gear.
Moreover, editors Dan Edmunds and Mike Magrath also replaced the front brake rotors and pads. And the car spent a few days out of the rotation having the bumper repaired from a failed parking attempt. Oh, and a couple of times the key failed to work. And the kick panel fell off and was replaced under warranty. And also the aftermarket oil cooler, highly recommended for aggressive driving, started to leak and required replacement.
Total Body Repair Costs: $994.69
Total Routine Maintenance Costs (over [12] months): $489.93
Additional Maintenance Costs: None
Warranty Repairs: 3
Non-Warranty Repairs: 0
Scheduled Dealer Visits: 2
Unscheduled Dealer Visits: 3
Days Out of Service: 13
Breakdowns Stranding Driver: 1
Performance and Fuel Economy
At the end of the day, the 2009 Nissan 370Z is a sports car and as much as we were bothered by the noises, some people will be able to wave them off with a simple, "It's a sports car!" End of discussion.
Fuel economy was acceptable from this type of car that was doomed to spend most of its life being flogged daily in L.A. traffic, producing an average of 18.7 mpg with a best of 24.4 mpg. These results, however, are notably lower than the 21 mpg combined and 26 mpg highway rating that the EPA guidelines suggest — apparently your mileage may vary with driving style and circumstance. As it turns out, our one effort of 24.4 mpg was isolated, and no other in the range of 24 mpg was ever recorded. Meanwhile, our tank of 13.2 mpg was joined by many other similar results. It's a reminder that you make power with gasoline. For lots of power, add lots of gasoline. What do you expect? It's a sports car!
When it came to test this Z-car at the end of its time with us, brake performance proved to be an issue. During its initial test when it joined the fleet, the 370Z came to a stop from 60 mph in a scant 105 feet, a result that was easily repeatable. At the end of its year with us, the Z-car was hard-pressed to record a 110-foot stop — mostly a matter of worn tires. But more important, we experienced a couple of stops in which the braking distance inexplicably lengthened to first 130 feet and then 140 feet. And then afterward, the stopping distance was in the normal range around 110 feet. Our test driver said, "As with a previous 370Z test, I experienced some sort of loss in braking (hydraulic pressure? boost? ABS?) from plus/minus 40 mph to a stop. It felt as if only 70 percent of the normal braking [effect] was [available]. Spooky!"
On the other hand, acceleration is just 0.2 second slower than before, as it turned a 5.4-second run to 60 mph from a standstill (5.2 seconds with 1 foot of rollout like on a drag strip). The quarter-mile performance also proved just the same, as it did 13.7 seconds at 103.1 mph. Our driver did notice, however, that an increased amount of driving effort was required to get these numbers.
The Z-car went through our handling performance in much the same way, achieving much the same results with a bit more driver skill required. It went through the slalom at 70.9 mph (1.1 mph slower), yet circled the skid pad at 0.97g (an improvement of 0.3g; skid pads like bald tires). And our test driver complained, "The worn rear tires have changed this car from trustworthy to twitchy at the limit."
Best Fuel Economy: 24.4 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 13.2 mpg
Average Fuel Economy: 18.7 mpg
Best Available Cruising Range: 417.3
Retained Value
Depreciation for the 2009 Nissan 370Z ended up on the high side, which is what you might expect for a sports car in this market, and it lost approximately 31 percent of its value at the end of our test according to the Edmunds' TMV® calculator. Compare this with some of our previous sporty toys, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo MR and the Subaru WRX STI, which lost 22 and 24 percent, respectively.
True Market Value at service end: $27,710
Depreciation: $12,610 or 31% of original paid price
Final Odometer Reading: 18,755
Summing Up
Track results and canyon blasts are great, and so is reminiscing about the sports cars we grew up with. Unfortunately, times have changed. A car can't be a single-purpose machine and expect to go unchallenged for its lack of full-service friendliness. If you can't make a car that does mundane as well as it does Mulholland, you're out of the game with most buyers. And unfortunately the 2009 Nissan 370Z falls into that camp.
As Executive Editor Michael Jordan wrote in our logbook, "As much as we all like to pound our chest about sporting automobiles and posture about purity, even a sports car has to also be a car. It has to be able to take you where the roads are good, anyway. And in times where financial resources are spread thin, we're all going to find ourselves forced into appreciating cars with multidimensional personalities. Ironically, the 370Z has been designed to be a better car, not just a better sports car. But it shows you just how crucial even the small things can be, as who would expect that an oversight in the acoustic properties of the interior would play such an important role in this car's personality?"
If we're getting soft, just imagine how squishy those who don't devote their lives to driving performance cars have become. A few tweaks away from being an all-around great car, it's no surprise that our 2009 Nissan 370Z didn't meet our goal of 20,000 miles in a year.
The manufacturer provided Edmunds this vehicle for the purposes of evaluation.