RE: Nissan 370Z Nismo - it's official!

[glazbagun]

JuniorJet said:

Maybe I was being brash with the "too slow" statement - I can take that back, it is quick - but at what cost?
-comfort
-image
-usability
Could you ever turn up to a business meeting in this?? or go out for dinner at a fancy restaurant?? would your girlfriend ever sit in the car with you/forgive you for buying it/break up with you??

You know you're on a forum for car enthusiasts, right?

[Parsnip]

JuniorJet said:

Could you ever turn up to a business meeting in this?? or go out for dinner at a fancy restaurant?? would your girlfriend ever sit in the car with you/forgive you for buying it/break up with you??

My 350Z has a Nismo zorst on it and is also bright orange. It has been to business meetings, fancy restaurants (althought it had to wait outside) and my girlfriend sits in it with no issues (and even on occasion drives it) - she likes the heated seats but does not like the fact you can only see the speedo needle at 120mph.

Would I buy the Nismo 370Z? No. I would buy a second hand GTR.

[ADM06]

otolith said:

There's "not such a looker", and there's "MY EYES MY EYES OH MY GOD MY EYES".

The thing has no nose, even the ugliest person on the planet has a nose.
The new 1 series hatch may not be a looker either but they still sell the 135i coupe in the old shape, starting at £32k.

[The Hypno-Toad]

Here's the thing.

If you had that kind of your own money lying around at the current time, you might start walking towards the Nissan showroom but at the last minute you'd pick up your smartphone and start looking at second hand Boxsters. When it was your own money, most people on this site would.

I have driven the current 370z quite a bit and it is too hard on the ride, too heavy and its fuel consumption is ridiculous in the current market place (spirited driving = 18.0mpg, motorway = 24.0.).

I respect if you are a Nissan fan and can't stretch to a GTR, then I can see how this would be the car for you. But how many Nissan fans with the available cash are there out there?
To coin a colonial phrase and I don't mean this in a bad way, its a blue collar sports car and in the current market, those kind of buyers in the new car market are very few and far between.

But in six months time, I'm sure you'll get a very good deal on an ex-demonstrator.

Edited by The Hypno-Toad on Tuesday 12th February 10:43

[rajkohli81]

elementad said:

If stats are your bag then bare in mind that the 0-60 times quoted in this article are incorrect. They are actually 0-62 times and that the m135i manages the said times with a fantastic lightning speed auto box, which DOESN'T mean it's cheating, but I still maintain I'll bet they're (standard 370z and m135i) very similar in a straight line manual to manual.

Edited by elementad on Monday 11th February 18:23

I take your point re: 0-60 vs 0-62.. I dont think stats are the be all/end all, but we are talking about a performance car here and the post to which I replied was looking for a stats based answer.

IMHO, I think the M135i would be appreciably quicker than the Nismo 370Z and most buyers seem to be speccing the excellent 8 speed paddle shifter on the M135i.

The standard 370Z, which is only 16bhp shy of the Nismo, posted the following ...stats vs the M135i

0-60
5.4 vs 4.6

0-100
12.8 vs 11.4

30-70
4.7 vs 4.0

50-70
9.9 vs 6.8

What shocked me most was that the M135i figures are almost identical to the current M3!!

[rajkohli81]

otolith said:

M135i undoubtedly meets the rear drive and quicker requirement, but it's cheap for a reason - that reason being that it's an ugly 18 grand hatchback with a big engine stuffed in it. Not sure I could get past that, to be honest.

If it's all about the looks for you, then even I agree, the 1 series is hard to love, but to term it an 18k hatch with a big engine, is not true.

They seem to have engineered this one properly, the ride/handling is properly sorted and although I've not tracked one, the reviews are nothing short of excellent.

Any Nismo driver who has forked out £40k for the bragging rights to those 16 extra ponies and GTR brake fluid (LMAO), is gonna feel a little shortchanged when he gets spanked by a performance focussed hatch at £30k.

[ZesPak]

rajkohli81 said:

If it's all about the looks for you, then even I agree, the 1 series is hard to love, but to term it an 18k hatch with a big engine, is not true.

They seem to have engineered this one properly, the ride/handling is properly sorted and although I've not tracked one, the reviews are nothing short of excellent.

Any Nismo driver who has forked out £40k for the bragging rights to those 16 extra ponies and GTR brake fluid (LMAO), is gonna feel a little shortchanged when he gets spanked by a performance focussed hatch at £30k.

Hmm, seeing as the 1-series beats a lot of cars above it's price class, surely then you shouldn't buy anything else?

[elementad]

rajkohli81 said:

elementad said:

If stats are your bag then bare in mind that the 0-60 times quoted in this article are incorrect. They are actually 0-62 times and that the m135i manages the said times with a fantastic lightning speed auto box, which DOESN'T mean it's cheating, but I still maintain I'll bet they're (standard 370z and m135i) very similar in a straight line manual to manual.

Edited by elementad on Monday 11th February 18:23

I take your point re: 0-60 vs 0-62.. I dont think stats are the be all/end all, but we are talking about a performance car here and the post to which I replied was looking for a stats based answer.

IMHO, I think the M135i would be appreciably quicker than the Nismo 370Z and most buyers seem to be speccing the excellent 8 speed paddle shifter on the M135i.

The standard 370Z, which is only 16bhp shy of the Nismo, posted the following ...stats vs the M135i

0-60
5.4 vs 4.6

0-100
12.8 vs 11.4

30-70
4.7 vs 4.0

50-70
9.9 vs 6.8

What shocked me most was that the M135i figures are almost identical to the current M3!!

Well again, it depends on what stats you prefer quoting.
0-60 in 4.6 from some places with 100 in 12.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/coupes/112_090...

Thats a standard manual 370Z against BMWs trickery 8 speed automatic paddle shift in the M135i.

Dont think its going to be that much different enough for the Z driver to feel spanked.
Standard non GT version can be had list price for £27995 which is cheaper than the M135i.

As for value of the Nismo version, if it IS for sale for £40k then thats too much IMO although i think its a nice machine.

[rajkohli81]

ZesPak said:

Hmm, seeing as the 1-series beats a lot of cars above it's price class, surely then you shouldn't buy anything else?

No, it just makes a very compelling case for itself, that's all.

[otolith]

rajkohli81 said:

otolith said:

M135i undoubtedly meets the rear drive and quicker requirement, but it's cheap for a reason - that reason being that it's an ugly 18 grand hatchback with a big engine stuffed in it. Not sure I could get past that, to be honest.

If it's all about the looks for you, then even I agree, the 1 series is hard to love, but to term it an 18k hatch with a big engine, is not true.

They seem to have engineered this one properly, the ride/handling is properly sorted and although I've not tracked one, the reviews are nothing short of excellent.

Any Nismo driver who has forked out £40k for the bragging rights to those 16 extra ponies and GTR brake fluid (LMAO), is gonna feel a little shortchanged when he gets spanked by a performance focussed hatch at £30k.

Personally, I'm not that bothered by looks, although the 1-series is just wilfully hideous to an extent that even I would struggle to look past. I would be more bothered about the fact that I would be paying 30k for something substantially the same as the two-a-penny bottom of the range 1-series. Same objection to expensive hot hatches in general, and BMW M / Audi RS cars too - they look like bargains on the performance per pound front, but when you look at what the base models can be punted out for at a profit, the manufacturers are taking your pants down.

Good second hand buys, I just couldn't stomach paying up that much money for something with such prosaic roots.

[Andy ap]

like it, that front bumper instantly reminded me of the amuse S2000 so no bad thing.

[soad]

Tib said:

Those wheels are going to fall apart on our roads!

My first thought too.