Thursday 9th August 2012

PH Blog: joy of specs

Nissan puts money where its mouth is; gives us 328hp for less than £30K

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The amount of extra kit some press offices load on their vehicles you wonder sometimes how they manage to haul themselves into the PH car park. Fair enough you might say - manufacturers want to showcase the gadgets and gizmos you can spec your car up with, even if it's not representative of what a punter would choose.

Yours for less than £30K - amazing

But assessing a £30K car as a £30K car when it's got half as much again added on top in options isn't perhaps the most level of playing fields. There's a game being played here of course and the German brands - Audi most notably - are masters at quietly speccing press cars up in the hope of scoring an extra mark or two in that all-important group test. Indeed, the gap between real-world cars people actually buy and the press fleet ones we get to drive can be staggering.

When these cars do occasionally surface in approved used fleets that does potentially make them something of a bargain though, assuming you can balance the fact it's been through hordes of over-excitable hacks and led a life that would leave even the most abused holiday rental feeling like it got off lightly.

A lot of blank switches but 328hp, RWD and an LSD

Credit then to Nissan then for adding this 370Z to its fleet. This is a true baseline price car, with not a single extra, a lot of blanked out switches and a bottom line price of a smidge under £30K. Symbolic perhaps but 328hp for £29,975 has to make it an all time hp per £ bargain.

This is a car with a mission though, and you have to admire the Nissan press office's single-minded attempt to rain on the parade of its homegrown rivals over at Toyota and Subaru. Because the sole purpose of this car is to gatecrash grouptests featuring the GT 86 and/or BRZ and attempt to subvert the message that it's not all about horsepower. The 370Z very much is about horsepower and for just a couple of grand more than your typical Toyobaru press car exerts a very powerful force - an additional 128hp of force to be precise - on corruptible hacks. The Zee is a blunt tool compared with the BRZ or GT 86. But blunt tools have a habit of being rather effective too. Is it enough though? Stay tuned!

Dan

[DanDC5]

What's the standard spec out of curiosity? Pointless test against the BRZ/GT86 if it doesn't even have the same spec as the other 2.

[HokumPokum]

I think the rev matching manual gearbox is a big attraction and they won't give it away as a single option.

[mk1chopper]

http://www.nissan.co.uk/#vehicles/sports-cars/370z...

[IAJO]

I like both these but running costs will be worlds apart even if the purchase price isnt. I have only ever seen 1 370z but quite a few 350z which I would imagine is due to rising fuel prices and the 2006 hike in tax.

[MIP1983]

+ £815 of showroom tax I'm guessing?

[RudeDog]

The Article said:

328hp for £29,975 has to make it an all time hp per £ bargain.

This works out at £91.39 per HP (more useful a number to use as a comparison than the hp per £)

After a quick flick through some car specs, I'm afraid the Proton Satria-Neo 1.6 GSX 3-door beats it at £76.53 per hp (Costs £8,495 and has 111hp)

Can anyone do any better?

[Flewis]

Now if only Toyobaru will release the back to basics version:

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/25155.htm

I would be very tempted at that price point. Currently my old 924S wins on bang for buck.

[BuzzLightyear]

DanDC5 said:

What's the standard spec out of curiosity? Pointless test against the BRZ/GT86 if it doesn't even have the same spec as the other 2.

Well, it's got a decent V6 up front for a start... Gives it a fairly convincing advantage IMO (although I might be slightly biased )

[Dan Trent]

RudeDog said:

This works out at £91.39 per HP (more useful a number to use as a comparison than the hp per £)

After a quick flick through some car specs, I'm afraid the Proton Satria-Neo 1.6 GSX 3-door beats it at £76.53 per hp (Costs £8,495 and has 111hp)

Can anyone do any better?

Well done that man! Any offers?

And in answer to the original point a quick scan of the basic specs indicates:

[Dan Trent]

BuzzLightyear said:

Well, it's got a decent V6 up front for a start... Gives it a fairly convincing advantage IMO (although I might be slightly biased )

There is the small matter of that too of course!

Oh, and if size matters to you the Z gets 18-inch wheels over the Toyobaru's standard 17s.

[TinyCappo]

so apart fro mthe Bose stereo and the rev matching manual shifter which if your clever with your feet you can pretty much mimic for £29k its a bargain.

[300bhp/ton]

DanDC5 said:

What's the standard spec out of curiosity? Pointless test against the BRZ/GT86 if it doesn't even have the same spec as the other 2.

Not really. If you have a budget to stick too, you simply trade in and out options as much as you would entire cars.

[DanDC5]

Dan Trent said:

Well done that man! Any offers?

And in answer to the original point a quick scan of the basic specs indicates:

What is there on the options list that anyone actually needs then? Everything I'd need personally is there as standard, and a few bits I don't.

[BuzzLightyear]

I also think the Z looks better than the Toyobaru and although that's a subjective matter, I don't think there will be many customers in this market who will ignore aesthetic appeal.

I'd be interested to know how the quality of interiors (materials) compare. Anyone?

[Valkirk]

You'd never have to pay list for one of these anyway.

The base version can be had for £27,073 from Drivethedeal and if you want the syncro rev control along with the other bits in the GT then £30,010

[sideways sid]

Valkirk said:

You'd never have to pay list for one of these anyway.

The base version can be had for £27,073 from Drivethedeal and if you want the syncro rev control along with the other bits in the GT then £30,010

Haven't checked the 370 but the 350GT used to give electric leather seats, Bose stereo and SatNav instead of an unsightly plastic box, for c.£3k over the base model.

That £30k GT sounds like the one to have.

[RevOne]

I wouldnt think someone that was in the market for a 1200kg handling orientated Toyburu would be in the market for a 1500kg power horse 370Z and vice versa. One is a no frills entry sports car whereas the other is a more mature GT car.

This is my opinion obviously but anyone out there actually considering buying one of these care to give their opinion?

[Dan Trent]

DanDC5 said:

What is there on the options list that anyone actually needs then? Everything I'd need personally is there as standard, and a few bits I don't.

IIRC the main options on the BRZ/GT 86 are posher seats, metallic paint and the respective nav systems.

And, RevOne, consider the 370Z in this case the devil's advocate for power above all else.

[IAJO]

As great as the z is who buys them. At least the gt86/brz can still appeal to the family man or women as you can get kids in, not too thirsty and sporty looking. For the purist they handle well providing lightweight rw thrills on a budget without sacrificing too much convenience.

The z on the other hand too expensive to run for the young, not enough seats for a family, maybe too costly for a commuter and not as lively as other two seaters like boxter etc. Hasnt got the badge of bmw, merc, porsche or audi. Its a great car but I just dont see a target market for them sadly.

[Captain Muppet]

PH said:

an additional 128hp of force to be precise

That's you being precise is it?

Every time you publish something like that God kills a baby engineer.