NeilMH

Coupe parked in side street near town centre and roadster driving towards town centre from direction of river. I thought "that's a nice noise"... turned round to look...the roadster.

Agree with most of this. In design I believe they initially benchmarked the S2000 for the ideal shift but then realised that they wanted to have a much higher level of driveablity - so wanted an engine with much more torque at much lower revs - hence the need for a somewhat beefier box and operation - I personally think you do adapt to it over time - there is a bit of a knack to it. The one thing I would add is, given the current UK road surfaces, I would regard the balance between handling and ride quality of the 350Z to be very good. I think this is a very important factor to achieving road performance in the real world.

Exactly right. It may well be the the driver of the Vectra is deficient in the wedding tackle department and perhaps deserves our sympathy. Plus we would't want people racing Vauxhalls through Coulsdon, whatever the provocation. It might lead to a further diminution in property values.

I only do low mileage in the 350z......so They would have to pull my fingernails out one by one and then fill the wounds up with neat lemon juice and marmite before I would stop driving it. It may well be that this is being considered even as we speak.

I think my 350Z might feel somewhat undermodified by comparison with some of the other locals! The boat was pushed out somewhat just to buy it Hopefully I will, at the very least, make some of the Goodwood Breakfasts this year

Look forward to seeing you at a Surrey event some time. I'm hoping to go to my first before too long. Neil

You are clearly someone with great taste

Parked on a side road just off the Coulsdon Road.

I have had a number of convertibles. Yes - sunburn can be an issue - easily resolved My Elise roof never leaked (I had an aftermarket improved roof) - however my Westfield and Caterham 7 ones did - but I didn't care An Elise roof takes quite some time to put up The 350z roof has not leaked yet No-one has ever thrown anything in any of them No-one has yet made insulting comments at traffic lights - have had people smiling and waving though (but that might be different with another make of car!) Wind buffeting can be an issue in that it can be tiring on long journeys - but this varies enormously from one car to another - best to try them - I am sure Porkers and Audis would be ok on that front - 350z is good Greater level of noise can be tiring on long journeys - but again probably not with some of the cars you mention - the Elise was just about acceptable on that front - the 350 is a lot better The reason I keep buying them is more emotional/sensory (and whenever I can I have always put the roof down) To hear the noise! Greater feeling of it being an event The Mr Toad kinda "at one with the road" thing There are some days when you wish you hadn't but on an early summers morning heading through the tunnel and out into the sunlight on the A27 overlooking the sea it all seems worthwhile! Neil

I can only speak from experience (which differs from what the typical surveys say). I had an Alfasud Ti which only suffered from two problems in the 4 years I had it, which was a deterioration in the handbrake operation which was fixed under a recall and the early signs of some rust! In later years I had a 145 2.0 Green Cloverleaf for 2 years and had no problems with it. The thing people most mention nowadays seems to be electrical problems. That aside I would rank these two cars amongst the most enjoyable I ever had - the Alfasud for the handling and "feel" and the 145 for the engine alone. There is something else about them that is great but you can't quite put your finger on - maybe its the badge and the history. I recently tested a 147GTA with a Q2 Diff (which helps the torque steer issue significantly) and that was a hell of a car. Neil

350Z Roadster (Azure Blue - still have) Lotus Elise S1 (Nautilus Blue) Caterham 7 1.6 Supersport (Aztec Orange) Caterham 7 1.7 Supersprint (Green) Peugeot 1.9 Gti (Old Group N) (Grey) Westfield 1.7 Sei (Yellow) Toyota Corolla 1.3 auto (1992 - Red - still have!) Toyota Corolla 1.9 Diesel (went to my son-law who wrote it off) BMW 523iSE auto (for about 2 weeks - a disastrous buy - good car - wrong one) Nissan QX 3.0 auto (Silver) Alfa 145 2.0 Green Cloverleaf (Red) VW Polo 1.3 (White) Covers about 15 years I think - a bizarre collection on reflection.

Heading towards Hooley from the South