sipar69

2008-2014 unmodified Nissan 370Z "putt putt sneeze.......disappointing wet fart noise".

Hard to know what hurts more - damage to wallet or damage to pride

Agreed - I was lucky really to get a lesson that didn't cost anything!

I have a suspicion that if you make a mistake in a sporty looking car people tend to be a bit less forgiving. I've no evidence for it - just a feeling...

This is all making me feel much better!

I like to think I’m a responsible if not hugely experienced driver but I made a very basic error the other day which nearly resulted in what I expect would have been an expensive and embarrassing prang. Our road is quite close to the centre of Twickenham but very quiet. At the end of the road there’s a T junction, but only the right hand road actually goes anywhere. The road on the left has a dead end with just four or five houses on either side. Consequently, it’s very rare that anyone is driving from that side across the junction with our road, although I always usually check before turning. On Saturday we came back from a nice lunch and I wanted to turn round at the end of the road. For some reason I totally failed to look left only to be greeted with a blaring horn and a very annoyed driver as I nearly got sideswiped by a people carrier. This would have been a very low speed incident so I doubt anyone would have been hurt, but I felt a right twonk for making such a basic error (and nearly gaining a very nasty dent in my Z). The guy was not happy at all but seemed to accept the apology I gladly offered since it was totally my fault. Anyway, not a great deal of point to this post except to relay that I think I had a valuable lesson reinforced about doing the basic observations, no matter how unlikely it is to see anyone coming down the road! Anyone else made any driving mistakes they'd rather forget?

Sounds great. Feels great when your 370 sounds like it should. Enjoy. (I initially got redirected to some pervy webcam site - suggest you avoid that video hosting site in future).

Such 'good' driving that the moron in the Porsche hit someone else's car coming out of the roundabout.

I have already driven the Nismo, but no GT yet. The Nismo suspension was stiff, but it wasn't so much of a problem. The real issue for me was with the damping (or lack of?). The car was bouncing a couple of times over its spring each time I was driving over a bump, especially with this level of stiffness. If felt under damped if I'm correct. Now that wouldn't be so much of a problem with a soft sprung barge, but with firm springs I found this uncomfortable. I'm sure others will disagree with me, and fair enough I'm no specialist. Over than that I loved the car. If I could tune the suspension, I would probably consider one over the GT just for the sound it makes. always worth checking on any nismo you view... they often do not remove the transit spacers which are fitted in the front coil springs, most customers have taken delivery with these still fitted ! a slight oversight on the pdi Correct. If they get left in they definitely have an impact on the ride.

Of course (and you already know this, but we can role play ) that both context and tone are much more critical factors in the intent of the language a person uses, than the vocabulary itself. Which is why it's so tricky to have this type of discussion online, where as with a pint, face to face, I'm pretty sure we'd all be on the same page. Worked Example You come home from work and announce, "The breadwinner hast returned to the homestead. Fetch me a flagon of the frosty brew at once buxom wench, with a tray of your finest savoury treats and skimp not on the cleavage bearing". You could end up with either a cold one and some twiglets and a wry grin (on a good day) or a string of expletives and a wet head with a twiglet up your nose (on a bad one). Both would be totally reasonable responses Now in a meeting at work with an external 3rd party, if you were to say, "Be quiet dear wench, for the menfolk doth discusseth the number of guineas this here IT contract be worth, busy yourself with the tea making and biscuit wrangling". You'd be getting a P45 every time! Agreed, context is everything.

If the Nismo is on your list of possibilities DO NOT believe anything you read about the ride being too firm. It's not. I doubt you'll notice much difference between a GT Edition and GT pack in terms of ride comfort but others may be able to confirm.... (Edit) as Colin seems to confirm in his review.

I'm really quite bemused that anyone living in this country in this day and age doesn't realise that using that word is totally inappropriate, especially in a TV show seen by millions of people.

Happy Birthday

Some truly shocking abuse of the English language on that forum too.

The same could probably be said for people that own GTR's. Doubt it very much. I don't think most non car enthusiasts would have any idea what they are.

Ditto. Total buffoon who tries to appeal to the stereotypical 'bloke' by making deliberately controversial remarks.

Well never know but I'd imagine it's a higher percentage than that for whom the badge matters. For car enthusiasts Porsche is about quality, excellence etc. but I think there's a significant minority for whom there's a status symbol element.

It is not that those of us who like our Zs and don't want a Porsche hate them or don't think they're good cars etc etc, it's simply that we're happy with our cars, irrespective of the fact that they don't have a 'premium' badge. That's what these threads celebrate in my view - being happy with your car regardless of the badge and in preference to more prestigious badges. And noticing that sometimes our cars get more attention than their more expensive counterparts. As far as I can see no one has suggested that Nissan is a brand that equates to or has a similar prestige to Porsche. The fact is I'm proud to own a Nissan because I'm proud to own the car I own and it happens to have a Nissan badge on it. To be honest I could have afforded a Cayman S but it's just not a car I want to own. I couldn't care less that Nissan make some cheap and pig ugly cars (I think Porsche make some expensive and pig ugly cars). I'm also happy to own a car that comes from the same maker as the 350Z, previous Zs and the GTR.

Or any other reason ?????? Sorry this made me chuckle. Your avatar picture is..................... The biggest killer of song birds in the world a fluffy pussy cat. :lol: Or any other reason ?????? Sorry this made me chuckle. Your avatar picture is..................... The biggest killer of song birds in the world a fluffy pussy cat. :lol: That's what you think. My cat Sonny is so fat, fluffy and lazy he couldn't catch a cold!

I made the mistake of heading down to the local Homebase yesterday without realising the traffic would be much worse than usual due to the Tube strike. As a result I spent a lot of time stationary. It was the first time I'd had chance to notice just how much attention the car gets. Pretty much every bloke in the traffic going in the other direction (and a good few pedestrians) was turning to have a good look. Same thing happened in the Homebase car park where the blokes hanging around at the resident bacon sarnie van all had a good stare. I reckon a lot of these people were probably wondering what make the car was. Personally I like having something that's not common on the road and gets positive attention. I'm also entirely happy with in being a Nissan. They make the Z - a sports car with a historic lineage and loyal following, as well as one of the fastest and most talked about cars in the world today - the GTR. It's hardly a brand to be ashamed of. Oh and there's a new model Cayman in our road. Wheels had been badly kerbed within a few weeks of ownership and it's so dirty all the time that it's starting to look very unloved. My car cost less and doesn't have the posh badge but gets treated a hundred times better

If you decide to get a a Halfords cover I reckon the large one will be the right size, as you have a spoiler. I know Halfords is a dirty word to some people but I've found their cover to be pretty good (although the straps for securing the cover aren't great - I secure the cover by tying the straps to my alloys). http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_895467_langId_-1_categoryId_165611

Car cover is definitely the answer. I've been using a Halfords one on my Nismo for about six months - works a treat - just need to make sure the car is clean before you put it on. Just FYI, the large cover only just fits so medium may well be too small. Oh and anyone who would kill birds just for crapping on a car is a moron.

My understanding is: GT Edition Retuned dampers Increased noise insulation Dark 19inch Rays Reversing camera (not sure if this is now standard on the GT pack - it didn't used to be) I believe if you get the GT pack now you get revised shocks. Other changes in the latest models are red callipers, daytime running lights, revised front-end, redesigned Rays. Two new colours as well - a dark blue and red.

I'm not a Porsche fan but looks very smart. Sorry to hear you never got the Z back. Thievin' gits!

I expect if he'd got it back he'd have been on to tell us.