So today I finally said good bye to my Zed, and with it two and half years of owning what has been a genuinely brilliant car. As such, I thought it might be nice to look back on my time with the car and the direction I took it, along with the highs and lows of ownership. Probably going to be a long thread, so go grab a hot drink or something to keep you going
After I'd finally decided that I could no longer live with my VXR220 any more in late 2007, I started to look for a new car. It had to be a convertible, it had to be RWD, and it had to be fun. My first test was in an S2000 and whilst I loved the drive and the engine, it simply wasn't comfortable for the larger gentleman and besides which I like my torquey engines. Previous to buying the VXR I'd already tried an early 350Z ragtop and enjoyed it, so that was my next stop. Within minutes of dropping the roof (in January!) and hearing the exhaust note, I knew that I was going to get one. I joined here and did a little research, and then found a mint MY06 GT Roadster in Azure Blue that was a Nissan dealership manager's car up for grabs with just 7K miles on the clock, and so in February 2008 I became the proud owner of OX06 JYY for the princely sum of £24000. A relative bargain back then, trust me!
The whole package appealed to me really. I've never owned a traditionally good looking car so the awkwardness of the Zed with the roof up appealed to me, although clearly with the roof down it has far more appeal. The engine had the torque I craved and the extra couple of cylinders I needed, and I'd never owned an FR car before either so it was going to be fun to learn something different. The interior was a huge jump from the VXR and so I loved it, with heated seats and cruise control and an impressive stereo. In short, there was no real part of the car I hated.
Of course, if you own a car you must mod it, and I carried that rule on here! I'd already purchased a Popcharger before I bought the car, so that was the first thing on and it gave me such a more purposeful engine note that it was worth every penny and possibly the best mod I ever did. Over the course of ownership I spent a good few pounds on other mods, some worthwhile and some not so. The more successful ones were the Summit bracing kit, the Alpine iPod compatible head unit and of course putting some quality rubber on there in the form of Michelin PS2s. Some not so successful ones like the K1 exhaust (too loud for track) and some OEM wheels (too heavy for track) came along as well. If I had to do it all again and could pick just six mods to do (three performance, three aesthetic) then I would choose:
- Michelin PS2s
- Summit bracing
- Performance Friction front discs and their pads all round
- Alpine head unit
- Gloss black Rays
- Redline leather gear gaitor and handbrake cover
I did numerous track days in the car at Anglesey, Bedford, Woodbridge and of course my first trip to the 'Ring! One of the highlights was at Anglesey in October '08 when it was torrential rain, which far from being a PITA became a great leveller of performance: A couple of friends of mine brought along their brand-new Exige S shod with 048s, however because they had no front end grip I was able to drive circles round them in the Zed on PS2s, and it's not often you can say that a 350Z is faster on track than an Exige! Of course on dryer tracks the Zed was getting left behind, but what it lacked in track pace was made up for in sheer fun. There was so much feedback from the car that you could put it exactly where you wanted it to be, and although it took a few grand in mods to get it to that point it was worth every penny when it worked.
It wasn't always fun though. I had my fair share of issues with the car, although nothing too expensive or disastrous may I add! The first troubles were with the Rays bubbling, however Nissan didn't quibble and replaced them all for me under warranty. It is at this point that I should point out just how brilliant my local dealer was throughout my ownership. Some do get slagged off, but Glyn Hopkin in Bishop's Stortford, Herts were never anything less than amazing. They always fought my corner (like when I stuck a sticker over the rear towing eye cover, pulled the sticker off a day later and it took the paint with it! Covered under warranty!) and were always ready to chat and more importantly listen to what I wanted them to do. Always professional, I would take any of my cars back there to get work done. They were a great help when I had some clutch issues in Le Mans this year, when I believed that my slave cylinder was about to go. I rang them to ask advice, they called me back (in France, don't forget) and booked the car in for when I got home. They listened to my diagnosis and did what I asked them to do, and even when I was wrong they didn't get snotty and worked with me to get the master cylinder changed as well for what was a more than fair price. That kind of service is worth its weight in gold.
And then I got the itch. And that's when I bought the 911.
Stripping the Zed was a weird experience, and not for the good. After driving it bone stock (minus the brakes which I left on there) I wasn't impressed. The '06 airbox might give you 3 extra ponies, but you'll feel like you've lost 20bhp after the noise of the Popcharger. Without the bracing the car fidgets and jiggles and the steering is heavy and numb, and the Bose might be loud but without iPod control it's like a dinosaur. Despite all that, I know that it's still a great car and in truth it's just proved to me that every mod I made that I thought was great, really was. It made a good car great, and that's what sensible modding should be all about. In the end I got a measly £10500 as trade in on the 911, which is book price for an average condition 350Z Roadster and is still peanuts. I'm sure I could've got £13K all day long for a car that had only done 32K miles, but time wasn't on my side so I took the hit.
That's my favourite photo of my car, taken in Le Mans town centre in 2008. That was the first time I'd ever put stickers on a car, and I think it looked awesome. I guess the big question is would I ever buy another one? Well, if we're talking a Roadster then no, I wouldn't. I don't go back to cars and even if I did the Zed is too compromised structurally and dynamically by having the roof lopped off. As a coupe I find them a bit dull to drive as stock as you just can't hear the engine, and yet if I were buying again that's exactly what I'd buy. A nice HR coupe in Temper Orange and then I'd strip it down to nothing and use it as a track car. It might not be that fast, but by god would it be fun and that is exactly what Zed ownership is. It's a fun car that wears its heart on its sleeve, and is all the better for it. Nissan, I salute you for having the balls to make a car that drivers want to drive, and not just look at.
