Kingman Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 Well thats 20 days completed in my 07 GT 313 Roadster, so I thought I would pass comment, negative and positve on my Zed ownership experience so far. In random order: Getting used to looks of the roadster with the hood up, still think its rather an ugly duckling, which turns into a beautiful swan when the roof comes off (only been able to do this once so far bause of the weather). Performance - feels swift without the kick in the back feeling of a turbo. Doesnt actually feel like 313bhp if I'm honest, but heh I havent pushed it by any means in what have been wet and cold conditions. Cabin quality and feel - driving position good, seats comfortable and supportive. Cabin quality, not great although I am comparing it with a V8 S-type Jag in which the interior quality was superb. On the plus side it hasnt felt cramped, its quiet at speed and I felt relaxed toady after a four hour 250 mile journey, so that cant be bad. Sat Nav - Style over substance... looks nice but not touch screen and doesnt accept postcodes grrrrr. Bose Unit - Sound quality good, radio frequency searching poor, seems to have great difficulty locating and then keeping Radio 2! Medium wave -5 live/talksport poor. Gearbox - feels notchy, especially changing down to second, but then I have spent 5 years with an automatic. Handbrake - hmmmmm, worried every night I leave it parked on my slopey drive and half expect it to be in the road when I wake up. Cruise control - couldnt get it to work on A1 today, must read manual! So in summary, jury's still out, but maybe I should leave my assessment until the summer, thats when a roadster comes into its own after all. Any one else feel similar or am I preaching to the smitten? Kingman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
varley16 Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 do agree with the second gear thing, mine feels nothcy and every know and then makes a clunk noise as it goes in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATTAK Z Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 You've made some good points there .......... but wait for some good weather - take it up through the gears with the top down .............. have a listen (especially if you've got a decent zorst) .... need I say more ? I'm sure you'll love it in the end The Zed was so good sonorously and performance wise, I passed on a 911 as a replacement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dgrooky Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 iev had the 370 roadster now 10 months,done just over 2000 miles,and from day one 2nd gear have allways been clunky.i thought must be a zed thing.only happens with the sinc rev off.still a brill car tho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 19, 2011 Share Posted January 19, 2011 In random order: Getting used to looks of the roadster with the hood up, still think its rather an ugly duckling, which turns into a beautiful swan when the roof comes off (only been able to do this once so far bause of the weather). agreed; it looks like a ford KA Performance - feels swift without the kick in the back feeling of a turbo. Doesnt actually feel like 313bhp if I'm honest, but heh I havent pushed it by any means in what have been wet and cold conditions. it will never feel quick; power delivery with the V6 is very linear; but it is deceptive; you can be pootling along at what you thought was 60 when actually its 90 etc Cabin quality and feel - driving position good, seats comfortable and supportive. Cabin quality, not great although I am comparing it with a V8 S-type Jag in which the interior quality was superb. On the plus side it hasnt felt cramped, its quiet at speed and I felt relaxed toady after a four hour 250 mile journey, so that cant be bad. cabin material choice was a hugh issue and amny will agree. i loathed the rubber dimple dash on my old zed Sat Nav - Style over substance... looks nice but not touch screen and doesnt accept postcodes grrrrr. most who have it will tell you it isnt worth the extra cash and an aftermarket unit is far better Bose Unit - Sound quality good, radio frequency searching poor, seems to have great difficulty locating and then keeping Radio 2! Medium wave -5 live/talksport poor. its a clarion unit re badged as a bose; dont let the fancy bose badge deceive you Gearbox - feels notchy, especially changing down to second, but then I have spent 5 years with an automatic. the gear box is a proper manly shift, needs to be done with a bit of grunt. i loved the gear box, nice short rifle bolt action Handbrake - hmmmmm, worried every night I leave it parked on my slopey drive and half expect it to be in the road when I wake up. always left mine in gear, never trust handbrakes on any car Cruise control - couldnt get it to work on A1 today, must read manual! if i remember rightly; activate cruise then push up on the cruise arrow, and it should be set. Kingman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfman Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Spot on rich i'm glad it's bnot jsut me that thinks the convertable zeds look like ford ka's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeilMH Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 The zed is a very good GT cruiser, eats miles with ease and has plenty of grunt for overtaking or pulling away with out always having to drop a gear. although very heavy the zed can hold her own on the track but to be properly competetive she does need a big diet and a full race overhaul. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I fully agree that it looks worse with the roof up, the sunny days make it all worthwhile though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big.h Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 anyone else think its hard to heel and toe in a z? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 anyone else think its hard to heel and toe in a z? i couldn't, i have a dodgy ankle and just could not get my foot across, even with the 380z pedal upgrade, the brake pedal is too high in comparison to the loud pedal. you can adjust the brake pedal to lower it but i hear its an arse ache to do. very fiddly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vik54 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 anyone else think its hard to heel and toe in a z? Is nigh on impossible to do - but a Nismo 380RS pedal helps - there's even one for sale here http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=44421 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demolition49 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Cruise control - couldnt get it to work on A1 today, must read manual! if i remember rightly; activate cruise then push up on the cruise arrow, and it should be set. Kingman Im pretty sure its down to Set your cruise control, where as up is to resume the speed you set your cruise at previously... if you put your foot down to overtake or something (After turning it on of-course) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Cruise control - couldnt get it to work on A1 today, must read manual! if i remember rightly; activate cruise then push up on the cruise arrow, and it should be set. Kingman Im pretty sure its down to Set your cruise control, where as up is to resume the speed you set your cruise at previously... if you put your foot down to overtake or something (After turning it on of-course) more than likely i haven't driven a zed in 8 months so memory is a bit hazey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 So in summary, jury's still out, but maybe I should leave my assessment until the summer, thats when a roadster comes into its own after all. Kingman This. Get in its natural habitat with some dry roads and you'll be laughing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big.h Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 anyone else think its hard to heel and toe in a z? Is nigh on impossible to do - but a Nismo 380RS pedal helps - there's even one for sale here http://www.350z-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=44421 might get one when ive got some more cash, the only time i can heel and toes succesfully is under very harsh braking. other than that as said the brake pedal is way to high above the accelerator, my old civic type r was perfect for heel and toeing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garetgax Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Well weve had ours for a week and Ive driven it twice. The long drive being an hour or so home. My first thoughts are as follows bearing in mind Im comparing it to a 400/400 sprint classic impreza with a 2.5 in it. Interior is nice although the speedo position isnt great and the stupid sensor under the seat issu gave me a scare not impressed with that little design feature. Stereo (bose has been removed so no issue there ) Handling nicely planted although a bit bouncy as its sitting on lowering springs and not full coilovers (something I think ill have to resolve soonish) Power delivery. Comfortable but not rocketship quick but comments on it being deceptive are quite true. The 2 biggest pluses to me though are the look of the car when its just sat. I could sit there all day and drool. The noise......................when you floor it (quite difficult to do and stay within the law) its just amazing. Wierd thing though is on deceleration and downshift the lack of noise/overrun. Gearbox first and second very tight especially first unless your almost at a standstill but the box itself is better than my impreza 6 speed. Nice and tight and very short distance of travel. Brakes seem ok but nothing to rave over. All in all very happy with the new motor and cant wait to drive it a bit more especially once it drys out a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollyranchers Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Glad you like it , you need a D1 Spec throttle controller in your life now My car feels broken without it when turned off, gives the zed more of a punchier feel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
remould Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 I'm absolutely chuffed with my JDM Although it's an auto I've had it sideways a number of times and I haven't felt too worried. Went for a 500+miles to Cornwall over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. One of the main problems is that you need iron willpower in order to avoid every **** who wants to race. I'd love to have cruise and deffo want to get shot of the BOSE system as it has no MP3 facility,I mean,who still has tapes ?and even a 6 CD deck is very limiting today. Overall I'm very,very pleased with it and go for a spin every chance I get ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
im00 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 ...and the stupid sensor under the seat issue gave me a scare not impressed with that little design feature. What is this "issue" please? I'm picking mine up at the weekend and could do without any "scares" on the way home just as I'm getting used to it. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivebyabuser Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 I have had mine a couple of months now and it seems that the same gripes and plusses come up the whole time. I agree that it is deceptively fast and have found myself out of the bounds of the law a couple of time (a day!) I can forgive, in fact i kind of like a slightly shabby interior and pants radio - it has a Japanese charm all of its own. My main problem is the heavy clutch and general weightyness of the machine; I have been using it as my daily driver and sitting in traffic its a bit of a dog. I can see why so many have it as a second car. In its element its brilliant, but around town my missus' 1series bimmer diesel beats it hands down for real world speed and driveability. I knew it was a proper car that you had to make allowances for and i shouldn't be surprised. Fuel consumption is an issue too but i didnt expect any different. Worthwhile purchase? Park next to an audi tt like i did last night and its worth all the gripes and pain. Find a nice bit of b-road and 16mpg just fades into insignificance. Sneek a peak out the window at it and try not to grin. Cant wait to play with it on my first track day in the summer...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Heel and toe is easy, those who can't do it in a Zed have deformed legs :lol: A 380RS pedal does help tho... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BACON Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Worthwhile purchase? Park next to an audi tt like i did last night and its worth all the gripes and pain. Find a nice bit of b-road and 16mpg just fades into insignificance. Sneek a peak out the window at it and try not to grin. Cant wait to play with it on my first track day in the summer...... I must admit when I was looking to purchase this motor it was between the Zed, a TT or perhaps a S2000; I see Rich has moved towards the S2000 in the last few months. In the end I fell for the Zed head over heels; the looks are just amazing and yes I do look out of the windown from time to time just to check I'm not dreaming and that really is my Zed in the driveway; grin appears everytime!!!! Even got caught by the neighbour once as she thought I was smiling at her whilst she walking the dog.......that was slightly embarrasing!!! The other day I was stationary sat at the lights beside a TT and although I do still think the new shape TT's are lovely looking, perhaps more a motor for my 'Mrs'!!! The scary thing is the fuel consumption; drive the Zed every day to work (round trip of 55 miles); seems like I stop at the petrol garage almost daily on the way home at the moment.......wishing for the warm weather just to try to increase the MPG.......but heyhoe still love my Zed to pieces and cannot imagine owning anything else now!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Thanks to the Zeds petrol consumption, I now nearly know the staff rota at my local Shell garage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cesc Posted January 26, 2011 Share Posted January 26, 2011 I bought a Zed for better fuel consumption I was getting 11mpg from my RX-8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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