GRM 240Z vs 350Z comparo

[threefittyzee]

wow.

Sorry about digging up the ancient thread, but just had to have a good laugh!

and I still never got that issue in the mail, dammit!

[hls30.com]

Hey man, You still got that AUDITT?

I had to have a laugh too!

Don't hate me because you have a great car that looks like a couple of other cars...

Will

[daddz]

three fifty z:

I have that issue and nothing new is learned there. In the meantime there was an interesting thread over on their message board concerning this very topic:

http://www.grmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=3492&highlight=

I also own one of each (first and last gen Z cars) although my first gen Z's were also not very respected in their day and two of my "240Z" friends scoff at the last of the S30's as not being "true" Z cars! It's funny because this attitude doesn't prevail in the MGB club and as a glaring example, another of my friends purchased a '77 MGB years ago and converted it to pre '68 MGB spec except the interior being the only clue. His MGB sports early chrome bumpers (the bodyshell being painstakingly modified) and has been fortified with lots of race goodies. When shown to the members of the MG car club it was welcomed with many smiles and compliments. Whilst I like the 240Z and it is a genuinely fun car to drive I still prefer the convenience of fuel injection, unless I were to own a true 240Z: the 240ZG in GP Maroon! In my opinion that would be the 240Z to own unless a Z432 were thrown in!

If you poke around the 350Z enough there alot of similarities in the way your 240Z and 350Z are assembled, for instance the factory is still using Koito headlights. At least we can experience the new and the old on any given day and that is a gift I wouldn't trade.

[bpilati]

A 350Z is a glorified G35 Coupe, while a 240Z is a.....well it's unique isn't it? No offense.

[bpilati]

three fifty z:

I have that issue and nothing new is learned there. In the meantime there was an interesting thread over on their message board concerning this very topic:

http://www.grmotorsports.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=3492&highlight=

I also own one of each (first and last gen Z cars) although my first gen Z's were also not very respected in their day and two of my "240Z" friends scoff at the last of the S30's as not being "true" Z cars! It's funny because this attitude doesn't prevail in the MGB club and as a glaring example, another of my friends purchased a '77 MGB years ago and converted it to pre '68 MGB spec except the interior being the only clue. His MGB sports early chrome bumpers (the bodyshell being painstakingly modified) and has been fortified with lots of race goodies. When shown to the members of the MG car club it was welcomed with many smiles and compliments. Whilst I like the 240Z and it is a genuinely fun car to drive I still prefer the convenience of fuel injection, unless I were to own a true 240Z: the 240ZG in GP Maroon! In my opinion that would be the 240Z to own unless a Z432 were thrown in!

If you poke around the 350Z enough there alot of similarities in the way your 240Z and 350Z are assembled, for instance the factory is still using Koito headlights. At least we can experience the new and the old on any given day and that is a gift I wouldn't trade.

And the 350Z has spark plugs, just like my Z; and two seats, and a steering wheel, and ......

We'll never know what the 350Z might have been had Mr Renault not waved the budget axe around at Nissan. The styling is NOT what was hoped for in the beginning, nor is this version the same as the initial concept.

[Hallowed]

I think the glaring issue with the 350Z is a lack of uniqueness. Its quite heavy (like most cars out today), shaped like an Audi TT, shares a platform with quite a few vehicles, has an average engine layout (what doesn't have a V6?), understeers, has cup holders, etc...

The mystique about classic sports cars is the compromises one must make to drive it. The appeal is the sheer exhiliration of driving it. A S30 does not feature power steering, has no ABS, traction control, airbags, or other electronic nannies telling you how to drive. In modern sports cars it always seems you feel isolated from the road, and the car itself determines when things are out of hand. It drives you, rather than you driving it. The early Z's had nothing to do with that. Just you, the car, and the road. And the sweet, sweet sound of a carbureted inline-six. And it is that purity which will always have myself preferring the classic Z to its newer counterpart.

[Gav240z]

The original concept was way uglier I actually like the 350z styling much more each time i see it. I much prefer them over the 300zx Z32 anyway.

[Gav240z]

I think the glaring issue with the 350Z is a lack of uniqueness. Its quite heavy (like most cars out today), shaped like an Audi TT, shares a platform with quite a few vehicles, has an average engine layout (what doesn't have a V6?), understeers, has cup holders, etc...

The mystique about classic sports cars is the compromises one must make to drive it. The appeal is the sheer exhiliration of driving it. A S30 does not feature power steering, has no ABS, traction control, airbags, or other electronic nannies telling you how to drive. In modern sports cars it always seems you feel isolated from the road, and the car itself determines when things are out of hand. It drives you, rather than you driving it. The early Z's had nothing to do with that. Just you, the car, and the road. And the sweet, sweet sound of a carbureted inline-six. And it is that purity which will always have myself preferring the classic Z to its newer counterpart.

I guess I feel the same way. It's been recently though when I've had less and less time that I can see why a brand new 350z is convenient. I mean it has all the new car luxurys and style and it's a new car you don't have to spend several years fixing what old owners did not. You also don't spend half your life time searching for hard to find OEM parts. I'm not complaining I love my old Z I guess sometimes though I get a bit frustrated having an older car.

I'll say that but I also wish i had another Z so go figure .

[TomoHawk]

That gave me an interesting idea...

Why not give the 350Z a makeover to give it the flavour of an S30? I mean take OUT the power windows, rear seat, door panels & cupholders, extra gauges, THE RADIO. What else?

Do you think you ocould disable the ABS, traction control, etc?

thx

[jmark]

Love both my Z's..........

[hls30.com]

I don't think stripping the features from a 350 is the root of the problem. I don't drive my 240Z hard enough often enough for the radio, a cup holder(I use the ashtray), or a few other "necessities" to distract me from the road and those I have to share it with.

I think the 240Z was designed to be a drivers car, and the 350Z was designed as a marketers car. Both make great use of the technology available at their time, but the 240Z was not made specifically to be modified, the 350Z was-the engine has tons of un-tapped potential engineered into it, the S30 engine had a little potential left over. The 240Z raided the parts bin of other cars for hidden mechanical items-and a few trim items, the 350Z raidied the parts bins for quite a bit more. (Weight the shared shared parts that came from other cars-not the Parts that went to other cars, and make them a percentage of the curb weight.)

I think both cars hit their target market-else why would this thread be here, but Those of us who love the S30 aren't part of the 350Z target market, and no ammount of bellyaching about the car will change anything. Those who love the 350Z will never read our words-except while on the throne reading SportZ, and depositing their responses appropriately. Those who love both are the real winners here, they have a drivers car, and a marketers car, the best of both worlds. "This is my rifle this is my gun, one is for fighting, one is for fun." Each of us has to figure out which is which.

WIll

[daddz]

Actually in response to the comment regarding the lack of a unique platform:

The Z cars have always borrowed parts from the corporate family toy box and I guess it makes me feel secure in the fact that I will always be able to find some factory parts at the dealer when the time comes years from now for that water pump or tie rod end or some other consumable. In my course of ownership with regard to the S130 and Z31 generations I have become acutely aware of the fact that the factory no longer supports those cars in terms of trim items and the like. It was a shock when I found out that a simple molded piece of hose on the Z31's intake tube was no longer available at the dealer about a year ago.

So I am happy that Nissan has decided to share the "FM" platform with a few other models which kept the price somewhat affordable and the fact that my particular 350Z is a base model which means I don't have the useless weight adding options like traction control, cruise control, etc...

hls30.com,

I would tend to disagree with you regarding the S30 not being a car that was made to be modified. I think the L series engines had more potential (even in later turbo'd form) than the VQ35DE. Given the sheer cost of the VQ35 I would not be willing to find the wall in terms of modifying that engine as it seems that beginning with the VG series engines Nissan was building an ultimate original displacement engine right from the start and thus has less development potential than an L series engine.