our beloved Z, is it becoming better or worse?

[TomoHawk]

Thap picture in #11 looks familiar to a certain Italian desgn from the back, and like a certain Japanese design from the front....

[cj71z]

I'd like to see the next wave of new Z's take on a retro look like they just did with the Mustang. I'd buy one for sure.

Second this opinion...Maybe it'll have a retro price tag:laugh:

I just drove a 350 last night for the first time and I think it's a great car. Maybe a little too 21st century, but the mechanics are unbelievable. It's fast and handles great, but I personally like the stripped down, bare bones style sports car like the S30. I think the S30 with the power of the 350 would be the perfect match. Now I need a second job to build a nice, L28 turbo or stroker

[=Resurected280=]

IMO it should be an inline 6 though, I LOVE those style motors and BMW has shown us they can still work in sports cars, even though I-6 engines seem to be becoming a lost art. =(

[sblake01]

I say appreciate them all for what they are. I personally don't really care for anything beyond the S30 as far as the Z goes, however. It's all just opinion anyway but there will never be another S30 anymore than the new Mustang is anything more than a reminissance of the old one. The Geortz thing doesn't even belong in this discussion. That's also just opinion based on a lot of muddy facts and thinned down by passing of time.

[gogriz91]

I'm a first gen fanatic and believe the others are just sources of parts for my first gen car. I wish Nissan had made the 350 more retro to the 240 than the design they came up with.

[BuDavid]

Enigma, I have a Z32 non- turbo, and I'm really considering selling it, I dont have any problem with it, it is reliable as far as I experienced and more powerfull for sure, but it doesnt taste like Z!

I'll sell it and go for a corvette C4 LT1..

and about the V6-L6 engines, the L6 is smoother as far as I know and mostly balanced engine, but the problem is that the length of the engine, so it pulls the center of mass more to the front, but I dont care, I'm not a track racer nor a drag racer, I just look for the style and taste of the ride..

I respect the new tech. and performance of newer models, but sorry, designs are going down!

cheerzz!

[TomoHawk]

Thank you.

[KDMatt]

To be honest, I'm going to say that I don't really mind the other incarnations of Z-cars, first-generation is, naturally, my favorite, but I like the other Z's as cars and don't really mentally link them together as part of a lineage.

For example, I like the Z31 300zx, but I don't look at it as related to my S30. Maybe it's just my way of easing the "pain," but I think, standalone, every generation is a great car. I mean Nissan could have made a lot more crap than they did.

So what we're left with are different cars that appeal to different people for different reasons. I think, that as Nissan fans, we have some of the most variety when it comes to inter-generational design appeal. I see a lot of cheaply riced-out Z31s; they're the perfect "kid-car," (why I never ended up considering one, I don't know). Then there's the 280ZX... the kind of car I want my dad to have when he retires.

I don't think you can honestly stamp a "better" or "worse" label on different generations. The face of the Z is "changing," as is its appeal. With each change they make they add things that make the cars more appealing to some, and at the same time subtract things that would make the cars appealing to others.

Granted, yes, the spirit of the original 240Z is long-gone on the Nissan production line, but this isn't unique to Z's ... It's fair to say that every single production car has become watered down in the last 30 years; there was no way around it. I'm sure somewhere there's an old-school Honda enthusiast griping because his once economically viewed company has evolved into a kid's racing pipe-dream company. :laugh:

End ramble.

[kmack]

I'd like to see the next wave of new Z's take on a retro look like they just did with the Mustang. I'd buy one for sure.

That's what the 350 was originally designed to be. A sort of retro look back, encompasing design ques from all the models.

In my opinion as soon as the S30 Z cars became Nissans and took on the ZX at the end of their name the real "Z" cars that we all know died. The fact that the 350Z is not called the 350ZX, to me, is an error on Nissan's part, because if you park these two next to each other no one would ever relate the two (except for maybe the center gauge pods). Park a 350Z next to a Z31 or a Z32 on the other hand and there are some similarities.

The Z cars have been and were always Nissans. Datsun was just a marketing name for outside Japan and mainly directed at the US market.

I actually see more of the early S30's in the front of the 350 and more of the Z32 in the rear of the 350.

But hey, it's all opinion.

[ricksaia]

Nothing is like the original. You can have fun with it and never have to worry about smog, at least in Calif.

Rick.