Interesting Video

[zpizzaman20]

300 hp vs 130 hp???? The car is not twice as heavy.

[daddz]

300 hp vs 130 hp???? The car is not twice as heavy.

Good call Fred. I was just looking at the quoted weights for the '03 through

'06 350Z's in various trim levels and what I could not believe is that my '03 base model was quoted as 3188lbs. and the '06 equivalent was listed at a bit over 3300lbs. I knew my 350Z was a heavy pig but where is the extra weight coming from?

BTW, some of these automotive journalists thirty years ago would not have liked the 240Z either because it was Japanese and now that it is considered a "classic" all subsequent Z cars don't mean anything.

[red_dog007]

That actually came from one of his movies. That isn't on Top Gear. I love Top Gear because he never drives anything American so it is all good.

His movies on the other hand, he can't say one good thing about an American auto which pisses me off to no end. He has a movie were he takes each catagory of vehicles and does tests. Be these are his tests.

Not the best American ride, but an average one against the best European one for the same class. They are totally unfair. Plus most of what he likes or tests with is owned by Americans, so it is sort of funny because they even have some American things in them like a motor for example.

His main thing about American autos is the interior, but the rest of the world is just as bad and worse even.

I would figure it to be more like this

300zx TT (90's)

350z

CLOSE HERE:

280zx Turbo

300zx Turbo (80's)

300zx N/A (90's)

260z

240z/280z

280zx

300zx N/A (80's)

Though it would be cool if we could do this ourselves. Find stock rides and bench them out together. Though it would be hard to find all the Z cars together in a tight place to do this.

[KDMatt]

Good call Fred. I was just looking at the quoted weights for the '03 through

'06 350Z's in various trim levels and what I could not believe is that my '03 base model was quoted as 3188lbs. and the '06 equivalent was listed at a bit over 3300lbs...

Wait a second... the 350z should be MUCH faster then... I thought that the 240z has a gross weight somewhere around 2500 lbs... and the 280z was up near 3000 ...?

That be the case, the 350z should have a much awesomer power-to-weight ratio.

I think Darbji said that her 280z was 'trounced' by a 350z now that I think about it.

[red_dog007]

The 240z started out in the 2300lbs range. Then through out the 260z and up to the 280zx turbo they added a bunch of weight due to government regulations and what not. I think that they tampered off around the 2700~2800lbs range. Still, the 05 through 07 350z only competition would be the 300zx Twin-Turbo. Seems like the 03 through 04 350z would lose out to the 300zx TT as the motor was much weaker for these years compared to the newer 350s.

[KDMatt]

I seem to remember the NA 280ZX weighing in at around 3100 lbs... checked the VIN plate of one guy's car at a show not too long ago.

... similarly I also seem to remember the S30 280z fitting in at around 3000 lbs ...

[Mckrack]

I stand by my words. My series one 240z would beat the 350z Anniversay edition on a straight away like the one in KD Matt's video anytime. This is a stock restored rebuilt engine. What I didn'yt mention was the 350 I had was an automatic which changes things some. But all in all I know how both cars left the line and there is no doubt that my 240z would beat the stock 350 I owned.

Of course Mr. Blake can't resist the jab however I presume it would be better living outide of my mind then living inside his. Thanks for the kind words Mr. Blake wouldn't expect anything different. lolololololololololololololol

[BRE-240Z]

He lives outside of his mind.

Okay. I think that's the funniest remark ever.....

[BRE-240Z]

What I didn'yt mention was the 350 I had was an automatic which changes things some.

That does change things some, but your perception of which car would have been faster was likely inaccurate. The 350Z, in any form, is a fast little car.

I love my 240 and the handling is superb, but my fuel-injected 2.2 liter (four-cylinder) 510 would have beaten my 240 any day of the week.

[sblake01]

I stand by my words. My series one 240z would beat the 350z Anniversay edition on a straight away like the one in KD Matt's video anytime. This is a stock restored rebuilt engine. What I didn'yt mention was the 350 I had was an automatic which changes things some. But all in all I know how both cars left the line and there is no doubt that my 240z would beat the stock 350 I owned.

Of course Mr. Blake can't resist the jab however I presume it would be better living outide of my mind then living inside his. Thanks for the kind words Mr. Blake wouldn't expect anything different. lolololololololololololololol

Don't mention it....really! There are those who think I've already lost my mind.

[daddz]

I seem to remember the NA 280ZX weighing in at around 3100 lbs... checked the VIN plate of one guy's car at a show not too long ago.

... similarly I also seem to remember the S30 280z fitting in at around 3000 lbs ...

Before anymore bad information gets circulated lets look at what the GVWR or Gross Vehicle Weight Rating is and why just looking at some doorjamb will give you bad information:

"is the maximum allowable total weight of a road vehicle or trailer that is loaded, including the weight of the vehicle itself plus fuel, passengers, cargo, and trailer tongue weight"

and in addition:

"Gross weight is often confused with curb weight, which represents the weight of the vehicle with no passengers or cargo. The difference between gross weight and curb weight is the total passenger and cargo weight capacity of the vehicle. For example, a pickup truck with a curb weight of 2000 pounds might have a cargo capacity of 3000 pounds, meaning it can have a gross weight of 5000 pounds when fully loaded"

Unless you go and have your car weighed you will have to rely on published numbers of Curb Weight by the manufacturers or in period road tests.

Having said all of that the 1978 280Z was listed at 2780lbs. by Car & Driver in

one its road tests. In 1979 the 280ZX in Standard or Deluxe trim (manual windows, no power steering, and so on much like my '81 280ZX with its R180 3.54:1 rear end installed by the factory) would have weighed about 45lbs. more in the Car & Driver road test from that time.

[daddz]

Still, the 05 through 07 350z only competition would be the 300zx Twin-Turbo. Seems like the 03 through 04 350z would lose out to the 300zx TT as the motor was much weaker for these years compared to the newer 350s.

I am not sure what you mean by "the motor was much weaker"; in the original VQ35 the power was listed at 287hp and 274lb/ft of torque. The revised VQ35 was quoted at 300hp and 260lb/ft of torque. I would much rather have the increased torque than horsepower that can only be accessed north of 5000rpm. The VQ35HR produces 306hp and 268lb/ft of torque.

Given the fact that the newer 350Z's have picked up what amounts to be a full time passenger of 150lbs. I would much rather be relegated to my '03 base model. The Z32TT had 300hp and 283lb/ft of torque and if you have never driven this animal it is very different in its power delivery. Both cars

(350Z and 300ZXTT) will get to 60mph fairly quickly and they will march right up to 150mph without too much trouble.

I had the chance to drive a Z32TT from Atlanta to Washington, D.C. and it was very competent car and being that it was a 1996 model it was very healthy when I dorve it and I think it only had about 30k on it. The power delivery of the stock twin turbo is very subdued. You can sense the turbo lag and once you get north of 80mph it is on tap at an instant. The 350Z which was driven back to back as it was the chase vehicle is more accessible in my opinion. In order to access the power just tip the throttle and away you go. I don't much care for the electronic throttle as there is no mechanical cable connecting the accelerator pedal to the throttle body. I can sense a very slight delay.

It depends upon what you like. I have also driven a friend's Z31 Turbo and it has been modified so heavily it no longer drives anything like a stock model. It has been through the 1/4 mile in under 12 seconds and it is a hairy beast. If you like the power delivery of a Turbo then his car is the way to go. At a certain point the car explodes with acceleration (about 3500rpm) and at that point you almost cannot shift fast enough to keep the power delivery coming. His car also runs out of steam mostly due to the ignition system. His engine is not done making power at 7500rpm's. If he had a better ignition system that VG30ET would keep making power north of 8000rpm's.