370Z joins Auszcar gathering at Thredbo

[WarrenZ]

Hi

The Auszcar club gathered at alpine resort village of Thredbo in the mountains of New South Wales over the weekend of 20-23 February. A healthy gathering of around 18 Z's from Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra converging on the village in fine sunny weather and awesome mountain roads.

It was great to see so many Z's from other parts of Australia not seen together before and meet their owners. A great weekend was made even more special when Nissan Australia joined us with a pre-production 370Z (Chassis no.9) and a 350Z Roadster as camera car for a photo shoot and interviews with the members.

The 370Z is launched in Australia on Friday 27th Feb at the Melbourne Motor Show but does not go on sale for several months.

Warren

Edited February 24, 2009 by WarrenZ

[1 Bravo 6]

I reckon the "REAL" Zed has far more style and easier on the eye.

If I had the money to buy a 370 I'd prefer to spend it on my "Precious".

Rick.

:devious::devious:

[260DET]

So whats the general reaction to the 370Z Warren? It's the first new model Zed that has grabbed my attention for a while, mainly in anticipation of its dynamics rather than its looks.

[full house]

basically I get attracted on its look first. It was really cool for me.

[WarrenZ]

So whats the general reaction to the 370Z Warren? It's the first new model Zed that has grabbed my attention for a while, mainly in anticipation of its dynamics rather than its looks.

I manage to get a ride in the 370. They took 2 S30's up the mountain to shoot that nose to nose picture and some weaving about and fortunately there was 3 from Nissan and their advertising agency and 4 seats so I jumped in the 370.

I do have a 350Z as well as the 240 and found there was quite a difference. Whilst the car we had was a Japanese spec car the interior is a lot more up market than the 350, not as much plastic more leather and fabric and the soft feel plastic. The seating position is much lower than the 350 and a little more leg room on the driver side.

I thought the ride was a bit like the track model and harsher than my 350Z Touring, but it had 18" wheels against my 17" so maybe that was it. The road noise is much quieter and you get more of the engine noise, which I like from a sports car.

The rear section does not have the strut brace but the slope of the back and the full size spare reduces the height in the hatch section.

The front brakes are 4 pot Nissan brakes with huge rotors and I believe they got a workout on the way up the mountain and the comment was they are much better than the Brembo's on the Track model.

The car was a manual with an automatic throttle blip when you down shift, no need to heel and toe.

The car looks better in the flesh than any photo and grows on you.

My impression from the ride I had and giving it the once over is that it is an improvement on the 350.

Warren

Edited February 25, 2009 by WarrenZ
photo added