Gone and Done It

[SteveJ]

I figured I would let the cat out of the bag.

From September 2020 at the unveiling, I thought that Nissan finally designed a Z I would want to buy new. I was too young to buy an S30 or S310 new. I was young and broke when the Z31 and Z32 came out, and I never was really taken by the Z33 or Z34. Yes, the RZ34 is a Z34 with a new wrapper, but I really liked the heritage touches. To me it looks more like a GT car and less boy racer.

When I talked to a couple of Nissan people during the pre-sales road shows, they confirmed New Sight Orange would be coming. The first Z I remember was a 260Z in New Sight Orange. It was owned by a former NASA test pilot, and I lived down the street from him. A friend's father bought the car and got it back on the road. My friend got to enjoy it for a few years before the car was hit by an uninsured motorist. My first Z, a 73 was originally New Sight Orange, though someone with questionable taste had it repainted a color similar to Metallic Gold, though it looked worse than a MAACO paint job. I still have that car and hope to return it to New Sight Orange some day.

I was excited to hear that Nissan was holding to its word that orange was coming back, but my excitement diminished when I learned it was on the Heritage Edition only with a sticker of $62K (plus whatever the dealers think they can charge for a special edition). So I set about looking for an alternative. I noticed that dealers were finally coming off sticker price for the Z. On the other hand most of those Zs were Gun Metallic. While I don't worry too much about color, I didn't really want grey. No blue Zs with manuals were popping up nearby, but finally a Z in Sport trim showed up at one of the closest dealers sporting Ikazuchi Yellow Pearl paint. I took it for a test drive, and the wife loved it. It felt right for my new daily driver, so a couple of hours later I drove it home.

The new Z has very good acceleration as one would expect with 400HP on tap. The steering feels extremely light at low speeds, but the feel improves as speed increased. With no limited slip, it's easy to spin the tire a little getting into traffic.

The seats are comfortable, and the shifter is in easy reach. The clutch engages higher than I think it should, but I am just going to live with that. The blind spots are huge, but the blind spot warning system seems to work well. The view out the rear window is small, too. I have an Android phone, so one of the USB slots is taken by the phone if I want to use navigation. If you want more creature comforts, or if you are planning on tracking the car, go for the Performance trim.

The yellow pearl paint stands out, but it doesn't look like a taxi, even with the black roof.

I have experienced one problem with the car so far. Yesterday, the TPMS monitoring system lost communications with all 4 tires. I drove the car around for a while, and the system found the left front, though that didn't last. I guess I'll see how good the local service department is.

[inline6]

Congrats!  I like the color choice too.

[SteveJ]

The funny thing is that many people at work have seen my 260Z since I used to drive it in to go to club meetings immediately after work. A few people asked if I had painted the 260Z thinking the new Z was the 260Z.

The two main roads that lead to my neighborhood both have construction going on in different places, so on my commute home, I might take a roundabout way home even if it takes longer so I don't have to sit in traffic. There are also more curves, so that is a plus. 

[dutchzcarguy]

Congrats Steve, Nice car with a special color these days.. i would have gone for the blue one.. but they are no longer available overhere!!  A 240z was in the us a 3500 dollar car overhere they were 21000 guilders about 7000 US$ !  a 300zxtt was about 35000$ in it's time? Over here... pfff...  i got a bill of 173300 guilders with my 300zxtt..  about 75000US$ ?

A 370Z was at the end over 100000 € .. now a Nissan Z would cost easely over 120000 €

So.. be aware your very priveliged to have such a beauty!  Hope you have a LOT of fun with it! 👍