It used to be funny - they used to say the Cortina was the best in its class (it clearly wasn't) right up until the Sierra was due, when it inexplicably became 'the ageing Cortina'. The transparency was obvious.

 

nothing has changed

no publication can possibly seriously criticise a product that comes from its main source of income

the amusing thing is why people take SO much notice of what is written in a magazine

it all reminds me of the way a few hippies with a couple of hundred quid

could fix the singles charts

 

Years ago, Car used to do it. Although they still had their 'favourite' marques.

They were independent and used to get into trouble.

Then they sold out and sold out.

 

Car is doing a Japanese car special on Monday on their website, it might be of interest

 

Thanks for the info.

I'll try to read it - some of their contributors are still worthy, others just wind me up....

 

Today was my test drive in the 370Z....Here's the write up....

My test drive was booked at Glynn Hopkin Nissan in Romford, Essex, the only dealer anywhere near me that had one. I was lucky in that they normally have an automatic as the demonstrator however they had borrowed a manual for today only. This is the one I wanted to test (not a fan of auto boxes in any shape or form).

Glynn Hopkin are located on the A118 about 3 miles from Gallows corner for those of you who know it. The dealership is on the main road and you have to turn off down a side road to enter...As I did so, I was confronted with this mean machine parked outside:-)



Immediately I wished I had booked a test drive in that!!!

Once I had stopped glaring at the GT-R, I proceeded down the ramp into the under ground customer car park - as I turned the corner there was a brand new black 370Z GT parked up clearly ready for my test drive...I decided to park up next to it and take some pics:-)



My first impression was "wow that looks bloody good", the rear arches are so wide, my next thought was how good the S looked too parked there:-).....I had a quick walk around the 370, then proceeded up to the dealer reception.

Once the sales guy had finished with his customer, he took me over to the back of the showroom where there was a black GT-R and a black 370Z on a raised stand parked in front of each other (unfortunatley I did not get a pic of this). I got in the 370Z and the sales guy gave the spiel about the car, its development, controls and the different trim levels available. I was impressed with the interior quality feel.

We then went down to the 370 in the car park, parked next to mine. The sales guy jumped in the drivers seat and I got in the passenger seat and he fired it up. I have to say I was immediately impressed with the dials and illumination, looked very cool indeed and there was a real feeling of quality about them. Engine sounded great too. I couldn't help noticing how much space there is inside the cabin when compared to the S...

Sitting in the passenger seat you feel like your really low down, like in the S, but the higher sides make you feel even lower I think. We drove out of the car park and out towards the A12. Instant feeling was how refined it felt but also how great the V6 engine sounds. We drove for about a mile or so, then stopped to changeover - it was my turn:-)

I jumped in the drivers seat and adjusted the seats (electric) and other controls and set off. First thing you notice is how powerful the brakes are. Just touch them and you stop - took a little getting used to at first....

Once back on the main road I began to get settled in the car - the engine is silky smooth, steering quite light but well weighted and the gearbox on a par (or at least not far off) that of the S IMO. The throttle response is instant as you would expect, but also, due to the 270ft lb of torque, you accelerate immediately even from low revs in pretty much any gear - I liked that a lot I have to say. Also the car feels fairly big, but not heavy I would say which is good.

The test drive route was unfortunately littered with 50mph speed limits and more speed cameras than I have ever seen..it took sometime before I had a chance to see what the car was capable of, albeit in a straight line....

We pulled up at a set of traffic lights on the dual carrigeway and the sales guy switched on the synchro rev feature.He then said "right we are gonna do a 0-60 test, there is a speed camera at the top of the hill tho so just be careful" Right I thought. lets see what this thing can do. Lights went green, floored it, instant pickup, great pull from the engine, great noise, a light flashes on the rpm gauge when you are approaching the read line (7,.500rpm if I remember correctly) I accelerated as hard as I could right up to third gear then had to back off due the speed camera.

Overall I have to say the car felt quick but I was surprised to look at the speedometer at times thinking I was doing about 60mph when infact I was doing 80mph...Oh and by the way Synchro rev is bloody brilliant, it is so precise its uncanny..

That was pretty much the end of the test drive, the dealership was just around the corner and we pulled in and parked up near the GT-R I saw on the way in. I took some more pics at this point whilst the sales guy told me about how he could get me a 370Z GT with Sat Nav by September 1st:-)






In summary I have to say I was very very impressed with this car. I think it's a much better car than the 350Z which I discounted when I bought my S 4 years ago. Its a very refined car yet has that all important rawness about it. I would have loved to had more of a chance to experience the handling characteristcs of course, but the sales guy did say how amazing it was on a track day at Silverstone that Nissan had sent him on recently - of course you would expect him to say that...but I can believe it to be honest...I also think it looks superb.

At the end of the test drive the the sales guy said to me "is there anything you don't like about it?" I honestly could not come up with a single thing.

I can sincerely recommend a test drive of this car to anyone.



Cheers
Chris

 

Nice write up. Glad you enjoyed it

 

People have complained about road noise and the engine note being disappointing. Any comments?

 

yes, to be blut - utter bollox.

The engine is SUPERB and the road noise is far less than in an S2000. In fact I wondered what an earth people were on about when I drove it. Admittedly I did not take it on the motorway, but even still.....

 

Thanks for the write-up.

I'd imagine that like many cars, the roadnoise is excessive on PARTICULAR (in both meanings) road surfaces, as opposed to in general.

Drive faster until you get to a different bit...