Well the 350Z and S2000 come from different philosophies. The 350Z provides the raw material to build a seriously fast road and race car (they will be campaigning the Z in the GT class), but is nowhere near optimised from the factory, whereas the S2000 is pretty optimized and there isn't much you can do to make it a lot faster without ruining the car's essence.

Look at the technical specs of the 350Z. All aluminum engine, aluminum hood, aluminum suspension components, carbon fiber driveshaft, 6 gears, 270+lb/ft of tire smoking torque, 50:50 weight distribution, driver's seat with bigger bolsters, and it is a truly beautiful design. Then look at the track version: Volk TE37 type Ray's forged wheels standard, Brembo brakes front and rear, spoilers to reduce front and rear lift to zero, LSD, electronic stability control that can be switched off (perfect for those rainy days when you want a security blanket). This car is going to haul ass, but it can still be further tuned for greater performance, and will experience HUGE aftermarket support, particularly with the Japanese demise of the Silvia and GTR.

 

Not sure about the rest of the specs, but Nissan was saying 280+HP at the LA Auto show.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tox
[B]Ah, the Z again.

There's nothing as great as the specs for a car that nobody's driven yet.

 

Ah, well. I'm probably out of date with the hype on this car because it just doesn't do much for me.

If I were a cynic (not me!) I'd say the power increase was to make up for not making their weight target...

 

Nissan: Blah, Blah, Blah. I wouldn't go so far to say that all Nissan's are good. My Fiance has a 2001 Sentra that has had 3 replaced transmissions and 2 trunk replacements. Unfortunately, I have to place 100% of the blame on the dealership that supposedly "fixed" the problems. In my book Nissan's repair shop is way below par!! Anyway, I am trying to figure out what this has to do with the "Z". Oh well I feel better gettting that off my chest.
Craig

 

I think nissan needs to spend more time putting quality into their engineering and quality control instead of trash talking...

I will say this, having owned(and still do kinda, I gave the car to my father) a nissan product from new, it has made me an even bigger Honda fan. My $28k maxima rattles worse than my now 11 year old CRX before I did the engine swap to the crx.... yup, not even kidding.

Anyways, there are only two nissan product I would even think about trying, the Skyline and the good old Fairlady Z. otherwise, you'll never catch me in another nissan.

 

shingles, you couldn't of said it better!

craig

 

I bought my S2000 (and sold my '90 Z) Because 1) I couldn't wait any longer for the Z and 2) I know I could sell the S2000 used for without losing any money when the Z was released. My main complaints about the S2000 BEFORE I bought/drove it 2K miles:

Lack of Torque
*Well I can say that I now don't mind the lack of torque because the top end is SOOOOO sweet. I wouldn't trade even 5 hp for 100lbs of twist.

Convertible top
*The convertible top makes me feel like I'm riding a sportbike with no helmet on (a good and a bad thing).

Price gouging by CA dealer scum
*Price gouging--bastard dealers. But the Z dealers will be worse because they haven't had a decent car to sell for 5 years.

Lack of aftermarket parts
*This still sucks.

In short, I bought the S2000 to have it for a year and then trade it in/sell it and buy a Z around the end of '02. However, the Honda ROCKS. Nissan is going to have to put twin turbos on the Z and make it 500lbs lighter if they expect me to sell the Honda.

 

I fully agree with tox's prediction. No way the Z is gonna touch the stook in the twists, especially if it's being targeted for mass production, which means compromising stiff chassis and aggressive handling due to pleasing the majority of the public. I'll stick by what i've always said, japanese cars like the type-r, the RX7 TT, the s2000 are all designed for the purist sports car enthusiast that doesn't mind driving a race car everyday with a rock solid chassis. Most everything else is buttered up for the public.

 

did someone mention the deminse of the GTR?