Much as I love my S2k and even tho I knew it before I bought it, the lack of interior room and mini trunk are annoyances.

I'm intrigued with the not-yet-sold Nissan 350X coupe sports car. If the mags are right, it is supposed to have 280hp and more than 200 lb. ft. of grunt. Weight is supposed to be under 3k pounds. Also, the "performance" version is supposed to sell for about $34 - $35 thousand. I'm guessing that it will have more interior room and a larger trunk as well. Kinda tempting, yes?

Similarly, the 2004 version of the RX8 should be in that same ball park as to power and weight, and it even has two seats that actual humans could sit in. Clearly then, it would have more interior room. Not sure I'd want to jump into a rotary engine though.

Anybody have any thoughst?

 

Actually I think the 350z is supposed to be 3150lbs but it's 280+hp and 267lbf-ft torque so far. The trunk is larger but there is a rear strut tower brace that is supposed to hinder loading big things in but from the pics it doesn't look all that bad (as long as it can fit my hamster cage I'm cool). In terms of styling it's a tossup. Some people like it others hate it . I happen to like it. But that'll probably get me shot here. I did put a deposit (refundable) on one though. As for what kind of performance to expect, nissan says an under 6 second 0-60 and a 0-1320 of 14seconds or better. I played with some numbers and got an approximation of 5.37 and 13.87 respectively. The first number seems implausible to me and I would guess it would be closer to 5.5-5.7 but I can hope. Below is a quote as to how I got those numbers.

Oh, well what I did was I took data that I knew for cars (s2000, corvette, corvette z06, firebird, Mustang GT, M3, boxter s, rsx-s, Mitsubishi Eclipse, and some others I don't recall right now) and performed a correlation calculation between pounds/hp (loaded pounds i.e. curb weight + 180 lb driver) and related that to 0-60 times which gave me a correlation of .988. lb/hp correlated to 0-1320 gives a correlation of .96 not as good but still not bad. I was considering using lb/tq but the correlation was around .63. Anyways then I forcast the Z's numbers based on a weight of 3150 and hp of 280 and those numbers in my first post were what I got.

 

I'm a Honda fan and I'll wtick with my S mainly because it's a... HONDA

Traditionally Nissan and Mazda vehicles tend to give you problems down the road.
Aren't the 300Z and RX-7s problematic cars??

 

Nothing very problematic as far as the 300Z, the RX-7's on the other hand had their share of engine problems. I don't think the new 350Z will give you many problems down the road, especially considering it will be running a VQ engine.

 

Friend's Z lasted him 120k...no problems until the radiator was shut to hell simply becuase he's never flushed it. Other friend's Z lasted 50k before she traded it, only problem was she couldnt drive a stick and the clutch had to be replaced at 10k....

Don't get me wrong here, i love our Hondas...all 5 of them. I also wont back RX-7s because they did have early engine issues...But what is so problematic about all other brands other than Hondas???? "Traditionally" the 2 Mazdas we've owned lasted 100k+ without major problems, so did my old man's Skyline (no...not the GT-R).

 

PETERPAN sorry to flame u dude but your are so wrong is scary. 300zx are one of the most reliable cars ever built those things can go 200K and still run strong. I know a few people with them and those nissan blocks are no joke when it comes to reliability. just my .02 cents

 

I say have some patience and wait to see how these cars are for real. I almost put down a deposit for a 350Z, but ultimately couldn't because I refuse to buy a car I can't testdrive.

Anyways, enjoy your S, as there will be some awesome affordable sports cars coming out in the next 2 years. I personally can't wait to see the next generation Skyline GTR. Okay, I may buy that one without test driving it first. . .