Car and Driver Review of New Z

[Duffman]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/te ... ddec04bbbe

[theAngryMarmot]

Car and Driver once again showing why they aren't much better than Toilet paper.

Any review that says things like :

"save for a few extra pieces welded on to increase torsional stiffness by a rather tepid 11 percent"

Cause 99.9% of people can't exploit the full abilities of the 370z - Lol. What cracks me up is reviews who have motorsports experience that act like the overwhelming vast majority of buyers are going to be running Le Mans. The review says it is in incremental update - which I am sure is the goal. He acts like it should be something that is turning 6 minute laps on the Nurburg - which none of the Z cars were every "hardcore" sports cars.

A lot of that has to do with the fact that the Z is an evolution of the 370Z, not a full redesign.

Ah yes, an "evolution" so incremental improvement. Like a 11% increase in stiffness.

Up to about six-tenths, the Z Performance seems coordinated and willing. The new electric power steering is linear and predictable enough, and the chassis feels relatively coordinated as it arcs through bends. The shifter action is far less heavy and unwieldy than the 370Z's because of reprofiled detents, and it snicks into place smoothly when operated with a loose grip and an open hand. The brakes feel sure underfoot, and they're easy to modulate. The pedals are nicely placed for heel-toe footwork, too, but the SynchroRev Match feature works brilliantly if you haven't mastered the steps

So, the car is great for 99.99 percent of people wanting a sporty car. And they fixed the most annoying thing (IMO) of the 350/370 - the shifter.

evidenced by their 0.93-g showing on our skidpad. The brakes keep up their end of the bargain in terms of fade resistance and feel, but the tires limit the Z's 70-mph stopping performance to 166 feet and an unimpressive 331 feet for the stop from 100 mph. Both are better showings than the aforementioned 370Z (0.89 g and 180 feet), but they are far from class leading.

Yes, an incremental update.... lol

60-mph time of 4.5 seconds and 13.0-second quarter-mile at 111 mph are underwhelming. Sure, these numbers best the old 370Z, but 68 more horsepower, 80 pound-feet of additional torque, and no-lift-shift launch control should amount to more than mere incremental gains of 0.4 second to 60 mph and a half-second in the quarter.

Half second in the quarter is a pretty huge increase, as is nearly that to 60. What does this dingleberry expect? Tesla Plaid numbers? Those are solid numbers.

As it turns out, this engine's 400-hpr rating requires 93 octane

This dude reviews cars for a magazine, and it is news to him that a modern turbocharged twin turbo engine likes 93 more than 87 or 91? That is hilarious, as that has been the standard since, well - turbos existed.

Nissan lent us another car to try in Michigan on 93 octane, and its 60-mph performance improved to 4.1 seconds on the way to a quarter-mile time of 12.6 seconds at 115 mph. Still, past 370Z results showed little difference between 91 and 93, so either this new turbocharged engine is more octane sensitive than the outgoing naturally aspirated one,

Once again, no sh*t sherlock. Turbo being more sensitive to octane? Earth bending news there. What is the next bombshell he will discover.

And big surprise with the *correct* gas in it - it shaved another half second off the sixty and quarter. 12.6 in the quarter for a 50k dollar car these days is great value for the money.

I am going to use my '11 SHO as an example as it is fairly close to the Z engine. The SHO has a 3.5 liter twin turbo v6. It requires 91 octane. Even way back in 2011 - Ford clearly states that you operate on reduced power on reduced octane fuel. You get "full power" on 91 - but when I put 93+ in it, it makes a dramatic difference. This is pretty much the same with all turbo performance cars. More octane = better performance, even when going beyond the recommended octane rating on turbo cars. It doesn't really matter on Naturally Aspirated cars - but turbo cars are a whole 'nother animal. The difference in power at the wheels on my SHO is around 40-50HP from when you go from 87 octane to 91. You add in 93 (on the factory tune) and it is probably another 20 due to the ECU's ability to run more timing. After the car was tuned, those number increased even more.

The new nine-speed automatic would have added zero to the bottom line, but we stuck with the six-speed manual. As one should.

I hate this B.S. too "as one should" - who is this guy to tell people what transmission they should get. I love my manuals, and I am very adept at them (in fact my SHO is the first auto car I have had in over 15 years) but the new modern autos are amazing. Not everyone likes dealing with a manual in traffic, or if they have physical issues with driving a manual. The whole "real car guys only drive manuals" mentality is about as dumb as the people who still argue till they are blue in the face about one manufacturer being vastly better than another (looking at you Chevy vs Ford diehards...)

There's too much 370Z in the new Z, and it could use better tires and more intelligent multimode dampers.

Better tires would be an issue for most buyers - most people don't want factory tires with 200 tread wear that cost $300 each. Duh. And sure, Multimode dampers - just add more to the price so it has to be competitive with Corvettes or top tier Camaros and Mustangs (which was never the vision for these cars.)

Can we get a round of applause for plate tectonics?

On that note, fault lines were already starting to appear.

This was not the seismic shift we were hoping for.

Cringe, you know you can't write a proper review when you have to resort to thin, themed comments,

The funny part is these "reviewers" praise cars like the new BRZ / GT86 - which is literally the same car with incremental updates - yet totally bash another car (like the new Z) for doing the same. Obviously this "journalist" wanted a Porsche GT3 to review instead of the new Z car.

I don't have any "dog in the race" with the new Z - and as those who know me on here will attest - I have zero brand loyalty. If it is a good car, it is a good car. But this "review" is garbage. Completely ignorant of the intended market, ability, and goal of the new Z.

I have pretty much stopped reading Car and Driver & Road and Track because of how lazy and stale they have gotten. Hearst Media owns those magazines and has been slowly allowing/inserting more and more political agenda to seep in which these days isn't a good thing. People are sick of hearing about it.

When Discovery bought TEN (publishers of Hot-Rod, Car Craft, MotorTrend, Vette, Street-Rodder, Super-Chevy,etc) they completely ruined those magazines too. I know this because I had heavy involvement with Hot-Rod, Street Rodder, Vette, and Super Chevy. I worked quite closely for years with long time editor Brian Brennan- he went on to start a new group of magazines due to Discovery axing 19 out or 23 of TEN's magazines and leaving the staff high and dry.

Pretty much the only car magazines I read these days are Motorsports Magazine (who has also started re-releasing issues from the 50s/60s/70s/80s - and it is great,) the fantastic RetroMotive magazine, Sick Magazines (drag and drive magazine,) EVO, and Octane magazine. If you aren't familiar with these magazines - you are missing out. Especially RetroMotive. The more "known" magazines like those mentioned a paragraph or two ago have really fallen off the wagon and allowed several better, more focused magazines to flourish in the enthusiast circles.

[Randalla]

Paul, couldn't agree more. The quality of the automotive press has totally gone to the dogs. David E Davis is most likely rolling in his grave.

[theAngryMarmot]

This is a good review of the new Z - and turn on the closed captions as there are some good jokes in there they added :

I will say - out of the cars they have in this video - I would probably choose the Z over all of them. It is Way, way better looking than the Supra, More tunable than the Miata (and man, do I love Miatas,) will be more durable than the Subaru.

[Randalla]

Now that was sooo much fun!!! Well written, well produced, funny and clever. I love that they have a point of view and put the new Z in context. Now this is what automotive journalism today should be. Thanks for posting, Paul.

[L320-Dale]

That was a fun video. Thanks for posting.

Dale

[Duffman]

Great video!