Celica Forums General Discussion General Went test driving today... now I'm just frustrated

Had some free time today, so I went out for a couple of test drives. My car is still MIA for another week... but it never hurts to figure out your plan of action early. Still need to determine what I'm buying before I actually sell the Celi...

First car I got in was a base 350z. The first thing I noticed was the HUGE amount of interior space. I mean, it had more headroom than the Celi. Next thing I noticed was the toque. Oh god, the torque. I hadn't driven a stick in some time, and I'm pretty sure I made the salesman carsick . It was just lurching back and forth for the first three blocks, while I tried to figure out how to even out so much power. Love the car... but it still felt like a more, how shall I say... substantial car? Not a roadster. And being a coupe instead of convertible was a negative too. Invoice on a base 350 is around 25k, so I'm hopeful I could be out the door for under 26 (minus TTL).

Second car was the Mazdaspeed Miata. FIrst thing I noticed about this car was the LACK of room. I owned a 94 Miata and fit fine... what the hell did Mazda do?! The seats feel about three inches higher, which makes my head actually brush the roof, regardless of seat position. I could barely reach the clutch, because my knee was buried in the wheel. The car itself was a gem. Where the Z turned, this carved. The powerband was more what I was used to also... and the Turbo kicking in at 4 grand was intense. Compared to the Z, it was a much more "manageable" car. Translation: I'd have a lesser chance of killing myself with it. The convertible aspect is something I really like. These cars are going everywhere for invoice (21,500)... and that's before the $500 loyalty discount my family would get.

So now I'm sort of frustrated. The Z is more than I really wanted to spend... and it's also a coupe. The Miata would be perfect, except I could never fit in that thing for more than a few miles. I've since done some research on Miata sites, and installing a racing seat can gain you 1"+ in both head and leg room... so that's something to think about...

Z

no comparison

350z all the way

Couple of conerns with the Z..

First, the whole class-action suit for tire wear. I know tire feathering doesn't sound too major... but when Nissan releases three different TSB's regarding it, and a press statement basically saing "we are aware there is currently no solid solution for this problem"...

Second is the whole convertible thing. I mean, half the reason I was dumping the Celi was for a ragtop... but the 350ZR is a bit out of reach...

i too would have to say the z

You should test drive the s2000 and the G35!

The S2000 is my next test drive. The G35 is out of the question... I almost thought the Z was too big.

anything but the Z lol! im just biased...ignore me

Out of those two cars...I would go with the Z.

Sounds to me like you're sold on the convertible tho

go with the z

im not a fan of the 2 seaters... maybe test drive the rx-8... i think it looks like an ant but i wanna kno how it performs.. ur choice though

Z

Z

s2000

get the Z!

350 z all the way

350Z Type-E GT. More Performance and 20th anniversary badges. Look for it next year

A friend on another site just sent this over to me. Eek

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I just got done reading Autoweek's long-term wrap-up on the 350Z. Although they seemed to like it overall, I found some comments they made regarding problems with the car to be very interesting.

The only problem Autoweek had on their long term car was the ubiquitous premature tire wear/tire feathering issue that seems to have affected a lot of the 350Zs (a problem that recurred even after adjustments made by their local Nissan dealer), but the problems reported by their survey respondents were eye opening, to say the least.

Out of 72 respondents, 54 had similar problems with premature tire wear/feathering/noise issues. That's 75 percent of owners with the problem.

In addition, one in nine of the respondents had their manual transmission replaced under warranty, in most cases more than once. According to the article, Nissan has revised the transmission design three times so far in order to alleviate the problem.

Other reported problems included: poor Bose audio systems, interior rattles, harsh/bouncy suspensions, a tendency to pull to the right, grease streaks on the windows, and seats that wear too quickly. In all, there are more than 30 service advisories for the '03 model 350Z, according to Autoweek.

Even worse, 20 of the 72 respondents claimed that Nissan dealerships either feigned ignorance or ignored their complaints, 10 of the 72 swore they'd never buy another Nissan after their Z ownership experience, and 5 of the 72 invoked the lemon law to get rid of their cars. That's seven percent of respondents whose problems were so bad they invoked the lemon law.

Granted, a sample of 72 isn't exactly large enough to draw any hard conclusions from. Still, the frequency and severity of the problems these people have encountered with the 350Z seems outrageous for a modern car, especially one that stickers from $26k-36k. What gives?

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I like that damn car a lot. I was driving around tonight thinking how it wouldn't be so bad having another fixed top car... but then I see this.

ZEE!!!

Well I went to test drive the Mazdaspeed Miata today. Damn that's a really small car for adult. And the speed was not that fast as I expected. Z would be the best choice but I like EVO and STI better than Z. Turbo cars are my next step.

please don't get a miata...so ghey

s2k

Z

s2k of if you want to handle like none other then get the miata

If you wait, they are going to, or maybe already have, a convertable 350z. Saw it on car and driver. Handles really well, very stable, even for a rag top.

They have them... but the lowest trim level on a convertible is around 7 grand more than the base coupe

i test drove an rx-8 last summer, the day it came out i had the dealership try to teach me how to drive a stick w/ it(it had 2 miles on it!) great car, first gear was pretty great, didn't get to 2nd tho. guy had me pull over. i guess i scared him too much nice car interior is beautiful!

will you plz test drive an s2000 before making any decisions yet? ur missing one of the most important car ever. i never heard anything bad about s2000 engine, and Performance. you can find a used s2000 for 25 G's. the good thing about it is that most of the s2000 owners are old, so the used s2000 have a lot of chance of being reliable and not torn up. test drive both the 2004 and anything before 2002 (different rev limiter, a bigger/smaller engine). s2000 is just wut you want, convertible, perfect handling, fast and enough power, looks beautiful. goto honda dealership 2morrow lol!

turbo miata or base z? Turbo MIATA ALL THE WAY

That's just my choice. I'd so whore that miata at my local autoxs. Z's don't impress me.

Oh, half the point of getting the Miata would be turning it into my autox bitch

then what are you waiting for!

^^^ a way to actually fit into the car

I'm going to Autobac's tomorrow to check out racing seats... I NEED something that gives me another inch (two would be better) of head room. According to all the Miata forums it's possible, but I need to check it out before I buy a car that I can't fit into stock.

Have you thought about the RSX Type S?

just leave the top down and bring an umbrella when it rains

i understand recaro's are lower than stock. Recaros or bride, i can't remember.

RSX-S

RSX-S

RSX-S

RSX-S

RSX-S

rx8

s2000 all the fucking way...I couldn't get a miata if I wanted to...I'm 6'3", 200 pounds...but to tell you the truth, for 25,000 I'd like to have a slightly used WRX or EVO... if I were to stick with the coupe

I'm 6'3 180 and lift weights, so I might be where you are soon.

Yeah Steven, I'm going to look at Ricaros this afternoon. Probably the smallest seats made by both them and Sparco.

My only other option would be trying to fabricate something with the stock seat and railings? That would be the best of both worlds, but I'm not sure if it's possible.

looking into a used s2000, it'll fit you better than the maita...

try out the s2000. you'll be getting the best of both worlds between the Z and Miata.

and nothing looks more better than a drop-top s2000. a yellow, s2000

If you want a lovely(read:POS), fast(read: UnGodly Slow) convertable, then go for a VW Cabrio!!! You'd have a whole 115 Horses in your engine, and a whopping 90 to the wheel!!! I just love beating the sh** out of my sister's. And you'll have the Fabulous (read:awful) VW customer service to boot!!! And it'll only run you up $24K (read:WAY TOO MUCH FOR THIS POS) for the top-of-the-line GLX trim. I know I'm beeing way too picky for a 17 year old, but if my parents will fork over $24K in the blink of an eye to make my sister happy, they could fork over $12K for an 01 GT at a local dealership near my house. By the way, if anyone wants my car, it's got 8100 miles on it (yeah, in two years, that's all it's got)

You should wait a few more months and then test drive the RSX. I heard that they are doing some *minor* changes on the car (different tail lights and differnt front bumper?). And I heard that Acura may be throwing in more horsepower (210?).

If I wanted another sporty coupe, I'd just get a 6-speed GTS. Honestly, I like the Celica better than the RX-8 or RSX... but I'm really looking for a 2 seater again.

what about like a z3??? or mr2 spyder???

I like the Z3... but for the price, an S2k or even TT is more Performance oriented. The MR2 is nice, but slooooow.

TT looks weird...s2k for sure...

Did they sell the MR2 Spyder with a 2ZZ motor in it?

^^^ we all wish

Dammit, time to do a 2ZZ motor & tranny swap. 1900lbs of rear engine, rearwheel drive fury!