Hey guys,
Haven't posted here in a while....but thought I'd drop in to update my status.
Here it is: 2010 370Z Sports Package.
I bought this new a couple of months ago and it's the successor to the Miata you see behind it. It's my daily driver but I plan to park it during winter. The Miata gave me 11 years of joy and it was time for a change but I wanted to buy something that was exciting to me as the Miata was to me when I first got it.
Tops on my list was a 135i coupe, but I could never get excited about it even though it would have been a blast to drive. I was never a fan of the 350Z, it felt more crude, had a cheaper looking interior, with a bulbous shape that I never warmed up to. When the 370Z came along, I liked the looks, they made it shorter AND lighter than the 350z to get the car closer to its roots.
Unlike the US models which has a stripped out based model which is unavailable here. Canadian models comes in 2 trims, loaded or loaded with navigation. I skipped navi, but of course added the sports package for $4500 adds 19 inch forged wheels, spoilers, LSD, upgraded brakes, and synchro-rev match. MSRP of my car was just under $45K with the pearlescent white paint which is the most expensive paint option ($400)
Quick report after about 4000 kms on the clock so far.
The good:
- 332 HP 3.7L V6 - after driving rev happy or turbo- laggy cars in the last 10 years, having instant throttle response with a big ol’ torquey engine is something else. I can tell the engine is still loosening up even at 4000km. My next car had to be sub 5 seconds 0-60mph and this just scrapes under.
- Of course I like the way it looks, it's what I imagine a Japanese Porsche 911 would look like. I love the aggressively sloping roofline. The arrowhead lights take some getting used to but I love how they look. The rear quarter window shape pays tribute to the original 40 year old 240Z, and the center console has the same center three gauge arrangement as the 240z.
- Interior. It's a proper interior, materials feel and look substantial. Bluetooth, keyless entry, clear proper gauges, generally high level of fit and finish. Much nicer than the interior of the 135i.
- for the price, it's a great performance bargain, a no holds barred sports car with no concessions to practicality. As this was a successor to the Miata, I didn’t really let practically rule my decision.
- Synchro-rev match – This car will basically do the heel-toeing for you, rev-matching your downshifts. The manual zealots see this as a cop out, but I enjoy the feature, enjoying completely smooth downshifts during spirited driving or just around town. For some reason, I find heel-toeing harder on this car than my other cars anyway due to the something about the shape of the pedals, so for me, it is actually handy in this case.
- Handling feels unflappable, the 275/35 19 inch rear Bridgestone R050 rear tires keep gripping and gripping and gripping.
- The car feels solid, no sign of flex anywhere.
- gas mileage not that bad. Around 9-ish L/100 cruising at 120 and just 11L/100km over the course of the week as a daily driver.
- Cost to insure is only slightly more than my WRX when it was new.
Not so good:
- Wide aggressive tires means all you hear is the texture of the road. The tires by themselves don’t have much roar, but you feel every rut, groove, pebble, every change in texture.
- The Bose stereo sound rather mediocre (like the last three Bose car systems we’ve owned)
- The trunk space, although an improvement over the 350Z now that they relocated the crossmember more forward, is barely an improvement over the Miata. It’s extremely shallow.
- Steering is sensitive in the center, coupled with the wide groove-following tires means the car will wander into the next lane if you let up your attention even one instant.
- Except for the road noise, it’s fairly quiet overall but there isn’t much character to the sound of the car while you are sitting inside.
- Reviews have complained about the harsh noise of the engine at higher RPMs. It could be smother and more distinctive but I have no qualms about the quality and level of the noise for this type of car.
- Not looking forward to the cost of replacing those tires. Even at Tirerack, the rear Bridgestones clock over $300USD each.
- The car does feel a bit heavier than I would like as a Miata replacement.
- It’s hard to judge the corners of the car when parking and going around corners.
- Visibility, there is none. The C pillars will block large trucks and the rear window is a slit. I now use my mirrors angled outward to handle blind spots.
- At idle, the engine sound sets up a resonance which sounds boomy with the windows open.
- The ride is fairly stiff, but this is no unexpected for this type of car.
- The LED gas gauge and temp gauge are unreadable in the sun.
- The daytime running light system is ridiculous. Basically my front and rear lights are on all the time.
I'll try to get some better picture in here eventually.
I will track it in the future, but I don’t want to break it just yet
So here’s hoping for another 10 years of great driving
