New 350Z owner and club member

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imatraman
Posts: 4
Location: Auckland

New 350Z owner and club member

Post by imatraman » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:51 pm

For the last 14 years I’ve driven a WRX.

It’s been a great car; fast, agile, inspiring total confidence in the wet or dry. It’s been driven briskly on many occasions, never thrashed or abused. The on boost acceleration still brings a smile to my face. I’ve driven it since new, and in nearly 190,000k’s it’s never let me down (dead battery excepted) and has cost less than $2000 in what I consider non maintenance items. Amazingly it’s still on the original clutch but……… the gearbox has been notchy since day one, the interior screams 1990’s Japanese econobox, the turbo lag at low revs is monumental, safety has improved hugely since the Impreza was launched and the pimply bogan image that is normally associated with an older WRX doesn’t sit very comfortably with a 53 year old. In short, it was time for a change.

I always promised myself I’d own a proper sports car one day (proper being a manual, two seater, front engined, rear drive car with a powerful normally aspirated engine), and in today’s market I think a 350Z offers an unbeatable combination of power, handling, styling, reliability and affordability.

I started looking semi-seriously about two years ago with an open mind regarding spec and colour. I finally decided I wanted a NZ new Track spec car in Daytona Blue but had no luck in locating one. Late last year City Nissan in Glenfield had a mint one owner 2006 car with 26,000k’s on it, but it was sold the morning I had booked it in for an AA inspection.

In desperation I contacted the Z Club to see if they knew of any cars for sale. Bronzee has been incredibly helpful and put me on to an Ultra Yellow 35th Anniversary edition that was advertised on trademe in December 2010.

I’d already seen it on trademe, but with its tacky carbon fibre bodykit (has there ever been a bodykit for a road car that actually enhances the looks of a car?), yellow paintwork, confusing description (Fairlady was mentioned), and silly asking price I assumed it was an import and didn’t take things any further.

Bronzee thought it was a genuine NZ new car so I did a little research and it turned out it was. I contacted the owner and to cut a long story short, it’s now mine. The bodykit was removed by the owner, and an allowance made in the purchase price to sort out some minor bodywork imperfections and the damage caused by removing the bodykit. I’m pleased to say that the final all up cost to me was considerably less than the original asking price. Special thanks go to Bronzee for putting me on to the car and helpful advice as to what to look for and to Bernie and the team at Hauraki Panel and Paint for doing a great job on the paintwork when others had tried and failed.

The previous owner had also made some other modifications. The original wheels have been replaced with 9.5 x 19 and 10.5 x 19 Rays alloys fitted with Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres (245/40 x 19 and 285/35 x 19 respectively), the windows have been tinted and there is an after market cat back exhaust which sounds superb, but which has a ridiculous flaring of the last 15cm. And the yellow paintwork – well, it’s different!

Initial impressions comparing it with the WRX are the much greater solidity and interior quality, the linear power delivery and the huge torque of that glorious sounding engine. In the 3 months I’ve owned it it’s been in paint and panel shops for 6 weeks and I’ve been too busy with other thing to take it for a decent drive, but that should change shortly.

I look forward to catching up with other Z club members in the near future.
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us2
Z Club Member
Posts: 1876
Location: Weymouth by the sea.Auckland.Don't dream it ,be there

Post by us2 » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:05 pm

Welcome aboard :D From another front engine, rear drive, normally aspirated driver.

Brian.
!972 240z
Retirement is great. Growing old sucks.

BRONZEE
Z Club Member
Posts: 7200
Location: Auckland

Post by BRONZEE » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:24 pm

Yay!!!! You finally registered. 8) 8) I'm so pleased to see it all painted up and devoid of that body kit! I used to see this car in it's original form quite frequently when I took my baby in for servicing. Always admiring the lovely Ultra Yellow. Daytona Blue is stunning but the UY is rare. 8)

By the way, it's Netrover (the other UY owner) you have to thank for originally spotting your UY on Trade Me to start with. :D


Hope you make it along to the Club's 30th Anniversary party next month. 8)
Next - Z Club events:
= Check out events page here or our Z Club NZ Facebook page.

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netrover
Posts: 390
Location: Christchurch

Post by netrover » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:55 pm

Nice Car!!!

Great to see you on the forum.

When I was looking for my 35th UY Bronzee mentioned there was probably only one in NZ, but it wasn't available when I needed it so I tracked one down in Japan and brought it over. Glad to hear that you've now got it and brought it back to its original glory. Looked a tad garish on TM when I spotted it there.

Next time you're in earthquake central send me a PM and we'll go for a spin. I've heard if you go fast enough you don't feel the shakes!
35th Anniversary Ultra Yellow 350Z

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netrover
Posts: 390
Location: Christchurch

Post by netrover » Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:36 pm

imatraman wrote:The original wheels have been replaced with 9.5 x 19 and 10.5 x 19 Rays alloys fitted with Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres (245/40 x 19 and 285/35 x 19 respectively.
I see you have different spec tyres, that is 40 and 35 sidewalls if I understand what the numbers mean. Do you find that the VDC goes off all the time with the different rolling radius?

With stock Potenzas on mine (fronts very worn and rears with plenty of tread) the VDC went off when I went around any corners with a bit of speed. Once I replaced the front tyres the VDC hasn't put in an appearance!
35th Anniversary Ultra Yellow 350Z

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ZMAD
Posts: 657
Location: Tauranga

Post by ZMAD » Thu Apr 21, 2011 9:00 pm

Hey good to have you onboard. I'm a Subaru/Nissan owner driver and totally agree with the comment' about your Sub. I love my Subaru (on my second, ripped my heart out to part with first). I also dreamp't of owning a 260Z since the 70's and now have that. Brings out a different personality when I drive the 260Z. Might see you at the big cellerbration May 21st.
All Nissans are racecars.

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imatraman
Posts: 4
Location: Auckland

Post by imatraman » Fri Apr 22, 2011 1:17 pm

Thanks for the comments everyone and thanks for the invitation netrover. I make an annual pilgrimage to Mt. Hutt in August, and may be down before then so I’ll make contact.

I’ve just realized the photo I posted was prior to the paint and panel work, as evidenced by the screw holes in the lower lip of the front bumper. The rear bumper had similar holes, the bonnet a large deep scratch and the passenger door two pin dents near the mirror which defeated the paintless dent removal man, so an extensive respray of the lower half of the car was required. The interior has one or two annoying scratches, but is otherwise as you’d expect for car that has only done 16,000km. It won’t be my daily driver so I expect the mileage to stay low relative to its age.

Prior to purchase I was aware of potential VDC/ESP problems if there was a significant difference in the rolling circumference of the front and rear tyres. I found the tyre calculator section on the website alloywheels dot com very useful in resolving wheel/tyre compatibility issues.

The standard 225/45 x 18 and 245/45 x 18 tyres have a difference in rolling circumference of 2.73%.

The tyres fitted to my car have a difference in rolling circumference 0.52%, so I don’t anticipate any problems even allowing for differing wear rates. There might be a problem at tyre replacement time though; the rear Pirellis retail at around $1000.00 each! Needless to say I’ll be exploring all my options.

Both the front and rear tyres have a slightly increased rolling circumference when compared to the standard tyres, but with the rears it’s only around 0.65%. I’m assuming the speedo sensor takes it reading from the output shaft of the gearbox, and if so speedo inaccuracy shouldn’t be an issue.

At this stage I’m planning to attend the anniversary dinner, so I look forward to meeting other club members then.

BRONZEE
Z Club Member
Posts: 7200
Location: Auckland

Post by BRONZEE » Sun Apr 24, 2011 8:26 am

Size dependant there are a few other good options to the Pirelli's. Last time ended up with a puncture totally wrecking the tyre, had the choice of Pirelli's or Yoko's. Later have been good.
Next - Z Club events:
= Check out events page here or our Z Club NZ Facebook page.

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Tony Wood
Posts: 7
Location: Upper Hutt

Post by Tony Wood » Wed Mar 09, 2022 4:56 pm

On the tyres I have the same problem, but with a slightly different profile back and from, I switch traction control off when I get in , its a base model 2005 350Z so no silly stability control that you cannot fully disable. Also I run $170 each Goodride semi slicks Sport RS. https://www.goodridetire.com/index.php/ ... portrs/211
for dry days they are super, cold wet winter morning require a bit of care. At Manfield the first couple of laps are amazing, when they get really hot they do look like they melt , like a full competition tyre. Roll of rubber you can pick off. For the price they are really good . Road mileage has been better than expected

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agecage
Z Club Member
Posts: 89
Location: Auckland

Post by agecage » Sun Mar 13, 2022 9:37 am

Tony Wood wrote: Wed Mar 09, 2022 4:56 pm On the tyres I have the same problem, but with a slightly different profile back and from, I switch traction control off when I get in , its a base model 2005 350Z so no silly stability control that you cannot fully disable. Also I run $170 each Goodride semi slicks Sport RS. https://www.goodridetire.com/index.php/ ... portrs/211
for dry days they are super, cold wet winter morning require a bit of care. At Manfield the first couple of laps are amazing, when they get really hot they do look like they melt , like a full competition tyre. Roll of rubber you can pick off. For the price they are really good . Road mileage has been better than expected
Hey Tony you may want to check the date stamps before posting. This thread was last active in 2011 some 11 years ago.

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Grunzter
Posts: 541
Location: Epsom, Auckland

Post by Grunzter » Mon Mar 14, 2022 5:47 pm

Lol... the 350Z was relatively new back in 2011...
1981 280ZX #33 IMSA GTU Race Car
2012 Fairlady Z34 ST (For the son/wife...)
2007 Fairlady Z33 NISMO
(Sold) 1984 300ZX Z31 2+2 Turbo
(Sold) 1980 Datsun 280ZX 2+2

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