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Subject my trip to the other dark side...
     
Posted by naZeer (Dallas) on October 12, 2008 at 11:57 PM
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Message As some of u know already, I sold my Z and have since purchased a Z06 for daily driver and track duties. I felt that this was the car that could fill both roles well, a comfortable daily with all the toys on the inside , and a weekend track car on the outside. Here are some pics:

just a quick subjective review of it compared to my previous stage 7 Z, please note that I am not a pro-driver, just an amateur driver with a couple of DE’s under his belt…

exterior: I love both, just that the Z06 comes with all the updated hardware and is track ready. tough call, I have to call it a tie here.

interior: again the Z interior is beautiful, but it lacks all the new toys, nav, blue tooth, keyless, heated seats, heads up, all the gauges u need for the track in the cluster or on the heads up, a nice thud when u close the door, just small things here and there (leather pretty much everywhere, all the buttons have a soft back light, very solid feel to the knobs and buttons). but the Z has a much better view forward with its much shorter nose, and much better rear visibility. I feel that the Z06 barely, just barely, beats the Z in this regard.

acceleration: the Z with sp500s feels much faster than the Z06, the torque curve has a definite peak to it around 3500-4500 rpm and this feeling that is inherent to turbo cars makes it feel faster. but in reality, the Z06 is quicker, power delivery is very smooth and stable, torque curve is essentially flat till about 5500 rpm from there it drops about 50 ft/lb to redline at 7000 rpm. it’s the lack of the turbo rush that makes the Z06 only feel slower, but the speedo climbs much faster in the Z06! and the sound, chest rumbling big bore fury!

handling: my Z had sways and springs so it felt pretty tight already, I think the Z06 feels a little soft, leans a bit when pushed, could benefit from springs which most people tend to do as their first mod. have not taken the Z06 to the track yet so cannot pass judgment on this. Z06 feels like it pushes just a bit in cornering, easily fixed with throttle, I can see that power oversteer will be a problem on corner exit as there is nearly 325 rwtq at 2000 rpm. the rear feels light, I think rotating under trail braking will be very easy in this car. the car overall feels very light, its only 3099 lbs. u can tell that u are having to control much less mass as response is very quick.

brakes: against my stock Z brakes, hands down Z06 is better. no contest.

looking forward to taking this out to some DE’s and learning to drive this beast. im sure it will be a looong time before I even come close to this car’s limit in stock trim.

on a side note, a friend of mine let me drive his GTR which he just got (we got our cars a week apart)...we drove each other car’s for a bit, as both were new we agreed not to race each other until fully broken in. he had been egging me to get one, but I was always partial to the Z06 for its looks, value, warranty, and time proven reliability. here is my review of the GTR compared to the Z06:

exterior: never liked it, in person it’s a big car, sedan like.

interior: also never liked it, in person still don’t like it, looks like they just stacked items on top of one another, no flow to the console and controls. very large and bulky dash. seating position is high in the car as well. not tucked in and low like the Z06.

acceleration: the GTR does not pull as hard as the Z06. the Z06 will bury u in the seat and hold u there. BUT, the secret to the GTRs speed is the transmission, absolutely amazing transmission! shifts are blinding quick, and as a result there is VERY little momentum lost. for a Z06 to beat it, shifts must be dead on rapid, miss one and the GTR will win. but given a good driver in the Z06, it will win everytime, esp on the freeway where the Z06 surges like no other. the GTR sounds pretty poor though, no rumble, turbo whine is barely noticeable, a small engine import-ish sound if u know what i mean.

handling: hard to say as only spent a few minutes in it. I did do a few freeway u-turns with as much guts as I could muster given that it wasn’t my car. my impression is that the car understeers heavily, turn in is vague and the car really pushes when exiting. I did not go to R mode on anything out of respect for the owner. but the car does have very good grip. the Z06 slides just a bit mid corner but I feel that the stock Z06 tires just suck and a set of slicks will fix that problem. again, that amazing transmission! it is very very easy to drive this car very very fast. coming hot into one corner I flicked the paddle down from 6 to 2 with blazing quick perfect rev matched downshifts, turned and just hauled butt on exit with a few more flicks of the paddle. this I believe is the secret to the GTRs deceptive track performance. it is very easy for anyone to get in and drive this car FAST, with some seat time it can be unbeatable. no need for heel toe, quick hands, and a sensitive right foot. just brake, point, and go, let the gizmos work out the rest.

braking: very good, again u have to squeeze them more as u are carrying 800 lbs more than the Z06, but great feel and initial bite.

I really have no regrets in getting the Z06, esp after hearing of how Nissan is screwing people out of transmission warranties for using the cars as they were designed to be used. hopefully Nissan does right by all those who paid such a premium over MSRP and had faith that Nissan would deliver as promised.
but in an ideal world, I would own both cars. each one is great at what it was designed to do. Z06: brute force track car GTR: quick sedan with an amazing transmission. picking between the two daily would be a problem I would love to have.

here's a crappy cell phone pic of both our cars:

     
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