Quote:
Originally Posted by Yuji
Been lurking on the forums for a while now  .
Now that I'm about to purchase a vehicle namely: the 2014 monogram Fr-s or Nissan 370z. I'm torn between the two as they are both around 30k. I'll be using them as my DD, so I won't be heavily modifying either of them in anyway. So which one would you guys prefer?
Also, do you think insurance rates will differ between the two drastically?
Thanks! |
Hey, so I thought about both of them and decided for the Z. It's really up to what you value more, I'll give you some of my reasons, and you can decide if it applies to you.
I needed a car both for HPDE fun and a daily driving, so I kind of thought them a seperately.
For the HPDE part, my goal is to learn to be a faster driver. I haven't driven either one at the track yet, but talking to experienced drivers at the track this is kind of the picture I have of each of them.
I think either one is decent, but different in terms of track driving for an intermediate driver. The 86 definitely will be a lot more fun. In the corner it will feel very responsive and easy to keep on line and easy to yaw. Like a go-kart it will make you more confident in your car control, and lets you get comfortable with yawing the car. But it is like a miata, it is a momentum car, and the way you drive it is a little different. Kind of the biggest thing that steered me away from the car for HPDE is similar to that tire rack comparison. I don't think I can resist putting on sticky tires for the track. Once you put sticky tires on, the car kind of has way too much tire for its power. Like some high speed esses just becomes straights. Because of the daily driver part, I don't really want to be messing around with the engine. So for me (not same for everyone) turbo, E85, or engine internals aren't really an option.
The z is more of a standard road car in how it drives. It is very mild at the limits, with mild understeer balance, high traction, and good power and torque. It doesn't yaw as easily, and the stock shocks probably aren't great, but it has high mechanical grip and is pretty quick in infield corners. It takes more work and care to get it to yaw and to stay on line, but it's not that big of a deal if you are slightly off line, the car will just plow some and not get unsettled. It's also good for learning throttle control on corner exit, something that you don't really have to concern yourself within a fr-s. I'm still breaking in the z and haven't tracked it yet, but fully expect to have to get a better radiator and brake ducting of some sort. 19" tires are also painful, and I probably will go with 18's after the oem set. Don't let people fool you though, even though it is heavier, it is pretty quick through corners and produces a lot of grip. It's not like you'll be losing to miatas/fr-s in the infield if you are a similarly skilled driver on a similar tire.
To answer the question of what's the use of going fast on the track... For me that's the purpose of a sports car, to go fast. I feel for me I am at a point where I would rather learn how to drive a fast car, rather than to prioritize fun over driving. It's not very practical in a utilitarian sense, because the lap times don't get you anything. It's kind of like why doesn't everyone drive miatas at the track? why are there so many bmw's, porsches, and vettes? Because some people just like driving fast cars.
For daily driving, as a personal thing, I don't understand a test drive. I guess it's good for ergonomics, but all sports cars for me have driven fine and similarly on a test drive. I think driving on the track has drained of me the desire to drive like a punk teenager on the street.
For daily driving, for me, the z wins hands down in almost every respect, other than cost. The mileage sucks ass and those bling bling tires are freaking expensive.
I'm kind of older (low 30's), so i prefer the z in terms of looks. I polled a few non-car enthusiast people my ageish who know absolutely nothing about cars and even car brands, and they all preferred the z hands down. It's more car enthusiasts who know what the 86 is that will like the 86, but the novelty is quickly wearing away i think when you see like 5 a day. The z is more of a respectable car for the vast majority of the people I have to interact with on a day to day basis: co-workers, family, and friends. Even my tracking friends feels the z gives a more mature impression.
The blind spot on the z I hated at first, but it's not so bad once you are actually driving, because the short butt and mirrors cover the blind spot in the next lane over, but you really have to bend your torso and head to turn left when you are pulling out of driveways. This is compounded by the stupid front plastic diffuser thing that hangs off the bumper. To not scratch that, you have to angle the car as you drive out of driveways. And when you angle the car, usually left when you want to turn left, the blind spot basically blocks where you want to look, and you have to contort over to see.
The hp and torque is so useful on daily driving and freeway driving. Being able to be lazy and just accelerate in 6th is much more leisurely. And being able to accelerate in 6th up good sized hills is nice.
anyway, these are some of what I went through, ask me any specific questions if you like.