[Turbowned]

Originally Posted by Jordo!

You, know, being low to the ground aside, the motor is really the Achilles heel of this car.

It makes limited power, not much torque (and then there's that big "death valley" dip), and seems to have cam issues (not clear if this is sensor based, mechanical, or both) right out of the box.

Toyota needs a better power plant for this thing. Everything else is fine to good.

I would argue that the motor in the 370Z is it's Achilles heel, also. It's so coarse and rough I found myself extremely disappointed after test-driving one. I couldn't even talk to the poor sales guy sitting next to me as I revved the motor up. I quite liked the rest of the car, but it's as if the Nissan engineers sacrificed all NVH and quality concerns in the name of squeezing out every last horsepower and foot-pound they could. I wish they would have left the 3.5L in there; I'd take the 32hp hit for a little bit of refinement. Seriously. I don't expect it to sound as good as the triple-carbed L-series in my 240Z, but come on!

As for the boxer engine, 100hp-per-liter is nothing to sneeze at. The torque dip can and has been tuned out with aftermarket parts. The cam issue will be rectified with a TSB and eliminated on the assembly line shortly, you can count on it. Just my .02