My fairlady up the mountains and by the sea
It was a terrible weekend as my lab organised a trip to the beach. Part enjoyment, part disaster. It was a disaster for me as I just keep on trying to avoid unwanted attention @ girls in bikini. Well it's not wrong if it is my wife but other than that, I think it is a little dangerous for me. Had to hold my desires while my labmates are talking about them and telling me to take photos of the girls in bikini with the SLR I had. And holding that desires turned into stress.
Finally 2 days after the trip, I decided to release the stress I had and indulge myself with a good car to keep me away from distraction of women and fantasies about it. Seriously, I think I need to get a wife as soon as possible. Thus, I decided to go for the Nissan Fairlady 350Z. You know the one famous in Fast and Furious : Tokyo Drift, and I wonder how fast and how furious it would be.
This is the 1st real sports car driven so I can't benchmark it against others. However I'll just try to write in how I felt about the car. how Furious this beast would be.
It's the same VQ35 Engine used in the Murano I've driven months ago but it is tuned for a sporty drive. The V6 grumble is more present than its SUV cousin and especially at start, it just makes any petrolhead smile. I wonder how a V8 , V10 , V12 would do.
Unfortunately the car I rented was a 5 speed auto which didn't seem to satisfy the brute power of the car. Shift response was slow but I reckon if the dual clutch transmission or manual would be much of a fun car to drive.
I took the car up Mt Rokko (a mountain behind Kobe) and later off the bayside highway back to Osaka. Well as we know, it's used in Drifting and highway battles, I'd gave it a try at the twisty mountain road and the highway. The car was well planted on the road with minimal body roll. Bumps and potholes might be a little rough for the spine but it's bearable tho. The steering input is direct and a little blip on the gas would give some screech onto the tarmac. Nevertheless it handles well on the mountain road.
Then off to the highway, it gets pretty freaky as it has already reached the electronic set 180kph limit and yet it have plenty of space to go more. It gets worse when Japanese roads are usually at maximum of 60kph, the car just dashes at 80kph or more. Leaving some speeding tickets for the driver (Fortunately I didn't). Brakes aren't Brembo as it is not the high end version but it serves a very good stopping power. Even after a 100km drive the brakes are still in good condition.
The interior is pretty spartan. Fittings ands finishes aren't top grade as there are wide gaps on the fittings. But I can't say much coz it went as far as 90,000km. The button feedbacks were poor and the aluminium like plastic finishings makes the car a little cheapish. It would be better if they could use real aluminium finish. The door knobs on the inside is made of metal, so there is no need to worry about the door knobs breaking after a million use.
Apart from the automatic transmission drawback, the car is pretty much fun to drive and especially if on a date with someone special. It's not that impractical but can be a little trick on maneuvering through the narrow streets of Japan. Checks before taking the to the roads indicate that some scratches are due to poor judgement on sideparking and on narrow corners.
Well would I recommend buying this car ? To be honest, if the money is working for you ... get one... If ur living off with lots of money and yet working hard to earn it, forget it.... Just a 150km drive landed me with a fuel consumption of 5 km/litre and I think it would be the 1st and last till the day when the money works for me.
However, it does give u a smile as the engine growls and a sense of belonging. On my drive, I just saw a few 350Z here and there and seems like we're related. That's how special it feel having one.
Finally 2 days after the trip, I decided to release the stress I had and indulge myself with a good car to keep me away from distraction of women and fantasies about it. Seriously, I think I need to get a wife as soon as possible. Thus, I decided to go for the Nissan Fairlady 350Z. You know the one famous in Fast and Furious : Tokyo Drift, and I wonder how fast and how furious it would be.
This is the 1st real sports car driven so I can't benchmark it against others. However I'll just try to write in how I felt about the car. how Furious this beast would be.
It's the same VQ35 Engine used in the Murano I've driven months ago but it is tuned for a sporty drive. The V6 grumble is more present than its SUV cousin and especially at start, it just makes any petrolhead smile. I wonder how a V8 , V10 , V12 would do.
Unfortunately the car I rented was a 5 speed auto which didn't seem to satisfy the brute power of the car. Shift response was slow but I reckon if the dual clutch transmission or manual would be much of a fun car to drive.
I took the car up Mt Rokko (a mountain behind Kobe) and later off the bayside highway back to Osaka. Well as we know, it's used in Drifting and highway battles, I'd gave it a try at the twisty mountain road and the highway. The car was well planted on the road with minimal body roll. Bumps and potholes might be a little rough for the spine but it's bearable tho. The steering input is direct and a little blip on the gas would give some screech onto the tarmac. Nevertheless it handles well on the mountain road.
Then off to the highway, it gets pretty freaky as it has already reached the electronic set 180kph limit and yet it have plenty of space to go more. It gets worse when Japanese roads are usually at maximum of 60kph, the car just dashes at 80kph or more. Leaving some speeding tickets for the driver (Fortunately I didn't). Brakes aren't Brembo as it is not the high end version but it serves a very good stopping power. Even after a 100km drive the brakes are still in good condition.
The interior is pretty spartan. Fittings ands finishes aren't top grade as there are wide gaps on the fittings. But I can't say much coz it went as far as 90,000km. The button feedbacks were poor and the aluminium like plastic finishings makes the car a little cheapish. It would be better if they could use real aluminium finish. The door knobs on the inside is made of metal, so there is no need to worry about the door knobs breaking after a million use.
Apart from the automatic transmission drawback, the car is pretty much fun to drive and especially if on a date with someone special. It's not that impractical but can be a little trick on maneuvering through the narrow streets of Japan. Checks before taking the to the roads indicate that some scratches are due to poor judgement on sideparking and on narrow corners.
Well would I recommend buying this car ? To be honest, if the money is working for you ... get one... If ur living off with lots of money and yet working hard to earn it, forget it.... Just a 150km drive landed me with a fuel consumption of 5 km/litre and I think it would be the 1st and last till the day when the money works for me.
However, it does give u a smile as the engine growls and a sense of belonging. On my drive, I just saw a few 350Z here and there and seems like we're related. That's how special it feel having one.
Comments
Loved the picture of the 350Z parked in lot 23. Superb!