Considering a Z

[jdmz33]

Hi Z owners, my first ever car when I got my first job was a 350Z 6MT about 20 years ago. Now my kids have grown and I'm considering another Z again. I have a few questions:

1.) Are there any common issues with the new platform Z?
2.) What are the pros/cons you experienced during ownership?
3.) How easy is it to tune the Z to 500hp whp?
4.) Any other comments/suggestions/thoughts on the Z?
5.) There seems to be a lot of performance improvements on the Nismo Z, but is it worth the price tag?

Thanks in advance.

 

[matthew107]

Hi Z owners, my first ever car when I got my first job was a 350Z 6MT about 20 years ago. Now my kids have grown and I'm considering another Z again. I have a few questions:

1.) Are there any common issues with the new platform Z?
2.) What are the pros/cons you experienced during ownership?
3.) How easy is it to tune the Z to 500hp whp?
4.) Any other comments/suggestions/thoughts on the Z?
5.) There seems to be a lot of performance improvements on the Nismo Z, but is it worth the price tag?

Thanks in advance.

get a sport trim, save the extra $$ and put it all towards mods, They're super aftermarket friendly since they have the vr30 from the q50/60. Super easy to get 500+ wheel

 

[jdmz33]

Thanks for the quick reply. What is required to get to 500+ wheel?

 

[Jah_Happy]

Thanks for the quick reply. What is required to get to 500+ wheel?

AMS has a 500hp package all ready to go. It's pretty basic bolt ons

https://www.amsperformance.com/product/nissan-z-alpha-5-performance-package/

 

[MacCool]

My current 2024 Performance is the 9th Z I've owned since my original 240Z in 1970. Just prior to this one, I had two different 370Z's since 2011. Until this RZ34, I thought that the 370Z was the best Z ever. The new Z is better. I had no issues with the 370Z, although I did see people complain about a problematic clutch cylinder. For those that tracked it, there were complaints of fuel starvation in hard turns, as well as lack of engine cooling. That never affected me as I never had interest in taking it to the track. Likewise mods, zero interest in mods under the hood. I did put coil overs in one of the 370s, didn't care for them and took them out, Every Z I've had except for the 240Z got stiffer sway bars and I consider that the be a mandatory upgrade.

 

[Vintage]

I'm bias towards the Nismo trim. No need for mods IMO, as it's already track set up out of the box. The 420 horsepower, upgraded transmission and tuned suspension is more than enough for a ton of fun. Plus it makes a great daily driver.

 

[goeagles11]

1.) Are there any common issues with the new platform Z?

- With the auto transmission occasionally you’ll feel a lurch when coming to a full stop as the transmission downshifts. Minor inconvenience.
- The parking sensors will sometimes randomly go off when you’re at a traffic stop. You can stop the beeping noise with a button on the steering wheel when it happens.
- I’ve had an issue with the Sport trim seat making a creak sound/feeling a little loose on turns. Even after taking it to the dealership and them swapping the seat bracket, the issue came back after one week.

2.) What are the pros/cons you experienced during ownership?

- Car is crazy fast compared to my 370Z.
- I love that the stock exhaust has some character (I believe only the automatic trim has the decent exhaust, manual is too quiet).
- This is a pro for me but could be considered a con, it’s really easy to get the tail happy. I’ve even gotten a little loose in third gear, and this is on stock power. The Zs stock tires aren’t the best so I’m sure with some better Michelins it’ll reduce the sliding, but I like the sliding and might keep the stock tires it comes with.

3.) How easy is it to tune the Z to 500hp whp?

- It’s very easy to increase the torque to 500 it seems with just a tune. For horsepower the Zs turbos are small so 500whp requires full bolt ons plus e85 and that will “barely” get you to 500whp. Personally that amount of power is too much for this car unless you’re putting drag tires on the back, as you won’t have traction to take advantage of the power.

4.) Any other comments/suggestions/thoughts on the Z?

- There are plenty of deals to be had nowadays, push for a deal that is a few thousand dollars under MSRP, or buy slightly used if you plan to mod the car.

5.) There seems to be a lot of performance improvements on the Nismo Z, but is it worth the price tag?

- The Nismo is worth it if “Nismo” means something to you. For me it does, and eventually I’d like to trade in and upgrade to the Nismo. If “Nismo” doesn’t give you the tingles, then unless you track the car it won’t be worth it.

 

[ZillaZ]

goeagles11 pretty much nailed it.

I have a 2024 Performance Auto trans and do get the "lurch" at lights every so often. My 2022 Frontier did the same thing for the first couple thousand miles too. It has (the same?) 9-speed auto trans too. Hoping it goes away in the Z eventually too but I have heard people say they still have it after thousands of miles. Again, and I agree, it's just a minor inconvenience that doesn't seem to really affect anything. People have brought their Z's to Nissan and the dealers have said they have notified Nissan corporate about it so maybe a software update will come out to fix it. That said I can go days without it happening then it will have 1-2 times in a single trip to the store.

Had the parking sensor go off once for me at a stoplight and like you said just press the button on your steering wheel to turn it off. My parking sensors go crazy every time I park my Z in my garage because its a small space so I have got used to pressing the button every time I pull in or out of it.

Funny you mention the bit of seat wobble in your Z @goeagles11 I had a similar issue in my Frontier and how I "fixed" it was raising the back part of the bottom seat just a little bit. I had it all the way down and if I do that I get the wobble but not if I have it up a bit. It's almost like if you have the seat all the way up or down in any part you can move there is a bit of a gap in the mechanism that holds it in that position; but if you move it just a little bit it holds it in place. At least thats how it seemed to work in my Frontier - I got no issues like that in my Z.

Agree the tires that come stock, Bridgestone Potenza on the Performance model, leave a lot to be desired but I too do not track my Z and they work fine for my summer daily / weekend fun car.

I have heard the Nismo version does not have the "lurch" with the upgraded clutch-pack in the trans but like others the Nismo was not what I was after. Call me crazy but I like the looks of the performance more and like I said I don't track so the extra $ for a Nismo did not make sense to me. The Nismo does look fantastic though.

 

[goeagles11]

@ZillaZ Dude….that literally fixed the seat. Lmao you’re the man!

 

[ZillaZ]

@ZillaZ Dude….that literally fixed the seat. Lmao you’re the man!

Glad I could help! Dealt with it for about a year and a half on my Frontier before I decided to just adjust the bottom seat up a little bit and voila!

 

[Thefunk]

I agree with everything mentioned above. I have the Performance trim. It's unfortunate that the non-nismo Z's need suspension upgrades but Nissan needs to be able to sell the car to the masses so they make a soft suspension to scare folks to into not driving too fast. I drive faster now after installing the sway bars and end links, so I can see why Nissan chose to make it soft.

 

[CPerdomo]

My current 2024 Performance is the 9th Z I've owned since my original 240Z in 1970. Just prior to this one, I had two different 370Z's since 2011. Until this RZ34, I thought that the 370Z was the best Z ever. The new Z is better. I had no issues with the 370Z, although I did see people complain about a problematic clutch cylinder. For those that tracked it, there were complaints of fuel starvation in hard turns, as well as lack of engine cooling. That never affected me as I never had interest in taking it to the track. Likewise mods, zero interest in mods under the hood. I did put coil overs in one of the 370s, didn't care for them and took them out, Every Z I've had except for the 240Z got stiffer sway bars and I consider that the be a mandatory upgrade.

Wow, MacCool, I've been thinking about stiffer sway bars for my 2024 performance Z. Like you, I have no interest in getting more power nor race it. I want it to last for decades in great shape.
Did you already change the sway bars on your 2024 Z?

 

[KCZ]

'23 Performance owner here. Sways were one of the first things I did and I think they were a big improvement.

 

[MacCool]

Wow, MacCool, I've been thinking about stiffer sway bars for my 2024 performance Z. Like you, I have no interest in getting more power nor race it. I want it to last for decades in great shape.
Did you already change the sway bars on your 2024 Z?

Yes, the car had about 1200 miles on it before I put on a set of Z1 sway bars...I ordered them before I even picked up the car. I've had many Z's before including two 370Z's. I had ZERO doubt that I'd be unhappy with the amount of body roll on the stock Z34 chassis. The Z1's are good, but likely not better than the other usual aftermarket brands (I've had Whites, Eibachs, and Stillens over the years). On these Z1's, I set them up on the stiffer of the two holes. That did eliminate the body roll but also harshed up the ride a bit more than I wanted. I plan to reset to the softer hole when I get around to it.

 

[Fanatic]

I liked both the performance 6-speed manual trim and also the nismo trim so I got both of them. The new z is a great car and my kids and I really like it. I think it's a very legitimate substitute for other high-end sports cars.