On this episode of Ignition
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 So I just spent about 20 hours traveling back from Europe,
00:22 and I am exhausted.
00:23 So this week on Ignition, I figure
00:25 I'd show you my patented cure-all for jet lag
00:28 and how to re-acclimate to California.
00:31 It takes three things-- a good mountain road, a sports car,
00:34 and later to help you digest it all, a big old burrito.
00:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:40 So why the 370Z?
00:45 Well, if you look at the typical sports car formula,
00:48 it pretty much nails it.
00:49 The design is right.
00:50 The proportions are good with this low-slung cockpit
00:53 and that fastback.
00:54 The hardware is right, too, with that big 3.7-liter V6
00:58 making over 330 horsepower, sending it
01:01 to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission
01:04 and a limited-slip differential.
01:06 You have aggressive suspension.
01:08 You have forged wheels with sticky tires
01:11 wrapped around them.
01:12 This thing pretty much gets it.
01:14 And I like this interior, too, with this big center-mounted
01:21 tack.
01:22 This is a very bare-bones example of the 370Z.
01:26 We don't have navigation.
01:27 We don't have Bluetooth.
01:28 We don't even have an iPod hookup.
01:30 So that means we have less distractions
01:32 when we're driving fast.
01:34 That's kind of what you want when you're charging up
01:36 a mountain road at full speed.
01:38 It's just sort of the pure engagement of it all.
01:43 The driving experience is interesting
01:44 because this isn't the sort of sharp, precise, and delicate
01:48 sports car like the Porsche Boxster.
01:51 This thing's more rough and tumble, a little bit more
01:55 manly and hairy-chested.
01:56 There's a heft to everything.
01:58 The car feels heavy.
01:59 The steering has some weight to it.
02:01 The shifter buzzes and rattles and shakes.
02:03 The clutch can be difficult to modulate.
02:06 The car feels a little bit clunky.
02:09 But at the same time, through all that,
02:11 it's a very good driving car.
02:13 There's just so much grip in the chassis and in the tires.
02:17 It has a very neutral behavior at the limit.
02:21 It tells you exactly what it's about to do,
02:23 whether it's understeer or oversteer.
02:25 And it tells you exactly what you
02:26 need to do in order to fix whatever
02:28 it is you're going to approach.
02:29 It might be a little bit more exhausting to drive
02:33 as a result, but there's certainly
02:35 an argument to be made for the sort of manly sports
02:38 car that this is.
02:40 But this is sort of a rough and coarse car.
02:44 Everything shakes.
02:45 Everything vibrates.
02:47 The engine kind of sounds like a vacuum
02:50 cleaner through an amplifier.
02:53 If you leave the shifter in sixth
02:55 and roll off and on the throttle,
02:56 you'll actually see it move, responding
02:59 to the torque of the engine.
03:01 It's not the most comfortable car day to day,
03:03 but it is a no-holds-barred sports car.
03:07 And this may not be the best example of a Z,
03:09 because this car seems to have had a pretty rough life.
03:13 The parking brake light will come on sometimes
03:15 when you upshift, as will the stability control light.
03:19 I've been able to grind second gear and fifth gear just
03:22 driving around its own.
03:24 When you apply moderate brakes, the front end
03:26 shudders quite a bit.
03:28 And then when you're going really fast
03:30 and trying to take some corners at a high rate of speed,
03:33 you notice that the rear diff isn't really locking.
03:35 It's just letting the inside rear tires spin.
03:38 This car has 8,800 miles on it.
03:41 That gives me some pause over the long-term durability
03:44 of this car.
03:45 I have to say, though, this is a press car,
03:47 and you kind of have to treat miles on a press car
03:49 like dog ears.
03:50 [ENGINE REVVING]
03:53 One of the things we have to talk about with this car
03:55 is synchro rev match.
03:56 Now, that's the system that automatically blips the throttle
03:59 when you downshift.
04:01 And I have to say, 99% of the time, it works really well.
04:04 You just clutch in, throw it down a gear, and clutch out.
04:07 You can shift too fast, though, because it
04:09 can take this engine an extra beat to hit the right revs.
04:13 Fortunately, though, you can turn synchro rev match off
04:15 at the push of a button here and simply do it yourself.
04:19 Now, overall, this is sort of a rough and coarse sports car.
04:23 But there's a part of me that really
04:25 enjoys driving it, especially on this road,
04:28 just leaving it in fourth gear and taking in all the Gs
04:32 that it's throwing at you.
04:33 This can be a very nice driver's car.
04:36 It's just kind of fun, though I'm realizing now we still
04:40 have to test this car.
04:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:44 The Z likes a bit of wheel spin off the line,
04:55 gaining traction just when you reach the end of first gear.
04:58 You have to be deliberate with your shifts.
05:00 The transmission does not like to be rushed.
05:02 The large brakes worked well, providing repeated stops
05:09 around 106 feet from 60 miles an hour.
05:12 On the figure eight, the Z offered lots
05:19 of grip and neutral handling.
05:20 It was very effective at cornering,
05:26 but was hurt at corner exit by a limited slip
05:28 differential that refused to lock.
05:30 Driving like a car with an open diff,
05:36 the Z's 25.1 second lap time was a few tenths off the best
05:40 time we've recorded.
05:41 The 370Z is a sort of rough and tumble sports
05:52 car that awakens the senses.
05:54 It's the kind of car that forces you to remember what
05:56 driving hard and fast means.
05:59 If your clutch engagement is slightly off,
06:02 the whole car shakes disapprovingly.
06:04 Get it right, though, and it is satisfying.
06:07 Although the sound of the V6 has this rather truck-like quality,
06:11 the engine delivers acceleration energetically.
06:14 The 370Z makes you feel like you're
06:16 driving an old school sports car, one that
06:18 requires a bit of muscle and alertness to drive quickly.
06:22 It's the kind of stuff that wakes you up,
06:24 forces you to focus.
06:25 And when it comes to fighting jet lag,
06:27 it's exactly the kind of car you need.
06:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:32 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:39 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:47 [ENGINE REVVING]
06:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:16 (bells chiming)