m477

Whatever, the designer of the 350z, Ajay Panchal, owns an Audi TT and if you've ever read an interview with him, he is totally obsessed with that car. (as if it wasn't obvious from the 350z design...)

Blue 350z

Not sure how you can compare a 350z with the Audi TT, anyway I finally got around to take a new pic of my Z with the Wing.

http://www.geocities.com/azwhoopin22/ZAlbum5.html

RX-8 Zoomster

Looks like a resemblance of the TT to me. I think there are shape and line ideas that was copyied from the Audi. Silhouttes are close, except Nissan's rear end looks much worse, IMO.

Give me a choice between those two, and I would choose the Audi. I'd trade off the performance of the Z, for the better looks of the TT.

Of course I would still choose the G35c over the unattactive (to me) Z, and the RX-8 over both of them. :D

Blue 350z

LOL.. You (and probably the others from this site) are the only people in the free world that would pick a girly Audi TT over a Z, with the exception of woman.

RX-8 Zoomster

And I don't have to prove I'm masculine by buying a Z, which you are obviously trying to do.. I already know I'm a man.

Racer X-8

Yeah, I pick woman.

OmegaBob

IMO, that spoiler doesn't look bad at all.

If it was my Z, I'd probably opt for one that was a little shorter though.

RX-8 Zoomster

I agree. The rear of the Z, looks too plain to me. I think the spoiler definately improves the looks. Reminds me of a "Porsche" look.

graphicguy

Nice job putting all the accolades for the RX8 on your site. Mind if I copy them?

Racer X-8

Yeah, I definitely agree on that!

Hey RX-8 Zoomster, have you considered adding the front splash guards? I've been wondering about doing that in addition to the mods you already have. Beautiful car, huh!!!

RX-8 Zoomster

Racer,

I didn't give it much thought. If I recall, don't they come in a set of 4? If so, then that's why I probably didn't get them because the rear set I couldn't use since part of the aero flares is behind the rear wheel. I do agee that they look good.

Racer X-8

No, they are sold separately, so you can buy just the fronts for $74.10 @ trussville. I even started a new thread in the body/appearance forum, with no response. I'm real surprised that nobody has done this yet with their aero stuff. It seems to me to be a perfect match! It'll catch the low line of the front air dam & taper it to the higher line, where the side aeroflare tapers it low again & the rear aeroflare tapers it up for the finishing look. Besides, they would function as a protector and would help to reduce dirt on the sides.

CarEnthusiast

Here is a shot of two of them together.



Im not sure how people can quickly say the 350z is a copy of the TT. The 350z stance is more pronounced compared to the TT.


Side profile resembles the past Z cars more than it does the TT.





If you take a look at a 300zx especially, you can see where the lines of the 350z come from.

So makes you wonder who copied from whom. Unless the TT has a long heritage of the Z car, i'd give the benefit of the doubt to the 350z.

But hey, its all in the eye of the beholder.

RX-8 Zoomster

Thanks. I might look into that since I can buy them separately. I do see what you mean by giving it that tapered look after the front wheels.

Racer X-8

Yeah man! Whaddaya say, let's give this one of those "Tool Time" manly-type growls, huh?
Gruuuhhhhyeahhhhhbaby!

RX-8 Zoomster

LOL! All we need now is some after-factory Binford Forced air induction and cat back modifications.

graphicguy

As the previous owner of a 280Z (bought it used with every cent I had at the time), I think the original 240Z/260Z/280Z cars were more of a classic look.

350Z has more in common, looks wise, to the 300ZX. Unfortunately, I was never too fond of the move away from the 2XXZ body styles.

Racer X-8

ROFL! Rrrrr...Rrrrr..oooooooyeahhhhhhhhh.......Nitrous!! !!

edit: oh, hey there graphicguy! Xcuse us, uh, we were just gettin a little off-thread a little there I guess..Ahem.

Yeah, this new Z doesn't even look like a Z at all to me. I had to do a triple or quadruple take the first time I saw one - couldn't believe it was actually a Z. I still can't get over it! Never owned one, but I had one foxxy blondy-blond next door to me that had one - late 80's like an 89 I think maybe. I like that look way more than this look. This look is lifeless to me.

RX-8 Zoomster

I totally agree! I loved the "classic" look of the 2xxz body styles. Long hood, recessed lights, sloping "fastback" roof. Loved them. It was that what set the Datsun/Nissan's apart from the other sports cars. You could see any one of those from a distance, and definately say that was a Z. Although the 300zx moved away from that style, it was still more appealing to me, then the current 350Z.

RX-8 Zoomster

That's EXACTLY what graphicguy and I are talking about. It doesn't look like a Z. If you are going to follow a heritage, then you need to do it with looks and not just name only. You can look at the cars like the Mustang, Corvette, Porsche 911's, etc. throughout their lineage and SEE the similarity between the first few years of production to today. I don't see that with the 350Z. That why I said it looks more like the Audi TT then it does it's own ancestors. I'm sure many Z fans were disappointed to see what happened to the classic looks of the Z with the last two models.

Racer X-8

Shoulda called it the Nissan TT.

RX-8 Zoomster

:p Makes sense. Would that also apply to the Infiniti TT +2 coupe? :D

Seriously, IMHO, the G35 coupe does looks hell of a lot better than the 350Z. Infiniti did a good job with looks on the coupe.

Racer X-8

Agreed again! I was looking reeeeeel hard at the G35C (manual, of course) before I gave it up for the 8. I have a G20T and, although it's quite lame, it is an Infiniti. The G35C really caught my attention when one passed me in rush hour traffic & it took all my MX-6 had to keep up, and I could only do that by catching up when he/she was trapped behind slow traffic. When traffic broke, "bye bye". Really was impresssive, but I wonder how that would replay now with me in my 8?

TJRX8

I have also contemplated this but am not sure how good they will match. The splash guards don't taper to the same shape as the rear pieces of the app pkg. Need to see them in person first.

Mark,
If you get them I'll have to check them out when you get back to town.

CarEnthusiast

Did you not see the side profile I posted? The things you mentioned can easily be applied to that of the new Z car.



If that isnt clear enough, then I dont know what is. Sure the new Z is much bulkier looking than the Z cars of old. But the things you describe as "classic" characteristics of past Z cars are visible in the current form.

Im not going to pick any more bones with you as you are entitled to your own opinion. But, quick generalizations such as your opinion of

can have as much substance as me saying that Z fans are applauding Nissan for bringing back a car that symbolizes what the first Z car had done during its time...a well performing sports car for not much money.

Either way, we should all be excited for car makers of Japan on bringing back affordable sports cars to rival those of Europes and the US.

As far as the G35 coupe, all that I would say it does look better...in pictures as compared to the 350z. But in the real world when side by side, I prefer the look of the 350Z with its more "sporty" look. But thats just my opinion.