Sporty's 350Z thread

[r0tor]

Extreme beta

[12,000 RPM]

Gas bill, fine. But too many speeding tickets? Seriously?

I'm up to 4 just from this summer

How many do you have

Extreme beta

Naw, extreme beta would be keeping a car to impress some dudes on the internet

[veeman]

I think I'm gonna get rid of the Z for something more practical. Just on a day to day basis the road noise, lack of a back seat, crappy trunk are kind of annoying. Running costs are also a bitch... 20 MPG premium sucks when you are doing 25K miles a year. But the nail in the coffin are all these damn speeding tickets I'm getting. No points yet as I've been using a lawyer but with the fees it's just too much $$$. Plus I don't want to try the city's patience and lose my damn license.

I'm pretty much set on an 04ish 4 banger Accord coupe. That will cut my gas bill in half, be way more practical and still have an ounce of "fun to drive" factor. Plus I can tinker with it without spending tons of $$$ like I would with the Z. Def wanna do track days on the bike next year and hopefully get a full on track car down the line, like years and years from now. But when I bought the Z and the whole time I've had it I just had a nagging feeling I would sell it one day. It's too expensive to build a track car out of and it's just not a practical daily driver. O well. Fun while it lasted.

I think it's a good idea to sell your Z.  It seems you are spending a lot of time on repairs and not having fun doing it.  The combined expense of premium gas, not great gas mileage, and 20,000 miles/year driving pisses you off and will continue to do so the every 3 days you fill up with gas.  4 speeding tickets over the summer is just shitty.  Lawyering up 4 times probably added 2000 dollars to 1000 dollars worth of fines.

Getting a more fuel efficient car that doesn't require premium will psychologically be awesome every time you fill up.  A Z driven fast gets noticed by law enforcement and so getting a more mainstreamer car will definitely cut down your speeding tickets unless you're speeding stupid. 

The thing I don't get is the 4 banger 2004ish Accord coupe.  Hondas are cool but way overpriced on the used car market.  A quick check on Autotrader showed them being in the 6 - 8 thousand dollar range, all with over 100,000 miles.  Why the fuck would you pay that kind of cash for a 10 year old mainstreamer with that many miles?  That car won't likely be any more reliable than your Z.

Maybe consider a much newer lower mileage Ford Focus. 

[GoCougs]

I think I'm gonna get rid of the Z for something more practical. Just on a day to day basis the road noise, lack of a back seat, crappy trunk are kind of annoying. Running costs are also a bitch... 20 MPG premium sucks when you are doing 25K miles a year. But the nail in the coffin are all these damn speeding tickets I'm getting. No points yet as I've been using a lawyer but with the fees it's just too much $$$. Plus I don't want to try the city's patience and lose my damn license.

I'm pretty much set on an 04ish 4 banger Accord coupe. That will cut my gas bill in half, be way more practical and still have an ounce of "fun to drive" factor. Plus I can tinker with it without spending tons of $$$ like I would with the Z. Def wanna do track days on the bike next year and hopefully get a full on track car down the line, like years and years from now. But when I bought the Z and the whole time I've had it I just had a nagging feeling I would sell it one day. It's too expensive to build a track car out of and it's just not a practical daily driver. O well. Fun while it lasted.

How can you lose your license if you're beating these tickets? Good man on that BTW. All tickets should be taken to court. Grind the system to a halt.

Tickets are gonna happen in any car. Sounds like your area is bonkers with traffic enforcement and that you're maybe not being prudent enough.

I've never been a "sports car" fan for the reasons you cite. They're just not that practical for modern life, or at least my life anyway, and most any "sports" car isn't any more fun or higher performance that a corresponding coupe or sedan (case in point Z vs. G37 coupe or sedan).

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I've always liked mazda's.

A First gen Mazda 3 hatch should be pretty cheap, look hard and you might find a really clean one with lower miles that might only cost a grand more than the rest. Should be very practical, with a bit of fun tossed in the mix.

Honda's suck....for what you have to pay for them. I've never understood the appeal, they are really no more sporty than anything else and come with a considerable premium while having a much higher chance of being mistreated/under maintained and in general trashed.

[SVT666]

You're going to get rid of a car because you get too many speeding tickets?  The problem isn't the car.

[FoMoJo]

You're going to get rid of a car because you get too many speeding tickets?  The problem isn't the car.

I can relate.  If I hadn't gotten rid of my '67 Sunbeam Tiger, I would've lost my license.  The combination of sound, power and stop light drags was just too intoxicating.

[12,000 RPM]

You're going to get rid of a car because you get too many speeding tickets?  The problem isn't the car.

The car doesn't help.

The Z has been pretty reliable. Only big thing I spent money on was brakes and that was mostly by choice. Starts and runs no problem. Only issue is a little oil consumption which is the case for all VQ35s. I'm not scared of an older car at all... a 10 year old Accord is just getting started.

I thought about the Mazda 3. I will give some a shot. They and Mazda 6s are like 1/2 the cost of a same year Accord, and they are supposedly fun to drive. I just have never really been a Mazda fan. Plus for some reason they get like 2-3 MPG worse than an Accord despite having a smaller engine. I will check them out though. I could live with a fully loaded 6 5 spd.

My area is a little hoity toity so the cops kind of don't have much to do. Seems like this summer they ramped up enforcement and put out a lot of traps that I just walked into. Been here for about a year and a half and everything really just started this summer. Driving around the neighborhood, I wasn't really pushing it... but if you are more than 10 over they will pull you over. So in the neighborhood now I keep things pegged at the speed limit... doesn't make a difference in making or missing the millions of lights around so it makes sense to just slow down. The last ticket on my bike was just me being an idiot though. I was far from home, but I was pushing way too hard on the bike. I just need to get a track day membership and call it a day.

I think a large part of why I bought the Z was kind of a third-life crisis moment. Wanted to get a sports car while the opportunity was still available. Realistically I'm probably never going to buy a Porsche unless we get obscenely rich or 996s continue to plummet in value, and nothing else I can afford really entices me. I'm gonna dump the Z for something pedestrian, clean up my license, save up my $$$ and hopefully jump back into something like an M235i or 435i GC in a few years. It was fun but I'm OK with letting the Z go... always felt like it was never really meant to be.

[r0tor]

How much $$ are your really going to save by driving a boring econosedan?

[12,000 RPM]

How much $$ are your really going to save by driving a boring econosedan?

$1700 a year on gas according to my math and current gas prices. I know you make it a point to appear to not care about gas mileage until people start talking about your parents' Fusion Hybrid but it can be a legitimate concern. Plus there are other practical concerns.

[Laconian]

Accord four cylinders are prettttttttty boring. We had an EX-L with a stick.

[Rich]

Miata.  Fun, decent gas mileage, and if it's not modded or driven super troopers style, I doubt you'll get pulled over in one

[Rich]

You're going to sell the Z for something less fun, and just get tired of that.

[12,000 RPM]

Accord four cylinders are prettttttttty boring. We had an EX-L with a stick.

They can improve a lot with mild mods. New springs/shocks and some mild bolt ons transform them without hurting gas mileage at all.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

You're going to sell the Z for something less fun, and just get tired of that.

I'd keep the Z and buy a $1000-$1500 beater (small 4cyl sedan)! Commute and do all the family stuff in the beater and drive the Z when you wanna have a lil fun! That makes more sense to me than buying an Accord and adding bolt ons......... 

[r0tor]

$1700 a year on gas according to my math and current gas prices. I know you make it a point to appear to not care about gas mileage until people start talking about your parents' Fusion Hybrid but it can be a legitimate concern. Plus there are other practical concerns.

Now subtract out rpair costs on a 10 year old Accord.  Not worth it if driving fun is  omething important in your life. 

My wife is on crutches right now and cant drive... yet I still had no urge this week to take her Focus to work which gets about 2x my RX8 mpg... and its not like the Focus is even a bad car

[Rupert]

sporty(accordy) misses his ricer days.

[12,000 RPM]

I'd keep the Z and buy a $1000-$1500 beater (small 4cyl sedan)! Commute and do all the family stuff in the beater and drive the Z when you wanna have a lil fun! That makes more sense to me than buying an Accord and adding bolt ons......... 

I thought about this. Lot of folks here said bad idea, but didnt have any convincing arguments as to why though. The thing is, if I keep the Z and get a beater, realistically I will probably never drive the Z. And the beater will be too shitty to use on the weekends and for road trips and shit. Plus then I have to insure both cars. I guess I could get that low mileage insurance for the Z but I probably would drive it like once a month realistically. I'm too busy. I don't even go for pleasure rides anymore, which are thankfully kind of rendered unnecessary by my awesome commute.

Now subtract out rpair costs on a 10 year old Accord.  Not worth it if driving fun is  omething important in your life. 

My wife is on crutches right now and cant drive... yet I still had no urge this week to take her Focus to work which gets about 2x my RX8 mpg... and its not like the Focus is even a bad car

Lol. Wat are you talking about. Is your wife being on crutches why you are so uptight lately?

Anyways, what problem does a 10 year old Accord have? My first Accord was 10 years old 10 years ago. Only problem it ever had was my fault- pothole took out my oil pump and grenaded the motor. Other than that, which won't be a problem down here, no problems. No rust, no electrical gremlins, no suspension/brake issues, not even a timing belt- K24A uses a chain. So what problems are you talking about... there is a reason those cars still go for damn near 10K for low mileage clean examples.... they run forever.

sporty(accordy) misses his ricer days.

High key this is not a lie. I do miss tinkering with cars, and the Z is too expensive and high strung for that. Best intake is the stock intake. Car is too loud for an exhaust. So barring a plenum spacer bolt ons are pretty much DOA. A suspension worth putting on the car, after alignment parts and everything is gonna be like 2K. Car is too loud to do any stereo upgrades on. Etc etc. I thought I could stomach the costs of bolt ons when I bought it, but I'm realizing I can't. Accord has a lot of low hanging fruit and cheap parts. And it would be a better road trip car and all that too.

[CALL_911]

Please don't buy an Accord, just for the sake of variety. Please? Even a TSX, just not an Accord!

[Rupert]

High key this is not a lie. I do miss tinkering with cars, and the Z is too expensive and high strung for that. Best intake is the stock intake. Car is too loud for an exhaust. So barring a plenum spacer bolt ons are pretty much DOA. A suspension worth putting on the car, after alignment parts and everything is gonna be like 2K. Car is too loud to do any stereo upgrades on. Etc etc. I thought I could stomach the costs of bolt ons when I bought it, but I'm realizing I can't. Accord has a lot of low hanging fruit and cheap parts. And it would be a better road trip car and all that too.

I mean, you're basically saying you want to buy a worse car than the one you have.

I get that the Z is not doing it for you, but it seems like there are way more interesting and better cars that would suit your needs.

[AutobahnSHO]

Miata.  Fun, decent gas mileage, and if it's not modded or driven super troopers style, I doubt you'll get pulled over in one

Honda's suck....for what you have to pay for them. I've never understood the appeal, they are really no more sporty than anything else and come with a considerable premium while having a much higher chance of being mistreated/under maintained and in general trashed.

+1

I'd say get something interesting.

I think you'd enjoy a Miata a LOT, you can literally feel the pavement markings, and you can rev it/ drive it hard without really getting too fast for the coppers.

BUT if you like Hondas, you like 'em. Nothing terrible about them, and they're about as anonymous as you can get.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I second the tsx suggestion.

But hey, cant pass up a 140k mile accord with a $400 china made "drift king" suspension and a 2 hp cold air intake.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Why pay $400 for China springs when you can just cut the OE ones?

[Secret Chimp]

I think I'm gonna get rid of the Z for something more practical. Just on a day to day basis the road noise, lack of a back seat, crappy trunk are kind of annoying. Running costs are also a bitch... 20 MPG premium sucks when you are doing 25K miles a year. But the nail in the coffin are all these damn speeding tickets I'm getting. No points yet as I've been using a lawyer but with the fees it's just too much $$$. Plus I don't want to try the city's patience and lose my damn license.

I'm pretty much set on an 04ish 4 banger Accord coupe. That will cut my gas bill in half, be way more practical and still have an ounce of "fun to drive" factor. Plus I can tinker with it without spending tons of $$$ like I would with the Z. Def wanna do track days on the bike next year and hopefully get a full on track car down the line, like years and years from now. But when I bought the Z and the whole time I've had it I just had a nagging feeling I would sell it one day. It's too expensive to build a track car out of and it's just not a practical daily driver. O well. Fun while it lasted.

LOL

"Well shit, these speeding tickets keep coming. Shitty-ass car."

[Secret Chimp]

Why pay $400 for China springs when you can just cut the OE ones?

Can we just fast forward to where you act like an abused middle schooler and FYA out of here again? The middle part where you slowly ramp up to something stupid to get buttmad over is excruciating.

[280Z Turbo]

How about an EF CRX?

[CALL_911]

I think a Geo Metro would fit the bill

[Secret Chimp]

I think he should go the other direction. Like an olive drab Nova with a 383 and some Big Daddy Roth junk on the trunk.

[Cookie Monster]

This is the weakest excuse I've seen for getting rid of a car. If you want to go back to your rice days, why not just admit it.

I don't think a 10 year old Accord is going to give you problems. Hell, I bought a 23 year old SUV for my DD. I do think that moving from one car to another due to "speeding tickets" is the dumbest reason ever, though. Also, the argument that you can't tinker with the Z is BS. Maybe if you actually had some self control, you could use that lawyer money on upgrades. Go take out your brap brap race car dreams on your new steering wheel setup and Forza.

[afty]

Have you considered a radar detector?