350Z gets panned on Top Gear

Take a look at Forbes' "test drive" (April, 2003) of the 350Z. Interesting. The Forbes site takes forever to load .. . patience (ignore the plug-in they try to give you, unless you need it) .. . the review IS worth it. The highs, "Handling hardwired to your cerebral cortex; a tight but forgiving suspension, " and lows "Idiosyncrasies in the interior; rear strut-tower brace renders cargo area semi-useless." They compare the 350Z to its competitors (BMW etc. ..)

Bill

"Bob Moore" snipped-for-privacy@mvps.org wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

It's all down to the car being around a year old at launch in the UK. Why should Europe have to wait a year for a 'World' car that's available in Japan and USA? Why should people have to put down money on a car unseen?

Some time during last year's series Jezza and friends decided to pan it, actually agreed between themselves on air when it was released in the USA and not in UK, 'It's not here now, so that's pant's then'. As they have previously seen the engine in Renault's, no doubt with a Renault badge on the top lid, they were more than happy to point out where the engine was originally seen in the UK. They also gave the Skyline GT-R R34 a big raspberry, suggested it was an ugly bruiser and it should hide away in back alleys of industrial wastelands. (Though a few years ago he had real blast trying to get the dot on the 'G' meter to disappear off the edge of the display). They also gave the Ford Focus RS a slating as there were no demonstration cars for public test drives, they have a taken a real downer on cars that have to be bought without a test drive. Slated the VW 'New' Beetle as 'uncool', because it was an old car and very old news when released in the UK. How is a journalist supposed to make a living, have a scoop or exclusive when everyone has read all the reviews from somewhere else over a year ago? 'No, it's boring, seen it last year, give me something NEW to test'.

The rear strut bar on the 350Z is not a rear strut bar, they just it sell to joe public as a rear strut bar. It's actually the remains of a cut down parcel shelf and is required to get the car though side impact tests not to sharpen handling.

Same goes for movies that appear in the US 6 months before the UK. The plot has been done to death before it ever gets a UK screening.

if you think a Silvia is better looking than the Z... you better come to the US. we have better drugs than over in the UK.

Side impact standards are for doors by the way .. . not for where the strut bars are located. The bars prevent torsional body twisting . .. not a problem in a fwd "follow" designs but a problem here (rwd). The hdtp coupe doesn't need the stiffness. The bars are for the "convertible" 350Z model. They "should" have built the coupe's bars into a roof rollover bar instead of the clumsy design they opted for. Then again, I suppose they wanted to lower the center of gravity. The interior's "navigator" cover is just cheap, cheap, cheap and flimsy looking. A surprising miss-off! Stylistically .. . your 1998 200SX/Silvia S15 seems a high beltline clone of the '90 Acura Integra. Functionally .. . 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer "Evolution" outclasses the Silvia .. . but would you really trust Mitsubishi reliability?! The 350Z's design is ingenious, combining elements of previous Z cars .. . and Porsche 356C/911/Boxter .. . yet unique to itself. An achievement.

"KINGLIFER" snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com wrote in message news:o3pOa.81102$ snipped-for-privacy@news04.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com...

X-No-Archive:yes

A true brace goes down to the shocks/struts. The front doesn't it's appearance and body flex only. Now my curiosity is peaked on the rear. Time to break out my SM CD.

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Which is a stance I completely agree with. If Nissan dealers don't have demo cars for the 350z, that's my sale GONE. No way do I buy a car without a test drive, and requiring people to put down a deposit sight unseen is frankly preposterous. Only a salesman could possibly think THAT was a good idea.

They are completey bias, if the car isn't from Europe its a piece of crap.