The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday July 10, 2002 - D3 IIE SII! I I EE L S lit k III, I ,E The new "Z" - to Hell and back By Rob Beintema S PE C IA L T O T H E BEAVER They say, "the road to Hell is paved with good intentions." Well, I don't know about that. It seems to me to be paved with fairly average but nicely smoothed straightaways, occasional sweeping bends and long curving comers, probably thrown in just to break the monotony. But you don't need a great road to showcase a great car. When Nissan offered up keys to early produc tion versions of the brand new 350Z at an unortho dox take-it-or-leave-it location - just outside Detroit - we took it. Which explains the unlikely sports car route out of Dearborn, past Ann Arbor. Ypsilanti and, eventually, into Hell itself. Hell. Michigan, that is. Which tied in well for me because, like most former "Z" owners, I'd been in personal purgatory ever since a Japanese exec stood beside an early "Z" concept at the Detroit Auto Show several years ago and announced, "We will build it." Wow, a new "Z"! What would the final version look like? Would it be fast? Or would it just leech off the legend? My ol' "Z" was an '83 280ZX. The last year of Datsun. the last year of sugar scoop lights. It may have been an object of derision for some "Z" own ers, being one of the bloated |ater models, ham pered by emission controls and burdened with Nissan excesses. Too much weight, too many dodads. But it was black and it was beautiful with a tan suede interior, 5-speed shifter and with a strong nirbo-boosted inline six lurking under the hood. It sat in the front of a used car dealer lot, taunt ing me every time I passed by until I became con vinced that our destinies were intertwined. Took longer to convince the wife. It had spunk. It had style. It had quirks - the funky startup checklist, a sexy voice that warned when fuel was low and a right window that would surprise you by powering down in the middle of hard right turns (lateral g-force of your left knee against the window switch). But. more importantly, it gave pleasure. Sheer driving pleasure and the kind of pleasure that, as you walked away from your parking spot, would make you stop, turn, look back and feel a glowing pride in owning something special. Eventually, however, like most Japanese cars of the 70s and '80s, my "Z" became biodegradable. Rust never sleeps. Blotches appeared, mirrors drooped, shock towers sagged and, after catching startling glimpses of blurred pavement through holes in the floor, 1 drove to the junkyard and put the ol' "Z" to sleep. So, you could see why I approached a brand new "Z" with the trepidation you might feel revisit ing the hometown, going to a high school reunion The new 2003 Nissan 350Z will arrive at dealers in early August with a convertible Z road ster slated for later release by February 2003. or dropping in on a former sweetheart. It's a fear of the present not living up to memories of the past. The new 2003 350Z started as a subversive design during Nissan's most desperate hours. As company fortunes improved, Nissan execs climbed on the "halo car" bandwagon and the design study legitimized to a joint global effort. Drawings and models evolved from the original "retro" design, * taking the car through several concept stages. The final version. I think, captures the spirit of the original 240Z with classic long hood, short rear deck design lines while conforming to the goals of a true 2-seater, front-engine, rear-wheel drive hatch back with modem sports car architecture. The side profile best displays the simple twin arc design with triangular light accents reflected in both front and back. Large 18-inch wheels are pulled to the cor ners for short overhangs, an aggressive stance and nimble maneuverability. "We wanted to build a car that customers would lust for and then love," as Ian Forsyth, director of marketing for Nissan Canada, put it. I think they've succeeded. So do about 500 other Canadians who have already pre-ordered half of the 2003 models Nissan hopes to sell. As good as the 350Z looks on paper and in pho tos, it looks even better in "the flesh", so to speak. On our test run, we had pedestrians waving, other drivers giving us "thumbs-up" and even pulling Utums to pursue us with questions. Nissan gets an attention-grabbing assist here from a stunning colour palette that includes eye-catching shades of silver, burgundy, blue and orange hues, to name just a few. Inside, the triangular cabin is tapered fore and aft - speedboat style - for a sporty wrap-around feel. Heritage cues include the 240Z-style triple gauge pods in the centre and T-shaped dash of the 300ZX. But the interior is modem and unique, accented with brushed metal highlights on the doors, dash and steering wheel. The main gauge cluster tilts along with the steering wheel and the driver's seat is more aggressively bolstered than the passenger seat. A briefcase-sized storage compartment behind the passenger seat replaces the front glovebox. A rear strut brace cramps cargo storage somewhat but there is still plenty of luggage space for two. I love the interior styling and the 350Z certainly did not commit any sins of omission on the road to Hell - fully loaded with heated leather seats, 6-disc in-dash CD, tire pressure monitor, front and side airbags with side curtain head protection, trip com puter with stopwatch, optional DVD Navigation system and a whole lot more. But some inside elements gave me pause, espe cially a confusing mix of three surface textures - a leatherette-style. a knurled bumpy texture and the kind of smooth featureless plastic you'd expect on a bargain basement boombox. You make allowances for the sins of pre-production test models - the lumps in the door panels and the squeaking hatch backs of two of the models I drove. But the full pro duction versions had better have, as Nissan assured me, a damn sight more attention paid to interior fit and finish. Enough about niceties. The 2003 Nissan 350Z didn't have to look far to find a suitable sports car powerplant. The awardwinning VQ series 3.5 L V6 powers most of Nissan's latest hits - Maxima, Altima, Infiniti 135 and the new Infiniti G35. Uniquely tuned, restrict ed to premium fuel and with high volume air intake and large diameter dual exhaust, this version of the 3.5 L V6 makes an impressive 287 hp @ 6200 rpm and 274 lb-ft of torque - class-leading numbers compared to competitors like BMW Z3, Porsche Boxster, Honda S2000, Audi TT 225 and Mercedes SLK 320. The engine pulls with alacrity and makes nary a peep from under the hood. All of the muscle rumble resonates from the rear in a dual exhaust baritone blend that moans with gusto anywhere above 3500 rpm. It's a beautiful sound. With the motor mounted behind front wheel centre on the new FM (front-midship) platform shared with the G35 and Japan's leg endary Skyline, the 350Z splits its weight in an optimum 53/47 front/rear balance, complementing a taut, road-hugging suspension. The 350Z adds a list of sports car "firsts" to the performance mix -the first carbon fiber drive shaft and front and rear vented disc brakes. A long list of other dynamic standards includes ABS. Brake Assist, EBD (Electronic Brake Distribution), revised lightweight aluminum chassis and suspension bits, traction control and a choice of two new transmissions. The 2003 350Z comes in three model selections. The 350Z Performance Model 6MT features all the goodies, a close-shifting 6-speed manual transmission and starts at $44900. The 350Z Touring Model 5AT harnesses a new 5-speed automatic and lists for the same price. The 350Z Track Pack Model 6MT is a lighter, lean er competition model with the manual shifter, special spoilers, big ger Brembo brakes, lightweight wheels and "Carbon" cloth seats, single CD only and Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) - $46,500. Regardless of model choice, the new 2003 350Z offers a stun ning mix of comfort, conveniences and kick-ass power. Enough devilishly wicked power, performance and handling dynamics to take me to Hell and back at speed. And take me to driving heaven. 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