2009 370Z with 7/AT Touring the Northwest

[dmuramoto]

This past week my wife and I took a trip to the Pacific Northwest from our home in Colorado. The last time I'd been out to the NW was several years ago to race at Seattle International Raceway. Now, race weekends are never easy, but that particular one was quite arduous. In looking around that beautiful racetrack, I swore that one day I would return and enjoy the area at a more lesurely pace.

That time came when we flew into Seattle and picked up a pre-arranged 370Z at Sea-Tac airport. The Platinum Grey Touring model looked gorgeous as I walked up to it and started loading our bags into it. The rear hatch area offers more space that my own 350Z since Nissan engineers elected to reinforce the rear strut area underneath and do away with the arching rear strut brace. My wife's suitcase, purse, my racing bag and laptop case all fit snugly into the rear hatch as we took off for a week's trip.

This newest Z featured the new 7-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters and while I admit to preferring the 6-speed manual, this newest automatic in the Nissan range worked well throughout the trip. There were times when pulling the leather lined shifter towards you (manual mode) and using the paddle shifters were good fun. But the solid lockup of the torque converter on this JATCO was the real revelation--it provided that solid connection to the rear wheels that gives a Z driver such confidence.

Of course, the slushbox was an advantage when sitting in rush hour traffic on I-90 and I-5 around the Seattle metro area. As we made our way to the hotel, two things about the Z became readily apparent. First was the high noise level while tranlining over any of the soon-to-be-repaved highway surfaces. The 370Z's shortened wheelbase means the rear wheels are closer to your ears and the car's lighter weight means reduced soundproofing being employed as well. It's a sportscar, right? But you had to raise your voice to hold a normal conversation inside the refined cabin, it's that loud. The second thing I noticed was the overboosted, but powerful brakes. As opposed to my 350Z track model, this Touring 370Z (without the optional sport option) still has a brake package BIGGER than the Brembos I am used to. But I noticed how grabby the brakes felt, vs. the smooth progressive feel of the Brembos.

Still, it didn't take long to adjust my braking habits to compensate and I found that driving the 370Z smoothly was a pleasure. Over the next few days, we went sightseeing all over Seattle (Pike Market, Boeing Air Museum, Chinatown, etc) before heading south to Portland. We stayed just across the river in Vancouver, WA because the hotel option was so much better. We took a scenic tour around the Hood Mountain range and the VQ37VHR was in its element as we zoomed past fruit farms, wineries and up mountain passes. For the record, the Z produced 28.2 MPG in mixed highway/city driving for this trip.

As we started for the Oregon coast, I reveled in pulling out to pass and allowing the gearbox to drop down two gears and the Z just launching itself down the road! Like the VQ35DE in my Z, this newest member of the VQ family has massive mid-range power and together with a solid, stiff FM chassis, produces a car that fits perfectly with the Z tradition. The 370Z also rides better than its predassesor over less-than-perfect pavement, with improvements in dampening being chiefly responsible. We stopped in Tilamook, OR and took (predictably) the cheese factory tour. Lines of tourists, but great ice cream that we never see in Colorado.

We drove up the Oregon coast into Washington and were blessed with sunny weather the majority of the time. The rocky coastline in Washington was so different and yet somehow familiar. The forests seem similar to Colorado, but in some cases come right to the edge of crashing waves of the Pacific ocean! What a spectacular sight. By now, we'd covered several hundred miles and after driving several days in a row, my low back began to stiffen up. Try as I might, I couldn't adjust the 370Z's well-bolstered seats to offer more flexibility in seating position. It seemed to run out of track or squeeze me too tight to the wheel if I moved the seat much from my "ideal" position. Eventually, I left it the way it was and took more breaks as we moved up the Olympic Peninsula.

My wife was thrilled to see the towns and locales that make up the 'Twillight' book and movie franchise. I was mildly amused as she recounted the mythology of the boy-vampire meets teenage girl story (sorry, not my cup of tea). But what I found thrilling was to be driving the Z in a variety of situations. It's a great looking car that got many stares and even a few whoops and hollars along the way. Eventually, we made our way to the WA state ferry at Bremerton and took a scenic (and cheap- $15.60!) trip back through Pugent Sound to Seattle. By now, I had an idea of how to get around town and we spent the last night in Bellingham, WA while commuting in for one last memorable meal. The only blot on my record was getting a parking ticket when we stayed a few minutes too long in a crowded section of downtown. Outside of that, our eight day, seven night tour of the great Northwest in a Z was the stuff of dreams...

[audtatious]

I just got back from vacation in the Smokey Mountains (more like hills compared to the Rockies) where we took the wife's sedan. Even though it is a sport model it does contrast with my G37 in numerous aspects. It is much smoother on the highway than the coupe, not that the coupe is really that stiff. Being as it has the 4-AWS package it takes a bit of getting used to when driving around curves as the rear seems to be loose at times although I know it's planted.

Starting and stopping the sedan really seems "twitchy". It is very sensitive to touching the gas and if you don't roll into it it will jump off the line. The coupe is very smooth and without this issue and it may be something I need Infiniti to look at before the full warranty is up since they have replaced most of the VTC system in the sedan already. The brakes on the coupe are much more firm and comfortable (as should be expected) in contrast to the factory '07 brakes. Even with Infiniti recently replacing the pads and resurfacing the rotors the brakes are weak feeling when first engaging them. At least in comparison to the G37 sport. Once past 1/4 pedal it's fine. Again, this is simply a direct compare with the G37 sport coupe.

As both have slush boxes I really can't compare either to a manual-version G. In town, I am usually in DS mode in both cars and switch in and out of manual mode all the time, using the shifter and not the paddles. I rarely use the paddle shifters during daily travels but do see where they would be quite helpful if/when I hit a autoX track. As both do rev-matching, DS mode is similar in both vehicles. I have noticed the coupe to be a bit rougher at lower speeds than the sedan whether in manual mode or "D". The coupe seems to surge more at really low speeds, like you can feel the ECU adjusting A/F ratio's on the fly.

From a performance perspective I find the coupe to be easier to drift the rear out. Even in DS mode with VDC off the sedan does not want to kick out as quickly as the coupe when I am actually trying to do so. Dependent on the speed it may have something to do with 4-AWS system but off the line the sedan simply does not get going as well as the G37, regardless of what other '07-08 sedan owners say. The power band of the coupe seems far more predictable than the sedan as well. I have also found the sedan exhaust note to be more hollow and less "sexy" than the G37.

Sorry for the thread jack, kinda turned my post into a G35 sport sedan vs G37 sport coupe comparison

[dmuramoto]

Interesting post, despite the thread jack. Whenever I've driven the G Coupe back-to-back with the sedan, I always find the throttle response and handling setup more sporting with the coupe. Some of this can be explained: the G35/37x varient is designed to cancel most of the oversteer via power transfer. Even deliberately rotating the AWD sedan rapidly while braking hard doesn't seem to get the tail out. The G37S coupe is much more fun to drive IMHO. The RWD with viscous LSD, lower center-of-gravity and 6-speed manual make this easy to get the tail out whenever the mood strikes. The stiffer shock dampening on coner entry makes it easier to initiate oversteer and gradual rebound allows me to flick the wheel and hold the slide if required.

Sounds like you enjoyed your trip. Any mileage figures for your VQ37VHR?

[audtatious]

I do find it interesting that both are "sport" options yet the sedan is so much more docile than the coupe. Makes sense for it to be that way but via first glance you would expect them to be somewhat closer. The VQ37 sure has a smoother power band than the VQ35HR as well.

From a mileage perspective I noticed not much of a difference. Most of my miles are highway and the G37 coupe averages around 22-24 at 75-80mph. On this trip, the G35 sedan was showing around 22.5-25mpg at 75-85mph. In general I would think the G35 would get a couple mpg better than the G37 since the sedan was loaded with a trunk and back seat full of luggage and an extra passenger.

[dmuramoto]

Ooo--I was hoping highway mileage for the VQ37VHR would be better. My '03 350Z routinely sees 29-33 MPG (measured by calculation fuel used between stops) once the mixture gets leaned out at highway speeds. But the VQ37VHR does have more moving parts, particularly on the top end and may be tuned differently.

[audtatious]

I have not performed true mileage figures based upon gallons yet, simply relied upon the computer. I took another trip last week that was about 250 miles in the G35 and it showed 22.5mpg with an average of 52mph. My G37 gets about the same on the exact same trip.

[audtatious]

I just took the same trip in my G37 coupe. Same road, similar temps, similar traffic conditions. Per the gauge I averaged around 23.5mpg. Highway speeds ranged from 70-80mph.

[dmuramoto]

It would be interesting to verify those mileage figures by using hand calculations. In any case, it seems the VQ37VHR (in either the new G or Z) is quite a bit thirstier than the older VQ35DE. I assume your G37S coupe has sufficient miles to be nicely broken in and should be delivering peak output and mileage.

My '03 pre-production 350Z still averages that same 29-33 MPG on the highway. And that's with over 73K on the clock! I was hoping the newer engine would at least match that, but it doesn't seem so.