Well I never thought I would be creating a topic like this but the time has come I need a new daily driver and am considering either a 300ZX or a Soarer; both on the basis of GOOD performance, good ride quality/comfort and style. Being a daily driver i need a reliable car (should i ignore 300ZX TT completely here - are they really that bad?) and not planning to mod it much (just wheels, exhaust, pod, etc.). Ignoring the initial price which one would you choose for long term use (so consider running cost): 1. Z32 300ZX TT auto; 2. Z32 300ZX NA manual; 3. JZZ30 Soarer V8 auto; 4. UZZ30 Soarer 2.5TT auto; Cant decide which one to choose atm so please give me your feedback if have driven/owned either one. Any help greatly appreciated. PS you are welcome to praise you Zs, but what i need is the real experience with them....
Get one of each If you want a plush car that floats over all the bumps and has all leather, climate control, good sound etc get a V8 Soarer Limited If you want a car that goes round the corners like on a track and handles like a gocart and where you can feel every pebble on the road, get a 300ZX. Maintenance costs are high for both, probably comparable. The Toyota V8 uses less fuel than the Nissan V6. (Some) parts are very expensive for both, engine work is harder on the Z. To get a turbo or not depends on your interests. If you want performance and are willing to spend the time and money on mods and improvements, get a turbo. If you want a reliable car to drive to work, get a non turbo. I drive the (V8) Soarer to work mostly, but when the weather is nice, the Z comes out. Weekend mostly the Z.
If you want reliabillity I'd go for the NA Zed or the V8 soarer. Any turbo car is going to have trouble down the track. But saying that if you can find a really good one with rebuilt turbos and a big list of dockets you'd be pretty safe... The Z is probably the most fuel efficient and you can actually buy parts from nissan. When I was looking for a new car I checked everything from Porsche 944's to S13's to BMW's, and in the end the Z had everything I wanted except a V8 (i'm working on this!!) Drive all the cars and ask this same question on a soarer forum then buy a Z :zlove: hehehe
use to drive a limited and have a TT zed. depends on wat you are after really. only can tell between the two, the LImited is more a luxuary car. but is very heavy. but both are good
I'd say performance of the auto TT soarer would be on par with a manual boxed NA 300 so from there it's a simple matter of considering needs. If you need a decent boot, the ability to car 4 people in comfort and some effortless torque then go the soarer. If you want something stylish and are quite prepared to ring its' neck for some pace (this is a big plus) then you cant go past the ol' NA. If you want to rip along at breakneck speeds then seek out the TT. I wouldnt classify the V8 soarer as a 'performance' car.
Go the Z Hey guys my name is James Kerruish and im new to the Z forum aswell, i will be looking to buy a my first Z in 4 months cant wait!!!! Xept cause of the new restrictions it has to be a NA big bummer.. big thanks to wizard for introducing me to the Z game i would choose the NA manual if i were you, just something you can get in an go and yeah its harder to work on the Z but your not nearly going to spend as much time under the hood as you would with a TT.. and then your not stuck behind the auto of either the ZX or the soarer unless thats what you really want..
The JZZ30 is the 2.5TT and the UZZ30 is the V8 btw (1JZGTE and UZFE I think) I was actually looking at the Soarer before I decided on the zed. It was a cost issue at the time as the soarer was still quite expensive compared to the zed. If you get a Soarer, get the highest spec V8 with the top-spec airbag suspension (auto only) and enjoy very comfortable driving with modest performance. If you go the zed, make sure to get a well mantained, low km's example (either NA or TT) and be prepared to spend lot modifying it Soarer will not compete with either zed for performance, but the soarer is a different beast. Horses for course. Decide what you really want out of the car and make your decision fvrom that Cheers Rob
300 or soarer decide what you want before you part with your cash, with simple mods in mind wheels and the like its not to hard to go wrong with the either car, untill you reach the performance aspect in which there are many ways in which both to succed and fail.. do urself a favour and make a plan, go see each car on your list and then make a educated decision on what you think is best for you because your the one thats parting with the cash
My thoughts - Soarer will be more reliable and cheaper running costs - V8 Soarer is not really a performance car, go for the 2.5 TT - There isn't that much difference between reliability of TT or NA Z - The Z is much more of a performance/sports car than the Soarer - You'll pay less for a good Soarer than you will for a good Z - Soarers don't have that 'special' feel of a Z. Ben
Here's a solution for you... Just buy my ZEDSLED off me, reliable AND powerful. - yes you can have your cake and eat it too. :zlove: You simply won't even want to look at a soarer anymore... lol ... seriously, buy it. Cheers, Ben.
Dude no offence but as you have already stated in a previous post you don't have a Zed or it seems a Soarer, fair enough you have just as much right to express your opinion as anyone else but blue_leaf was interested in people with 1st hand experience...and yet you've posted 4 times in this one thread already...it's good that your enthusiastic, you need to be with these cars, but maybe you could ease up on the post whoring a little... or you could just tell me where to go and continue on your whoring way... and rest assured i realise this is the second time iv'e posted on said thread so perhaps i ought to shut my big mouth...
Comes down to personal preference and if I could justify having both then I'd also own a V8 LTD Soarer - a magnificently well engineered car, smooth, quiet, responsive, powerful..... but hey, its like driving an armchair! A TT Zed is an awesome sportscar... I wouldn't swap.
My Z is NA and i love it... still get the luxury sports feel just with no troubles from turbos. The soarers are very nice luxury cars, but I'd assume (no first hand knowledge) that they dont have the same sports feel as a z... Just depends on which type of luxury you were after Any of them would be nice tho!
i have driven a few 300zx's and a couple of soarers and hands down i just like the way the 300's handle..........and for style 300 wins again...........i have not owned a 300 for long and never owned a soarer so i dont know about how reliable they are.....a v8 is usually pretty reliable (i have owned a few v8 cars before).....i am a little jaded today as it cost me 110 buks to replace my god dam spark plugs today but i guess that a v8 soarer has more to replace then a 300zx and are probably just as expensive hahahaha........
Thanks for quick response boys and girls I have finally driven a V8 soarer UZZ31 with air suspension - it was quite slow (responsive - yes, but no power up top at all!!! the speed just keeps going up at the same rate though - very linear response...). But then the luxury was on another level - you couldnt hear any noise from outside at all if you had windows closed....the ride quality wasnt as good as i expected though - when I went across a speed hump i could feel every brick on it..... Handling wise it cant compete with a Z at all and the seats were too soft for my liking (i much prefer hard and grubby leather Z seats)... So V8 soarer is not for me probably , but keep the comments coming anyway! And what do you think of performance of a NA 300ZX manual (havent drivem it yet)? What cars can it compete off the lights?
2 VERY different cars I drive either the V8 Soarer or the NA Zed convertible daily. In my mind, they are as different as 2 similar cars can possibly be. The Soarer is, yes, like an armchair on wheels. Mind you a bloody comfy armchair. It is faster than it seems, but you need to watch the speedo to see how fast you are going. It is pretty sedate at takeoff, but gets going around 60. You are so insulated from the surroundings that sometimes it's a bit like watching TV. The ZED on the other hand has fantastic road feel and handling. How fast it takes off at the lights depends on how well you can let the clutch up. Might be initially faster than the Soarer. Certainly a lot noisier when you push it. You certainly feel the speed a lot more, and you have to work more to get it up to speed. The wife asked me last night why I was doing 100 in a 60 zone. I was really only doing 70 around those bends. In the Soarer the same speed and same bends feel like 60. The Soarer has heavy steering, and feels like a very large and heavy car. The ZED has very light steering and feels like a gocart in comparison. The Soarer will carry 4 people in absolute luxury. The ZED will carry 2 people in much less comfort, more fun for the driver, think the passengers might prefer the Soarer Which one is best ? I think they complement each other. When you want to have fun driving, the ZED. When you just want to get to the other end, the Soarer If you could feel the bricks in the speed hump, the suspension was set to 'Sport' Set it to normal, and you will not feel any bricks. You might just notice the hump though.
ill prob get blasted for this.. BUT here goes.... when my car was NA i beat a few r33 gts-t skylines.. kept up with 1 or 2 and lost to 1 or 2.. and err ahh thats all im going to metnion so ill just leave you with some specs of the NA Z and you can look them up for yourself!! and compare to other cars! "Non-turbo models have a 3.0-liter V6 engine with 222 horsepower" stolen from some site... annddd info on a TT soarer http://autospeed.drive.com.au/cms/A_1187/article.html?popularArticle
