Come on then Glen, I like many, are getting tired of the Skyline digs so be constructive and offer an honest comparison between the Zed and your Skyline.

 

Purchase price?

Running costs?

Driver involvement?

Image?

Insurance?

 

I'm serious as I would consider an R33 as a replacement for my Zed. Although Ali (my other half) hates the look fo them.

Maybe he sold it Tim,and bought a Z?;)

Just bringing this back to the top as I see that Glen's around but I guess he's choosing not to post on a serious thread.

 

Come on Glen, I'm not taking the pi55, I'm genuinely interested in getting answers to my questions.

 

Tim

maybe he wouldn't need to sell it to buy another Zed ? ;)

 

but nevertheless here are some observations and musings;

 

The only real complaint or dig people have, albeit lightheartedly, is the looks of the Skyline vs those of the 300zx - I like the way the Skyline R33 looks from front and back and personally think they look average side-on without a dramatic set of 18's. The 300zx looks far sleeker all round. The 300zx is a very curvy where the GTR is aggresive, the 300zx reminds me of a Italian designed car. The GTR has always been designed from day one to be unbeatable in Japanese/Australian touring car races not to look like a sports car. The 300zx looks like it is meant to travel very fast the GTR just looks like it is not to be f***ed with.

 

I will answer your questions honestly and in no way, when making comparisons, want to give the impression that I am disrespecting the 300zx or any owner of the car:

 

Purchase price.

A good GTR 32 can be had for 9-10K.

A good GTR 33 can be had for 14-22K

A good 300zx can be had for 4-8K

Running costs are similar really, the RB26DETT is more reliable than the VG30DETT, I base this on the amount of owners here and the amount of owners on gtr.co.uk and the relevant stories of woe. I read all of both boards daily.

I found it very difficult to find anyone I truly trusted with my 300zx (certainly not the likes of SE, though it had alot of money spent there) - However I have not heard a bad word for the likes of prospec, Rod Bell, GT-ART, AbbeyMotorsport etc and alot of the Skyliners use these people and spend BIG. Abbey for instance are solely responsible for Rocket Ronnies GTR33. They along with the others mentioned are also building cars for this years 10 of the best that will frankly obliterate the opposition. Simon Norris's mad Evo wont win ;)

 

The drive - get in one and try it. All mine has is stage one (whatever the hell stage one is) Zorst, filter, DECAT and Abbey ECU (1 Bar - the max on ceramics) and the engine absolutely BEGS you to drive it, these simple mods make the RB26 what it really is - a 400BHP racing car engine. It is not a 280BHP engine. The VG30DETT seems tired in comparison, I have driven 300zx with zorst, filter, 14psi and the car to me was all or nothing; a Nissan QX one minute then the boost came on and wooohooo.

The GTR with the same mods just goes. The boost is massive sure, but with the gearing it is 100% usable and the engine free revs from 900 to the 8500 redline. Its a race car not a tourer.

 

The complex ECU controlled power delivery is worth buying a GTR for alone. This car DOESNOT drive itself, it rewards hard driving and the 4WD systems offer the best of both worlds - no drive train powerloss but active 4WD for them sticky moments. Lift off on a challenging corner and it will drift away like any other RWD but keep it nailed (takes bottle) and ATESSA will be a revelation for you. Amazing.

 

Just drive one hard and see:) !!

 

The image is interesting, in the 300zx EVERYONE looked! - for me this was nice but not important, you may be different but I dont care a sh*t what anyone thinks of my car, jeez I am driving Micra Auto rustbucket at the moment;)

The GTR gets respect from those that know what it is capable of and not those who like the looks, so it works for me. The people who point and stare in awe are the nippers who have Gran Turismo, the Clarksonites and (this is the interesting one) the Bikers:)

 

Insurance? fookin nightmare mate. No classic, no concession, tracker, immobiliser, big excess, a major pItA:(

 

Get one, you will never look back.:)

 

oh and if you have a few bob that RB26 will give you a daily driver with 800 BHP thats totally useable.

 

HTH,

Thanks for the honest reply Glen, makes for interesting reading.

 

I have to drive one and an NSX just to get it out of my system.

 

I love my Zed, but I guess there must come a day when...

 

Please, no one flame this thread, or start a slanging match I think it's refreshing to open a genuine, interesting thread.

 

Has anyone else had experience and can offer comparrisons with the likes of the 3000GTO and NSX?

 

Tim

i think i best take 1 for a spin ...sounds class!

very seriously considered a 3000gt, tested 5, and 1 nsx.

 

1st, nsx excited me, but after owning a tvr, didnt fancy the 'believed' rarity of parts and service intervals for ALL that money. Deemed reliable, but just a 'little' ott for MY personal usage and requirements.

 

3000gt - hmmm, prefer layout of cabin, and thats about it, more uk models available, more backup, more reliablility (so im told) but the zed is just unique in the looks dept. If the zed had the gt cabin, i think i would never change it, seen a few p reg gt's around, and i think 'thats nice' but we all know a zed gets that 'wtf' factor from all and sundry on the pavement, more curved, less boxy/production.

 

my zed is 12 years old, and i cant stop thinking what DID they look like when they appeared on uk roads back then, in relation to the boxes poodling around then.

 

i honestly think my next car, in many years.... will be a testarossa. still 40k for h plate, probably be 30k when i seriously consider one, sad thing is, WILL the zed regain value when all the shite has died, or will it plummet to obscurity??

 

no experience of skylines, but the fugures glen has quoted sure would make me smile.

 

vicky x x

thats probably the only thing that really puts me off

 

the power and performance sound amazing,id love to drive a car that gives me a bigger smile on my face when i put my foot down than the zed does.

I've driven my mates NSX and to be honest I wouldn't swap my Z for it. I hated the driver's position and wasn't too keen on the VERY large front screen. The raw feeling of power was something else though - certainly moves :)

 

Vijay

Originally posted by silverzed

very seriously considered a 3000gt, tested 5, and 1 nsx.

 

 

3000gt - hmmm, prefer layout of cabin, and thats about it, more uk models available, more backup, more reliablility (so im told) but the zed is just unique in the looks dept. If the zed had the gt cabin, i think i would never change it, seen a few p reg gt's around, and i think 'thats nice' but we all know a zed gets that 'wtf' factor from all and sundry on the pavement, more curved, less boxy/production.

 

You liked the GT cabin? :eek:

I thought it was horrible, so 80s.

I felt like I was driving KITT from Knight Rider :p

 

Just my opinion, but I sat in one and drove it a tiny bit and that was more than enough for me....

Mind you that was a G-reg one so the newer ones may have improved.

 

The ZX cabin is slightly dated, but is easy to navigate round the buttons and doesn't have a screen that tells you where the airflow is going round the car.

Aslo the driving position feels so much better in the Zed.

 

I do like the look of the GTO/3000GT from the outside, but looks a bit like a generic sports car.

I think the Zed is unique.

:D

Only one thing goin for the 3000gt thats the handling, bloody awsome,did post about this on a simalur thread while back,rest of the car i cant stand,as for the cabin in the 300zx,i love it,way better than the Skyline,better driving position too,and the cabin in the 99 spec S and spec R 300s are drop dead gorgeous,the zx wins in looks thats for sure up against the other two,but the Skyline is to be sure a pure bred balls out tuners parradise,now pushing out some 1500bhp,and will to be honest be more reliable due to the nature of its design and race bred heritage,both the 300zx and the Skyline deserve there place in motoring history,lets just be gratefull that the japanese decided in the late eightys to go against the grain and produce such great performance cars, that are giving so many people so much fun all over the world,and it seems with the 350z and the new GTR that its gonna continue,cant wait to buy a 350z in a few years time,imported,modified to hell for around £10,000!(heaven):D :D ;)

Test drove an NSX while I was debating whether to go for the 300ZX, NSX or GTO.

 

NSX has some grunt but the cabin didn't feel "secure". Daft thing to say maybe, but when I got in the Zed, it was almost like I became part of it. With the NSX I felt distanced, not too mention the fact that you'd need binoculars to see your passenger! :D Never got round to driving a GTO as I couldn't see past the Zed once I'd driven that... :D

I can also offer a little insight on the GTO, having driven one a fair bit (owned by a mate of mine) about 2 yrs ago (before I'd owned a Z - well, 300 at least) ...

 

I was (and still am) a big fan of the GTO - personally, I thought the cabin was excellent .... had a real hi-tec muscle car feel to it; found the seats comfortable and the controls excellent ....

 

Agree with previous comments about handling, or more specifically, road-holding, which I thought was phenomenal. But I did find that although the initial pick-up was awesome, it tended to run out of puff, once you got to, say 80-ish ... quite unlike the Z, which as well all know is awesome in 3rd gear:D :D

 

Overall, though, a fine package, that at the time I would have liked to own .... :)

 

As for the rest of 'em, for me, the 300 wins on looks everytime, but personally I'm a BIG fan of all Jap-supercars ... GTO, Soup, RX-7, NSX - whatever ....

 

oops ... forgot to mention GT-R (certainly not deliberate) ... I really think anyone who honestly maintains these are anything less than inspired, is in denial .... only IMO, of course ....;)

never test drived a NSX or GTO.. but sat in a R33 recently.. impressive..

was looking at GTO, RX7, S15 and the ZED before I laid my hands on the Zed Manual TT.. even tho' I had been dreaming of the SupraTT..(couldn't afford)

must admit that the looks of the GTO is an ultimate killer.. but I heard that it was a failure in the US tuner racing scene.. as parts and mods are limited.. n performance is not up to expectations.. therefore many(real many) GTOs are still in showroom...

God, I wish I hadn't read all that about Skyline's.

 

I keep telling myself I don't like how they look and that I prefer my Zed. But i've recently found myself hopping onto the GTR forum every now and then.

 

I love my Zed, think it's the best looking Jap sports car out there and love the booooOOOOOOOST but I can't stop thinking that all the most extreme and absolute fastest cars on the road are Skyline's....

 

I know i'd miss my Zed as soon as I sold it and I have no intention of selling it soon but if I won the lottery, a Bayside Blue GTR-34 with LOTS of mods would be parked in my garage (i'd have one of those too!) very quickly!!

 

Of course, it'd be parked behind the best Zed in the country... :D