I had long deliberated on what sports car to get. After driving a Civic Type-R for a year, I knew exactly what I wanted. Despite the temptation of purchasing a turbo car, I loved the fact that today's technology meant that if you had a well engineered car, drove sensibly, you need not have to pay through the wallet for driving thrills. At the same time, with a focused sports car, motoring fun is also attained without having to achieve break neak speeds. In most cases, the ability to accelerate and achieve high speeds has been a by product of car manufacturers pushing their cars to the limit.
I talked to an old acquaintance in Australia via email recently and he had told me why he enjoyed his first Z car, a 260Z, which was at first restored, then modified. "Back when these cars first came out, you realise that you had something special," he said. It was true, many of the contemporaries which produced sports cars in the late 60s and 70s were expensive, and the performance was attainable by the Nissan techs who created the Z cars from that era, for less than the others.
By doing so it managed to create a niche for itself. You could have a sports car, which handled like a sports car and had a lusty engine. My friend said the dynamics of the early Z cars meant that they were over engineered, and could easily handled more muscle. "I decided that it would be nice to get some more grunt, so I threw in a V8 in there." His car now rumbles, and has been given more of an edge in straight line speed. "While the front end is heavier, I adjusted the suspension so that my turn in doesn't wash out," and by doing so, the older Z doesn't understeer with the extra added weight.
Fast forward today, both aspects remain entrenched for Z ownership. The Z car is not a cheap car, but while other manufacturers in Brunei are offering turbo charged specials at anything upwards of BND$60,000 it would be extremely difficult to find something that could offer the 'kind' of performance for that price or lower. Many will argue that you can do more with a turbo car, but I know of several enthusiastic Z33 owners who are interested in Turbocharging their car.
My own personal preference is to stick with the Normally Aspirated 3.5 litre engine. I think there is a lot of life in the car, despite a replacement model on the drawing board. I've had mine for two years alread and there have been minor modifications. To get a better idea of the specific characteristics of the car that I like and swayed my decision in settling in on the Z was the generous amount of pulling power. Despite being a heavy car, the VQ35 engines have a creamy power delivery, which feels like it all of it is unleashed at 2000 odd RPMs but in truth keeps building in a linear fashion up to 4800 RPM in stock form, if I'm not mistaken.
The crisp delivery is very different from the Civic Type R that I had previously, but NA response cannot be substituted. The only problem is that its difficult to obtain that response, when further tuning the car. Nissan has extracted alot from the VQ35, so much so that further NA modified versions haven't yielded much more gains. However personally for me its about having a car thats suited to your needs, and whether you want to turbo charge, super charge or keep your car Normally Aspirated, there isn't a better place to start than a Z car.
So far many of us, the Z owners in Brunei are trying to get those who are keen to join the ranks of Z ownership and those who are current Z owners, to come together so that we can form a basis for our projects.
Whether its to get a certain look, or if you feel that your suspension needs to be stiffened, having a network of information is one of the common goals, which will benefit all...
Contributed by Izam Said Ya'akub, a writer and Z enthusiast.
