Coming from a 350Z...

Hey guys - I am new to the forum, but I have been lurking around for awhile, and I must say that I am very impressed with the new Legacy GT. So much so that I went for a test drive the other day. I was thinking of trading the Z in on a STi or a WRX wagon (really wanted a STi wagon) - but not crazy on the looks of the STi (i.e. wing).... Anyway - drove the a manual GT sedan - and was very impressed. It is very quite with a nice smooth ride, with very little lag, and very deceptive and quick and nimble. The lag issue was important to me esp. coming from a linear torque VQ engine. Also like the news of the 1st dyno report (making more like 260hp/270tq at the crank). Did not really plan/want a lot of mods. Sorry for the ramble - just wanted to share my thoughts, and ask you all what you think (coming from a Z).

Wow, thats impressive that you were impressed coming from the Z. I'd say the big advantages of going to the LGT from a Z would be the ride quality, room, 4 drs, visibility, and awd. You will probably be giving up some handling, but from some early reports 0-60 times may well be quite similar. The Z probably would get you more attention, but I sort of like a stealth vehicle myself--less tickets! ;) I really like the Z's--unlike some I actually like the interior--damn nice cars. The only thing I didn't like was the rear visibility, but that is hardly something exclusive to the Z when it comes to sporty cars. Wish I had the money for one to tool around in during the summer...*sigh*...

Welcome, Ion. Since you were in the Nissan family already, did test drive the G35 Sedan as well? Does the GT feel enormous next to the Z or not too bad? Like you, I'd buy the STI wagon in a heartbeat, but alas. Thanks, Todd

WOW, a Z owerner....u might be the first Z owner who's trying to "swtich"

I know 2 Z owners. Both kinda hate their cars. Ride is REAL harsh. NO ROOM! Really not all that fast. High Insurance. Just a 2 seater. The one guy had so many problems with alignment and other small issues that after 1 year, had Nissan do a BUY-BACK! He just bought a G-35 last month. This guy never really researched the car. Just bought it (mid-life cricis?) and its an automatic. He originally claimed it to be a Japanese Corvette. The other guy still has his, but is only leasing it (2 year) so when it's up, it's outa here. They're OK cars, but I feel the interiors of the Nissans in general are too cheap feeling. Open the ash-tray in a Nissan and open the ash tray in the Legacy! Need I say more!?

I have an Enthusiast model Z - I have 6 speed, HID, front/side air bags, cloth interior, VDC (traction), and the 17" wheels. The Z does ride harsh (esp. if you take a long trip) but it is a sports car, and it should. As for the LGT - it did not feel big compared to the Z. It felt like a refined WRX (which I liked). And I had my (future) wife and sales guy in the car with me - and the A/C was going. In fact it was the second time I really felt like I was driving a true sports sedan - the only other time I felt that was when I test drove a used 2001 S4 (which was awesome). To answer your question UrQ - I did not drive the G35 sedan, but I am not really interested. I do think Nissan's AWD is nice and works VERY well, but I am not crazy about the looks of the sedan (esp. the interior), nor the idea that you have to have an auto with AWD. Plus the price can get north of 34K. And yes your are right TLS - There are things I do not like about my Z. I have a VERY early build date for my Z (order 2/02 and picked up 9/02). So i did get just about all the TSBs for the car, little nagging stuff, which I guess is what I get for buying 1st year car. This is somthing that worries my about the LGT (another 1st year car - for the US anyway).

It sounds like Subaru needs some switcher ads like Apple. Another quirky brand, so it might work. :mrgreen: BTW, Welcome to our little corner of the internet and nice to see yet another person from such a varying background.

Thanks for the warm welcome - hope I can offer some good info (esp. on the Z - if you all have any questions)

I have a similar experience. I just got out of a G35 6mt sedan. Dealer issues caused me to sell it. It was actually a blessing in disguise as it now allows me to consider the new GT sedan. I only drove the Outback so far as the GT sedan wasn't available, but the feeling of accelleration was similar. The Subaru also felt more refined than the G35. The lack of refinement in the G35 was my biggest complaint. The Subaru's interior felt more comfortable, the driving position was better, and the suspension felt more capable of handling the car's power. I always felt I sat on the seats of the G35, rather than in it. I wish this car was around when I initially got the G35 as it would have saved me from a horrible dealer experience, and some money.

Yeah - I always told myself, if I had to give up the Z for something more "practical" - I did NOT want to give up fun-to-drive performance, and that grin I get whenever I drive my car. As of now for me, I think very few cars can do that like the LGT and provide all weather fun. Might just have to go back for another test drive... :wink:

[quote name='momo']I have a similar experience. I just got out of a G35 6mt sedan. Dealer issues caused me to sell it. It was actually a blessing in disguise as it now allows me to consider the new GT sedan. I only drove the Outback so far as the GT sedan wasn't available, but the feeling of accelleration was similar. The Subaru also felt more refined than the G35. The lack of refinement in the G35 was my biggest complaint. The Subaru's interior felt more comfortable, the driving position was better, and the suspension felt more capable of handling the car's power. I always felt I sat on the seats of the G35, rather than in it. I wish this car was around when I initially got the G35 as it would have saved me from a horrible dealer experience, and some money.[/quote] you should go post this on the g35 forum, because they think you shouldn't even say the two cars in the same breath... :P

[quote name='"scubie02"'][quote name='"momo"']I have a similar experience. I just got out of a G35 6mt sedan. Dealer issues caused me to sell it. It was actually a blessing in disguise as it now allows me to consider the new GT sedan. I only drove the Outback so far as the GT sedan wasn't available, but the feeling of accelleration was similar. The Subaru also felt more refined than the G35. The lack of refinement in the G35 was my biggest complaint. The Subaru's interior felt more comfortable, the driving position was better, and the suspension felt more capable of handling the car's power. I always felt I sat on the seats of the G35, rather than in it. I wish this car was around when I initially got the G35 as it would have saved me from a horrible dealer experience, and some money.[/quote] you should go post this on the g35 forum, because they think you shouldn't even say the two cars in the same breath... :P[/quote] They may be right. The Subaru is a better car for the money.

"They may be right. The Subaru is a better car for the money." Yeah - the idea of (edit: Infiniti) having a "sports sedan" offering AWD, BUT only offer it in an automatic!!!!!! I just do not get it...

I hope you're talking about the Infiniti, not the Subarus. We're all manual loving, except the H6.

[quote name='ion']"They may be right. The Subaru is a better car for the money." Yeah - the idea of having a "sports sedan" offering AWD, BUT only offer it in an automatic!!!!!! I just do not get it...[/quote] Well, I did notice over there that there were numerous threads on problems with the MT on the G's--one guy just got his second new transmission I believe it was and had 26k miles on the car I think. There was another REALLY long one where all kinds of people wrote in and one claimed Nissan had already gone through 5 versions trying to get it right. If thats the case, they might have said auto only because they knew there was no way a transmission already having problems was handling awd? Just a theory. What kills me is that a couple of the people who posted on the "G35 vs Legacy" thread over there and bashed the GT saying the wrx's had "glass transmissions", reliability wouldn'tbe as good, etc, were the SAME ONES posting in the transmission thread about all the problems they'd had! Nothing liek ragging on something you know is a problem in your own car! And besides, I never actually personally knew anyone w/ a wrx who had a transmission problem, and the GT's are supposed to have a higher strenth one than the wrx had. Whereas by their own admission/posts, there really IS a problem with the G's.

SUBE555 - yeah I was talking about Infiniti (not Subaru) - sorry for the confusion! And yes scubie02 - you are right. The manual trannies in the Z and G35's have had some issues. Z guys have had some trannies replaced - I have been worried about mine. I have 17.5K on it now, and some days it acts up.

I had problems with the shifter in my G35. It was difficult to be smooth with shifts because it required a lot of effort to get the car into gear. I also found it difficult to downshift to the gear I wanted. I think I misshifted more in that car than I did in my 5.0 and I had the 5.0 for 15 years. A magazine described the shift action in the G35 like moving through a turnstile. Nissan addressed this issue in the MY05. They also covered up those ugly plastic rocker panels and put on some real tires. What's up with running 55 series tires on a sports sedan? The G35 needs refinement. It's a good car, but they should have put a Nissan badge on the car, and sold the 6mt with a cloth interior. I would have had less complaints because it would have cost less. I guess I expected more from a car company that targets Lexus and BMW as its main competitor. Fit, finish and execution are as important as accelleration in the entry level luxury segment. I'm actually relieved that the car doesn't darken my driveway anymore.

Yeah sounds like the same thing with my tranny. So far I have been lucky (knock on wood).

[quote name='scubie02'][quote name='ion']"They may be right. The Subaru is a better car for the money." Yeah - the idea of having a "sports sedan" offering AWD, BUT only offer it in an automatic!!!!!! I just do not get it...[/quote] What kills me is that a couple of the people who posted on the "G35 vs Legacy" thread over there and bashed the GT saying the wrx's had "glass transmissions", reliability wouldn'tbe as good, etc, were the SAME ONES posting in the transmission thread about all the problems they'd had! Nothing liek ragging on something you know is a problem in your own car! And besides, I never actually personally knew anyone w/ a wrx who had a transmission problem, and the GT's are supposed to have a higher strenth one than the wrx had. Whereas by their own admission/posts, there really IS a problem with the G's.[/quote] What kills me is they were bashing a car they knew absolutely nothing about.

[quote name='Throttlejockey'] What kills me is they were bashing a car they knew absolutely nothing about.[/quote] Well, thats basically what I meant--from comments most had never even SEEN a new legacy

Haha everywhere, it is everywhere man. G35 is being compared to any cars every where, every forums. TSX compares to it, IS300 compares to it, TL compares to it, 3-series compares to it, 350Z compares to it, RX-8 compares to it, S2000 compares to it, and of course, Legact GT compares to it also. I hear the same thing from all of these comparisons, that is, G35's interior sucks. Being a G35 sedan owner, I am both happy and mad. No need to explain why I am mad. But why am I happy? Because G35 is just that good that anyone and everyone else likes to talk about it and uses it as a guildline.

[quote name='TwiBlueG35']Haha everywhere, it is everywhere man. G35 is being compared to any cars every where, every forums. TSX compares to it, IS300 compares to it, TL compares to it, 3-series compares to it, 350Z compares to it, RX-8 compares to it, S2000 compares to it, and of course, Legact GT compares to it also. I hear the same thing from all of these comparisons, that is, G35's interior sucks. Being a G35 sedan owner, I am both happy and mad. No need to explain why I am mad. But why am I happy? Because G35 is just that good that anyone and everyone else likes to talk about it and uses it as a guildline.[/quote] Actually, I don't remember anyone here talking about it until it was pointed out that it was being discussed on the G35 forum...

The G35 interior is identical to the 05 Altima!!! I can't believe it! Yeah the brown vs. black. But still... where's that Infiniti exclusivity over the Nissans?

The G35 interior is identical to the 05 Altima!!! I can't believe it! Yeah the brown vs. black. But still... where's that Infiniti exclusivity over the Nissans?

 

Ummm - okay, yet another post based on absolutely no fact.

Welcome to the forum, I'm kind of new here myself. I gave a buddy a ride in my GT Wagon the other night. He thinks it feels better then his Honda S2000. Pulls harder and sticks in the corners. We have this banked curve in town, it feels great, 75mph.