razol

Thank you Pat, Please give me a "Y", and I would like to buy a vowel "O". Thank you, because it is spelled Y-O-U, English we love it, please use it. It kills me that people write in this style.


Regarding the thread topic, here are my obviously biased opinions.

1. They are two completely different classes of cars. The Z is a smaller, nimble, zippy handling type car; it is a tiny little coupe, thus the designation compact coupe. The Mustang is more about straight power, it still handles well, but it bears more of the straight muscle car heritage. The mustang is also a larger car, thus the designation midsize coupe. It is important to note that while comparisons are common; these cars are in completely different classes.

2. The 350Z is a six cylinder; this is an instant turn off for me. Sports cars must be powered by a V8 or better to play the game. A V6 just has to work too hard to be competitive with a V8.

3. A plus for the Z, independent rear suspension, this is IMHO the biggest shortcoming of the Mustang, the more power you throw to the drive wheels, the more pronounced and problematic Ford's suspension becomes. This is a definite negative for the Mustang.

4. Price - the Z goes for $34,550 MSRP, the Mustang is 26,320 MSRP for the high end GT Premium (which is what I have). Hmmm, $8,230 will buy you a supercharger and some additional adds for sure.

5. This is important for me, maybe not so much for others. The Mustang is American; I like to support American companies with my American dollars. People can tell me that Toyotas are made in Kentucky and other nonsense, but the bottom line is that the profits from Nissan, Toyota, et al go back to Japan. No thank you, call me a flag waiver, I prefer American.

6. The Z is hatchback; hatchback is equated to econobox in my mind. Trust me I know, having been the owner of a 93 LX before this one. No thank you on the hatch please.

7. Style.... Well look at that thing, personally I think that the Z looks like some awful iteration of Nissan's past; a Datsun 240! What is with the back end? Or lack thereof?

8. Back seat - The back seat of the Mustang is not much, but I have children and sometimes they ride in my car. Also, it makes a nice place to hold bags from Best Buy and such. Along the same lines, the Z has no trunk, the storage in the Msutang is quite adequate for a sports car.

9. At 3400 pounds, the Z is very heavy for a small little 2 seater coupe. This car would be much faster if it were not weighted down so much. It is hard to believe that the Mustang, being so much larger, is only 88 pounds heavier. This is a major engineering shortcoming for Nissan IMO.

10. Dimensions - The Mustang has a much longer wheelbase, thus a better ride. The Mustang also boasts a wider stance helping the center of gravity and allowing the car to still handle well.

11. Sound - Rev a Z, sound umm like crap, zing zing. Rev a Mustang get the satisfying guttural vroom vroom. Call me silly, but I need a car that sounds like it is ready to conduct business.

12. Fuel economy - While both cars get 25 MPG, the Nissan requires 91 Octane fuel, from talking to owners they tell me they still sometimes get knock at 91 and are forced to go with 93. With the rising cost of gas, I am glad that my Mustang runs great on 87 octane.

13. The Z has well noted suspension issues that eat up front tires; this problem continues to plague Z owners from what I hear. The problem is so common; it resulted in a class action lawsuit against Nissan.

14. Speed - Bone stock the Mustang is a bit faster than the Z, finishing the 1/4 mile in 13.9 compared to 14.2 for the Z. Other measures are consistent with this edge, 0-60 at 5.4 for the Ford, and 5.8 for the Nissan.

15. Mods - The Mustang seems to give you more bang for the buck with only slight performance upgrades. Similar modifications on Z do increase performance, but not as dramatically as on the Mustang.

stangintheblue

Great decision!!! Especially if you plan on doing mods. The Z has a ton of stuff out there but it doesnt take to them very well. Nissan already put as much power as that little V6 can make. Ive seen a ton of people who put forced induction, either turbo or supercharger, and had blown engines in about 2 weeks. Its a weak engine in that respect. The mustang can take a lot more on its stock internals. Anyway when you get urs be sure to post pics! And good luck with ur soon to be new car