so my mom and i went to the nissan dealership yesterday afternoon to test-drive the new maxima. we walked into the showroom and there was a nice wine-red 350Z Track sitting on the floor.. I got into it and WOW.. comfortable seats, great cockpit layout, ENORMOUS blind spots at the C-pillars, seated very low with marginal visibility out the windows and windshield, AMAZING shifter linkage, great feeling car..

a salesman finally made his way over to us and my mother told him that she was interested in both the Maxima and the Z, but for different reasons.. the salesman suggested that we drive both of them!!!!!!! needless to say, my voice was noticably shaky as I asked "you have 350Z's avaliable to drive?"

driving impressions:

UNBELIEVEABLY tight. We drove a Touring model which had heated leather seats.. the seats are unbelieveable, and the driver's seat is specially sculpted for comfort while shifting. The steering is telekenetic. all you need to do is IMAGINE you're turning, and the car just seems to follow.. sort of like one of those Segway Scooters. The motor is pretty goddamned incredible. I'm starting to really like normally aspirated engines because of their instant power. The gearbox is really nice, although finding sixth gear isn't as smooth as the rest of them. All the magazines describe the gearshift as "like a rifle-bolt" but it's a little more like "a really goddamn awesome geatshift." the clutch is pretty grabby, but our car only had a hundred miles on it. I think once it's broken in, it'll be a little easier to smoothly engage.

my mom probably won't buy the Z, but one day, I will. since driving it, I've been having dreams about owning one of these cars.. they're prety amazing..

-adam