gwf545

Some guy was behind me this a.m. in a 350Z and I got a sense he was itching for a challenge, but I just ignored him. We both turned on to a 4 lane, fairly steep uphill road and he cut in front of me and took off. I couldn't resist it any longer with the traffic clearing. With about a car length between us, I nailed my accelerator in 2nd and took off after him. I got into the adjacent lane and fairly quickly passed him up. He was clearly competing, but it just seemed too easy. I figured a Z would be a bit faster than a 545. Has anyone else gone up against one? Was it the hill and the 545's torque that did him in?

jackbutler

There was a post here a couple weeks ago of a Top Gear episode featuring the 535d vs. 545i. The 535d got a track time exactly the same as the 350z and when put up against the 545i, it was still a few seconds behind. So it does not surprise me that you beat him. Nice work

cheers,
Jack

realtyman

I got my ass handed to me by an early 2000's Roush Mustang which was most likely modified.
Dead stop "stoplight grand prix" situation. Nobody around.
I don't think he thought I'd run with him.
Light turned green, he nailed it and I did as well.
I stayed with him through 1st and most of 2nd... then it was like I threw out the anchor. I let off (so he wouldn't know I was still trying) and kept it near the speed limit.
It was fun watching him go, however.

gwf545

It was probably a Stage3, so I guess he would have 0-60 time in the mid-high 4 sec. range. Don't feel too bad about it.... Besides, who'd want to drive one of those things on a daily basis and also pay close to $50k for it?

Evenflow545

If someone tries to race me in a Mustang or Nissan or most anything else, I just let him go.

Who cares?

heezy545i

350Z weighs about ~3300lbs with 287bhp and 274lb-ft of torque. Some models have 300bhp with a higher redline, but are down on torque.

Most magazine test times put the Z at mid 5s from 0-60 and low 14s in the 1/4. Similar times to the 545 if I"m not mistaken.

I had a 350 for a short time and my first impression was the car did not feel that fast. Over time, the car did "feel" faster as I learned to utilize it's potential. Anyways, off the line would seem to be a driver's race, but on the highway, the 545 should pull away.

wolverine

350Z's are not too much of a problem for a 545. I've run a couple with not much trouble. With the new SAE HP ratings, I think the '300 HP' Z's will be downgrading to aroung 290.

heezy545i

Yeah, the Z isn't that fast, but speed isn't everything. Don't know if I could justify upwards of 40K for a Z, but with a base model around 26K, it's really a lot of car for the money.

The 350 has decent power coupled with some good handling, makes the car a whole lot of fun to drive. The major drawback to the car would probably be it's weight and to some the interior.

If straightline speed is more important, there are a number of FI routes one could go to easily bring the car to 300rwhp and up.

530iii

Children will be children, i've had Bentley Continental GT's, Vettes, Porsche's etc. next to me on the highway and local streets they never cut me off or "flexed" their muscle on me. That 350zzz probably was looking for a sucker to mess with since his girlfriend left him for a guy with a BMW.

The 350Z is probably a tad quicker than a G35 coupe.

But anyway with what we paid for our 545i's we could've bought 2 base 350Z's

heezy545i

Interesting that you brought up those cars as both a continental and a new C6 vette left me completely for dust on the highway. It was a awhile ago, but in each situation, I think I was in third gear, close to 100mph and I had no chance of keeping up.

Porsches are a dime a dozen in some parts of so cal, but they don't waste their time with measly e60s. I have had the chance to do some spirited canyon runs with some porsches in both the e60 and 350 though. So much more fun than anything on the highway.