#1 Cochran Automotive

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Walk Around

Not much has changed with the looks of the Nissan 350Z in recent years. But for 2007 there is one distinctive and telltale feature: a big hump in the hood. That was necessary to make room for the new engine, which has a taller cylinder block and longer connecting rods, among other things. The new engine gets more air without any changes to the grille opening, which contains horizontal bars. There are three new colors for 2007: Solar Orange, San Marino Blue and Carbon Silver. The Roadster gets an optional gray convertible top, for 2007, replacing the high-profile blue one; basic black remains standard.

The massive vertical bi-Xenon HID (high-intensity discharge) headlamps produce a white light, and the new LED (light emitting diode) taillights provide quicker response for the brake lights than filament bulbs.

The bulging fenders and fastback and short front and rear overhangs give the Coupe its aggressive stance. This taut body layout, coupled with weight savings gained from a carbon fiber-reinforced, plastic driveshaft and an aluminum hood (and on the Roadster, a plastic trunk lid), balance the Z well for responsive handling.

The Coupe's sleek shape helps the Z slice through the air with a minimum of drag: 0.29 Cd on the Grand Touring. The Roadster's cut-off backlight (rear windscreen) isn't nearly as slippery, attaining a drag coefficient of 0.34 Cd. Underbody airflow is managed well, with zero lift on the front, and zero lift on the rear of the Coupe Grand Touring thanks to new diffusers.

Interior

2007 Nissan 350Z

The Nissan 350Z cockpit is designed for driving, helping the driver quickly become one with the car. Cloth or leather are good choices in this car. The cloth seats are form-fitting, supportive and comfortable, made of a soft, carbon-fiber colored material that grips the body in the corners. The driver's seat bottom features a mound in the center at the front to restrain the driver from sliding forward under deceleration, known as submarining. Aggressive side bolsters grip the waist to hold the driver in place, especially in the Roadster models, which give the driver a more aggressively bolstered seatback. The leather seats in the Touring model feel firmer than those in cloth, and are available in charcoal, burnt orange or frost. The supportive seats and a driver's dead pedal mean you never feel like you have to hang on.

Our Roadster Grand Touring came with the mesh seats, which are the only seats that lack adjustable headrests. We can't see the tradeoff for ventilation being worthwhile. Also, the leg bolstering dug into the sides of our thighs. We haven't noticed that with the regular leather seats. Once underway, however, we forgot about that initial discomfort. We drove some 700 miles in the Roadster GT, almost all of them on two-lanes while cornering, accelerating and braking hard (we used the dead pedal a lot), and the seat didn't wear on us as much as we expected it to. But we still think cloth might be better than the mesh.

The seating position should be good for drivers with long legs, though the steering wheel felt a little close when the seat was adjusted for the legs of a six-footer. The Roadster boasts an inch more headroom than the hatchback, thanks to the articulation of the top's various mechanicals.

Tilt the steering column and the main pod of gauges moves with it, ensuring a clear view of the instruments for drivers of all sizes. The instruments consist of a big tachometer and flanking speedometer, fuel and temperature gauges. Nestled in three pods on top of the dash are a voltmeter, an oil pressure gauge and a digital trip computer. Reminiscent of the original Z, they look retro-cool, but reading them requires more than a glance.

Two toggles to the right of the steering wheel operate the trip computer, used to check outside air temperature, distance to empty, speed, average mileage, and average speed. It has a stopwatch function (to check out 0-60 times or lap times on a circuit or maybe for running a Monte Carlo style rally), and a tire-pressure monitor. With the Trip Computer, the driver can program a shift light to come on at a certain rpm. The small red indicator on the tachometer begins flashing about 500 rpm before the preset engine speed is reached, whereupon it comes on solid. You can program it for the ideal shift points for acceleration or for fuel economy, then let your peripheral vision pick up the indicator, which might prove more precise than using the seat of your pants. We've seen race cars with this feature (though the red shift light in those is sometimes as big as a golf ball). If you don't like this feature you can turn it off.

The interior of the Z suggests the carbon-fiber tub of a prototype racecar. The material surrounding the shifter and forming the center dash looks like carbon fiber. Likewise, the large expanse of gray material lining the door panels suggests carbon fiber in appearance. The quality of the materials is okay, though some of the pieces would never be allowed in an Audi. It looked austere at first, but grew on us. Stylish interior touches, such as the inside door handles integrated into aerodynamic pods for the side vents, give the Z a racy, modern look; with the AC at work on hot days, the handles chill to fit their frosty look. Passengers often grope for the door release the first time they try to get out, distracted by the big grab handles adorned with genuine aluminum and relieved by the Z's dot motif.

Audio contr

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